Miss Robbie previously held the role of Managing Director, Australia and will celebrate her three-year anniversary at YouGov in October this year.

Originally from Scotland, Miss Robbie moved to Australia in 2008, prior to which she worked in international market research companies in Europe and the US. Since moving to Sydney, she has also worked to extensively across India and the Asia Pacific, including China and Japan.

“One of the key areas I will focus on in this role is to build on the strong foundations we have in place to grow a regional team that transcends our geographical borders. We have so much talent in the region and the ability to service clients globally and regionally, whilst maintaining the best what makes each market unique.”

“I think empowering our people to showcase their skills will drive momentum to power our ambitious growth plans and to increase our brand awareness of YouGov in Asia Pac,” she said.

Despite having built a career in data, Miss Robbie is a linguist and a storyteller but not a researcher.

“I have a very clever team who know research inside out, so there are certain things I leave to the true experts,” she laughs, “and like me, they are intrinsically motivated, which is something I really rely on.” But her self-effacing honesty belies a much deeper motive.

“Working in data analytics and research is all about people. I am intensely interested in people, in understanding people and in bringing the human aspect to business.”

“I believe that we can only do our best work when we can confidently bring our whole selves to our work. We all wear so many hats and our lives are challenged by so many external factors. Ultimately, our work is about people – our team, our panellists, our clients. If we look after our people, we prioritise and we focus well, the success will follow.”

Miss Robbie credits much of her career success thus far to having people who helped push her out of her comfort zone. Equally, Miss Robbie hopes to inspire and motivate others to do the same. “I want to be able to create an environment where everyone feels safe to showcase their talents – even the ones that they don’t know that they have yet,” she said.

“Throughout my career I have been given lots of opportunities and people have constantly pushed me beyond my boundaries. I’ve been asked to take on more roles, bigger roles, larger teams, teams encompassing areas I knew virtually nothing about,” she said. “I used to say yes to every professional opportunity and that served me well but now it’s about being a little more discerning and proactively going after opportunities that feel ambitious and exciting.”

When asked what she would like to be remembered for when she was lying on her death bed, the theme is similar.

“What a question! I’ve had to make some tough choices along the way, but I’d like to think I’ve always been fair. I’d like to be remembered for bringing a bit of positivity and energy to most situations. Also, for encouraging people to take the next professional step beyond what they think they might be capable of. In the end, that little bit of discomfort has always paid off for them.”

It’s a no pain, no gain kind of philosophy that any high achiever would be proud of.

But it’s not all about achievement for achievement sakes. Ms Robbie is also passionate about making YouGov’s work meaningful. In a world where “corporate social responsibility” can sometimes seem like a checklist item, Miss Robbie has already taken the first step in replacing the company’s social event committee with a “social good” committee. “It won’t always be fun living in the shadows of Covid and facing the realities our current economic climate, but we can do good and that can bring us joy and satisfaction,” she said. “Also, our teams want more from a company culture than a party scene these days. Coming together to give back is a much more powerful equation.”

Unsurprisingly, “taking a breath” is on her list of things she needs to remind herself to do in the role. “I’m in it for the marathon, not the sprint.”

Laura would also like to acknowledge the very substantial leadership and support of outgoing APAC CEO Julien Chevignon. “Julien and his regional team built the APAC region for YouGov and off the back of this success, will be taking up the role of YouGov CEO for Western Europe.”

Further information

YouGov is an international market research and data analytics firm. The global online community, at the heart of YouGov, gives millions of people and thousands of political, cultural, and commercial organisations a chance to engage in a continuous conversation about their beliefs, behaviours, and brands.

This continuous stream of data is then combined with their deep research expertise and broad industry experience, to develop the technologies and methodologies that will enable more collaborative decision making.

And provide a more accurate, more actionable portrait of what the world thinks.