MIKADO Employee Spotlight: Alice Phan

At MIKADO, our most extraordinary superpower is our employees.?We firmly believe that our team is a driving force behind our success. With a deep appreciation for cross-cultural diversity and inclusivity, we foster an environment where our employees thrive. This superpower allows us to forge profound connections with our consumers, surpassing the boundaries of conventional marketing strategies.

In this edition of the Employee Spotlight, get to know a bit more one of MIKADO's project managers who keeps everyone on track.

MIKADO Employee Spotlight: Alice Phan

What inspired you to pursue a career in marketing, and how has your journey been so far?

I grew up in a family where nobody understood what marketing was. My mum advised me to pursue a degree in finance and banking, simply because it was a lucrative and well-liked field. Everyone around me assumed that marketing consisted of door-to-door salespeople attempting to con people with subpar goods and illegally obtaining money. I took one marketing module when I was studying overseas. I learned about marketing for the first time at that point and was quite curious to learn more about it. I had begun to pay attention to billboards, TV commercials, consumer behaviour, and reading marketing journals. In order to fully grasp marketing, I ultimately decided to pursue a master's degree in it.

What amazed me was that marketing was not just about creativity, but also about communications, understanding consumers' behaviours, and being a champion to bring products closer to targeted consumers. This was in addition to having to demonstrate to my family and other people in my immediate environment that they are having a false perception about marketing. Marketing, in my opinion, is the skill of reading people's minds, anticipating their needs and wants, and appealing to those needs and desires through persuasive communication. In marketing, there is never a dull moment. It's a new day every day. Along the process, I must continually adjust to new developments and obstacles. My knowledge base has always grown, and I look forward to going to work every day because of that.

What do you enjoy most about your role at MIKADO, and how do you bring your unique perspective to the work you do?

To make things happen, it's my responsibility to organize everything and link everyone. Making concepts and tactics into branding and marketing initiatives is what I like most about it. Additionally, it makes me very happy to see consumers enjoying every moment we have made for them. It is wonderful that while working remotely and in different time zones, we nonetheless successfully execute a lot of exciting campaigns. Nothing is impossible at MIKADO.

Vietnam is where I was born and raised. I spent a few years living, studying, and working in the UK and New Zealand. Working with many people from many cultures and origins makes me feel fortunate, so I constantly value diversity at work. Knowing my culture inside and out has made it easier for me to contribute my Vietnamese perspective to the MIKADO cultural mosaic. I can contribute my cultural insights to any marketing initiatives aimed at winning over the hearts of Vietnamese diaspora. I'm quite pleased with it.

If you could have any superpower, what would it be and how would you use it to enhance your work?

This is an intriguing question, in my opinion. I would like to be able to understand every language spoken on earth if I could have any superpower. My personal experience has led me to believe that language barriers can cause major and avoidable problems due to misunderstandings. Therefore, I desire that everyone could speak only one language so that we could all understand and empathize with one another, making the world a smaller and better place to live.

When working with people from diverse cultures, having this superpower would enable me to break down any communication hurdles. Smoother communication would speed up the process, increase production, and make things happen more quickly.

What are some cultural traditions or customs that are important to you, and how do they influence your approach to work?

One of the important traditions of the Vietnamese people is working with dignity and accountability. We fulfill our commitments and act responsibly in all that we do. So, for the team to accomplish its objectives, it’s a part of my culture to always do my part and help the team.

How do you incorporate diversity and inclusivity into your work, and what advice do you have for others who want to do the same?

My manager has consistently referred to my role as the team's backbone, but in my opinion, the company's backbone consists of the team members who assist one another to accomplish a goal. I have been wanting to join MIKADO's friendly workplace atmosphere. Despite the cultural diversity of our team, we always appreciate and support one another greatly.

The only piece of advice I can give is to attempt to put yourself in other people's shoes. There must be a rationale for what they do if they act in that way. Judge only the work and not the individual. When working together, everyone will be content if there is empathy and support.

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