About Me
mawarni /ma•war•ni/
Pronunciation: (maa-wahr-nee)
Mawarni Adam is a brand marketer, 2x founder, and a self-published author. Her corporate career experiences include Dow Chemical (USA), McCann Worldgroup, Citibank Malaysia, Tune Protect Group (f.k.a. Tune Ins Holdings Bhd), AirAsia BIG Loyalty Programme, Tune Hotels, Sime Darby Group, iflix Group, Berjaya Sompo Insurance Berhad, Sompo Holdings Asia, and Toyota Malaysia.
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​Mawarni is no stranger to international, regional, and local marketing award shows and major conferences as she has served as a jury/judge, panelist, and speaker on many occasions. To date, she has won over 20 awards, honors, and recognitions garnered while leading her brand and marketing teams in various organizations, including her ventures.
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She was a Fellow member at The Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) UK from 2019 to 2022 and achieved the coveted Chartered Marketer status, being among the 3,000 registered Chartered Marketers globally. Closer to home, she was also an Affiliate Member of the Institute of Corporate Directors Malaysia (ICDM) from 2020 to 2022, enriching herself in learning about the architecture of the modern board as part of her leadership growth.
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Outside of her career, Mawarni actively mentors women who are making a career comeback or a career shift, and young adults who are looking for career advice, networking tips, and personal branding guidance. Since 2019, she has mentored over 20 mentees from all over the world through partnerships and collaborations with various groups and associations.​
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Mawarni is a mother to two children, daughters Janae and Faylin, who are in their early twenties and late teens, respectively.
Hobbies
"Monetizing your hobbies isn't killing them. It's making them extraordinary" - Tim Denning
Outside of work and during her downtime, Mawarni spends time on her hobbies. Some of her hobbyistic work are available for purchase at her online SHOP.
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​Book Publishing: In March 2024, Mawarni self-published her first book on Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), titled "The Introvert's Guide to Personal Branding: How to Win and Thrive at Quiet Branding". She plans to add more published works over time.
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Merchandise: Mawarni turns her hand-drawn designs and creative work into merchandise such as cotton t-shirts, spiral notebooks and ceramic mugs. Her first merch collection will drop in 1H of 2025.
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Seasonal Gifts: Focusing exclusively on candy topiary towers, these made-to-order gifts are available seasonally on her online store. Pre-orders typically open around September/October every year.
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Blogging: Mawarni writes sometimes on her blog. While she has no plans to add a paywall for her content, she has been considering adding a seasonal/limited series interview-style podcast to her content portfolio.​​
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Mentoring: Mawarni is passionate about helping others, especially women. She is particularly moved by the quote, "Be the person you needed when you were younger". Continuing her efforts since 2019, she occasionally offers mentoring sessions for those who need it.
Mawarni Was Featured In
Portfolio of Work
Some of the brand building, marketing and digital transformation work executed under Mawarni's leadership
"SOMPO Moji" Updates in progress
"Influencer Marketing" Updates in progress
"Products Campaign" Updates in progress
"CX Transformation" Updates in progress
"Partnership Launch" Updates in progress
"Life @ Sompo" Updates in progress
"Fill Up & Fly Free" Updates in progress
"Paint a Plane" Updates in progress
"BIG Travel Wish" Updates in progress
"The TUNEtastic Race" Updates in progress
"Tune Teddy" Updates in progress
"Tune In & Win" Updates in progress
Past Ventures
From 2008 to 2012, Mawarni built and grew two e-commerce platforms, (1) Magnoliya Gifts (fka Marvelous Gifts), an e-commerce gift-creation service and marketplace, and (2) Geboo, an organic-based baby cloth diapers and clothing brand.
The two platforms eventually evolved into click-and-mortar businesses with Magnoliya's corporate clients include Hilton Kuala Lumpur, PNB Darby Park, MEPS, Crown Plaza Hotel Kuala Lumpur, Nomura Asset Management, and BNP Paribas, whereas Geboo was retailed at five of Parkson's elite stores and Zalora in Malaysia, and included boutique retailers such as Little Green Planet and a collaboration with Sereni & Shentel.
The first generation e-Commerce Website (f.k.a Marvelous Gifts)
Chinese New Year Custom Corporate Order
Christmas Custom Corporate Order
Bespoke/Custom Small Events Order
Corporate Custom Hari Raya Aidilfitri Order
Hari Raya Aidilfitri Custom Corporate Order
Bespoke/Small Events Custom Corporate Order
Hari Raya Aidilfitri Custom Corporate Order
Hari Raya Aidilfitri Custom Corporate Order
The custom e-Commerce site with social media integration
The complete sales kit
Introduction and product demo for childbirth educators as part of distribution/sales channels
Introduction of the gift sets to the product range
One of the media coverage in Pa&Ma Magazine
Launched clicks-to-mortar model. Geboo expanded from online channel to Parkson elite store in Pavilion Mall, KL.
Launched clicks-to-mortar model. Geboo expanded from online channel to Parkson elite store in Setia Alam Mall, Selangor.
Launched clicks-to-mortar model. Geboo expanded from online channel to Parkson elite store in One Utama Shopping Mall, KL.
Launched the brand's inaugural calendar.
From 2020 to 2024, Mawarni built and grew MARQETR, which began as a two-sided internet marketplace placeform then pivoted into a platform to empower women content creators through on-demand creative talents, monetization and subscription model. This venture gave her the opportunity to work with innovative technological tools and amazing talents from around the world.
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Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the company raised its first external capital in October 2021. In December 2023, a US-based firm invested and simultaneously acquired MARQETR, which was when Mawarni's role within the company shifted to a strategic advisory role, and where she eventually exited in February 2024.
MARQETR 2021 Video
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This was the venture's first video, introducing the concept and benefits of the platform. It was used as a marketing tool for users, as well as an informative tool for fundraising pitches to investors and presentations to partners.
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More videos were developed afterwards, as more features were added to the platform.
MARQETR Pitch Deck
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This was the venture's first investor pitch deck from 2021 which introduced the concept and benefits of the platform. It went through several iterations since then, which led to the latest investment and the eventual acquisition in Q4 2023.
To help and inspire future entrepreneurs, Mawarni chose to share some parts of the deck here.