From diplomatic service to leading across Asia's most dynamic markets, Penny Burtt joins the Expat Playbook to unpack a career in which she most recently served as President, Southeast Asia at Boeing.

In a career spanning the business, government and nonprofit sectors, Penny Burtt has held leadership positions in the Asia-Pacific with global multinationals Visa Inc, the digital payments company and consulting firm McKinsey&Company, Stripe and Boeing. Penny led Australia’s leading centre for Asia engagement, Asialink at the University of Melbourne, as Group CEO.

A former senior diplomat, Penny represented Australia in Asia, and the United Nations in Geneva and New York. Penny is a passionate advocate for diversity and development, and has shared her expertise as an Executive Board Member with key business associations and nonprofits in Singapore, Australia and the United States.

In this conversation, Penny shares why Singapore offers significant career options, how to think about opportunities in APAC, the difference between leading with authority vs influence, and why defining yourself beyond your day job is the best career move.

Whether you are pivoting careers, building a business in Asia, or figuring out what comes next, this episode is for you.

This podcast episode was created in collaboration with the Singapore Global Network. Interested in joining a community centered around Singapore?

Join the Singapore Global Network (SGN), a 250,000-strong community of changemakers, professionals and friends across 175 countries. SGN exists to connect people to opportunities that Singapore and its network of members have to offer.

Chapters

0:00 | Intro

0:53 | Penny's career journey

3:57 | Why Singapore?

9:55 | Australia-Asia investment and data centres

11:05 | Navigating diverse Asian markets

15:58 | Building trust with partners in Asia

17:27 | The power of showing up and staying connected

19:23 | From diplomacy to the private sector

21:35 | Leadership: authority vs. influence

23:00 | Choosing tech and staying relevant in the AI era

27:12 | Three tips for an international career

31:30 | Rapid fire round

34:53 | Thank you

#ExpatPlaybook #Singapore #CareerPivot #Leadership #GlobalCareers

In this episode of the Expat Playbook, we sit down with Ronald Poon, a Hong Kong-born, New Zealand-raised innovation program manager who spent four years living and working across Montreal and Toronto before returning to Melbourne.

Ronald shares how a two-week university study tour to Canada about data science and AI sparked a journey that took him from Montreal to Toronto, where he joined a startup consultancy running hackathons and innovation programs for major corporates including McDonald's, HSBC, and BMO.

His highlight was helping large companies "think like a startup" through running accelerator-style programs where employees pitched solutions to C-suite executives.

We trace Ronald's path from a Bachelor of Law and Commerce at Monash, through his pandemic-era move to Canada, to his return to Melbourne's innovation space.

We discuss the cultural differences between North American and UK business cultures, and why building a network in a new country takes time.

Whether you're an early-career professional considering a move abroad or are curious about what working in Canada is like, we hope you'll enjoy the discussion.

🎧 Listen to the Expat Playbook to hear more about Ronald's journey. Join your hosts Alice Hong and Hayley Winchcombe weekly wherever you get your podcasts.

⏱️ Chapters:
1:02 Introduction & tennis talk
2:43 Growing up: Hong Kong to New Zealand
5:04 From Melbourne to Canada
10:16 Finding work & building a network
13:46 Business culture: North America vs Down Under
17:49 Innovation programs & hackathons
20:43 Looking ahead: next steps & Canada advice
24:24 Montreal's hidden gems
26:26 Rapid fire
30:42 Final advice & wrap-up

#ExpatPlaybook #Canada #Innovation

In this episode of the Expat Playbook, we sit down with Antonia Robson, one of the first recipients of DFAT's Professional Placements Program under Australia's Invested: Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040.

Antonia spent three months embedded with Padang & Co in Singapore, working on innovation programs that connect corporates and startups to accelerate the green economy across Southeast Asia. Her highlight was working on the Sustainability Open Innovation Challenge, delivered on behalf of Enterprise Singapore, in which thirty multinational corporates sought technology solutions to defined business challenges.

We discuss why Singapore's efficiency, infrastructure and clear government vision on innovation make it a natural launching pad into Southeast Asia.

We also trace Antonia's path from a Master in International Relations at LSE, through consulting at Dragoman, KPMG and Asialink Business, to her current role.

Whether you're an early-career professional considering how to turn your degree into a career or an Australian curious about working on the ground in Southeast Asia, we hope you'll enjoy the discussion.

🎧 Listen to the Expat Playbook to hear more about Antonia's journey. Join your hosts Alice Hong and Hayley Winchcombe weekly wherever you get your podcasts.

#ExpatPlaybook #DFAT #SoutheastAsia #Singapore #GreenInnovation

From an accidental university exchange in Indonesia to closing renewable energy deals across Southeast Asia, Mikaylie Page's story is anything but the typical lawyer pipeline. A Renewables Lawyer at White & Case, Indonesian speaker, and self-described "not a city gal," Mikaylie chose Singapore over London, learned Bahasa Indonesia from scratch in Yogyakarta, and built a career niche at the intersection of Southeast Asia, renewable energy, and cross-cultural work.

In this episode, we unpack why Southeast Asia is one of the most exciting, and overlooked, career destinations for ambitious professionals. We also touch on how to build a niche that sets you apart, how Mikaylie handles navigating land tenure disputes in Laos and offshore wind deals in Taiwan, and how a double life between big law in Singapore and a remote Sumatran village reshaped her definition of success 🌏

Whether you're an early-career professional plotting your next move, a lawyer weighing London vs Singapore, or simply curious about life off the beaten path, this one's for you.

🎧 Listen to the Expat Playbook to be inspired by Mikaylie's journey.

Join your hosts Alice Hong and Hayley Winchcombe weekly wherever you get your podcasts.


Chapters:

1. 0:00 — Meet Mikaylie Page, Renewables Lawyer
2. 2:50 — Inside the Day-to-Day of a Renewables Lawyer
3. 5:00 — From ESG to Contracts: Finding the Right Path
4. 8:50 — Why Singapore Over London
5. 11:00 — Renewable Energy in SE Asia: Challenges & Opportunities
6. 16:50 — Is Southeast Asia Overlooked by Australians?
7. 18:26 — The Accidental Exchange to Indonesia
8. 21:30 — Learning Indonesian & Life in Yogyakarta
9. 24:50 — Redefining Success Across Cultures
10. 27:00 — A Double Life: Big Law & a Sumatran Village
11. 29:20 — Advice for Aspiring International Lawyers
12. 31:12 — Wrap Up & Thanks


#TheExpatPlaybook #RenewableEnergy #SoutheastAsia #Singapore #Indonesia #ExpatLife #CareerAdvice #InternationalLaw #WomenInLaw #RenewablesLawyer #BahasaIndonesia #Yogyakarta #CrossCultural #GlobalCareer #EmergingMarkets #EnergyTransition #ExpatStories

Aidan Hoy chartered a unique path from Perth to Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Canberra and Singapore through saying yes. From an ACICIS exchange in Yogyakarta and election scrutineering in Timor-Leste, these experiences built the groundwork for a career that saw Aidan return to Indonesia through his work in Defence; and later return to Singapore to work on election safety across Asia with a major tech company.

What does it take to build a career that spans Australia, Southeast Asia, and the tech sector? In this episode, we sit down with Aidan Hoy, whose 20-year career has taken him from political science studies in Perth to the Department of Defence in Canberra, and ultimately to Singapore, where he's worked across banking, geopolitical risk, and seven years at Meta (Facebook) managing elections and civic risk across the region.

Aidan shares how learning Indonesian in primary school planted the seeds for a career in the region, how a semester abroad in Yogyakarta changed his worldview, and how volunteer election observing in Timor-Leste and postings with the Australian Defence Force shaped his understanding of geopolitics. He opens up about his pivots from the public service to the private sector, from compliance to risk, and from Australia to Singapore, and offers practical advice for young Australians looking to move to Asia.

Along the way, we talk about Australia's unique people-to-people links with Southeast Asia, the art of cross-cultural relationship building, what a day in the life of a risk professional actually looks like, and why "benign leadership is debilitating." We wrap with a rapid-fire round covering favourite Southeast Asian dishes, underrated cities, Muay Thai, and three ingredients for leadership.

Hosted by Alice Hong and Hayley Winchcombe.

Chapters
00:00 — Introduction
00:25 — Career Background
05:03 — The Singapore Pivot
06:48 — Indonesia & Yogyakarta
09:41 — Australia's Role in Southeast Asia
13:35 — Building Relationships Across Cultures
15:43 — A Day in the Life of Risk Management
20:23 — Timor-Leste
28:20 — Rapid Fire
34:59 — Leadership Wisdom
36:01 — Wrap up