40 Under 40 2023: Lina Marican, Mutant

Lina Marican

Regional managing director
Mutant
Singapore

A passionate salsa dancer, Lina Marican’s leadership style takes a cue from the dance floor—where focus on listening and being in sync with the partner creates magic.

Marican has thrived by adapting to different roles: from agency to client, from multinational to independent, always in tune with her partners’ needs.

Within five years of joining Mutant, Marican was elevated to the role of a regional managing director. An accolade that came with a tough mandate of plugging the S$100,000 monthly revenue gap that was facing the agency owing to the tech downturn, mass layoffs, and budget cuts.

Marican focused on Mutant’s integrated capabilities to attract bigger brands while upscaling existing clients through newer branding and social offerings. As a result, in the first half of 2023 alone, Mutant signed 28 new clients on the roster, including Epson, Marriott, Johnson & Johnson, JobStreet and SOTA. 

In the past year, Mutant recorded a 17% revenue growth regionally to touch $3.56 million, Malaysia’s revenue increasing a whopping 163% during the period, alongside an industry-defying staff retention rate of 86% (and nearly 100% retention rate in Malaysia). Further, Mutant Malaysia was recognised as the PR team of the year and Mutant Indonesia turned to profits in just under nine months.

A champion for diversity and inclusion, Marican has stayed true to Mutant’s progressive values by walking away from clients who have demonstrated racism or unethical business practices. She refuses to pitch for businesses that don’t align with the agency’s inclusive values—a move that has won the confidence of the agency’s LGBTQ+ staff. 

Through career development and mentorship programs, investment in employee mental health and advocating flexible work hours, Marican has created a culture that boasts an 86% staff satisfaction rate, with 92% of employees expressing admiration for the leadership team, of which 70% are women.

Beyond the day job, Marican actively devotes time and passion to the industry and serves as the vice-chair of the PRCA APAC tech group.