Inaugural Breakfast a hit
Around 50 people attended Women in Nuclear Australia’s inaugural personal development breakfast at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) south of Sydney, deeming it a great success. WiN Australia President Jasmin Craufurd-Hill opened the event with an entertaining insight into nuclear women through the ages and an update on the group’s recent activities and future plans. She also launched WIN Australia’s new logo.
The guest speaker, Christine McLoughlin captivated her audience as she told the fascinating tale of her career spanning a range of industries, underling the importance of mentorship for a successful career path. The former Telstra Business Woman of the Year and ANSTO Board member gave a frank and inspiring presentation but her words were modest. “I don’t really like talking about myself but as this is about my own business experience I guess I have to!” she joked. Her key points started with two – having a good mentor and knowing your strengths.
“My first mentor was my maths teacher who persuaded me to play on my strengths. I wanted to be a physiotherapist but he pointed out to me the areas where I excelled in school and suggested I study law instead,” she said. “I followed his advice and did not regret it as it has been the foundation of my career.”
As Christine told the story of how she went from a solid law career to a career in business she said that taking risks and making the most of opportunities was paramount. “When making career decisions I always weighed the risks against the opportunities and this ethos lead me down some very interesting paths, such as moving from the security of law, to the world of finance which was all quite new at the time. I never looked back,” she said. Christine also said it was important to thrive in life, both personally as well as at work. In addition she said being results oriented for one’s organisation not just oneself, would bring rewards, as would networking with the right people, not just “lots of people”.
Her final point was the importance of having values and in turn praised the leadership of ANSTO under respected businessman Dr Ziggy Switkowski, Chairman, and Dr Adi Paterson, CEO whom she said had impeccable values, which were of benefit to the orgnaisation.
Dr Adi Paterson closed proceedings by thanking Christine for her inspiring presentation and underlined his support for career women drawing on his own personal experience. His mother was a single parent and in his home country of South Africa women have an almost 50 per cent representation in government and in business. He said Australia still had a little way to go and was happy to say the ANSTO Board had two female members.