Expat Playbook

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1. Building a career as a renewables lawyer in Australia and Southeast Asia with Mikaylie Page

   Sep 16, 202631 min

   From an accidental university exchange in Indonesia to closing renewable energy deals across Southeast Asia, Mikaylie Page's story is anything but the typical lawyer pipeline. A Renewables Lawyer at White & Case, Indonesian speaker, and self-described "not a city gal," Mikaylie chose Singapore over London, learned Bahasa Indonesia from scratch in Yogyakarta, and built a career niche at the intersection of Southeast Asia, renewable energy, and cross-cultural work. In this episode, we unpack why Southeast Asia is one of the most exciting, and overlooked, career destinations for ambitious professionals. We also touch on how to build a niche that sets you apart, how Mikaylie handles navigating land tenure disputes in Laos and offshore wind deals in Taiwan, and how a double life between big law in Singapore and a remote Sumatran village reshaped her definition of success 🌏 Whether you're an early-career professional plotting your next move, a lawyer weighing London vs Singapore, or simply curious about life off the beaten path, this one's for you. 🎧 Listen to the Expat Playbook to be inspired by Mikaylie's journey. Join your hosts Alice Hong and Hayley Winchcombe weekly wherever you get your podcasts. Chapters: 1. 0:00 — Meet Mikaylie Page, Renewables Lawyer 2. 2:50 — Inside the Day-to-Day of a Renewables Lawyer 3. 5:00 — From ESG to Contracts: Finding the Right Path 4. 8:50 — Why Singapore Over London 5. 11:00 — Renewable Energy in SE Asia: Challenges & Opportunities 6. 16:50 — Is Southeast Asia Overlooked by Australians? 7. 18:26 — The Accidental Exchange to Indonesia 8. 21:30 — Learning Indonesian & Life in Yogyakarta 9. 24:50 — Redefining Success Across Cultures 10. 27:00 — A Double Life: Big Law & a Sumatran Village 11. 29:20 — Advice for Aspiring International Lawyers 12. 31:12 — Wrap Up & Thanks #TheExpatPlaybook #RenewableEnergy #SoutheastAsia #Singapore #Indonesia #ExpatLife #CareerAdvice #InternationalLaw #WomenInLaw #RenewablesLawyer #BahasaIndonesia #Yogyakarta #CrossCultural #GlobalCareer #EmergingMarkets #EnergyTransition #ExpatStories

2. A career in defence, risk and tech policy across Australia, Indonesia and Singapore with Aidan Hoy

   Sep 9, 202636 min

   Aidan Hoy chartered a unique path from Perth to Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Canberra and Singapore through saying yes. From an ACICIS exchange in Yogyakarta and election scrutineering in Timor-Leste, these experiences built the groundwork for a career that saw Aidan return to Indonesia through his work in Defence; and later return to Singapore to work on election safety across Asia with a major tech company. What does it take to build a career that spans Australia, Southeast Asia, and the tech sector? In this episode, we sit down with Aidan Hoy, whose 20-year career has taken him from political science studies in Perth to the Department of Defence in Canberra, and ultimately to Singapore, where he's worked across banking, geopolitical risk, and seven years at Meta (Facebook) managing elections and civic risk across the region. Aidan shares how learning Indonesian in primary school planted the seeds for a career in the region, how a semester abroad in Yogyakarta changed his worldview, and how volunteer election observing in Timor-Leste and postings with the Australian Defence Force shaped his understanding of geopolitics. He opens up about his pivots from the public service to the private sector, from compliance to risk, and from Australia to Singapore, and offers practical advice for young Australians looking to move to Asia. Along the way, we talk about Australia's unique people-to-people links with Southeast Asia, the art of cross-cultural relationship building, what a day in the life of a risk professional actually looks like, and why "benign leadership is debilitating." We wrap with a rapid-fire round covering favourite Southeast Asian dishes, underrated cities, Muay Thai, and three ingredients for leadership. Hosted by Alice Hong and Hayley Winchcombe. Chapters 00:00 — Introduction 00:25 — Career Background 05:03 — The Singapore Pivot 06:48 — Indonesia & Yogyakarta 09:41 — Australia's Role in Southeast Asia 13:35 — Building Relationships Across Cultures 15:43 — A Day in the Life of Risk Management 20:23 — Timor-Leste 28:20 — Rapid Fire 34:59 — Leadership Wisdom 36:01 — Wrap up