My guest today is Celeste Koravos, a Principal in Decarbonisation & Energy Transition at Xodus, focusing on Japanese investors in Australia and their partnerships with Australian companies to achieve Net Zero.

Celeste’s choice to study Japanese in high school led her to gain experience working as a foreign lawyer in Japan, and also to lead one of Australia’s oldest business organisations in the Australia-Japan space.

To me, Celeste’s Clout is her ability to leverage her Japanese language capability and understanding of the Japanese business culture to help build a stronger Australia-Japan community in Victoria, and to build partnerships that help connect Australian and Japanese expertise and capital.

We talked about Celeste’s experiences working in Japan, how she sees Australia’s expertise in helping Japan in their goal towards decarbonisation, how learning Japanese has shaped her Australia-identity and the Japanese contribution to female empowerment.

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Melbourne · Tokyo

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FOOD: Tokyo Banana

MUSIC: Noriko Tadano

BOOK: The Courage to be Disliked

PERSON: Celeste's Family

My guest today is Kevin Wang, Product Manager at a Ride-hailing Company.

Kevin’s Asia journey started in his birthplace Nanjing, where he lived until he moved to Sydney when he was 10. Kevin’s career has spanned across Asia, spanning financial payments platforms, a global digital advertising agency, and now SEA’s largest ride-hailing platform.

To me, Kevin’s Clout is having the conviction to leverage his language and cultural abilities, whilst being able to successfully build expertise within the technology verticle that cuts across all regions.

We talked about Kevin’s China experiences, being a bilingual Chinese-Australian but yet somewhat foreign in his birth country. And we talk about his perspectives as an Asian-Australian who has built a career in tech, on Australian innovation and the role that Asian-Australians play to uplift the Australian tech workforce.

Welcome to Clout Asia, where we ask Australians to take us on their journey to Asia capability by choosing a food, song, show, and person that captures the essence of their experience - to help us understand, what being an Aussie with Clout, is all about.

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Nanjing · Sydney · Beijing · Chengdu · Singapore

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FOOD: Bread soaked in fishhead soup 鱼头泡饼 Yú tóu pào bǐng

MUSIC: Chengdu by Zhao Lei 趙雷《成都》 

SHOW: Good Life《生活万岁》Shēnghuó wànsuì

PERSON: Kevin's Kiwi manager who hired him to move to China

My guest today is Natalie Lowe, an Aussie entrepreneur who has built her brand and business in Asia.

In 1999, Nat packed her bags with $1,000, bought herself a one-way ticket, and flew to Singapore. 20 years on and she is still in Asia and has built a thriving creative agency business headquartered in Shanghai with her husband.

We talk about Nat’s struggles with her identity as a global citizen versus the girl growing up in Sydney’s inner West, the importance of communication, and never believing failure to be an option.

Welcome to Clout Asia, where we ask Australians to take us on their journey to Asia capability by choosing a food, song, show, and person that captures the essence of their experience - to help us understand, what being an Aussie with Clout, is all about.

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Sydney · Singapore · Hong Kong · Shanghai

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DRINK: Coffee (lots of it)
MUSIC: Lose Yourself by Eminem 
MOVIE: Fight Club
PERSON: Natalie's Father