Finding oneself: Lead account manager Vanessa’s journey at TIA

“I don’t really have many fears anymore; they’ve become just another thing to solve,” says Vanessa Lee, lead account manager at Tech in Asia (TIA).

Vanessa, who is part of the company’s Studios team, has only recently returned to the office after having surgery to remove a cancerous growth.

Vanessa Lee, lead account manager. / Photo credit: Christine Toh

In taking a break from work to tend to her health, she admits she thought about whether she would have a job to come back to. Perhaps more importantly, she wondered whether she would even want to return – why not find a less demanding role elsewhere?

“I found my answers quickly. If it wasn’t this specific job and this specific group of colleagues, I probably would have not come back to work,” she affirms.

The perfect role

Vanessa’s tenure in TIA began in late 2020, but she’d been sold on the job from the first interview.

“What the role involved was presented clearly to me, and with each word I grew more interested,” she recalls. “I was like, ‘yeah, that’s what I want to do.’”

People generally know TIA for its content and events. However, the production of these would be much harder – or maybe even break down – without the firm’s account managers.

“When you’re in client servicing, you’re really so involved in projects,” Vanessa explains. She adds that the business development team asks “us everything about a client before they pitch, because we’re the ones who own that relationship.” Account managers often also work alongside clients throughout the entire project, serving an important role as a representative of TIA.

Sometimes the job also includes stepping into the podcast recording booth for a selfie. / Photo credit: Vanessa Lee

However, despite the job being exactly what she wanted to do, it was a big change from her previous role in a video production company.

“The first year (at TIA) consisted of asking 10 questions a day and absorbing as much as I could. What does publishing an article involve? How does Facebook marketing work? Where do I come in and what info do I have to provide,” she rattles off the questions. “Everything was so fresh to me.”

As the link between the client and production, account managers make a real difference by applying their understanding of both sides to offer suggestions that not only move the project forward but does so in a way that empathizes with and engages all stakeholders.

Vanessa takes this approach seriously because her job fulfilment comes from one thing: client satisfaction.

I’m happiest when a client comes to me, unprompted, and says they appreciate our efforts. There’s no better feeling.

One project, in particular, showed how her efforts were bearing fruit.

It was a video shoot for a longtime client. Between the crew, the director, and the person being interviewed, there were three different viewpoints at play. But Vanessa could see all of these perspectives and was able to help everyone with what they needed. For the crew, it was lighting suggestions to get the ideal shot; for the director, it was on-the-fly script edits; for the interviewee, it was simply being a reassuring voice to make them comfortable.

In being able to speak in each stakeholders’ language, Vanessa finally felt like she was really adding value in her unique way.

“It wasn’t like I was born knowing how to do this; I’d picked up all the necessary skills and mindsets from doing my job and trying my best,” she says. It’s an approach she impresses on new joiners, helping them come to terms with what can be a bewildering first couple of months.

“This specific group of colleagues”

In 2024, right around the time of the company’s Jakarta conference, Vanessa heard a ringing in her ears.

“Just before my flight to Indonesia, I had undergone a checkup at an ear, nose, and throat specialist to get it checked,” she explains. “That’s when they found a lump in the back of my mouth.”

She quickly got an appointment for a biopsy, but the results were slated to come out a week later. So she boarded her flight and pushed through the sheer busyness of the Jakarta conference with all of this in the back of her mind. On her return, the cancer diagnosis was confirmed.

Throughout her time away, Vanessa received texts and a house visit from chief operating officer Maria Li, who would check up on her and keep her up to date on how the team was doing. Before her surgery, Vanessa received a care package and a card filled with well-wishes from teammates and colleagues.

Just a few members of the commercial team. You might recognize some of them from previous profile pieces. / Photo credit: Vanessa Lee

“When I read the card, I just started crying. I hadn’t had time to process anything – I just had to get the cancer out – so I guess the card allowed me to confront my feelings for the first time,” she recalls.

It was the latest in many good memories Vanessa has had of her TIA teammates. By her own admission, working here has opened her mind to possibilities she didn’t believe in before.

One of the first things that struck her as unique about working in TIA was how openly everyone spoke during meetings. “I realized that this is a place where your opinions are appreciated,” she says. “Learning this helped me to find my voice in the workplace.”

Of course, this open communication is in service of bigger goals. To pursue innovation – whether for product, creative, or business needs – thinking outside the box is a given, and ideas can come from anyone, regardless of their role in the company or their level of seniority. Even if your idea isn’t fully formed, it can help to inspire something.

“Don’t just sit there and be quiet, because then you’d be missing out on so many opportunities to potentially come up with something that can make a big impact,” she says.

A post-event pic at Saigon Summit 2024, just one example of the many new ideas the company has brought to life. / Photo credit: Tech in Asia

Vanessa posits that this kind of open sharing is made possible by how “there’s also a sense of everyone accepting you for who you are.” One example, she points out, is the commercial team, which has members from Taiwan and the Philippines of greatly varying tenures with the company.

“How did this group come together? But yeah, that’s the beauty of it,” she says.

The next step

Looking ahead, Vanessa says that there’ll be much more thinking out of the box.

“We are always asking the question, ‘is this still relevant to our readers, event attendees, clients?’ I think a lot of things start from there,” she says. “Because we have that mindset, that’s how we constantly improve.”

As an Arsenal fan, she also wishes the team improves enough to properly challenge for the league title next season. / Photo credit: Vanessa Lee

On the account management front, this means looking beyond the current campaign. She wants to lead her team to help clients solve their big-picture, organization-level challenges and is always asking herself what else she can do to add even more value to clients.

“I want to answer questions that they didn’t know they had. I want to give clients things that they didn’t even realize they would want or like. I want them to really feel like we are long-term partners and not just a convenient solution for the moment,” Vanessa shares. “By helping them grow, we get to grow alongside them.”

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