Women Who Lead: Microsoft Advertising's Renee Stopps on carving a path in tech

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This month, MARKETING-INTERACTIVE is running its Women Who Lead podcast series in conjunction with International Women’s Day, spotlighting female leaders across the region’s agency landscape. The series unpacks leadership journeys, hard-earned lessons, and what meaningful progress truly looks like across marketing, advertising, and communications.

The third episode features Renee Stopps, regional sales director, partner sales, APAC at Microsoft Advertising. Stopps joined Microsoft in 2016 and has spent close to a decade growing from account director to a regional leadership role that did not previously exist. she described it as “definitely not linear”.

Reflecting on her path, Stopps shared that she never quite had it in mind a progression to move up from account director, to sales manager, and now regional leader. “But I was given advice by a mentor early on in my career around taking the opportunity to build my skills and capabilities along the way. So I continued to learn.”

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In a region such as APAC, where leadership roles can be limited compared to larger markets, Stopps said constantly learning allowed her to step into newly created roles with confidence. “Even though I might not have had APAC experience, I had other things that I was able to relate to what I was trying to achieve,” she explained.

Stepping into leadership in tech, however, came with its share of hesitation. For Stopps, confidence was not about having all the answers. “It’s not about having all the correct answers. It’s really about how you show up as a person,” she said. Anchoring herself in values such as resilience and authenticity helped her navigate unfamiliar territory. Saying yes to stretch opportunities, even when they felt uncomfortable, became a defining mindset.

While she acknowledged that more women are now occupying senior seats at the table, Stopps believes work still needs to be done, particularly in mid-career stages where female representation often drops. “We really need to make sure we are nurturing them and continuing to build confidence, and building pathways, and giving women just as much opportunity as what we are providing the males in our industry,” she said.

Beyond her corporate remit, Stopps is an active DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) advocate and mentor, participating in industry programmes and leading internal career development initiatives. For her, giving back is deeply personal. Growing up in Western Sydney in a low socio-economic area, she said her career achievements were shaped by her mother’s example.

“She raised my sister and I on her own, worked four jobs, and she was always doing everything she could for us,” Stopps shared. “That’s where my belief that everyone has a voice and everyone’s voices should be heard comes from.”

DEI, in her view, is not a side project. “It’s something that I really live and breathe,” she said, describing leadership as creating clarity, fairness and psychological safety across diverse markets.

Her advice to women aspiring to lead is simple. “Don’t wait to feel ready,” she said. “None of us are really 100% ready when big opportunities come our way. Take those opportunities that are going to stretch you. Sure, you’ll fail, but you will learn so much, and it will make you a much better leader as you come out the other side.”

Also catch the podcast on Spotify:

Tune into the rest of this conversation on your favourite podcast platforms, by searching up Marketing Connected. For all the visual people out there, we’ve got your back as well, with our vodcasts on YouTube.

This episode was made in partnership with Microsoft Advertising.

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