Earlier in the year, the IMAA launched its Female Leaders of Tomorrow programme as part of its commitment to fostering long-term diversity and inclusivity across independent media agencies nationally.
The six-month IMAA programme aims to create a support network between accomplished industry leaders and their mentees by matching senior staff with up-and-coming women in indie media agencies for knowledge-sharing and professional development opportunities.
One of the IMAA mentors involved in the programme is Rachel Page, network digital sales director at the Seven Network.
What’s the most important/best piece of advice you’ve received during your career?
“Everyone has a voice worth hearing… listen beyond the noise.”
Who do you look up to in business and why?
“I look up and sideways and I also look at the very talented next generation of our industry, to learn from and be inspired by. However, I also take time to look outside our industry at leaders across other sectors to ensure I have a balanced and fresh perspective and can find new ways to think and solve.”
Did you have a mentor and what did they teach you?
“I didn’t have any formalised mentoring throughout my earlier career – it wasn’t really a thing until more recently, however, I had a bunch of amazing leaders and unofficial mentors over the years and roles, too many to name. I took a little away from each of them to help build my style. Everything from negotiation to team building, managing failure to authentic leadership and building purpose for yourself and your team.”
What does mentoring mean to you and why is mentoring important?
“Mentoring comes in many forms… advice, teaching, motivating, goal and career path setting, or just listening, and is not limited to career. Simply, it is passing on your learning and experience to another person to help enrich their experience…and make us all better!”
Why is it important to have more women leaders in the industry?
“Gender balance is critical for all the reasons we know, however we lose too many women in our industry in their mid-careers due to workload, pressure and burnout. I think we are doing a better job at recognising this, however we do need to do more to stay focused on this set of amazing women with their incredible experience. Investing more in mid career women will provide our industry with a better balance, richer IP and help them have longer, healthier and more sustainable careers.”
What’s on your business reading and podcast list?
“The list is long…. and growing. I often feel overwhelmed by the amount of industry information to keep up to date on, so that takes up about 90%. The other 10% is general business and I love reading or listening to science, health and nature content.”
See Also: IMAA Female Leaders of Tomorrow Mentors: QMS’ Mark Fairhurst
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Top Image: Rachel Page