Natasha Teo found confidence and community at Beam Suntory

June 01, 2022

Finding community in the workplace can boost job satisfaction and career development.

Beam Suntory Brand Manager Natasha Teo drew strength from her community of work colleagues, helping her to grow in confidence and make bold career decisions.

Feeling a sense of belonging

At a young age, Natasha was taught to respect her elders.

"There wasn’t a lot of room to challenge authority. It’s fairly common in Asian culture. As an adult, I wanted to shed some of that thinking. But I lacked the confidence to speak up. I wasn’t comfortable sharing my opinion," she explains.

When Natasha joined Beam Suntory’s Asian Employee Impact Group Harmony, she felt a great sense of belonging as part of a community of people who shared similar experiences and understood certain challenges that Asian people face growing up.

"I found a safe space to talk, listen and share my experiences with others. It’s helped my confidence at work – and outside of work," explains Natasha.

Empowered in a leadership role

Natasha also volunteered to lead Beam Suntory’s International Diversity, Equality & Inclusion (DEI) workstream, focusing on generational awareness - creating forums to listen, learn and share. Natasha lead many of the sessions and developed her mental preparation to speak up. "The more I participated, the more I shared, and the more at ease I felt discussing uncomfortable or difficult topics – or having a difference of opinion. It was empowering," says Natasha. As she started speaking up more often, people would reach out and share affirming responses. Natasha felt she had the ability to be a leader for others, and also for herself.

"I’ve found that Beam Suntory can be a place where everyone has a seat and a voice at the table to challenge ideas and personally grow into the best version of ourselves," Natasha says.

Fulfilling her dream of moving to America

Natasha's experiences helped her build a sense of community, and they also unlocked a boldness that she didn’t know existed.

Her life-long dream was to move to America. Fortunately, there was an opportunity to move into a global marketing role in California.

"In advocating for the role, I realized that when you’re confident, you can portray and deliver who you really are. The moment I accepted my new role, I felt like a football player...like I had just won the Super Bowl, in tears because I had just won for my team. It’s surreal and genuinely how I felt – overwhelmed with gratitude," Natasha reflects.

"Now I’m in LA with my husband, fulfilling my dream. And I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity to stretch in new ways, widening my functional skillset and becoming a more globally-minded marketer.”