Event Review: Middle Woman By SheSays Australia

Helping set up the latest SheSays event “Middle Woman” was a pure delight amidst the stylish modern surrounds and creative hub of our fabulous host CumminsRoss. Despite a downpour of winter rain beating against the window panes, the colourful twinkling lights of Melbourne could be seen across Albert Park Lake from every aspect. With so many beautiful ladies from varying areas of the creative, advertising and media industries in attendance, the SheSays first national event delved into the theory of what being a Middle Woman really is and how one can take that next step-up in their career to move from middle-ground to seniority.

With the ladies warming from up from the chilly night with a flute of bubbly whilst enjoying delicious hors d’oeuvres and sweet treats, our MC, the elegant and stunning Elizabeth Ebeli from Slade Partners gave a colourful run down of the night’s inspiring speakers.

Geraldine Davys, group brand and marketing communications manager for Sensis, spoke of how she juggled an outstanding career with a family; family being one of her greatest achievements. Her secrets to success are all about keeping things simple, being decisive and positive, focusing on the people and things that matter and learning how to stop and listen.

Amanda Gledhill who has had a colourful career working at number of leading ad agencies to her latest transition as Digital Manager at L’Oreal, spoke of the pursuit of a brilliant career. One that saw her take a career break and travel the world to embrace life, reconnect with herself, family and friends.

Amanda’s recipe for brilliance is about taking the bull by the horns, accepting the knockbacks and making conscious decisions about where you want to be without it getting in the way of a great life.

Sarah Stringer, strategy director at Carat, shared snippets of her journey that included six years on the London media scene until the lure of coffee, gourmet food and a (better?) climate saw her move to Melbourne where she has specialised in entertainment clients for the past five years, looking after music labels, sports brands and has worked across a range of exciting and innovative clients, including the Disney portfolio, Mattel, Schweppes, and Carsales.com.au. 
Sarah’s journey to the top has been a series of learnings from clients – learning about attention to detail, process, passion, innovation, how to be honest, how to be a good manager.

Last, but certainly not least, was the savvy and energetic Sam Mutimer, owner and director of Social Media at Thinktank. There is nothing Sam loves more than sharing her knowledge with others, which she does through Thinktank Media’s educational events and a regular social media slot on the kiss.FM breakfast show. Sam is social to the core and indulges as a video blogger, writer for the Channel 7 show Kochie’s Business Builders and is a resident social media expert on Channel 7 News.

Sam’s career in social media actually started with a broken leg. After going stir crazy in a full leg cast, she posted her experience on YouTube as the enthusiastic social butterfly that she is and enticed companies to pay for advertising space on her cast. This unique approach received over 20,000 hits and helped skyrocket her career as a notable social media personality. The phone started ringing.

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