Tell me a bit about your background and how you started your career?

I’m a true disruptor and entrepreneur. I was born in Thailand, in an agricultural family in one of the most rural parts of the country, where education is difficult to access, and I was the first person in my family to graduate from university. When I was 13, I moved from Thailand to Sweden as an immigrant, then I came to London to study English. I thought it would be impossible to go to university here, considering that I barely spoke English when I arrived. To my surprise, I managed to pass the English exams within six months. At the last minute, I applied to university and got accepted. It was a dream come true for me. I always had the drive and ambition to create value and, like any success, it didn’t come without hard work and obstacles – cultural, social and financial.

What motivated you to found Tapoly?

I feel fortunate and proud that I have had the opportunity to start my own award-winning insurtech business. Before founding Tapoly, I trained as a chartered accountant and had a successful career in investment banking, holding positions at top-tier banks, including UBS, Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan Chase.

Like many of the best business ideas, the concept for Tapoly was born out of personal experience. In 2016 I wanted to rent out my flat through Airbnb, but I couldn’t find an insurance policy to suit my needs. I wanted a policy that would protect my property, myself and my guests against any risks, but I couldn’t track down one that gave me the short-term flexibility I needed. The rest, as they say, is history and I created Tapoly.

I quickly realised this type of requirement wasn’t unique to my situation – the “gig-economy” in all its forms was being massively underserved by the insurance industry. I had a great co-founder in Sam Hopkins, who is a software developer, and together we set about providing tailored insurance products for the 4.4 million (and growing) freelancers and micro-SMEs in the UK. The gig-economy needs insurance that covers the complexity and the flexible lifestyle of freelancers at a fair price and through Tapoly we’ve been striving to meet the insurance needs of freelancers worldwide.

Why is it so important for you to promote the representation of women within insurance and tech sectors?

From my own experience growing up, I didn’t really know of any women in tech, and even when I was at university in London, there weren’t many women in tech and finance that I knew of. Fortunately, female role models such as my mother, my teachers and my mentors have inspired and encouraged me throughout my life, and this has given me the confidence to forge ahead in my career.

Being from an ethnic minority, an immigrant and one of very few female founders in insurtech, I have had my fair share of experience in adopting new languages and cultures and solving my own problems, whether financial or cultural. This drives my passion to be as inclusive a leader as possible. It’s important to me to create space for everyone to feel accepted and shine within my business and the wider industry. There are females and people from diverse backgrounds making up the Tapoly team, and I regularly speak at industry events and forums to try and encourage people from all walks of life to get involved in the insurance and tech industries.

My desire to do this started at the outset of my career, while working at Deutsche Bank, where I was an active member of the Women Diversity Network. At UBS, I was also chair of the Multi-Cultural Awareness Network. I am thankful that in both these roles I was able to promote change and encourage diversity within the organisations and externally.

What were the main challenges you faced in your career and how did you overcome them?

During my career in investment banking, I developed a good understanding of the financial regulations required for running a regulated business. Plus, the risks and control frameworks needed, including the operational aspects of running a business, which involve financing, people, processes and technology.

However, my co-founder Sam and I didn’t have backgrounds in the insurance industry, so we needed to upskill. We did this by finding a great accelerator programme focusing on insurance, and we went through insurtech-specific accelerators for the first 18 months. By the end of this, we had gained a much broader understanding of the insurance market and were able to refine our business value proposition to perfection, not to mention making some useful contacts. As we came out of the programme, we launched, in partnership with Lloyd’s insurer Beazley, one of the first on-demand insurance platforms for gig workers.

Another challenge that emerged was that the on-demand insurance concept was not yet widely understood. This meant it was harder to persuade investors and customers to buy into an unknown insurtech platform. Today, our on-demand insurance concept is more familiar to investors, insurers and customers, and Tapoly has been recognised as one of the pioneers in the insurance industry.

We are now one of the world’s leading insurance experts in the gig-economy market and have overcome Brexit and Covid. The results of Covid have actually been positive for insurance companies with digital capabilities such as Tapoly, as we are well positioned to solve the need for digitalisation and innovation in the insurance market.

What do you believe are the keys to effective leadership?

To be a successful leader, you need to surround yourself with smart people who can help you grow. It’s not about believing in your own ego and trying to be the best at everything yourself. It’s about fostering collaboration and understanding the potential of your team and having knowledgeable people and resources on board. I’m also passionate about the benefits of leading an inclusive and diverse team.

I think self-awareness is also key in allowing us to overcome our own mental and emotional challenges when leading others. I always try to maintain a growth mindset, and since being a business owner means facing new challenges every day, you always have to be willing to learn from those around you. I think this growth mindset also helps to build my resilience, which is a particularly important skill to have as a leader at present.

What advice would you give specifically to women in leadership roles? 

It’s very important as a woman in a traditionally male-dominated industry not to believe your gender will hold you back. It comes down to mindset again, and if you doubt your abilities and start letting imposter syndrome take hold, then you are setting yourself up for failure.

I also see huge value in a good mentor. I am proud to have mentored many women and men throughout my career and think the value in this shouldn’t be underestimated. My advice for women who want to pursue entrepreneurship or senior leadership roles is to find a mentor within and outside the industry who can help support you in your career.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

Probably that success is like running a marathon: it takes time and can’t be rushed. You must also be prepared to seize opportunities and be ready to move, and you have to take risks and not be afraid to fall, get up and keep going, even when things get tough. Eventually you will get to the finish line.

How would you describe your work/life balance?

As a founder and entrepreneur with employees and investors to take care of, it can be tempting to work long hours and, of course, there is always something that needs to be done. However, I am mindful of being a good role model to my team and how important it is to look after myself and my own health. I try to create balance by scheduling in time for meeting up with friends and leisure activities I enjoy, such as cycling.

The City is constantly evolving. What are some positive changes you think should be celebrated and what areas still need more work?

Change has happened and continues to happen, but there is still more to be done to provide equal opportunities. I’m talking about changing the corporate culture to embrace gender diversity and be more supportive of women, which takes time.

It’s still a fact that fewer than seven per cent of tech jobs in Europe are held by women. There’s also still a barrier around the perception of what it’s like to work in the tech sector. The idea that the sector is still inflexible and requires long hours to get ahead means there’s potentially a whole pool of female talent being wasted. There are still a number of fundamental changes that need to be made to break down barriers and diversify the workforce, including changing the culture, increasing the amount of funding available to female founders, more mentoring opportunities, and better access to education and training for women in tech. These changes are starting to happen, but there is definitely more to be done to accelerate the pace of change.

Having featured in Brummell’s Inspirational Women list in 2022, what is your next focus or goal?

We’ve had an exciting year so far and it feels as though 2022 has flown by. We’ve been expanding our platform in emerging markets. We are also in the process of launching the first reinsurance platform for cannabis insurance, as well as motor insurance. According to Insurance Asia, motor insurance is one of the largest general-insurance segments in Thailand, worth $6bn in GWPs, so we are very excited about the prospect of servicing this market.

For the rest of 2022 and beyond, I’ll be continuing to drive forward with new and existing opportunities, trying to keep Tapoly’s customer-first focus front of mind as we scale and grow. I’ll also keep doing my bit to encourage diversity and inclusion in the industry by taking part in events and other awareness-raising activities.

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