My Story: Diane Tea

By Diane Tea

I was born in Cambodia and fled the Khmer Rouge genocide as a child before rebuilding my life in France with my family.

Being given a second chance in life changes the way you look at the future very early on. I knew I wanted my life to mean something.

Like many immigrant parents, my parents dreamed of seeing me become a doctor. It was a noble profession, respected, stable, and associated with success. The problem was that I could barely handle the sight of needles, scalpels or blood.

I had many dream jobs growing up, but I also understood something very early on: Money creates freedom. And after experiencing instability, freedom stops being an abstract concept…

Learning came easily to me, so I chose the most demanding non medical academic path available to me in France at the time: Science, Mathematics, and Engineering through the highly competitive “Classes Préparatoires” system before entering a Grande École d’Ingénieurs.

In many ways, I was also inspired by my maternal grandfather, who helped raise my little brother and me while my parents were in forced labour camps in Cambodia. He was a self-made engineer.

As I grew older, it became increasingly clear to me that Science and Technology were not only powerful fields intellectually, but also powerful forces for human progress, development, and opportunity.

Looking back, I have never regretted choosing Science and Technology. Beyond opening professional opportunities and allowing me to travel and work across the world, they also gave me something I had not anticipated at the beginning: a space to express curiosity, creativity, and even a form of artistic sensitivity.

Over the past 25 years, my career has taken me across Europe, the United States, and Asia through leadership roles spanning Engineering, Telecommunications, Commercial Leadership, Innovation, and Governance.

Along the way, I realised that Leadership is not about hierarchy. Even the smallest positions carry responsibility, influence, and the possibility to make a difference in someone else’s life or trajectory.

People who worked with me often described me as a tough but fair leader. Fairness has indeed always profoundly mattered to me. I pushed people because I believed in their potential, but I also tried to lead with empathy, honesty, and accountability.

Another unexpected part of my journey was writing. Toward the end of my years at Vodafone, I started sharing thoughts and reflections internally on Yammer. Later, this naturally extended to LinkedIn.

At first, I was simply trying to put words around my thoughts. Writing became a form of expression and, in some ways, healing. I was writing for myself before realising that my words were resonating with others and sometimes inspiring them.

So I continued.

Today, much of my work within Luxembourg’s Startup and Scaleup ecosystem revolves around helping people and companies align around conversations that matter: Leadership, Governance, growth, accountability, and transformation.

Perhaps this is also why this shortlisting by TechWomen4Boards means so much to me.

Because before titles, recognition, or visibility, I value simply things I tried to stay true to: fairness, responsibility, hard work, empathy, and the desire to make my life count for something meaningful.