HERE'S WHAT WAS COVERED:

AMBER:

For you personally, how much of your time have you spent developing your professional skills?

HEATHER:

Really interesting. We were just talking with a couple of the people that were at the event. I would say that it's been stopped start. So what I tend to do is I decide what I want to do next and I'll see, wow, that sounds interesting. You know, how do I do that?

Then I go and find out what it is that I need to build up in terms of skills to be able to do that next role. But I would say that that is something that is very much in general, something that women do.

You know, we wait until we're masters before we actually apply because we tend to be perfectionist. But what we could be thinking about is how do I get into that role and then how do I actually learn and iterate?

And that's where we come back to those transferable skills that such as emotional intelligence, such as cognitive thinking and how we bring that across. So I would say that as an example, you know, I did my first degree, I didn't really get a job in that field. I landed my first job and then I thought, why am I being paid more? Why am I getting that chief marketing officer role that I want? And I thought, okay, if I want to do that, I probably need the MBA. I need that piece of paper. And MBA even nowadays is probably not worth as much as it was before.

But I did that. And then when I came into, you know, my last role, I thought, well what is it that's going to get me from Ray? I'm now to that next role that I think I might be interested in and then I started learning those skills.

So I think it's all about continuous continuously developing yourself, but being aware of what's important and what you want to do. It's important to enjoy your job. Right?

AMBER:

Exactly. And when you say you started developing those skills, was that something that you took on with your own self or you sought out mentorship or you took courses or yourself?

HEATHER:

So if it's available and it always isn't always available, then yes, if your company is going to benefit from those skills and get your company to, you know, to make sure that they're funding it and if you need to articulate to your management or to whoever's going to be funding that why then put your business case together. You know, figure out, well, what is it that you're going to benefit from by me doing this course or by learning these skills.

And so I would say that's the first place that you should start. If it's a role that's outside your company and you're thinking about, the next thing I want to do is I want to go and start my own company, then do that in your own time.

AMBER:

And you were obviously one of the speakers here today, business cheeks, incredible presentation. How have you developed your own personal brand and built your own protocol external to Amazon?

HEATHER:

It's really been through love of what I believe in. I think that passionate people say that you know, I don't go into highly technical talks very often, but you will often find me at our own Amazon summits talking about diversity and inclusion because I do think it's so important and the more people that are talking about it, you know, the more that we're actually going to put it on to companies' agendas and something intentional about it.

What I'm about, is that I realized very early on when I wasn't allowed to play football or soccer as you call it, in Australia at secondary school. And I thought, well that's not very fair. And I couldn't, they wouldn't change it for me. But you know, that's the kind of thing that triggers, this is what I'm passionate about. I'm passionate about fairness and about making sure that I'm given an equal go at whatever I know that I could do.

And so yeah that's how I find my sort of calling and then I just want to be out there being a role model or at least showing up so that other people are listening, getting that awareness out there.

AMBER:

What advice would you give to someone who's wanting to build their own profile or wanting to build their own personal brand?

Is it just a matter of following your passions and getting out there and putting your hand up.

HEATHER:

I think it's all about being authentic. So like I said, I talk about diversity and inclusion and the importance of women in technology because I've done my research, I can see how in practice actually makes a difference.

So I'm passionate about that and I think that you've got to be authentic. So I'm authentically passionate about what I'm talking about.

As a result. You know, it gets me invited to go and speak at events because, you know, I think that that comes through. Um, but you back it with data. You don't just go out there and say, well, I think I'm not an expert on this, but I do go and read up about what other experts think as well, so, so find out what your calling is. Be passionate about that and get out there and then advocate for other people as well. I think that that's the key thing.

And when you do that, then it kind of gets rid of the nerves and how you present it just comes through you because you're talking from your own experience.