Winning the APAC Insider CEO of the Year Award: A Moment of Reflection, a Catalyst for What’s Next

Being named a winner of the APAC Insider CEO of the Year Awards is a humbling and deeply meaningful milestone in my career — but more importantly, it’s a reflection of the incredible movement we’ve been building at Revibes.

This recognition is not just about a title or a trophy. It’s about validation — for the countless hours poured into reshaping an industry. It’s about proving that sustainability and scale don’t have to be at odds, and that circular systems can drive both profit and purpose.

From Concept to Reality: Building a Reuse Revolution

When Revibes was founded, our vision was simple but bold: to eliminate single-use packaging across events, venues, stadiums, and airlines — without increasing costs for operators or compromising on experience for customers.

It wasn’t a popular idea at the time. In fact, the idea of replacing disposable cups at music festivals and large-scale events with a full-service reusable solution was seen as too complex, too expensive, or too unrealistic.

But we believed otherwise.

We invested early in state-of-the-art European washing technology, built out our logistics network, and forged partnerships with some of the country’s leading event operators, including Clean Vibes and major beverage brands. We made it our mission to match — or beat — the cost of single-use plastics while delivering a dramatically better environmental outcome.

Fast forward to today: we’ve now serviced thousands of events and venues, diverted hundreds of tonnes of waste from landfill, and proven that reuse isn’t just a nice idea — it’s commercially viable when executed with precision.

Leadership in the Face of Change

This award is personal not because of what it says about me, but because of what it confirms about the work we’re doing. Leadership today isn’t just about delivering financial returns — it’s about solving real problems. It’s about leading through change and being willing to challenge entrenched systems that no longer serve us.

As a CEO, I’ve learned that vision is only the beginning. Execution, resilience, and the ability to inspire belief in others are where real leadership lives. From navigating funding challenges to educating an entire industry on the benefits of reusables, it’s been a ride that’s demanded clarity, consistency, and grit.

But most of all, it’s demanded trust — from our team, our clients, and our partners — that we’re building something bigger than ourselves.

The Team Behind the Mission

No CEO award is won alone. Behind every milestone is a team of passionate individuals who have bought into a shared mission and shown up, over and over again, to bring it to life.

To the staff who work overnight shifts stacking and collecting used cups at festivals, to the marketers educating venues on sustainable procurement, to our advisors who help steer the ship in the right direction — this award is as much yours as it is mine.

The culture at Revibes is one built on ownership, accountability, and ambition. We don’t settle. We challenge one another to think bigger, work smarter, and push boundaries — because we know that’s what it takes to make reuse the norm, not the exception.

A Win for the Circular Economy

Beyond the individual recognition, this award is a win for the entire reuse and circular economy movement. It signals that there is growing mainstream acknowledgment of the work being done to combat climate degradation through scalable, systemic innovation.

Awards like this are powerful not because they spotlight individuals, but because they elevate conversations that matter. They bring visibility to under-recognized solutions and help change the narrative around sustainability — from one of sacrifice and cost to one of opportunity and innovation.

Lessons Learned on the Journey

The journey hasn’t been without its setbacks. There were early failures, rejected proposals, logistical missteps, and moments where the easier path would have been to walk away. But I’ve come to believe that the most impactful businesses are those that persist through resistance.

Some of the key lessons I’ve taken with me as a CEO:

• Solve for systems, not symptoms. Real change happens when you redesign the system, not just the end product.

• Hire for mission, not just skill. When people believe in the ‘why,’ the ‘how’ becomes so much stronger.

• Sustainability must be practical. For reuse to win, it must be affordable, scalable, and easy to integrate.

• Educate, don’t preach. Change happens through conversation, not confrontation.

• Stay close to the ground. There’s no substitute for being present at events, listening to staff, and seeing the impact firsthand.

What Comes Next

While the award is a proud moment, it’s not the destination. If anything, it’s a springboard into a much bigger chapter.

We’re scaling rapidly — expanding our reach across Australia and New Zealand, and exploring opportunities in Asia and Europe. We’re working on new product lines, smarter digital tracking systems, and government-backed trials to measure our impact in real time.

Our vision remains bold: to make reuse the default choice for every stadium, festival, airline, and food operator across the globe.

And we’re just getting started.

Final Thoughts

Winning the APAC Insider CEO of the Year Award is a moment I’ll always remember. But it’s what it stands for that matters more: belief in innovation, leadership with purpose, and the power of persistence.

To everyone who has supported me and the Revibes mission — thank you. Your belief fuels the impact we make every single day.

And to the next generation of entrepreneurs and changemakers: if you’re building something that feels hard, disruptive, or “too early,” keep going. The world doesn’t need more of the same — it needs bold solutions, built by people willing to go first.