Meet the Executive Officer for Macquarie Business School who’s an expert in book publishing, found her passion for working in higher education while working in South Africa and loves outdoor activities (especially if there’s also wine involved).

She’s lived and worked all over the world, but if you’ve spoken to Jo there’s no mistaking her Kiwi roots. Jo grew up in New Zealand in the South Island city of Timaru (pronounced tee-ma-roo, Jo says you really have to roll the r).

After completing a degree in English Literature in Christchurch, Jo moved to Sydney in 2005 to pursue a career in book publishing and eventually found her ‘niche’ in book production at Random House Australia, working on more than 800 books in her time there. For those not familiar with what book production entails, Jo explains it as a bit of an odd role, with a mix of project management, making technical commentary on the appearance of the book as well as negotiating with printers to make sure your books get priority over the competition.

“I could tell you more about lamination and paper stocks than you would ever want to hear,” laughs Jo. While her book production career is now behind her, you might still find her wandering through a bookshop, touching all the books, and critiquing the production choices that were made.

Ten years in the book publishing industry had the benefit of “an awful lot of free books and it being genuinely acceptable to read a novel during work hours” but a crossroads in her career saw Jo seek a drastic change, and she picked up and moved to South Africa after seeing a job advertised on Ethical Jobs and just thinking ‘why not?’.

That move saw her live and work there for two years and it was the beginning of Jo’s career actively pursuing jobs in higher education – working first at the University of Pretoria and then the National Research Foundation, as part of the Australian Volunteers for International Development program.

When Jo returned to Australia, her new career path in higher education brought her to Macquarie University, where she’s been for just over three years with a few interesting job roles. She was the Marketing Production Manager in Group Marketing, then moved into the PST team as Senior Project Officer, and has recently taken up her current role as Executive Officer in MQBS.

Jo’s love of tertiary education extends to further study her herself as well. She recently completed a Master of Science in Sustainable Development, which looks at the environmental and societal impacts of public policy, and involved an awful lot of economics.

Outside of work, Jo loves the outdoors, particularly hiking and trail running. Pictured above is Jo on the Cascades Trail in Garigal National Park. She says it’s a bit of a favourite as it’s relatively flat so you can stretch your legs out a little, and if you get there early enough you often won’t see another person. For anyone wanting to get in to hiking for the scenery, Jo recommends the Three Capes hike in Tasmania (which she did in May this year).

“It’s absolutely gorgeous, not terribly strenuous, and you get to sleep in cabins every night which frees up pack space to carry wine!”

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1. Something you feel proud of
The Flex Work Framework. I’m on the Working Group and the launch last week was the result of a lot of work by a very talented team of people from across the University (and to showcase how we practiced what is in the Framework – the Working Group have never actually had a session in person, working asynchronously for the most part!).

2. A person you admire at Macquarie, and why
There are so many people, but Fiona Reyerink, Director of the PST Program is top of the list. It’s a tough gig and she handles it with a grace I aspire to.

3. What you need to do your best work
Constructive feedback – positive feedback feels great in the moment, but it doesn’t give me room to improve, whereas someone saying, “This is good work AND have you thought about coming at it from this angle?” usually ends up improving future work as well as the current project.

4. Something you’ve read recently that has had an impact on you
The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker. There were so many ‘a-ha!’ moments, and every single meeting invite you see from me now has a purpose and an agenda so everyone knows exactly what we’re going to get out of it. Read it and tell me you’ve never been the ‘Bob’ of a meeting!

5. A favourite photo from your camera roll
This is my partner’s mini Schnauzer, Wilkie. Neither my partner nor the dog were very happy about this situation (apparently dogs don’t need to wear clothes), but they put up with it to make me happy, and who can resist a schnauzer in a plaid jacket?! I come back to this photo every time I need a little pick me up.

6. The first person you go to for advice (and why)
For anything practical, my Dad. He lives in New Zealand so it usually ends up in him trying to diagnose what’s wrong with my washing machine/front door/chair that wobbles via video call. Could I Google this information? Absolutely. But then I’d miss out on the opportunity to connect with him, so it’s worth it. 

7. A website or app you can’t live without
The Notes app on my phone – I have lists for everything, like TV shows that have been recommended (that I’ll never get around to watching), a checklist of items to take camping, and a bucket list of places to visit and things to do (this one unfortunately outstrips my annual leave days and budget considerably).

8. A personal quality you value in others
Dependability. I really value being able to rely on people to do what they say they will, both at work and in my personal life. 

9. Something you’re trying to do differently in 2022
I set a goal of cooking one meal a week from a particular recipe book. I’m woefully behind (15 recipes done and we’re in week 31 of the year), however I’ve scored a couple of ‘4.8/5 reviews’ from my partner and friends, so I think I’m doing okay.

10. I’m happiest when…
I’m outdoors hiking, trail running or paddle boarding. Although I’ve recently realised I don’t actually like being outdoors if I’m not doing something purposeful – no sitting on the beach for me!