When I hung my own shingle as a strategy, marketing and tech consultant, Liz Leung was my first client. She’s a fellow Wharton alumna and we bonded immediately when she hired me to work on a new printer launch. Liz is a humble leader and never seeks the spotlight.
Epson is a Japanese company and Liz leveraged her Chinese background and understanding of Asian cultures to ingratiate the executives in Japan. She studied Japanese and approached the parent company’s executives with deep and authentic reverence. In 2011, Liz was asked if she would shift her attention to help turn around the Latin America consumer printing business. She’d repeatedly gained executive buy-in for strategic initiatives in a positive and constructive manner – all while maintaining a big picture approach. She immediately started learning Spanish and while keeping the entire Latin America product team intact, she led them to turn the Epson printing business around with the introduction of its big tank printer EcoTank. That technology transformed the Latin America consumer printing market and pushed Epson to teh number 1 market share position in the region.
Liz’s advice for her 30 year old self:
- Find a mentor or mentors. People who act as your tour guide within an organization, but also act as your mirror to reflect immediate and direct feedback
- Plan. Observe what it takes to achieve the success you want within your organization and formulate your plan. Share that plan with your mentors and have them hold you accountable.
- Network. Within and outside your organization. Be authentic. Give back.
About Liz Leung
Liz has over 20 years of leadership experience in a wide range of corporate functions. Most recently, Liz has been a marketing executive at Epson America, a Japanese owned technology company based in Long Beach, California. During her tenure at Epson, Liz has been responsible for the go-to-market strategies and life cycle management of product lines accounting for up to $700M in revenues. She has also led various successful new product market entries in both North and Latin Americas, achieving top market share position within a few years after the product introduction. As general manager of her product lines, Liz has managed a large team of product managers in both Americas, and played a leadership role in many large-scale, organizational development initiatives. As a corporate leader, she has regularly partnered with various functional groups, including Finance, Operations, Legal and Sales, to achieve the organization’s objectives. Earlier in her career, Liz led the Corporate Strategy department at Epson, and worked as a management consultant at the Boston Consulting Group.
Liz studied at Cornell and Wharton at the University of Pennsylvania. Before entering Wharton, she was a wedding dress designer. Liz is an avid gardener, travels extensively, sings in a jazz ensemble, and enjoys podcasts. Her daughter, Tess, is a professional ballerina in the Smuin Contemporary Ballet in San Francisco, California.
