How She Made It: A working mom in a high-growth startup

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The Grab founding story is a familiar one to most people. For Adelene Foo, it’s a story that she saw unfold firsthand. Since she joined the startup over eight years ago, she has played a crucial role in its growth from a Malaysia-based ride-hailing service to the Southeast Asian super app it is today.

Like with most first employees at startups, Foo has worn several hats throughout her time at Grab, including country head for Malaysia and Indonesia, regional head of the two-wheels business, and her current role as regional head of merchant and GrabExpress. And in the middle of all that, Foo took on yet another role: being a mother.

Adelene Foo with her son and daughter / Photo credit: Grab

On this episode of How She Made It, Foo gives an inside look at Grab’s early days and discusses the changes she made to her operating model when she became a working mom in a high-growth startup.

Timecodes:

00:00 – What’s your employee number?
00:24 – Meet Adelene Foo, Grab’s regional head of merchant and GrabExpress
01:47 – What it’s like to be Employee No. 4
03:29 – Taking a leap of faith to join Grab’s co-founders in building the startup
04:35 – Uphill climbs in the beginning
05:41 – Interesting interactions with various stakeholders
09:00 – Learning to observe the market and listening to stakeholders
10:47 – Becoming a mom
13:12 – Making changes to her operating model
16:45 – The unpredictable chaos that comes with having kids
18:41 – An extremely rewarding experience
21:00 – Advice for working moms or moms-to-be
23:59 – A message for her children

Download the full transcript here.

Featured interviewee:

• Adelene Foo, the Malaysia-based regional head of merchant and GrabExpress at Grab

More episodes:

• How She Made It: A non-techie entering the tech scene, featuring Minci Loh, the Singapore-based product lead for consumer experience at Grab
• How She Made It: A young tech professional navigating the corporate world, featuring Karinna Lai, an Indonesia-based product manager at Grab

How She Made It is a podcast by Tech in Asia, produced in partnership with Grab. Visit Grab’s career page to learn how you can be a part of its mission to drive Southeast Asia forward together.