The EY Entrepreneur of The Year Awards gala made a return to the Majestic Hotel Kuala Lumpur recently. As in preceding years, Malaysia’s leading entrepreneurs, corporate leaders and partners of EY gathered to toast the Nation’s best and brightest as the EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2017 Malaysia was revealed recently. The gala, officiated by Dato’ Seri Ong Ka Chuan, Second Minister of International Trade and Industry served as a platform to recognise the country’s most successful entrepreneurs for their vision, courage and leadership in building and growing successful businesses. So, without further ado, here are this year’s winners:
EY Woman Entrepreneur Of The Year 2017 Malaysia
Sharala Axryd
Managing Director, The Center of Applied Data Science.
I was nominated last year and had decided I wouldn’t do it again, until someone asked if I realised how many women I would inspire on this platform. It was something I never considered at all. I think most of us do what we do because we believe in it and want to be successful in it. What we usually don’t realise is how we can impact others from what we accomplish.
The company has also grown exponentially since then. We’ve stopped being reactive, and have become more strategic and plan things better. I think the biggest recognition was when, for the first time in Malaysia, LinkedIn picked me to do a campaign on women in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) industry. They e-mailed this campaign to individuals and I had women write to me, telling me how inspired they were by my story and how they hoped our paths would cross. I was, like, “wowâ€.
This made me realise that being successful is also about being in the position to impact lives, which is not something I would have thought of many years ago. I think when you’re so focused on what you want to do, you sometimes underplay or underestimate what’s happening around you. That has certainly changed for me.
