The country manager of Traveloka Malaysia shares the values that shape her leadership style today
After more than 20 years in the hospitality industry, Angelica Chan learned very early on that perseverance was the best response to adversity. She recalls applying for multiple hospitality jobs in Australia as a fresh graduate, only to be turned down repeatedly. Her first job after university was back in Kuala Lumpur at Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur, where she started her career in the housekeeping department. She also worked as a receptionist and a waitress before moving into sales and marketing.
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“Doing laundry, tagging people’s underwear, receiving reservations and bookings—I knew I had to start at the bottom. It was a great way to understand the inner workings of the hotel,” muses Chan, who worked at online travel platforms like Agoda and Orbitz before joining Traveloka in 2016.
Reflecting on her career experiences and how the right leadership can be a game-changer for mums in the workplace, Chan shares her biggest takeaways as a leader in the travel tech sector.
Getting to the top means starting from the bottom
After university, I had a degree but no working experience. Applying for jobs in Australia was really tough. Australian kids typically studied and worked part-time, so many of them would already have some work experience. As Asians, we tended to focus studying. So I came back to Malaysia and started working in housekeeping, as a receptionist and in F&B. It was a helpful experience.
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