Cover How CAA Sports’s Samantha Peihua Chen is advocating for inclusion
How CAA Sports’s Samantha Peihua Chen is advocating for inclusion
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For CAA Sports’ Samantha Peihua Chen, diversity is the key to innovation
Growing up, Samantha Peihua Chen was raised by a trifecta of strong women—her mother, grandmother and aunt— backed by her supportive father and brother who hustled their way up in the world. They came from little money, but “it was a household that encouraged strong opinions, dreaming big, being yourself and, above all, hard work”, she says, adding that her formative years at Paya Lebar Methodist Girls’ School further cemented the belief that regardless of gender, “anything you put your heart into, you can do with hard work”.
It is with this persevering mindset—and pure grit—that Chen has navigated the male‐dominated global sports marketing industry, where she is executive vice president of partnerships and strategic development for Asia‐Pacific (Apac) at CAA Sports, part of the entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency. Having been in the industry for more than ten years, she has had her fair share of challenges.
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Pure grit
“The global sports marketing industry, even in Apac, is still dominated by white males who tend to come from a higher socioeconomic background,” she says, adding that an industry dominated by a certain background culture typically results in a gap in seeing the full picture—in this case, not being able to fully understand what is required by an Asian client. Despite their best intentions, Chen says that this “unwitting myopia” typically results in minorities having to work even harder to break through unfair stereotypes to climb up the corporate ladder.
For just being who she is, from her gender and ethnicity to her personality and physical appearance, Chen has been called “every horrible name in the book”. Yet, despite these challenges, she believes these differences make one “a bit more interesting as a person”, allowing them to adopt different perspectives from others. “Innovation can only come from having a different perspective. If we just all think the same way, we will all be robots churning out the same [ideas and concepts] and we will never try to rethink the way we do things,” she says.
Rather than throwing a pity party, or expecting someone to stand up for her, Chen has always chosen to stand up for what she believes in and protect herself. Over the years, she has learnt how to handle “hairy situations” and share her experiences with other minorities, so that they can be better equipped to face similar challenges.
Chen has always been interested in advertising, marketing and branding, but never sports. That is until she was headhunted to be part of the pioneer team of English football club Manchester United’s Apac office in Hong Kong. While Chen was reluctant at first, the persistent headhunter finally caught her attention when he told her that the company would fly her to London for two days of interviews. “[I was] sold,” Chen quips, “mostly because I wanted a free trip to London.” But while preparing for the interview, she realised that “the upside to growth in the sports sponsorships industry is massive”. Recognising this, she jumped in with both feet when she was offered the job.
After six years of helping to build the business, Chen wanted to push herself further—this time as a global salesperson. She began her next chapter at CAA Sports’ UK office in London, building the company’s business in Apac. Together with her team, Chen closed numerous global partnerships, such as one for Unilever’s Axe brand with League of Legends Esports.
She returned home in 2021, after four years in London, to help open CAA Sports’ new office in Singapore, which is the company’s headquarters in Apac. Over the past two years, her team has built up various divisions, including brand consulting, brand solutions, property sales and more. “We are just getting started,” Chen says.
Connecting through food
Within CAA Sports Apac, Chen continues to advocate for inclusion as she believes that “your team and organisation in every part of the world should reflect the mix of the population that you do business in”. While many advocate for inclusivity through professional channels, or a social media post on International Women’s Day (which Chen admits is a pet peeve of hers), Chen does it the way she knows best—through food.
As a self‐proclaimed foodie, she uses the common language of food to break down barriers, from sharing the different foods of Asian countries to organising hotpot dinners with friends and colleagues. “In the process of doing so, I am able to share how a specific local dish reflects the culture of that particular country,” she says. She would also buy snacks, such as pineapple tarts from Bengawan Solo and Irvins salted egg fish skin, and bring them back to London to share with her colleagues. The response has been “mostly amazing”.
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And instead of putting together corporate committees or official groups, Chen prefers a bottom‐up approach to inclusivity, striving to “hire, mentor, protect, empower and spotlight all minorities and lead by example”. When it comes to her career, some of her greatest accomplishments include helping to attract more diverse individuals into the industry, while putting Asia’s biggest brands on the world stage. Citing Oppo as the first‐ever global Asian partner of Wimbledon, for example, Chen says, “It’s historical moments [such as this that not only] help them drive business but also bring two cultures closer together.”
Looking ahead, she hopes the global sports marketing industry, too, will attract “more diverse individuals with different points of views, perspectives and thinking”. Chen expounds, “Diversity is the foundation for innovation.”
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Amanda Goh was the former senior writer for Tatler Singapore.
