Modern leadership
Janey Wong, VP of e-commerce at Away
Meet Janey Wong, VP of e-commerce at Away
Janey is an extraordinary leader. She puts thought behind everything that she does and tries to create an empowering environment for her team but also balances the accountability side with her company. Her career has spanned two decades of deliberate growth. Graduating from the University of Alberta, she moved to Australia and worked with two amazing mentors who helped guide her on the path she is on today, as one of the top executives at Away, a fast-growing company that is regularly featured in Fast Company.
Read on for more information about how she became an e-commerce executive, advice for the next generation of businesswomen, and more.
What is your role at Away?
I started working with Away as a consultant in September 2019 and currently hold the role of Vice President, e-commerce. In this role, I oversee site merchandising, digital product management, and UX design.
What do you like most about your role?
That it is constantly challenging and changing. Since Away is still rapidly growing, I’m in the process of establishing a stronger e-commerce organization to scale with the company.
Being a part of a vibrant brand that is female-founded is also inspiring and exciting.
How did you get started in your career?
I was working in Australia for a global, non-profit, animal welfare organization where I became fascinated by how powerful effective marketing communications is for driving understanding and behavioral change. I wanted to know more. I wanted to know how. I shared my interest to pursue a career in marketing with my manager and she replied, “if this is what you want to do, do everything you can to live and breathe it.” Her continued support and mentorship was a jump start to re-routing the trajectory of my career.
I became consumed with establishing this new path for myself and immediately enrolled in a part-time, masters program in marketing. My next step was to find a marketing role to apply everything I would learn. During my job search, my sister introduced me to a contact who recently started a digital product management consultancy, Brainmates. They were hiring a Product Marketing consultant to join their team and agreed to meet with me. At the time, I had never heard of digital product management or product marketing and was uncertain whether this opportunity would lead me to where I wanted to be. The job description was unfamiliar to what I knew about marketing; I had very little understanding about digital media and technology; and, I had anxiety over any value I could bring to clients. I ended up accepting the position and this decision did not only change the course of my career, but it became clear that I had stumbled into my dream job.
What do you want to be known for as a leader?
This is difficult to answer. There is a mounting list of expectations or characteristics for what a good leader is, and the definition does evolve. These expectations are also different depending on the teams you serve.
“To the people I manage, I want to be known as empowering; to the teams I work with, collaborative; and to the leaders who entrust me with running my organization, impactful. ”
What is an area of professional growth that you are focused on?
As a naturally self-motivated individual who is up for a challenge, I have a propensity for trying to power through situations. This behavior increases the chance of burn-out and it also makes it harder to deal with tough circumstances when you don’t have the mental or physical strength to face them. As a result, I’ve been practicing a more mindful approach to managing stressful situations as a preventative measure. This includes establishing clear boundaries for being off-work and carving out time to restore by scheduling in activities that require full participation of my mind and/or body. For me, these activities include exercise, testing out new recipes and cooking techniques, or picking up new hobbies and personal projects so I can think about something else other than work. This is not revelatory. The secret is discipline and I’m still working on this.
What do you think is one of the most impactful changes the pandemic has on the business landscape?
I keep thinking about a New York Times article about women leaving the workforce to care for their families. The pandemic confirmed what we all knew: childcare and domestic work is not justly valued and it disproportionately lands on women. I believe successful organizations have a diverse workforce at all levels in the organization, but achieving and sustaining that diverse workforce will require fundamental shifts in a multitude of areas - how businesses operate, government policies, and societal attitudes about childcare and domestic work.
Do you have any advice for the next generation?
“Be intentional with your career. If you’re not taking control of your career, someone else will.” - Janey Wong