A Field Marketer’s First Year Inside Cloudflare’s APAC Operations
When Cloudflare’s CTO John reviewed the company’s blogging statistics and found that men outnumbered women as contributors, he encouraged more women to write. Els (Elspeth), Field Marketing and Events Manager for APAC, took up that challenge to share what it is like working inside the company from her perspective.
Her interest in joining Cloudflare was sparked by co-founder Michelle Zatlyn’s Quora response about working at the company. The answer emphasized direct communication regardless of seniority, with themes of curiosity, getting things done, and empathy. Els found the candid, down-to-earth tone unusual for a top executive and decided to see if it held up in practice.
Onboarding in San Francisco
New hires historically attended a two-week orientation at Cloudflare’s San Francisco headquarters, covering all company functions. The most memorable session was a 1.5-hour crash course by CEO Matthew Prince on the company’s origins and the cloud computing competitive landscape, delivered with theatrical enthusiasm.
Chief Security Officer Joe Sullivan also ran an impactful session on cybersecurity basics, using real-life examples to explain why security matters—particularly valuable for non-technical staff like Els. Separately, she had about twenty meetings with marketing team members over one week to understand how the global team operated.
Building an APAC Pipeline from Singapore
Back in Singapore, Els was quickly tasked with building pipeline for the region across ASEAN, ANZ, Greater China, India, Japan, and Korea. In her first six months, she planned and executed an average of 28 events per quarter, ranging from Gartner Security Risk Management conferences in Sydney and Mumbai to ChinaJoy in Shanghai, AWS series across ASEAN, and security conferences in Korea and Japan. She also organized an IPO celebration for over 150 people in Singapore on three weeks’ notice after the company went public on September 13, 2019.
The workload was intense, but she credits the supportive team culture for helping her navigate early mistakes. When Cloudflare announced its Japan office opening, Els was handed a fresh challenge: launching the company’s first brand campaign in Japan from scratch. Her team worked with leading Japanese media on digital advertisements, advertorials, and video campaigns over three months, iterating weekly based on results.
She also helped run Cloudflare’s first hybrid press conference, bridging Singapore and Tokyo with 35 journalists participating—six top-tier media in person and 29 online. Coverage included an article in Nikkei, Japan’s most influential business newspaper.
Career Development and Inclusion Programs
CMO Jake launched a mandatory career conversations program, requiring every team member to discuss their future vision with their manager at least once. For Els, this opened an honest conversation about cross-departmental and cross-border transitions, a path Cloudflare actively supports.
Reporting to Aliza Knox, head of APAC, Els found an environment where gender discrimination was not a factor in her experience; she felt encouraged to be ambitious regardless of age or seniority. She took that support and pursued an online MIT course.
Els also leads Womenflare in APAC, an Employee Resource Group focused on cultivating an inclusive, safe environment for women at Cloudflare. She organized an International Women’s Day luncheon where APAC leadership shared stories about managing career and family. Other Resource Groups include Proudflare for the LGBTQIA+ community and Afroflare for the global Afro-community.
Adapting During COVID-19
When COVID-19 first hit APAC, Els observed the company’s flexibility and empathy in responding. The Business Continuity Team issued regular guidance on local regulations and remote work. The office support team provided equipment like computer chairs for home setups. Site leaders organized virtual yoga, Friday wine-downs, and games—including Activeflare, where teams from Singapore and Australia exercised together on a Saturday and mapped their activities with tracking technology.
The company also launched fireside chats with leaders from other companies, giving employees exposure to external perspectives. Els’s favorite was with Doug, Chief Legal Officer, and board member Katrin Suder.
Looking to Year Two
Els acknowledges she now has enough experience to do her job well, but still has room to grow. She applies John’s advice—that overnight success takes at least ten years, and that reading and exercise are essential to staying sharp—to both her personal and professional life.
