Reinvention with humility&embracing innovation with Lan Tran - a podcast by Michele Ong

You have to pivot or reinvent yourself to stay relevant. This idea gets bandied about a lot these days but there are going to be times in your life and in business where it has to happen.

Lan Tran is a powerhouse in sales and marketing is no stranger to this concept. She has seen the decline of the paper business directory with the advent of Google ads, the challenges of returning to work after raising a family, and the devastating impact of crypto on a local metaverse game studio.

We speak about approaching reinvention with humility, and Lan's observations about innovation and entrepreneurship in tech and Western Australia.

About Lan Tran 

Lan Tran's career commenced in sales with Yellow Pages. She found her calling and thrived in facilitating businesses, corporates and government agencies around Australia to brand, market, and advertise themselves. Her time at Yellow Pages set her up with a strong foundation in Account Management, PR and Stakeholder Management. As the top 2% Sales Executive of the 900+ sales team across Australia, Lan was integral to her company's annual strategic sales and marketing planning with senior leadership. Lan has worked across Australia and Asia leading sales teams and brings with her a wealth of contacts and proven strategies that lift an organisation to the next level.

Sales and marketing is a craft and an art form that continue to lead her into different businesses over the years that suited her lifestyle, which has included living and working overseas, a stint in recruitment, and a couple of years home-schooling her child prodigy.

As a skilled communicator that builds genuine and lasting relationships with ease, Lan joined Ninja Software and was responsible for quadrupling the revenue through strategic lead generation and securing industry partnerships. In the last 12 months, with Ninja's pivot into a Web3 game studio, Lan quickly became the evangelist for metaverse possibilities and connections.

She is known in the tech industry as an absolute powerhouse in all aspects of sales, relationship building and marketing.

Unfortunately, due to a series of unfortunate circumstances (crypto winter and FTX crash) the company she was with went into administration a week before last Christmas. This is a raw conversation with Lan about what it means to be a woman in tech, and how she navigates through changes.

Lan has since been appointed as Chief Sales Officer at EXTAG.

Show Notes (link)

[00:01:40] Lan's beginnings with communication studies.

[00:02:12] Finding her way to sales.

[00:03:24] Yellow Pages vs Google Ads: Embracing new technology.

[00:08:46] Before: the dangers of moving too slowly; Now: the risk of moving too quickly.

[00:10:44] Reinvention leads to progress. 

[00:12:01] Reinvention requires humility.

[00:13:01] Reinvention after returning to the workforce after raising a child.

[00:15:34] Meeting Ninja Software.

[00:17:50] The attraction of a metaverse project.

[00:19:27] The frustration with the hype around NFT and wanting a product with real utility.

[00:20:36] The challenges of getting funding in tech in Western Australia. 

[00:21:32] Pivoting the entire business model of a company.

[00:24:07] The opportunity to cultivate a pipeline for new industries locally.

[00:27:13] We need to bang the drum for innovators out there to encourage growth in these sectors.

[00:31:38] Don't let 'tall poppy syndrome' stop you.

[00:35:29] The greatest loss is that of the potential to build a local communiy of talent and a pipeline for this industry.

[00:37:16] Bonus Question: Which childhood book holds the strongest memories for you?

[00:39:01] Bonus Question:...

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