entrepreneurs 29


Photographs by Angus Thomas


When they came on board and people could see we were associated with a big global OTC company, it gave them more confidence.


It


was also the fact that Bayer outsourced the work rather than doing it in-house, others could then see the merit of going to an external provider.


Both you and the company have won many awards, do you see yourself as a role model for other Asian women?


I’m always amazed to be nominated and it is such an honour to win awards. Once you have that recognition you absolutely must embrace it.


each other and they are pleased you are doing well.


Who is your role model?


I am inspired all the time by lots of different people, such as the MDs I’ve worked with, my own Ceuta colleagues, speakers at conferences, stories in the press.


It is so nice when I meet people


and they say I am a role model for them or their daughters. What is lovely about the Asian business community is the way they really celebrate success, people want to help


I also really admire sports people for how they focus and what they have achieved, people like Paula Radcliffe, who is incredibly smart, measured and disciplined. For me, that’s what life is about, I don’t think you get anywhere unless you have that discipline and focus.


What’s the secret of your success?


You have to have that winning mentality. Just settling for mediocre is not the way if you really want to succeed. You have an absolute responsibility to people, for their personal lives, their families – you have to win for them and that’s really important to me.


When I met tennis champion Marion Bartoli recently, I asked her why she had retired after winning Wimbledon and she said she wanted to go out at the top, because she had so much more to do with her life and she’s already doing that very successfully in business.


How important is giving back to the community?


We have around 200 employees and every year they all vote on which charity the company will support. This year it’s the Steve Bernard Foundation, which helps to develop young people through sport with projects across the South Coast.


We also have a very good CSR programme with coaching and mentoring for our employees and plenty of events and activities to encourage healthy lifestyles.


THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – DECEMBER 15/JANUARY 16 What are your own aims and ambitions?


For the business, it’s to keep growing and to expand our international footprint by introducing new companies to our global distribution network. It’s also about bringing in more people with the right skillset and developing the UK healthcare business further by unwinding the potential we can see as the market continues to change.


We are also looking to expand through acquisition and to work with companies that could be aligned to us. We’ve just taken a majority stake in shopper insight business, Bridgethorne, which really helps us with our brand approach, and we’re looking at related fields so we can provide a real end-to-end solution for our client brands.


And on a personal level?


I always think today is the most important day, I don’t have a hope for the future or think that tomorrow will be better – it’s about what I have achieved today.


I treat every day as if it was the first day at Ceuta and I want to keep all that energy and enthusiasm that I had at the outset.


I just want to keep learning, the world is changing so fast and peoples’ attitudes are changing – I think the biggest challenge is to keep up with what is going on and we have a responsibility to do that. The idea you had last month won’t get you through next year.


You need to have the physical and mental energy to get you there and that means training your mind and your body.


And finally, what do you do on your time off?


I love running, going to the gym and skiing.


can’t wait for the start of the ski season and I love being on the mountains.


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