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Minli Virdone
VP BizOps - Team Builder - Educator - Advisor
Minli Virdone is a seasoned professional with extensive experience in strategy, operations, and business development across various industries. She currently serves as an advisor for several startups, including X in a Box.15
Professional Background
Minli's career spans several prominent organizations:
- Twilio: She held the position of Vice President of Business Operations.13
- Khan Academy: Minli worked as the Chief of Staff.1
- McKinsey & Company: She was employed as a strategy consultant.1
- Government: Minli served as a social policy officer.1
- Education: She has experience as a high school math teacher.1
Skills and Expertise
Minli brings a unique combination of skills to her advisory roles:
- Strategy development
- Operations management
- Fundraising
- Team building
- User-centered product development
Her background in mechanical engineering, coupled with her diverse professional experiences, allows her to approach problems from multiple angles.1
Personal Interests
Minli is known for her passion for:
- Making things
- Building strong teams
- Enjoying word puns1
Recent Activities
In 2023, Minli shared her personal experience during the Maui wildfires, demonstrating her ability to navigate challenging situations and make quick decisions under pressure.2
Minli Virdone is highly regarded in her professional network, with colleagues praising her as a valuable peer ally who embodies sharpness, strategic thinking, and empathy.4
Highlights
In an interesting turn of events, I exhibited a couple of ceramic art pieces at the 37th California Conference for the Advancement of Ceramic Arts (CCACA) this past weekend. What started off as a beginner pottery class in May last year has turned into a multi-month ceramics journey.
There were so many firsts throughout this process. First time planning and creating for an exhibition, first time actually exhibiting art (me?!?), first time walking said art piece in a “wearable ceramics” fashion show. 😄 And of course, all the firsts that happened when I was trialing and erroring over the past few months, figuring out how to make a piece that looks like soft knitting but is actually hard porcelain.
While LinkedIn is typically reserved for professional updates, I’m sharing this achievement here because I learned so much through my ceramics journey, beyond the actual techniques. These months have been a real, visceral, hands-on experience in:
- Being super comfortable at being bad at something, and persevering through that stage. Pottery on the wheel is hard, it’s both physical and mental, and for the first several weeks/months you feel like you’re fighting the clay just to end up with wonky pots.
- Patience, as there are many steps to the process, and a lot of time between the steps. It takes weeks to go from raw clay to finished item, and while you’re taking action at each stage, so much of it is out of your control. And if you try to rush things, it often comes back to bite you as mistakes are made, or the work looks sloppy.
- Letting go, and being able to calmly throw your pieces out, even if you’ve worked hours on it. Things can go wrong at all stages of the process, either due to your actions or others. Someone else’s piece might burst in the kiln, resulting in shards of broken pieces landing on your piece. Or you might never find a piece that you had, because it went missing somehow through the firing process. Taking a deep breath, telling yourself “it’s just clay”, and moving on, is a skill.
It’s really fascinating how much of the above applies to professional life, doesn’t it? I’m obviously biased, but I do encourage that folks try a craft that’s way outside your comfort zone… it’s amazing how much you learn and how much you can open yourself to new worlds.
I’m still riding the high from the many incredible women who came to our HerPath workshop today. It was such an honor to be able to engage with this vibrant, thoughtful and passionate group of women, and be a small part of their professional development journeys. Much appreciation also to Singapore Global Network and BLOCK71 Singapore for your support.
Karen Tay and I are deeply thankful. ❤️
