As one of our long-time Megaporters, Miwa is full of wisdom on how to thrive at the company—and for our first-ever Success Story, she has shared her wisdom with us (hint: It’s all about teamwork).

Meet Megaport’s APAC Customer Success Manager, Miwa. Based in Brisbane, Australia (the home of Megaport HQ), Miwa has been a Megaporter for almost five years now.

She has seen a lot in that time, helping the company thrive during a pandemic, laying the foundation for new markets, keeping her team motivated, and spreading the good word about Megaport throughout the Asia-Pacific region. Miwa has shared her wisdom on how to dive in, let go, and enjoy the incredible rollercoaster ride that is being a Megaporter.

MP1: Can you provide a brief overview of your role?

Miwa: As a Customer Success Manager, I provide pre- and post-sales support to the Japan team, and post-sales support to the APAC Sales team.

MP1: How has your experience been working at Megaport so far?

Miwa: Megaport has been a very happy and fun workplace! What stands out is the great people I’ve been working with. If you have great team members that you trust, challenges turn into exciting opportunities that always end well.

MP1: And if you had one word to describe Megaport, what would it be?

Miwa: Innovative!

MP1: What do you love about your role?

Miwa: Being able to work closely with creative, clever, and motivated people, and being appreciated by customers and colleagues.

MP1: What project have you worked on that you’re most proud of? What was your part in it?

Miwa: I loved being part of Megaport’s launch to the Japanese market, alongside Joshua Munro, the EVP of APAC Sales, and other talented Megaporters. I helped provide market insight to the team and was a part of the business negotiation process, helping set up a market foundation before launch. Although the timing of our launch coincided with COVID-19, the market is increasing steadily; I’m hoping to accelerate our success by working closely with our team.

Being part of this project really increased my understanding of how Megaport’s business operates in-depth, and it helped me to further focus on areas that have a direct impact on Megaport’s success.

MP1: What do you like about your colleagues?

Miwa: They’re absolutely fantastic! Clever, innovative, creative, and goal-oriented team players.

MP1: How have you grown while working at Megaport, and how has Megaport supported you?

Miwa: Megaport has provided me with so many opportunities to create a precedent where there was none previously. I feel like I’m a trailblazer here.

Because Megaport’s services are technical, I’ve expanded my knowledge by observing and learning from the technical teams—how they manage their internal communications and projects, how they use available work tools like GSuite, Slack, JIRA, Confluence, and other collaboration tools—and I’ve applied a similar approach to my work. This has helped me to scale my work without compromising quality.

I’ve tried to educate myself as quickly as possible with critical internal tools; self-development efforts in my early time at Megaport was a bit challenging as there were plenty of tasks to complete, but I think the effort was worthwhile!

“We fly further and higher if we fly together”

MP1: How has the nature of your role changed during your time here, and how have you managed that?

Miwa: My role has evolved from just a Customer Success Manager for APAC, to also include Japan Market Sales Operations. I’ve thrived by staying open to all of the experiences that Megaport can offer and riding the waves, while enjoying each step.

MP1: What has been the most insightful piece of feedback you’ve received while working here, and how has that helped you in your role?

Miwa: Sometimes we have to “change the engine while flying”. I’ve done this by trusting the judgement of my team members. This has helped me let go of my idealism and accept the joy of flying with everyone—like a flock of birds! I’ve learnt that we fly further and higher if we fly together.

MP1: What has been a career highlight for you at Megaport?

Miwa: Being part of a super-exciting team to launch Megaport’s services in a totally new market (Japan, November 2019).

MP1: What does innovation mean to you, and how have you been innovative at Megaport?

Miwa: Innovation means being able to free ourselves from traditional ways of thinking, and use our freedom and initiative to create new approaches and opportunities. I have been innovative by managing post-sales support requirements and customer success for the APAC region without increasing headcount; I was able to do this because I educated myself on Megaport tools, found new ways to manage issues, and set a framework in the early stages of my time here.

MP1: What do you love about working at Megaport?

Miwa: I love being surrounded by motivated high achievers and working closely with them, constantly exposing innovative ways to resolve challenges, and being part of a cutting-edge technical company with such innovative products in the L2/L3 connectivity industry.

MP1: What do you find most challenging about working at Megaport?

Miwa: Megaport is all about innovative products and automation but some customers haven’t yet fully embraced these new approaches, requiring more traditional and manual support from Megaport as this is what they feel familiar with. Educating customers about new approaches takes a long time, and meanwhile we need to accommodate this manual support which can consume our scarce resources. Knowing we excel with our products, but sometimes need to slow down to match our customers’ pace, can be challenging for me.

MP1: What has been your best learning experience here, and how has that experience served you?

Miwa: Working very closely with top sales staff and even some technical geniuses has been my best learning experience. I’ve observed how they set high standards, persevere to achieve their goals, step out from their comfort zones, and try new approaches by taking calculated risks—and they have taught me how to do the same.

MP1: What are you most excited about regarding your future at Megaport?

Miwa: I’d love to see success in all regional markets within APAC—namely Japan, Singapore, and Hong Kong—and lead Asia’s SDN and SD-WAN market.

MP1: What do you see as the necessary skills, attitudes, and behaviors to be successful at Megaport?

Miwa: Accountability, a can-do/will-do approach, and the ability to find opportunities in a challenging situation by reframing issues. Success to me means getting each billing market’s sales EBITDA-positive as quickly as possible, exceeding your KPIs, and increasing quick adoption of Megaport’s innovative services in all the markets we operate in.

MP1: What advice do you have for a new team member?

Miwa: Enjoy learning about the innovative solutions we offer our customers. Try to see the multiple aspects each challenge has, as they will often present you with opportunities as well. You have to enjoy a super-quick work environment—it’s like riding on a high-speed jet coaster. Have fun! :)

Interested in a career at Megaport? Take a look at our open roles here.