The importance of working hard and seeking new experiences as an EA
In March we got the chance to sit down with Stacie Hill , Executive Coordinator at WorkPac and the 2019 runner-up EA of the Year at our Executive PA Awards . Stacie is a woman built from hard work , resilience and determination and she uses every day to push herself . She shares with us her experience as an EA and tips and tricks to help juniors starting out in the role
Stacie had humble beginnings working at Kmart for 7 years before progressing to her first job as an Executive Assistant at Dialog Information Technology , where she instantly thrived . Stacie was studying a Bachelor of Business , majoring in Marketing and PR at the time and starting off as an EA was a great way to get her foot in the door and learn how business works in the real world . And for Stacie , the EA role was love at first sight .
“ Joining that role , I was involved in so many different aspects of the business and I picked up so much that I realised , I actually love this . It ’ s not what I thought I ’ d end up doing but I really loved that I was involved in so much and across so much information ,” says Stacie .
“ From there I realised this is where I want to go … I just loved the variety that the job brought . And I still love the variety that the job brings me . I mean , every single day is different , it ’ s great .”
After working for Dialog for three years , an opportunity became available through a connection . While it was an EA role , it was also a marketing coordinator position , too . Stacie then moved on to work for SMS Management and Technology and then to CUA as the Executive Assistant to the CIO . This role involved supporting a team of about 100 staff and 7 of the senior leaders that reported to the CIO . And if that wasn ’ t enough , Stacie was always on the hunt to do more .
“ I was constantly in the habit of putting my hand up to be involved in other projects and … I suppose during all of these roles I started to find that I really loved the events side of things , too . I was constantly putting my hand up to help out with large events like Christmas parties , forums where we ’ ve got people flying in from overseas to come together for a large meeting ,” says Stacie .
But her main job was to work very closely with the CIO as the right hand for her executive and the team and was the glue that held them together . After her time at CUA , she landed a role at WorkPac working for the subsidiary , Dingu Blue . Here she took on the immense task of being Office and Social Marketing Manager . Here , Stacie was in charge of a plethora of tasks . You name it , and Stacie did it . But this hard work was met with high reward .
“ The chairman knew about my experience and saw my love and passion for events as well . And a position had become vacant , so he reached out to me and I applied for the role and was really lucky to get this job . And for me , this was the next steppingstone , the next challenge ,” says Stacie .
During her time at WorkPac , Stacie has been dealt some of the most challenging projects and tasks , one of which
22 Chief of Staff | Issue 2 2020