China's 1st HubSpot Certified Trainer
HubSpot Impact Award: Technical Expertise 2023
Integromat Social Media Contest Winner 2021
China's 1st HubSpot Certified Trainer
HubSpot Impact Award: Technical Expertise 2023
Integromat Social Media Contest Winner 2021
I'm Kristeen Romero
The systems architect who was never built for the system — and that's exactly why I build systems that actually work for the people using them.
The Story
When a system is rigid, people break.
I'm a "Third Culture Kid" born in the relentless hustle of Hong Kong to Filipino immigrants. From the outside, I lived between two worlds. On the inside, I often felt like I didn't belong to either.
Growing up, the system was always fighting me. Public examinations weren't designed for independent thinking — they were designed for absolute precision. In Biology, Chemistry, even Mathematics, you were penalised for not using the exact phrasing in the scoring rubric, even if you understood and explained the concept perfectly.
My secondary school placed me in the "Science Stream" because that's where all the "smart" students go — even though my strengths were in Humanities. I spent years forcing my brain to work in a way it wasn't wired to. When I finally switched to a school that let me take Humanities for my A-Levels, I thrived in class. Top in most subjects on school exams. Then I failed the public exams anyway.
I didn't know it then, but I was also navigating an undiagnosed neurodivergent brain — I received my ADHD diagnosis at 28 — through a system that demanded conformity.
When a system cares, people thrive.
Every summer vacation, I returned to my parents' home province of Pampanga. While Hong Kong taught me competition, speed, and rigidity, the Philippines taught me community, kindness, and joy.
My role model wasn't my mother, who had a high-flying job at Mattel. It was her eldest sister, Tita Chat — an elementary school teacher with three kids who lived on a modest salary. She practiced a radical kind of generosity that still inspires me today.
Before we arrived, she'd spend hours cooking our favourite meals and sourcing the Philippine mangoes and balut I was obsessed with. She woke up early to go to specific market vendors so everything would be ready the moment we walked through the door. She made time outside of work to sit down with me at the dining table and teach me Tagalog. No agenda. Just care.
Those summers were the only time I got to be an actual kid — free to just be myself.
The yellow slippers.
Because of the pressure of exams, university, and building a career in Hong Kong, I couldn't visit the Philippines for almost half a decade. When I finally returned in my mid-20s, my family had a simple housewarming gift waiting: a pair of house slippers from the market.
Mine were yellow.
I paused. My favourite colour at the time was red. But knowing how thoughtful they were, there had to be a reason. Then it hit me — my favourite Teletubby as a child was Laa-Laa. The yellow one.
I had completely forgotten about that. They hadn't.
After all the years apart. After the stress-induced hair loss and losing my eyebrows as a teenager. After failing my favourite subject. After sneaking out to pay for my own therapy. After all the weight I had been carrying without knowing I was carrying it — they had remembered one tiny detail from a decade ago, without ever being asked.
"This memory always brings me to tears."
Revenue operations with care and resilience at the forefront.
My lived experiences taught me that systems work best when they're tailored for individuals and address real human concerns. People should not have to feel like they're fighting something every day just to get things done.
So in every engagement, I bring two things: (1) the grit and efficiency of someone raised in a fast-paced, high-stakes city and (2) the spirit of the Philippines, where I learned the power of kindness, facing challenges with humour, making the most of what you have (diskarte), and celebrating each person's individuality.
Hei (喜) is the Chinese word for happiness. Double it up to form 囍 and you get double happiness — symbolising the harmony I aim to create when I bring these two worlds together.
You get the grit and efficiency of someone from a fast-paced city, powered by empathy, resourcefulness, and a human-first approach. Sprinkled with the occasional meme here and there.
A few things that shape every engagement.
See Our values
We build revenue-driving systems on HubSpot for businesses that are ready to grow - and keep on growing.
01. Systems work best when they're tailored for the people using them.
Processes should be as frictionless as possible, and metrics should be tied to outcomes that are real, contextual, and meaningful. People should not have to feel like they're fighting something every day just to get things done.
02. Real change comes from empowerment, not dependency.
I build things so that you understand them. Documentation and knowledge transfer aren't extras — they're the whole point. If your team can't maintain what I built after I leave, I haven't actually finished the job.
03. Good operations should feel invisible.
When things are working right, your team isn't thinking about HubSpot — they're just closing deals and serving customers. That quiet confidence is what I'm building toward.
Evolving from Content Marketer to Technologist
2012 - 2016
Freelance Writer, YouTube Creator
& Research Assistant
Starting at the age of 18, I was passionate about writing and pursued freelance writing positions in both local and online publications. At the same time, I had been uploading Japanese vocal covers on YouTube since I was 16 — amassing 17k+ subscribers and 4m+ views.
Once I started university, I became an assistant for my marketing professor. I provided support in consumer behavior research and eventually co-authored a paper on mobile app usage.
2016 - 2020
Content Marketing
Immediately after graduating university, I started working in boutique marketing agencies in Hong Kong, eventually landing a role at a HubSpot Diamond Partner agency. I often owned the full client relationship and acted as a one-woman delivery team.
I created content and developed marketing & SEO strategies for clients like The Ritz-Carlton, Dubai Multi Commodities Center, DJI, China Telecom Global, and Ampd Energy.
🏆 HubSpot Impact Award: Website Design Q4 2019
🏆 HubSpot Impact Award: Website Design Q3 2021
🏆 HubSpot Impact Award: Platform Excellence Q1 2022
2021 - 2023
RevOps & Automations
Working in a HubSpot Partner Agency for 2 years led me to discovering my love for building elegant technical solutions, managing data, and fixing automated processes. I pivoted to a more technical and solutions architecture role.
This is when I started diving deeper into custom integrations, low code applications, and creating alignment between people, operations, and technology.
🏆 Integromat Social Media Contest 2021 Winner
🏆 #1 in Sprocketeer's Oct 2022 HubSpot Top 5
🏆 HubSpot Impact Award: Technical Expertise H2 2023
2023
Hong Kong's 1st HubSpot Certified Trainer
Running several successful HubSpot onboardings encouraged me to sign up to become a HubSpot Certified Trainer. The courses and practical assessments took a few months to complete in between my HubSpot Partner work.
I eventually used the knowledge and framework from this program while running HubSpot Partner Scaled Onboardings (PSOs) for over a dozen clients in Australia and New Zealand in a span of 5 months.
2023 - 2025
Elite HubSpot Partner Technologist
I transitioned to working on several data-intensive, Enterprise-level accounts in a pod structure at one of the top HubSpot Partners globally.
Collaborating with strategists, I delivered technically complex solutions involving Data Hub tools, custom integrations, low code applications, Google Apps, SQL, NodeJS, and Python.
2025 - Now
Hey Hei Ops
I took everything I learned from over a decade — the patterns, the pitfalls, the fixes that actually stick — an now run my own independent consultancy.
If your HubSpot feels more like a burden than an asset, let's talk.
I offer a free discovery call. No pitch, no agenda — just an honest look at what's actually broken and whether I'm the right person to fix it.