For the first time, Women in Media Queensland has awarded its Career Boost Scholarship to THREE hard-working women. The $5000 has historically gone to one woman each year. However this year's finalists were all worthy of the scholarship and, as each applicant needed only a portion of the total amount, the judging panel opted to fund all three study options. The diversity of their studies will bring a range of positive information to the whole Women in Media community.
Nance Haxton transitioned out of media into her own freelance business - ‘The Wandering Journo’ - and while she landed great contracts for podcasts, she was also asked to quote on other projects and found she needed help to do that properly. Her scholarship money will go towards receiving bespoke financial training from Pip Meecham of ProjectBox and Ginger Gorman. She'll learn how to turn her solid journo and podcast skills into a profitable freelance business.
"Using my solo services at The Wandering Journo allowed me to act as a “one-stop shop” - to present, produce, edit and upload the podcast to distribution platforms. But I’m sad to say that knowing how to value your creative work, which is often caught up intimately in your own self-worth, still eludes me.
The Career Boost Scholarship will allow me to better communicate the level of skills I have to offer and learn how to make a strong business case."
Nance is committed to sharing what she learns. "Journalism is increasingly relying on freelancers to provide quality content, but most of them earn less than $40,000 a year. This is simply unsustainable. I hope we can rectify that by getting the word out about these business principles, that we sadly don’t tend to learn in newsrooms."
Monique Dews is transitioning out of radio media and into PR and her study mission is to upskill in Digital Leadership through RMIT.
“We live in a time of digital transformation, and expectations on journalists and communications professionals are ever-evolving so it makes sense to be proactive, and future-proof skills.”
Monique knows it’s essential to enhance her skills for the digital age; to be able to adapt to emerging platforms and develop new and agile workflow processes. She’s excited to share her new knowledge with the Women in Media community. "I think it’s important that we, as female media professionals, share any insights we might have on evolving and adapting to new work expectations."
Simone Bell is the Advertising Manager at Noosa Today Star media group and leads a great team. Her study will help to grow her leadership skills as a woman in a different aspect of media. Her study is with the University of the Sunshine Coast and the course is ‘Leadership for High Performance Teams’.
“My primary goal is to enhance my capabilities as a leader and become the best version of myself in that role. I hope to acquire the knowledge, skills and insights necessary to excel in this aspect of leadership, enabling me to create a positive and thriving environment for my team.”
As is the case with so many women in media, Simone’s professional life had to adjust, as she balanced work and family life. Ironically, as an empty-nester, she battled self-doubt. Was she ‘good enough’ for managerial positions or high-level roles? “It has taken me some time to acknowledge that the answer lies in the fact that I have worked incredibly hard to reach where I am today. have come to realise I deserve to be recognised and valued, just like many other women in similar positions. Through sharing my learnings and personal experiences, I hope to empower and inspire other women; I want them to know that they are deserving of visibility, growth and success.”
Discover more about the Queensland Career Boost Scholarship