Melewi's new CEO: Peach McAndrew

When I first met Peach, I was 23.

I had come across her profile online, and something just clicked. I’m sure she was confused as to what an unknown person from Singapore wanted from her, but I was relentless in pestering her to come work for me.

Sometimes when your instincts tell you something, you listen.

8 years later, she’s now the new CEO of Melewi.

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I remember very distinctly the discomfort of being intimidated. I was young, barely a year into running my own business, and I had just hired someone older than me (though every year, she maintains she’s just turned 21). Peach had more working experience than me, and she was also a mother to 2 children.

It scared me. Who was I to be someone’s boss? Especially someone who’s been working for longer than I had been. What if I made mistakes? And what could I possibly teach her?

I was so busy fretting that I missed the real question — what could she teach me?

It was impossible to know at that time, but I had found a true partner. We complemented each other in ways that I didn’t realise worked. She focused on execution while I fussed over the vision. She set deadlines on my never-ending quests for perfection. She held everything in place while I reached for higher heights.

One of my favourite memories of all time was when we spent 3 days on calls together, tearing our hair out trying to develop financial projection spreadsheets. Despite the frustration, we still have plenty of laughs, and after 3 long days, she was still there at the end of it (albeit with a bit less hair). In the 7 years we’ve worked together, there has never been a call we’ve both been on where she hasn’t managed to make me laugh.

Peach has defined teamwork, dedication and fun-at-work for me. She has taught me what perseverance looks like, what taking care of people looks like, and most of all, what leadership looks like.

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I grew up alongside Melewi. It sounds weird, I know. But your first business teaches you the most pivotal and fundamental lessons. Even though I’ve since started Bravely, Melewi will always be my “baby”.

So to trust someone with my “baby”, takes a lot and says even more. 

I’ve trusted Peach with my life, and now I’m trusting her with Melewi. I know she’ll do us all proud, because she has done me proud a long time ago.

Congratulations, Peach. You deserve this position in every possible way.