Willis started his entrepreneurial journey early while in school and started his first business INC Marketing Consultants while in National University of Singapore with David Leong. He graduated from National University of Singapore in 1994 with a Bachelor of Business Administration.

A veteran in sales and marketing with more than 25 years’ experience in domestic, international and duty-free businesses. He joined a newly setup local company (Access P&C) as a manager and took it to a top 3 distributor position in Singapore with an annual turnover of S$15 million and was made the managing director of the company.

In 1997, he joined global MNC - Rothmans of Pall Mall as Area Manager for Singapore domestic market, handling a sales force of 100 personnel. With the merger of Rothmans with British American Tobacco (BAT), he moved on to take on regional responsibilities in travel retail, overseeing South East Asia and subsequently covering the larger South Asia.

In 2002, he was head hunted to join Sampoerna as it Regional Manager for North Asia and spearhead the launch of S.T. Dupont cigarettes in Asia. Within a span of 18 months, he achieved a successful market presence in 24 countries and was promoted to the head of global duty-free in 2004.

In 2007, he took on the role of head of global business development with Prima Food and extended the reach of the brand Prima Taste globally.

In 2009, he undertook an above-market supply chain and logistic roles in BAT Asia Pacific Supply Chain Service Centre as its strategic account manager.

In 2011, he started a trading firm INC Marketing & Distribution Pte Ltd to distribute beers, liquor and tobacco and handles brands -Tiger and Heineken beers for markets in Asia. He is also the partner and director in Straits Trades Incorporated, a firm focused on corporate finance works from mergers and acquisitions, fund raising and corporate re-structuring.