Current role: Non Executive Director
Current organisation: Screen Australia
Last role at PwC: Partner
Time at PwC: 2010 - 2019
What’s the one career achievement you’re most proud of?
Before PwC I worked in broadcast media as a producer and executive producer. Back in the nineties I was the first woman to executive produce the number one news-talk program on commercial radio. It was syndicated to 77 radio stations around Australia and had an audience reach of 2.5 million listeners.
In the nineties the commercial media industry was very sexist. Women in management were scarce and even though I was the boss of the program, I was required to wear a skirt to work, as did all the women in the office.
My success was that I broke the glass ceiling in that industry but my failure was I didn’t fight hard enough against their 1950’s notions of what women should wear.
What’s been your biggest career challenge and how have you overcome it?
When I worked in television I was elevated into management to assist the broadcast network come into the digital age. I needed business and people management skills.
I negotiated with my boss to let me do a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) and share the cost 50/50. They were satisfied because I would stay in my job and learn at night and on weekends. I was happy because it saved me a lot of money and I had a real-world business to write assignments about.
I’m a big believer in life-long learning and now, whenever I encounter a challenge, I start with improving my knowledge on the subject. This can be as simple as watching a how-to video on YouTube, buying an online education module, or reaching out to an expert in my network.
What’s the most valuable lesson you learnt during your career at PwC and how has that helped you get to where you are today?
PwC is a wonderful place for demonstrating the truth that ‘the whole is greater than the sum of the parts’. The place is packed with really smart people but the secret sauce is how well PwCers team.
There’s a danger with super smart people that they silo and prefer to work alone. The best partners put effort into making their teams work well with each other. During the pandemic when everyone was remote this became harder but PwC took extra lengths to ensure teams stayed bonded and humming.
Now, as a Board Director I work with other directors with whom I share serious responsibilities and liabilities. Knowing how to collaborate well – listening to others, appreciating what they bring and presenting information in ways that resonate with them – is a skill I honed at PwC.
What was your dream job ‘growing up’ and why?
I wanted to be a teacher. I like packaging and imparting information in ways that land and become knowledge. This desire led me to media and communications.
If you could have an hour lunch with anyone - dead or alive - who would it be and why?
Lizzo. I’d like to find out where she got that cast-iron confidence. Also, we’d have lunch at Sylvia’s in Harlem.
What emerging tech trends and opportunities are you most excited about?
I like the intersection of technology and creativity. For example, artificial intelligence where software has ‘learnt’ (via machine learning) how to create content - written text, 2 or 3D art for games, music or video - by studying existing examples, identifying patterns and building models to replicate e.g., Natural Language Processing (NLP).
Technology-smart creative people are still required at the beginning and the end of the process: providing instructions, a description or parameters and then editing, formatting and adding colour at the end.
AI tools can be licensed or proprietary, i.e. developed and used only by the content creator or publisher. They could be a significant competitive advantage for the IP owner and so there’s a path to commercialization which is exciting.
What inspired you to pursue a career in technology and media?
I started in media because of my desire to communicate. My timing was fortunate because media businesses were amongst the first to be disrupted by the internet and it was obvious to me (in the mid-nineties) that it was a case of ‘digitise or die’. So I had early experience of helping companies use technology and the internet to transform, not only their processes but their business models and the way they go to market. This was very satisfying. At PwC I could use that experience to help many more businesses grapple with these new – digital - ways of doing business.
How are you seeing Boards approach increasing threats to cybersecurity?
All the directors I know nominate cybersecurity in their top five threats. I have been Chair of three Audit and Risk Committees – for Screen Australia and for two small listed companies. We reach out to experts – usually via our auditors – to help us navigate this threat.
We appreciate it when the advice we receive is people-centric and practical. After all, it’s the people within our organisations who are our first line of defence.
