Yun Yip is the Managing Director, APAC at HYP, a consumer intelligence platform providing audience planning, measurement and analytics tools.
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1) To kick things off, could you tell us a little about your career background and current role?
Like most people I know in the advertising industry, we didn’t plan for it. We tend to “fall into it”. I started as a media coordinator at Dentsu (media agency) and then spent the other half of my time in agency land at Publicis. It was a good 7 years.
Apart from the experience, I made lifelong friends. I then took 6 months off to travel across the Americas. It was great to have time to reflect on my next career chapter. I realised how much I loved the industry and also wanted to broaden my view of advertising and pick up new skills.
I ventured into digital sales at Telstra. Digital media opened up possibilities for consumers and marketers I never knew was possible and in my subsequent roles, I’ve continued to strive for the potential to do even more with technology.
I later joined 1st Screen rising through the ranks from a state sales manager to Co-MD. This paved the way to my next role as Country Manager and VP at programmatic powerhouse MediaMath, and to my current role as MD at HYP – a data platform striving to add value every day to any player in the ad tech ecosystem.
2) What does a day in the life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?
I’m up at 5am on weekdays. I love my mornings as it is my time. I start with a quick meditation and then a quick scan and reply to any overnight emails. Then the day begins with a F45 + yoga or F45 + run combination.
This 2 hour window is a foundation to my wellness, especially through lockdown (where I have continued F45/yoga through zoom). My work day starts around 7.30/8am.
The composition of my work day does vary. Anywhere from catching up with clients, internal team standups, prepping for partner presentations, admin and emails. I love it. When we’re not in lockdown, a main difference is the ability to connect with partners and clients in person (and I sure miss that!), as well as travel interstate for that same reason.
I tend to log off around 6 to have dinner with my husband. I’ll do one round of emails around 8-9, and start to wind down with a cup of tea and getting up to date with various social networks.
3) Does your current role allow for flexible or remote working? If so, how does that fit into your life and routine?
At HYP, we have a very flexible way of working. We have our office in North Sydney and when we prefer, we can always choose to work remotely. Because I’m out and about for meetings a lot, the ability to work from ‘wherever is most effective’ has been the rule of thumb.
4) What does work-life balance mean to you and how do you work to achieve that goal?
It’s certainly one of the criterias that has to be checked off. I love what I do and I love my life. It is important for everyone in the team to feel valued as a person – and that includes that life outside of work too.
Over the years, I have learnt how to say ‘no’ at the appropriate times. For me, work-life balance means the ability to fulfil both personal and professional goals.
5) In the past 12 months, have you started or stopped any routines or habits to change your life?
One of my favourite things to do with my husband is eating out. With the lock downs in 2020 and 2021, we have learnt to bring a lot of what we enjoy in restaurants to our home.
We play to our strengths – Ian is in charge of the cooking and tends to let me know what’s on the food menu on Thursday. I tend to be the bartender and organise the matching beverages around it. I’m grateful we continue to have the opportunity every week to share a special meal in good company.
6) Do you have any favourite books, podcasts or newsletters that you’d like to recommend?
Books: The Choice by Dr Edith Edgar, The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
Podcasts: The Daily (NY Times), Unlocking Us (Brene Brown), The Economist Editor’s Picks)
7) Are there any products, gadgets or apps that you can’t live without?
There’s so many, is there a limit?
Product: iPhone, air pods
Gadgets: Whoop (fitness tracker), Coravin
Apps: Apple Music, Spotify, ABC News, BBC News, Bloomberg, Net-a-Porter, Dan Murphy’s, Uber Eats, Instagram
8) If you could read an interview about work-life balance by anyone, who would that be?
Tough to name just one. Here are my top three – Jacinda Ardern, Amal Clooney and Michelle Obama.
9) Do you have any last thoughts on work, life or balance that you’d like to share with our readers?
Be it work, life or balance – it’s great to learn from people you respect and look up to. The most important thing though is to find what works for you and embrace its uniqueness. As the great Maya Angelou said “success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it”
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