MEET THE MAESTRO INTERVIEW

JO: Change communications specilist

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At Maestro, we know there’s more to life than work. In our “Meet the Maestro” series, we peek beyond the CV to discover what makes our Maestros tick.

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Jo is an award-winning communications specialist with global experience spanning employee communications, corporate communications, and marketing. Renowned for her strategic mindset and sharp insight, she excels at quickly identifying core issues and articulating what needs to be clarified, addressed, or resolved. Highly intuitive and skilled at synthesising complex information, Jo distills key messages with precision and isn’t afraid to ask the tough questions that drive clarity and results.

She thrives on the challenge of delivering complex change initiatives within large, global organisations. Her career has taken her across diverse markets, including Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Hong Kong, Mexico, and Brazil.

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1. Tell us about a career highlight to date…

One of the benefits of working for large global organisations is the opportunity to travel and work in some amazing locations.  HSBC sent me to Latin America for a couple of years when they were selling various banking operations including their Brazilian business.  I lived in Mexico City for a couple of years leading the communication teams across Argentina, Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay.  Because I wasn’t anchored by a similar culture, language, network or my media contacts, it really forced me to focus on where I could add value in that context and it was really about being a strong leader.

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‍2. Talk us through an unusual career choice you’ve made along the way…

The jobs I was assigned as a student are a lot more unusual than my later career choices.  I was a gardener at a heritage site and then I worked for one of NZ’s government departments as a phone operator.  This is in the days of the old fashioned telephone switchboard where you plugged in cords to connect people. I can say I am a qualified PABX operator!

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3. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be an officer in the army.  Thankfully the army worked out before I did that I was very bad at following orders.

4. What are your passions outside of work and how do you make time for them?

Trail running and hiking. I’m working my way around all the Great Hikes in New Zealand and the iconic international hikes.

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5. If you could instantly master any skill or hobby, what would it be and why?

Singing.  My husband plays guitar and writes and sings his own songs.  When he’s short of a backing singer he sometimes asks me to help and then quickly remembers why he hasn’t asked me before!

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6. What’s a personal value or belief that guides the way you live your life?

Keep making decisions.   So long as you do, you’re always moving forward, always engaging and always challenging yourself.  It’s inspired by the movie “Touching the Void” based on the true story of two British climbers in the Andes.  One of them, Joe Simpson, ultimately survived a fall, a broken leg and a harrowing crawl back to camp.  Dramatic I know but I was so in awe of how Joe never admitted defeat but kept making the next decision and the next and the next.

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7. What’s a challenge you’ve overcome outside of work that shaped you?

My parents moved around a lot when I was a kid and one year I attended three different primary schools, a new one each term.  For me it gave me valuable skills - not being awkward or scared to be an initial outsider, how to connect with people and make friends and how to manage myself emotionally through a change process.  This helped me in all my moves from NZ to Sydney to the UK to Hong Kong to Mexico City and then Melbourne and also in my job in understanding how employees respond to change and what helps them build resilience.

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8. What do you think your job will look like in 10 years time? 

If I look back over my career, it’s often been the tools that have changed the most. Things like old fashioned switchboards, desk phones and telex machines have all disappeared and virtual conferencing, laptops and mobiles have replaced them. So, I expect the tools I use to continue to change in the next 10 years, especially with Generative AI.

 What hasn’t really changed is applying critical thinking and collaborating with others, even if I’m using Zoom or Teams to facilitate the process

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9. If you could travel anywhere in the world tomorrow, where would you go and what would you do?

I’ve got a never ending list of places I want to visit and every couple of years I meet up with one of my good friends, who lives in the US. We share a love of hiking and choose a different country to explore.  It’s why I nearly got stranded in Chile before the pandemic, but that’s another story.  This year it’s British Columbia in Canada and next year it will be one of the pilgrimage hikes in Japan

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10. What does success look like to you?

Being able to handle a five day hike carrying all my own kit in a back pack, sleeping in basic hut with bunk beds and outdoor toilets and still coming back to civilisation with a smile on my face!

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