The sun rose at 6:42 am, casting a warm glow over the East Coast Park Expressway (ECP) in Singapore. As the city began to stir, Weiyun H. found herself in a different state- awake and working for the past 24 hours. Back then, she was a senior associate in a law firm, where 72-hour workweeks were the norm.
The legal profession demanded perseverance, resilience, and hard work and Weiyun found it rewarding to see the cases she worked on reported in the news and when she achieved a winning outcome for a client. She worked in small teams, forging camaraderie and friendships amidst the long hours.
But that morning, as the sun painted the cityscape, Weiyun questioned her path. Why was she sacrificing sleep? Could she sustain this pace for her entire career? These questions marked the beginning of a quest for a more purposeful career.
Weiyun explains that the legal profession teaches one to manage stress and remain calm under pressure, even in the face of adversity. Lawyers need to think critically and communicate effectively and persuasively, and she believes that these skills are valuable and transferable to other areas of life. She wanted to stay connected with the legal profession and got an opportunity to do a 6-month secondment in an energy management company as a legal counsel on their APAC team. That experience solidified her desire to become in-house counsel.
Fast forward to 2024, Weiyun has spent more years in-house then in a law firm. Her journey has been exciting, especially at Kimberly-Clark, where she joined in 2012. “I am fortunate to have met many people in Kimberly-Clark who are exceptionally generous in sharing their experiences and knowledge and gave me "opportunities to grow.” Weiyun’s typical day at work includes tackling marketing claims, contracts, tax issues, competition issues, employment and finding solutions to manage crisis and risks.
Instead of being driven by billable hours and fees in a law firm, Weiyun focuses on understanding the business priorities and delivering solution-oriented advice to help the business navigate legal complexities and challenges. “It is particularly rewarding to see the business successfully deliver its goals or avert a ‘crisis’ and how my advice may have played a part in that,” she adds.
More than that, Weiyun mentions that she takes pride in the fact that Kimberly-Clark’s products have the power to make lives better for people around the world. “I am proud of our products and our brands. I am now an advocate for our brands and products with my family and friends. I am my niece’s diaper supplier. I find myself offering Huggies® diapers to my friends with babies and toddlers and WyPall® brand wipes and microfibre cloths, passionately explaining the features of the products,” she stated.
Weiyun feels grateful to her colleagues for making Kimberly-Clark a wonderful place to work. Appreciating the flexibility that she experiences in her current role, Weiyun mentions, “I now wake up to watch sunrise!”