From Customer Service to Creative Communications: How Jenny Yuen forged her own path at Bupa

When Jenny Yuen started out in Bupa’s customer service team, she had no idea what she wanted to do for a career. Then she was handpicked for a new social media team and the door flew open to the intriguing world of creative marketing. Eleven years on, she’s leading a team as Bupa’s Creative Communications and Operations Manager.

Here’s Jenny’s story:

I didn’t start out with what you’d call a linear career trajectory.

Some people always know what they want to do for a career. Take my sister – she knew from just 15 years old what she wanted to do, whereas I was just bouncing around and seeing what fits.

In my early ‘20s, I was working as a Project Administrator in Queensland when I decided to move to Melbourne. I’m not sure why but I just knew Melbourne was the place I needed to be, so I packed up and moved without any real plans.

That’s when I saw a customer service role advertised at Bupa. The Bupa brand was very strong in my mind, as this was the same time as the big advertising campaign, “Find a Healthier You”. I loved that the brand was all about becoming the healthiest version of yourself – it was something I could really get behind, and it still motivates me to this day.

Bupa makes it easy to explore new opportunities.

When it comes to your career, you never want two years to look the same. That’s one of the reasons I love working at Bupa – it’s given me constant opportunities to grow and progress. I’ve always found that I’ve been able to move freely and explore new roles.

When I started in the customer service team, I was also studying for a Communications Design and Marketing degree. Then, not long into the role, I was selected to be part of a new Social Media Customer Service function. 

Cast your mind back ten years and the idea of social media customer service was completely new. This was a great opportunity to get involved in something different and exciting. We built the service from the ground up. We created new ways of working and a new tone of voice to talk to customers over social media. It was really rewarding because we were focusing on how we could deliver the best service to our customers in new ways.

Sometimes you don’t know what you're interested in until you do it. Working in social media customer service gave me a connection to the marketing team and I became really interested in what they were doing. So, I set up a meeting with one of the marketers to pick their brain and see how I could make the leap.

That was the most planned I’ve been in my career! They were really generous with their time and advice. That meeting sparked an opportunity for me to do a marketing secondment for a few weeks, which turned into months, then a year, and the rest is history.

Bupa helped me find my voice.

One of the things I'm most grateful for in my time at Bupa is the support I've received in progressing my career. I’ve always been supported by leaders who believe in me and what I can bring to the table.

When I first started at Bupa I was quite shy, I’d hold back in meetings and wouldn’t really contribute ideas. But my first leader in marketing called that out and encouraged me to be more confident. It helped me find my voice – and once you find your voice, you never lose it again.

Now I’m a people leader. In my previous role, I gained the experience and confidence to apply for my current role as a manager leading a team of four. Like anyone, I had “imposter syndrome” at first. But good leaders need good leaders. And because my leader had so much faith in me, I was able to push myself to be the best leader that I could be.

I love helping people live their healthiest life.

One of the reasons I love working at Bupa is that I’ve never struggled to reconcile my personal values with the organisation's values. The thing that drives us is to help people be healthy. That was true when I first applied for the customer service role and it’s true now.

I think that’s why one of my proudest achievements is creating the Bupa Health Hub, which is a one stop site for answers to common health insurance questions. I’m a real content and health insurance nerd, so this was a perfect marriage of my skills. It’s really motivating to create things that can make our customers’ lives easier, and whenever I see it, I’m really proud.

Our people are Bupa’s secret sauce.

Anyone who joins Bupa is always surprised how genuine and kind people are here. People are drawn to Bupa to help other people, and they bring this into every interaction with colleagues and customers.

Unlike many large organisations, Bupa doesn’t feel hierarchical. I have no issues with sending a message to someone who is much more senior. That’s also because our leaders are very approachable. You can tell they genuinely care about their role, about the people they work with, and about doing their best work for the customer. This genuine care is one of the unique things that makes Bupa such a wonderful place to work. 

My advice? Reach out to people.

People are more generous with their time than you think. Ask lots of questions, make connections, and take the opportunities that come up. When you’re at Bupa, you can be confident that you’ll be supported every step of the way.

Join us and be at the heart of it.