Career built on curiosity and courage
From an engineering student to a Production Manager, Lea's career has been defined by a willingness to embrace new challenges. Along the way, mentorship, continuous learning and the courage to step into the unknown have opened doors across the world.
Leap into the Unknown
When I finished school, I was considering two very different career paths: chemical engineering and dentistry. In the end, I chose engineering – a field no one in my extended family had ever worked in. It felt like a leap into the unknown, but one I'm grateful I took.
Shell Malaysia offered me a scholarship to study Chemical & Process Engineering in the UK.
After graduating, I joined the Shell Graduate Programme, which gave me far more freedom than I expected to learn, explore and shape my own career path. Sixteen years later, that spirit of continuous learning is still very much alive.
I continue to have development opportunities that allow me to grow, evolve and pursue new challenges.
Diverse Team, United by Purpose
That freedom – combined with the support of incredible mentors and supervisors – has taken me around the world.
From offshore platforms in Malaysia to a global role in the Netherlands, I've had the privilege of working with people from many different cultures, backgrounds and perspectives.
Life offshore creates a unique sense of community. When you spend two weeks at a time on a platform with 90 colleagues, you become like a family. As one of only a handful of women on board, I never felt anything other than welcomed, respected and included.
Shell has also supported me through some of life's biggest transitions. After the birth of my first child, I almost turned down a promotion because it would have meant continuing the two-weeks-on, two-weeks-off offshore rotation.
But my managers encouraged me to take the opportunity and worked with me to find practical solutions that made it possible – including helping transport expressed milk back to shore.
I can laugh about it now, but at the time it showed me the difference the right support system can make. With encouragement and flexibility, you're often capable of much more than you think.
Today, I work as a Production Manager for an asset that plays a key role in supplying gas to Sabah. Knowing that our work helps support the local power grid and the communities that rely on it gives me a strong sense of purpose.
The energy landscape is constantly evolving, and keeping pace with that change requires the same mindset that has guided me throughout my career: stay curious, keep learning and never assume there's only one way of doing things.
In many ways, every new opportunity starts with a leap of faith. And I've learned that some of the most rewarding journeys begin exactly there.