Lauren 🖤 Kelly

We design solutions for people, businesses and products. Alternatively, we can help you to recruit designers. - Fearless™️

As a Designer by trade, I spent the best part of my career working with design teams in enterprise businesses around the world.

Originally rebelling against the idea of giving up my design hat, after 4 years of Fearless I’ve since learned I love being an entrepreneur with big ambitions and a lot of heart for the future.

The Fearless team specialises in quality design and can either taken projects end to end with meaningful impact and measurable results.

With a constant view of the forever changing design industry, we often team up with others to support charity initiatives and beta tests that will contribute towards designing a better world. 

We are authentically Fearless and believe in results through empowerment. 

I am a proud member of Chief, the community for Female Execs and Helm, the community for entrepreneurs. 

If you’re also a member, an entrepreneur / founder, Senior Leader, a fellow design nerd, ADHD, working single parent or just a bit curious, I’d love to hear from you. 🫶🏼🖤

Networking and finding incredible people from across the world is my passion, if thats you, let’s chat!

-

* Originally co-founded in 2019, I stepped into the CEO role in 2020 and become the sole founder of Fearless Group at the start of 2023.

CEO & Founder

Our three Design focused business combined makes us the the one stop shop for scaling culture driven design teams and solutions. 

As a global operations leader with 20 years of experience spanning the APAC and EMEA regions, I’ve led high-performing teams across six countries, transforming organizational culture and driving service excellence. As CEO and Co-founder of Remotify, we are redefining employment with our Employer of Record plus (+) solution. Together, we’re building the operating system for the new world of work, workforce, and workplace, empowering businesses to thrive in the era of remote employment.

Rooted in compliance, community, and control, our platform simplifies global outsourcing, making it secure and sustainable while democratizing access to impactful employment opportunities in emerging markets.

In my former role as Global Head of Service Experience at Truphone, a connectivity provider, and technology enabler in e-SIM, telco-tech, and IoT, I led award-winning teams, enabling seamless connectivity for some of the world’s most iconic brands, including Apple, Tesla, and Netflix.

My strengths include strategic thinking, organizational transformation, and human-centered service design. I’m passionate about building experiences that bring brands to life, which I’ve demonstrated through achievements in customer service, quality assurance, team engagement, and digital transformation. I also bring hands-on experience in corporate governance, where I’m constantly learning and growing.

Awards won:
2025 Tatler GenT List Honouree “Leaders of Tomorrow” 
2025 Best Digital Transformation, ICSB PH
2025 Most Innovative Business, ICSB PH
2025 Best Social Impact Initiative, ICSB PH
2025 Top Performer in Sustainability, ICSB PH
2023 - 2024 Great Place to Work® Certification
2023 Philippines’ Top 30 Leaders on LinkedIn
2023 Outsourcing Impact Award - Diversity, Equity, Inclusion
2023 Top 10 Startup Founders in Asia
2022 - 2023 Great Place to Work® Certification
2020 World’s Best Customer Service
2020 EMEA’s Best Customer Service
2018 UK Best Business Award  - Best Customer Focus 
2014 World's Best Service Team
2014 World's Best in-house Contact Centre
2014 APAC’s Best in-house Contact Centre 

Global assignments:
📍Manila, Philippines
📍London, United Kingdom
📍Lisbon, Portugal
📍The Netherlands
📍Las Vegas Nevada, USA
📍Singapore
📍Hong Kong, China

Specialties:
Leadership
Strategy
Human-centered service design
Public speaking
Business impact
Global networking
Organizational culture transformation
Operations and change management
Digital transformation
Quality assurance
Learning and development
Team engagement
Mentorship
Crisis management and business continuity

Maria Sucgang

Every year, Erwin and I take time to reflect on the year that passed and plan for the year ahead. It helps us slow down, get aligned, and be intentional about what we’re building.

Feels good to head into 2026 clear on the plan and fully aligned. Let’s do this 💪🏻

Let’s Remotify 
https://remotify.ph

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Most founders think global hiring is about cost. It isn’t. Global hiring carries the risk when something goes wrong.
⁣
When a company hires someone as a contractor instead of an employee, it’s choosing flexibility and who absorbs uncertainty.
⁣
No severance.
No healthcare.
No obligation to think about what happens to the person on the other side of the screen when a budget changes.
⁣
I saw this long before Remotify existed.
⁣
International companies running entire departments in the Philippines through “freelancers” who were, in practice, full-time employees.
⁣
They built products, handled customers, ran finance, led teams.
But their legal status says: temporary.

And people behave differently when their ground can disappear overnight.
⁣They don’t plan.
They don’t invest in themselves.
They stay small to avoid falling too far because the system teaches them not to trust the future.
⁣
When we built Remotify, we made a decision that was not the cheapest one.
We made people employees.
We included healthcare.
We took compliance seriously because yes, it sounds ethical, but more importantly because companies built on insecurity eventually pay for it in churn, mistrust, and fragility.
⁣
Founders often say they want loyalty. And loyalty comes from safety.
⁣
The future of work isn’t remote versus in-office.

It’s whether founders are finally honest about where the risk sits.

Remote work is often sold as freedom.

But for millions of Filipinos, it has quietly meant something else.
No benefits.
No protection.
No proof of employment when life asks for it.

Tatler Asia  captured the tension beautifully in this feature on Remotify. Not just the growth story, but the uncomfortable truth behind the global remote economy. Talent is borderless. Security is not.

We built Remotify to help global teams work better together, while making sure the people behind the work are treated with dignity.

From Benguet to Sultan Kudarat, we are watching what happens when professionals are given something rare in the remote world. A real employer. Real benefits. A future they can plan around.

If you are hiring across borders or working across them, this piece is worth your time.

It asks a simple question we do not ask enough.
Is flexibility enough, or do people deserve more?

Syrah Vivien Inocencio of Tatler Asia  took a closer look.

https://lnkd.in/gfvkkPP9

I often hear founders say,
“We hired great people in the Philippines, but they didn’t stay.”
⁣
They usually treat it as a people problem.
Or a market problem.
Or a compensation problem.
⁣
Most of the time, it’s none of those.
⁣
It’s a design problem.
⁣
When a company builds its team on contracts that can be ended overnight, it teaches everyone the same lesson: Don’t get too attached.
⁣
So people keep their options open.
They don’t fully transfer knowledge.
They don’t build long-term systems.
They don’t take risks inside the business.
⁣
Not because they’re disengaged.
Because the structure makes commitment irrational.
⁣
What changes retention is not motivation.
It’s safety.
⁣
At Remotify, when teams move into real employment with healthcare, legal protection, and continuity, retention improves as a byproduct.
Not because we asked people to stay.
Because staying finally made sense.
⁣
Retention isn’t an HR tactic.
It’s an outcome of how risk is designed.
⁣
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This is the kind of work we think about every day at Remotify, how companies are designed, how teams experience that design, and what actually holds up over time.
⁣
You’re welcome to join us

What would the future of work look like if we designed it from scratch without borders or limits?
⁣
The world is shifting fast. With millions of jobs going unfilled in the West and a new generation of talent rising across emerging markets, we’re standing at a crossroads. 
⁣
At Remotify, we see this as a chance to build something better: a workplace that isn’t tied to a single location, but is powered by community, trust, and the right systems to support real freedom.
⁣
A world where it truly doesn’t matter where you work—as long as you feel connected, valued, and secure. That’s the operating system we’re building: one that opens doors for Filipino talent and sets a new standard for remote work everywhere. 
⁣
The future is bright, not just for Remotify, but for the Philippines and every community ready to embrace change.
⁣
If you’re thinking about how to future-proof your team or your own career, now’s the time to invest in culture, compliance, and community—these are the foundations that make freedom possible. 
⁣
What would your ideal workplace of the future look like?

Not every high-performing team is held together by star players.

Some are held together by people who spot problems early, connect the right dots, and quietly keep everything from cracking.

We took a closer look at the kind of work that keeps teams functioning, especially in remote environments where it’s easiest to miss.

Open article: The Super Glue Inside Every High-Functioning Team by Remotify • 2 min read

The Super Glue Inside Every High-Functioning Team

Remote work is often sold as freedom.

And in many ways, it is.
Time back. Commutes gone. Life folded back into the workday.

But freedom without structure comes with a cost.

For many Filipino professionals, remote work has meant global access without local protection.
Full-time work treated as “temporary.”
Flexibility without benefits.
Opportunity without security.

This tension is what pushed Erwin Kok and I to build Remotify.

Not to make remote work easier for companies.
But to make global work more dignified for the people doing it.

Because real freedom isn’t just choosing where you work. It’s knowing you’re protected when things change. It’s having healthcare, employment records, and legal safeguards. It’s being able to plan a future, not just survive the present.

Remote work can restore presence and possibility.
But only when it’s designed with people at the center.

Grateful to Tatler Asia  for telling our story and for creating space for a more honest conversation about what freedom at work really means.

We’re just getting started

⚡ Maria Sucgang and Erwin Kok, founders of Remotify, are building a more human way to work globally.

They’re solving a real two-sided problem: international companies want to hire Filipino talent but struggle with compliance and retention, while many Filipinos working for foreign clients miss out on basic protections like social security, healthcare, and long-term stability.

By stepping in as the employer of record, Remotify makes it possible for professionals, from Benguet to Sultan Kudarat, to stay close to family, earn well, and build real careers without sacrificing security.

And as Maria puts it so simply and powerfully: “Why not the Filipina?” 💜

Purpose-driven founders creating real impact. 

#StellarSpark #StellarPH #GOAB #FutureOfWork #RemoteWorkPH #Founders

Cheap hiring looks efficient in spreadsheets.
It rarely is in real companies.
⁣
Teams churn.
Context disappears.
Managers spend their time re-explaining instead of building.
Founders stay involved longer than they should.
⁣
What looks cheap month-to-month becomes expensive year-to-year.
⁣
At Remotify, the clients who perform best aren’t the ones who minimized salaries.
They’re the ones who minimized reset.
⁣
They kept the same people long enough for trust, judgment, and product knowledge to compound.
⁣
That’s the part most cost models miss.
⁣
Cheap hiring optimizes for entry.
Durable hiring optimizes for growth.
⁣
Only one of those builds an exit-ready company.
⁣
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This is the kind of work we think about every day at Remotify, how companies are designed, how teams experience that design, and what actually holds up over time.
⁣
You’re welcome to join us.

Hybrid work didn’t fail.

What’s failing is flexibility that only exists on paper.

“Hybrid creep” is quietly reshaping autonomy at work and trust is often the first casualty.

We took a closer look at what leaders need to confront if flexible work is going to last.

Open article: Why “Hybrid Creep” Is the New Battle Over Autonomy at Work by Remotify • 2 min read

Why “Hybrid Creep” Is the New Battle Over Autonomy at Work

Founders often talk about profit as if it’s only a financial outcome.
⁣
In practice, it’s a behavioral one.
⁣
When a company is not profitable, decisions stop being strategic and start becoming defensive.
Every hire feels risky.
Every expense feels personal.
Every downturn triggers the same question: who has to go?
⁣
That pressure doesn’t stay in the boardroom.
⁣
It shows up in how managers communicate.
In how much patience disappears.
In how quickly people become “costs” instead of contributors.
⁣
One of the things we’ve learned building Remotify is that you can often tell when a company is under strain without looking at its numbers.
You see it in the way leaders suddenly manage from fear instead of clarity.
⁣
Profitable companies aren’t kinder because they have better values.
They’re calmer because they have room to breathe.
⁣
That calm creates consistency.
Consistency creates trust.
And trust is what allows teams to do their best work.
⁣
Profit doesn’t just protect shareholders.
It protects the people inside the system.
⁣
------------------------------
This is the kind of work we think about every day at Remotify, how companies are designed, how teams experience that design, and what actually holds up over time.
⁣
You’re welcome to join us.

One of the quieter highlights toward the tail end of last year was getting to sit on a panel at Philippine Startup Week  with founders who were refreshingly honest about what it actually takes to build in this market.

What stood out wasn’t optimism for optimism’s sake. It was clarity.

We talked about how the ecosystem has shifted from pitch-first to proof-first. How capital is tighter, but thinking is sharper. How discipline, clean operations, and real customer love are starting to matter more than headlines. And how AI has changed the game not by replacing founders, but by rewarding those with judgment, taste, and timing.

The conversation kept circling back to the same idea. Sustainable companies are built quietly. Through systems. Through people. Through choices that don’t always look impressive on stage, but compound over time.

Huge thank you to Sinigang Valley Association for creating the space and for somehow making a serious conversation feel light, human, and genuinely fun.

Thanks, Alea Ladaga, for the reel and for keeping things fun with the Sinigang gang!

A pretty good way to spend my birthday ;)

Let’s Remotify

When we only reward what is loud or visible, we burn out the people holding everything together. 

Great teams scale when leaders learn to value the glue, not just the shine.

What kind of contribution do you think is most undervalued in high-performing teams?

I still hear founders use the word “offshore.”
⁣
Most of the time, it’s not a neutral description.
It’s a shortcut.
⁣
It usually means the work is happening far enough away that the consequences feel lighter.
The risk feels abstract.
The responsibility feels diluted.
⁣
That’s not global hiring.
That’s distance being used as insulation.
⁣
One of the clearest decisions we made when building Remotify was to remove that distance as an excuse.
When you hire through us, you’re not adding a resource on the edge of the company.
You’re making someone part of it.
⁣
That choice changes behavior on both sides.
⁣
People don’t act like placeholders when they know they belong.
They speak more honestly.
They solve problems more directly.
They take responsibility for outcomes, not just tasks.
⁣
And founders manage differently too.
You don’t hide behind geography when the team is real.
⁣
Strong global companies aren’t built by putting work far away.
They’re built by being clear about obligation, no matter where people sit.
⁣
⁣
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⁣
This is the kind of work we think about every day at Remotify, how companies are designed, how teams experience that design, and what actually holds up over time.
⁣
You’re welcome to join us.

Hybrid work does not collapse overnight. Trust erodes quietly.
Curious where you see it break first.

What damages trust in hybrid work the fastest?

AI is being pitched as the missing link to a four-day workweek.

But tools don’t shorten workweeks. Decisions do.

Without redesigning workflows, incentives, and expectations, AI just helps us do more work faster, not work less.

The real question isn’t whether AI can make a four-day week possible. It’s who gets the time back when productivity improves.

New newsletter out. 

AI, productivity, and the future of time at work.

Open article: AI and the Fight Over Who Gets the Time Back by Remotify • 2 min read

AI and the Fight Over Who Gets the Time Back

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The Battle

Lauren 🖤 Kelly

Maria Sucgang

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The Battle

Lauren 🖤 Kelly

Maria Sucgang

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Engagements

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Maria Sucgang's LinkedIn Performance

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