You Are What You Buy

For some, entry into the sprawling world of gaming comes quite by chance. Take Aussie Susan Quach. She graduated from the University of Technology Sydney in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting and IT. She worked as an accountant for a few years, but in 2011, Quach did what so many young Australians do. She took time off and backpacked through Europe.

“I quickly found out the Australian dollar did not stretch that far during that time, so I started job hunting,” she says.

She interviewed at OpenBet as a business analyst.

“I was offered the job the same day and have not looked back since,” she explains. “It helped that I was a consumer of sports betting in Australia.”

After 11 years, Quach is still committed to OpenBet, a B2B firm serving the sports betting industry. Working in London, Singapore and now Chicago offered her an opportunity to see how different jurisdictions deal with sports betting, how culture impacts the dynamics. It also meant a sole focus on the IT side of her degree, working on software development and delivery. 

Will Ellis, director of engineering who hired her at OpenBet, has been a helpful mentor to Quach.

“He instilled the drive in me to continuously improve processes as things evolve, whether it be the company or product, and always see the opportunity in change,” she says.

Quach has seen her role evolve quite a bit in her time with OpenBet. She started off working on major projects, rolling out sports betting software solutions to major U.K. customers. 

“I pivoted to the commercial side after seven years, and worked in the presales team where I provided technical and product sales support to business development to close new deals. My responsibilities included responding to RFPs, pitches (in-person and remote) and lead creation,” she says. 

She moved to Chicago with a focus on growth in the still-young U.S. market in the wake of the repeal of the federal sports betting ban. Quach built a team to include local talent support for customer rollouts.

“As senior director, customer experience at OpenBet, I lead the global presales and customer success functions,” says Quach, who enjoys squash, hiking and snowboarding in the winter. 

The Covid-19 pandemic shook up the industry. Before Covid, no one would expect all major sports to be put on hold, forcing suppliers to get creative with content during those months. Content continues to be a focus today, Quach says. 

In five years, Quach hopes to have an established customer success function in OpenBet to deliver creative and engaging sports betting solutions around the world.

“The industry is too exciting to leave with new markets opening up, regulations changing,” she says. “It keeps you on your feet. I would highly recommend it to those interested in a fast-paced and complex working environment. It helps to be a consumer of the product, because there is a steep learning curve to get up to speed on all things sports betting.”