Carbon Moves into a Future Led by Women

08 March, 2023

It’s International Women’s Day, and Carbon is proud to celebrate our women-led business.

The company was founded by Tereza Tan in 2004. As a business owner and creative leader Tereza has been witness to the ever-changing creative services landscape:

“When I first directed a crew in Hong Kong, I was mocked and dismissed – they didn’t believe in me. I had to fight to be heard back then and I learned to manage. Today, a woman’s voice is more respected, and men and women work together at all levels to produce great work.

“The advertising world has evolved for the better. There are more women in senior leadership roles and doing incredible work in creative production and the wider advertising industry, particularly in Hong Kong, where it has traditionally been a male-dominated industry. These are all things to be celebrated.”

Tereza’s experience as a creative leader and film director now transcends borders. Her work at Carbon has seen her develop global creative campaigns and shoot films in markets such as London, Istanbul, and South Korea.

Tereza comments further, “Globally, more and more women are being recognised and awarded for their work and the contributions they make within the industry. But we are far from where we need to be in overall representation…”

Under her leadership, Carbon has grown from a small boutique video production studio into a mid-size end-to-end creative content agency, with offices in Hong Kong and Singapore, and a client list that includes some of the biggest and most prestigious brands in the world.

Now 75% of Carbon’s senior leadership team is female. Clara Ho and Angie Akaraskul joined in 2022 as Group Creative Director and Business Director respectively. In 2016, Kelly Chin joined the Hong Kong office as a Marketing Manager and worked up through the ranks to her current role of Business Director.

Ultimately Carbon is powered by every single employee regardless of gender but Tereza finally adds, “It’s so refreshing to work alongside so many talented female professionals and incredibly humbling to see them flourish as natural leaders.”

Concept Lab x IWD 2023 from Carbon on Vimeo.

This year’s IWD theme is #EmbraceEquity. And at Carbon, we embrace this ideal. That means we create a safe and neutral space for all our people to progress. We recognise everyone as an individual, welcome people from all walks of life and give them what they need to flourish. We’re passionate about our people, that’s why our people are passionate about what they do.