Rebecca Nadilo.
This International Women’s Day, I had the privilege of chatting with international agency leader Rebecca Nadilo.
Rebecca is mum to an active three-and a half-year-old and the Managing Director of a creative agency, Iris, in Singapore.
Originally from Perth, the Curtin Bachelor of Commerce graduate lived in Melbourne and New York, before finding her roots in Singapore.
Creative and fearless, Rebecca’s door is always open to solving problems, providing team feedback, and supporting people to reach their full potential.
“Whether it’s through directly managing, or leading through influence, I think I have developed a skill in bringing the right people together, and then giving them the space and permission to do their best work,’’ she said.
Rebecca is also a firm believer in preaching what she practices.
“If we need to pull a longer night to get something finished, I’ll be right there with my team,’’ she said.
“I roll my sleeves up and work alongside everyone. If they need to get their hands dirty, then so will I.
“It’s so important that as a leader you set the example, and I think to the next generation they want to see leaders who aren’t just words.”
Growing up did you ever envision yourself the CEO of a company?
It’s funny, I didn’t have an end goal in mind, in the sense of like, I want to be the CEO of a company.
However, a key thing for me was being in a role where I was either building or fixing something.
I don’t like sitting still for too long.
If I ever get complacent or comfortable somewhere, then I know I need to move on.
For some people their drive is success, power, or achievement, mine is making an impact.
I need to constantly feel like I’m making an impact whether it’s on business, people or the world.
With over 18 years’ experience in brand and creative strategy, across Asia and the US, what is it about leading a team that you love?
I love creating the space for people to do their best work – that brings me the most joy.
Ideas are fragile, and requires people to be vulnerable, so it’s so important to create the right conditions of that – psychological safety, a sense of fearlessness and for people to feel empowered.
I’ve had people where I’ve kind of thrown them in the deep end a little bit, and while they’ve been a bit scared, three months later they come back to me and say, gosh, I learned so much, thank you for pushing me. I didn’t know I could do that.
For me, that’s the most rewarding part of my job.
Watching people grow and learn and evolve is the greatest feeling.
How would you describe your leadership style? Has it changed over the years?
It has changed slightly over the years.
But nowadays, I think my leadership style is more focused on being empathetic and empowering.
This starts by hiring very good people and giving them a vision and a goal and giving them the freedom to figure out how they are going to get there.
I don’t micromanage people.
Since becoming a mother I’m also more empathetic to everyone’s needs and their working style.
As a supportive leader I always want people to feel they can come to me with anything, and I’ll always listen and be transparent with them.
As long as the work gets done and KPI’s are being met, I don’t mind what hours you do.
I’m very flexible. If you can get it all done in two hours – amazing, all the power to you.
I also make sure I provide constant feedback.
I don’t wait for performance reviews to give people feedback. It’s just a constant culture of getting better, learning and evolving.
And I think from doing that you empower people more; you create more empathy and that’s how you create a high performing team.
Did you always envision yourself working overseas?
Yes. I had the itch to travel from young.
I remember I was around four years old, I’d tell my parents I’m going to live overseas one day.
After I finished my Honors at Curtin, and as soon as I was able to, I packed my things and moved to Melbourne.
I was there for four years, before deciding to move to New York.
New York would have been an amazing experience!
It was!
I left Melbourne with a three-month Visa, with the intent that I would give New York a shot because if I didn’t do it then, I would never do it.
I figured I’d try and land something when I’m there, and if I didn’t work out then it would be a really nice holiday.
My only regret was that I didn’t do it sooner. I landed in New York, and within two weeks had secured a position with BBDO New York as Director of Digital Strategy.
Did you have any fear of failing and not finding work?
No. never.
When I landed in New York, I was like, wow, this is it.
I thought to myself, I’m going to stay here and I’m going to get a job here.
I ended up staying three and a half years.
At what point did you decide to move to Singapore?
Well, I actually met my husband while working in New York.
He was from Norway and we both met while holidaying in Mexico.
We did long distance for a while and it was pretty clear like, okay, if this is going to actually turn into something, we need to move to the same city.
Rebecca and her husband.
Given he’s in the oil and gas industry and there was nothing for him in New York, we both thought let’s try Asia, and that’s how we ended up in Singapore.
That was 10 years ago.
Does Singapore feel like home?
Oh, I love Singapore. I really love Singapore.
With all the craziness of what’s happening in the world right now, Singapore is a very stable place to call home.
Our government is strong and strictly strategic and everyone respects one another.
Rebecca with her family in Singapore.
But as much as I love Singapore, Perth will always be home, and we will end up there eventually.
We now have a little boy and as much as we love working and living overseas it would be nice for him to be around family.
Any advice to our new graduates who are stepping out into the working world, unsure of their next move?
I would say a few things.
One is, we live in such an uncertain, rapidly evolving world.
Change is going to be their only constant and they need to embrace that and not see it as a negative, but see that as a positive.
And if you can build resilience and adaptability in yourself and constantly be learning and evolving, you will set yourself up for success.
There is never going to be one way of doing things, so be adaptable with change and embrace it as a strength.
Also, don’t wait for anyone to bring you opportunities or to open doors for you. Say yes to everything, take advantage of every opportunity, champion yourself.
The only reason I got to Melbourne and then New York and then Singapore, was because I made all of that happen myself.
Don’t let fear stop you and definitely don’t wait for someone else to make it happen for you.
