Malou Caluza is the director/deputy chairperson at QNET, a multinational lifestyle and direct selling company, with over 20 years of proven track record. She leads complex customer-obsession and marketing operations initiatives by providing strategic direction, positive leadership and diverse perspectives for QNET.
Caluza didn’t climb to the top overnight, as she got to where she is today, with tears, laughter and a supporting bosses who believed in her, even when she didn’t believe in herself.
She started her career in the Philippines where she came from; working as head of marketing for an entertainment company. She worked there of a year and six months, before moving to Hong Kong where she meant her husband.
“My husband did not want me to work after our first baby. He was conservative as an Asian husband. He told me that he has a good job, so I should just focus on the family. But I am a wife, mother and daughter. I have to support my family and relatives as well, so I decided to look for a job,” she told LEADERSHIP.
The first job she applied for was QNET, one of the fastest growing e-commerce based direct selling companies which has a global footprint of customers and distributors in nearly 100 countries, including Nigeria.
“QNET was the only job that I applied for, after making the decision to start my career. At that time, they were looking for customer service personnel-very junior customer service. So I applied. When I got the invitation to come for interview, I was so intimidated. I was a young mum who stopped working for years, just to care for my children,” she stated.
It wasn’t easy for Caluza to resume her career path, as she had to deal with QNET’s general manager, who is a Chinese. “He is my first hurdle as he didn’t like my nationality, but the co-founder of QNET, Mr Joseph Bismark was there. Bismark saw my potential and hired me. I went through a lot as my Chinese boss discriminated me. He gave me tough life basically, but I persevered,” she added.
Caluza was able to persevere simply because she love to serve people and she gave 100 per cent to her job as a customer service personnel. Her effort didn’t go unnoticed as two months into her employment, Bismark gave her the opportunity to start building customer service centers around the world.
“But I declined, you know why? Because women have a lot of consideration. I am a wife, a mother and a daughter. I have two young kids to take care of, so I declined. My boss didn’t accept my ‘NO’. He said to me, ‘I believe in you.’ This is one of my clicks in my life. No one has ever told me that and for me it was a click. My mind somehow opened up for the possibility. I came out from that room confused, maybe a little excited, but mostly scared, because again, I had a lot of consideration and I was prioritizing my family. However, I accepted it. I was guided and trained. I had to read lots of books and looked at our founders (Vijay Eswaran and Joseph Bismark), as my mentors. After all, I was trained by them.
“I was able to do it. I have established customer service centers all over the world, including some Africa countries. This is kind of my jump into my career path. I held that position for many years, until I moved to business development department at QNET, and then promoted as operation head. After which I became the CEO of the company, which I man for few months, before climbing to deputy chairperson of the company. I was the first director of QNET in Hong Kong. I took my job seriously,” she affirmed.
Caluza has always been a strong woman; strong to the extent that cancer could not slow her down. According to her, she was diagnosed of breast cancer in 2016. “I had to go through surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. I stepped back for like three months. I was able to beat the cancer because the founders and directors of QNET supported me. They prayed for me and gave me their full support. This is the reason why they are part of my family,” she posited.
After successfully running the company for 25 years, the next target is to ensure continuity for the next 25 years. To achieve this, Caluza said the company will deploy technology as Artificial Intelligence (AI) will help support the business. “However, I don’t think we will completely switch to AI, because we still need to deal with people, as we are human relation business.
I don’t think the business will be totally replaced by AI, but we will deploy it in areas where need be. We will allow technology to aid us in a lot of our processes, operational system and our platforms. We will also invest in our people by upskilling them,” she stated.
Advice to aspiring young women
Caluza is among the few women who have successfully navigated the business world that is dominated by men. If she can attain to the height of a deputy chairman of a multinational company, she believes other women can also achieve the highest height of their career.
She therefore advised young women not to look at the position. “You do it. Give your 100 per cent and I can assure you that the money and title will come. Be open to learning. You should not have an ego, thinking that you know it all. It is okay not to have this dream career at the beginning, because every successful individual started from the bottom. It is an amazing thing to start from the bottom. When you start from the bottom, the only way is for you to move up.
“I always think that I won’t be able to get the same opportunity like my male counterpart, because that is the mentality of people in Asia, but our founders were the ones who gave me that confidence that I can be whatever I want to be. They strengthened my resolved and I worked so hard not to disappoint them. I am using this medium to appeal to founders to give opportunities to women, as they can achieve a lot with just little help.
“As for women, you need to work so hard. Give your 100 per cent to anything you are doing. My principle is that when I am at work, I give my 100 per cent attention, I am so focus. I don’t need to work extra time, because from 8:00am to 5:30pm, I ensure I deliver. But when I am at home, I am 100 per cent mother, wife and daughter,” she advised.
Career and Education
Caluza is the current deputy chairperson at QNET limited and chief executive officer at QNET Limited, Hong Kong. Before attaining these position, she worked as the chief marketing officer, QNET Limited, Hong Kong, from 2015 to 2018; chief of network success, QuestNet International, Hong Kong, from 2008 to 2015; head of operations and business development, QuestNet International, Hong Kong, from 2005 to 2008; network support head, QuestNet International, Hong Kong, from 2002 to 2005 and junior customer service officer, QuestNet International, Hong Kong, from 1999 to 2002, among others.
She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Commerce Major in Marketing from St. Louis University, Baguio City, Philippines, 1990.
Caluza has received many awards which include, Recognised Woman CEO in Direct Selling (2022) by Social Selling News; Female Executive of the Year Consumer Products (2021), Bronze Award by Stevie® Awards for Women in Business and Female CEO of the Year for Consumer Products (2021), Gold Award by The Globee® Awards, among others.