Educator by Day, Dad by Night

I avoided speaking at all costs.

Speech impediment. Paralyzing fear. Zero confidence.

Now I teach others to do the very thing I once couldn’t.

✅ Advise Fortune 500s on AI-driven marketing & sales
✅ Organize CMO Roundtables that bring Asia’s top marketing leaders together
✅ Lecture at top universities across Asia, helping students find their voice

What changed?

Not talent. Not timing.

Just this: I kept showing up. Even when I was scared.

I share this because too many students and professionals still believe confidence is something you’re born with.

It’s not.

It’s built - through repetition, reflection, and real-world reps.

If you’re building yours, I’d love to hear your story too.

P.S. If I could turn my biggest fear into my career - you can too.

Joe Escobedo

I taught 50+ masters students at Singapore Management University 

How to cut their job search time in half using AI.

75% of resumes never reach a human (they get read by the Terminator). 

Instead, I share 3 proven approaches:

1) Use AI to decode the job description first. 

Match your resume bullets to its exact language. Then score for ATS fit before you hit send.

2) Your LinkedIn headline is not your job title. 

"MBA Graduate | Open to Work" is invisible. "Helping B2B SaaS companies 3x pipeline with AI-powered marketing | CMO-track | SEA" gets found.

3) Keep outreach under 75 words. 

Reference something real about them. One specific ask. Read it aloud. If it sounds robotic, rewrite it.

One student rewrote her resume bullet live during the session. 

Before: "Responsible for marketing campaigns." 

After: a specific number, a target audience, and a result tied to revenue.

Remember, 70%+ of jobs never get posted publicly. 

The people who land them sent a good message to the right person at the right time. 

AI makes that faster. It doesn't make it automatic.

Joe Escobedo aka JoeGPT

AI Marketing Advisor, CMO Roundtable Host, Trusted by 25k Leaders, Author (How to Get a Job in Asia)

"Joe, everyone knows you," my friend teased. 

I laughed it off. "No they don't."

Three seconds later, a young woman walked up to our table.

"Are you Joe?"

I nodded.

Her face lit up. 

"I was one of your students in your Boston Consulting Group (BCG) class."

Then she said something I wasn't ready for.

She still remembered my class.

And she informed me she'd just been promoted to Managing Director of a social enterprise (AMGD Global) here in Singapore.

(Why are all my former students trying to make me cry hehe.)

I don't know how many students I've taught over the years. Thousands. 

Maybe more.

I don't always know what lands. 

Most of the time, you just show up, give everything you have, and they walk out the door.

You teach into a void and hope something sticks.

But sometimes, years later, someone crosses a restaurant to find you.

And you realize the void was listening the whole time.

To every teacher, trainer, mentor, and coach reading this... keep going.

You have no idea who you're shaping.

(Thanks to all the people that made this magical moment possible Yvonne Tan, Mei Lee, Julie Wang, and Nadhrah Alhadi...so proud of you!)

21,000 followers.

When I started posting on LinkedIn, I genuinely thought my mom and two classmates were my entire audience. (Hi Mom.)

So hitting 21,000 feels worth a small celebration, and some completely useless-but-fascinating facts about the number 21,000:

🔢 21,000 hours is roughly 2.4 years. About how long it takes to truly master something, according to the "10,000-hour rule people" (give or take).

🌍 21,000 years ago, the last Ice Age was still in full swing. Humans were already hustling, just with fewer LinkedIn notifications.

✈️ A Boeing 747 cruises at about 21,000 feet before reaching full altitude. Still climbing.

📬 More practically: this community is now bigger than many mid-sized towns in Asia.

What I've learned from 21,000 of you: 

B2B professionals across APAC are hungry for practical, no-BS insights on AI, marketing, and doing business across cultures.

That's exactly what I plan to keep delivering.

Thank you for being here. 

The best posts are still ahead (at least I hope so).

Being competent is not a career strategy. 😭

I used to think if you did good work, people would notice. 

Then I started running workshops with mid-career professionals and kept hearing the same story: reliable, capable, even indispensable.

And still invisible when promotion decisions got made.

Sat down with Dawn Fiona C., Alex Loh 劳星裕, and Debbie Yong on The Financial Coconut to unpack why that happens and what to do about it.

We covered:
- 5 real scenarios where capable professionals get overlooked
- How AI has shifted what effort and expertise actually look like
- What leaders evaluate when deciding who's ready for the next level

Especially worth it if you're an introvert or someone who'd rather do great work than play office politics.

🎧 5 Things No One Ever Taught You About Getting Ahead at Work ▶️ Link in the comments

Big thanks to Cheryl Lau for inviting me and producing everything!

Are young Singaporeans redefining success, or just burning out faster?

Cheryl Ng did both before she turned 20.

Study Instagram at 17. Quit from burnout. Return in Poly. Sleep 2 hours.

Breakdown. 

Eight hours of sleep. Better grades. Better focus. 4.0 GPA. 

Advocate for mental wellness while staying ruthlessly ambitious.

Her story isn't unusual in this part of the world. The pressure to perform is real, it's early, and it compounds.

What shifted for Cheryl:

- She stopped measuring herself by titles and output
- She used the goal gradient effect to build habits that didn't rely on willpower
- She reframed AI and uncertainty as tools, not threats

The students and executives I work with across APAC are hungry. 

That's not the problem. 

The problem is most of them have never been taught that rest is a performance variable.

Cheryl figured it out at 20. Some people never do (including me for many years).

At what age did you start treating recovery as part of the job?

(Link to full episode in the comments)

$50,000 in prizes for founders solving one of Asia's biggest challenges.

Asia is ageing fast.

That's what the SUSS Entrepreneurship team is trying to fix with Pitch for Good.

Having partnered with the team and have watched this come together over many months. 

The team has built real pathways for winners: 
- testbedding opportunities
- up to 50,000 in cash prizes 
- flight sponsorship for non-local founders

Grand Finals: 26 August 2026 
Deadline to apply: 17 May 2026

If you're building in ageing-tech, eldercare, or social innovation, this is the one to enter.

Tag a founder who should know about this.

#PitchForGood #Geronpreneurship #Singapore #SocialInnovation #SUSS

A roundtable costs around $10,000+ per session. 

Most companies waste that budget before the invites go out.

I was talking with a CMO last week. 

She was direct about what she actually wants from an executive event: ❌ no sales pitches
❌ no product demos
❌ no awkward cold-table seating

What works in Singapore is a 
✅ room of 10-14 people
✅ a facilitator who can move a conversation 
✅ a topic that ties back to your target audience's KPIs

The value is in the conversation, not the slide deck though. 

Sponsors who understand that get referrals. 

Sponsors who don't get a room full of people checking their phones.

If you've hosted or attended a roundtable in APAC recently, what made it worth your time?

The best marketers aren't the ones who know the most tools.

I've noticed this across every workshop I run in SE Asia. 

The person who walks out with the clearest plan is rarely the most experienced in the room. 

They're the one who came in knowing exactly what they don't know.

That gap — between digital activity and measurable ROI — is what the High-Impact Digital Marketing Masterclass is built around.

8 & 9 April, JW Marriott Kuala Lumpur. 

Topics:
- AI-powered marketing and automation
- Content strategy for lead generation
- Paid advertising (Facebook and Google)
- Conversion rate optimization
- Data, analytics, and ROI measurement

✅ HRD Corp claimable. 
✅ Past participants gave it a 9.5/10 average rating, which I'm told is unusual for a 2-day program.

If your team is spending on digital marketing but struggling to show what it's producing, this is the right room.

Contact Azmina: +60123500766 / Eugene: +60109154521.

Will AI steal my job (or my spouse)?!

I get asked this question a lot. 

For my upcoming Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) (B2B Digital Marketing class), I plan on flipping it around:

- What does AI do better than you? 
- What do you do better than AI? 
- Where do you need each other?

AI wins on speed, synthesis, pattern recognition. 

It can read 10,000 customer reviews and find the three things nobody said out loud. 4 seconds. Not 4 hours.

Humans win on judgment that requires context, relationships, and knowing when the data is lying. 

You can tell when a client is unhappy even though the NPS score says 8. 

AI can't.

The jobs disappearing aren't the ones AI can do. 

They're the ones where people refused to learn how to work alongside it.

The spouse question though? (Still figuring that one out....)

AI is making your employees lazy (or lazier, in some instances.) 

Here's what's actually happening inside most organizations right now:

Someone needs to write a proposal.
They prompt AI. 
They get something 'decent.'
They copy and paste, then send it.

No real thinking. No real creativity. No judgment applied. 

Just a prompt, an output, and a deadline met.
Multiply that by your entire team. Every day. For 12 months.

And you wonder why they're not getting results.

The problem isn't the tool (*insert shocked GIF*). 

It's that nobody taught your people how to use it without switching their brains off.

The AI "gurus" will tell you to move faster. Automate everything. 

I'll tell you something different: 

The most valuable thing your employees bring to work is their judgment. 

Their creativity. Their ability to think.

AI should sharpen that. Not replace it.

If your people are using AI as a crutch instead of a weapon, you're not transforming. 

You're just getting busier and staying average.

Category   Strategy   Planning   &   Implementation:   Developing   and implementing   a   comprehensive   category   strategy   that   aligns   with   the company's overall business objectives.  Conducting   market research   and analysis to identify market trends, customer preferences, and competitive landscape to inform the strategy Product Portfolio Management: Managing the product portfolio within the assigned   category.   This   includes   evaluating   new   product   opportunities, analyzing   product   performance   and   protability,   and   making recommendations for product additions, modications, or discontinuations Market and Competitive Analysis: Monitoring and analyzing market trends, customer needs, and competitive landscape within the product category. Keeping   abreast   of   industry   developments, emerging   technologies, and competitor activities to identify opportunities and inform decision-making Pricing   and   Margin   Management:   Developing   pricing   strategies   and guidelines for products within the category, considering market dynamics, competition, and   protability   targets.   Analyzing   pricing   performance, conducting, and recommending adjustments to optimize margins and sales volume Sales and Marketing Support: Working closely with sales and marketing teams   to   develop   product   messaging, and   promotional strategies.   Providing   product   training   and   support   to   the   sales   force, assisting   in   developing   sales   collateral, and   conducting   product presentations to customers and stakeholders Vendor   and   Supplier   Management:   Collaborating   with   vendors   and suppliers   to   ensure   the   quality, and   cost-e8ectiveness   of
products   within   the   category.   Negotiating   contracts, managing   supplier relationships, and conducting performance reviews to ensure compliance with quality standards and delivery timelines.

Product Category Manager

HP Inc

Lead the digital transformation in photo and publishing industry across APJ

Business Manager - Photo and Publishing Segment, Asia Pacific and Japan

Hewlett-Packard

Help transformation the A2D business and ensure consistent growth opportunities.

Business Development Manager -  HP Indigo, India and Srilanka

Radio Mirchi

Brand Activation - Manager

Solutions Digitas

Manager - Client Servicing

I am a Product Category Manager at HP, with over 17 years of global career success in the photo and publishing industry. I have an MBA in International Business and Marketing, and I am passionate about driving digital transformation and innovation in this dynamic and competitive sector.

My core competencies include developing and implementing comprehensive category strategies that align with the company's business objectives, managing the product portfolio within the assigned category, evaluating new product opportunities, analyzing market trends and customer preferences, and making recommendations for product additions, modifications, or discontinuations. I also excel at leading sales and business development activities, establishing healthy and long-term relationships with clients, negotiating pricing and promotions, and optimizing the cost and quality of the products and services. I have a customer-centric approach and a proven track record of achieving business growth and maximizing the competitive strength of the division.

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