Why is innovation important to you?
In my current role, on the face of it you could argue that there is not a lot that would be considered innovative. My team is focused on trouble shooting and fixing difficult problems in often tense, difficult and crisis situations. A lot of what we have to do is by the book, rigid and strict to get positive outcomes for our customers in the shortest possible timeframe.

However, the truth is that in highly tense and crisis situations this is when innovation and creative thinking is of the upmost importance. It is often the new idea or the out of the box thinking that ultimately fixes a crisis situation.

What drives you to make a difference?
I still find it amazing that in Canberra, Australia, we can be the backbone and so important to many truly global scale applications and companies. To know how capable we are here and what we have built in such as short time frame is sometimes unbelievable.
What really drives me is the realisation that we can not only compete with other companies in this space, but that when it comes down to it, we are truly leaders in this industry and on a global scale. I love making a tangible difference to our customer’s businesses and contributing to their success.

Do you have any advice for getting more women into the innovation ecosystem? 
It is pretty simple really, follow your heart. If you fundamentally believe in what you are doing and you have a passion for it, then go for it. The truth is that no matter what, success equals hard work but having a passion and belief means that hard work doesn’t necessary feel like “hard work”.

There are no barriers, if you are passionate and good at what you do then you can truly achieve great outcomes in this new world of innovation, creation and technology.