Stepping in, speaking up, and standing out

Cook Australia’s Jodi McCann receives the Women at Work Scholarship

Jodi McCann, Quality Assurance manager, attended a two-day virtual Women at Work master class. We asked her a few questions about the master class, and this is what she had to say.

Q: What was the master class about?

It was about women at work and providing women with the tools to support their career development. It was facilitated by Anneli Blundell, who is an engaging author, speaker, and Women in Business award winner. Anneli provided us with practical and considered advice on important elements of career advancement such as effective communication, growing our own brand, and the invisible forces that shape women’s experiences within the workforce.

Q: How did you find out about it?

Anneli was specifically reaching out to different companies to bring even more women into the program, and by offering the scholarship, her intent was to give back and create more opportunities for women to experience the program.

The My Community Employee Engagement team sends out regular emails with opportunities to get involved with different programs and events. An email came up about this program and its scholarship opportunities. After forwarding the email to my own team, I felt compelled to apply for the scholarship myself. After applying for the scholarship, I received it.

Q: What was the program like? What did you learn?

I spent two days in the virtual program, attending from home. Dawn Tan, production engineer, who is on maternity leave right now, was also given the scholarship. It was great to have a colleague amongst us. The master class was a combination of Anneli sharing insight, stories, experiences, and facts and a group of women workshopping through the topics together. After each topic, we wrote a master plan for our own development. The women were shy at first, but by the end, after building trust amongst each other, we were confident and openly sharing our stories and plans for growth. Anneli told us relevant and interesting stories which were backed up by factual evidence. The class was not a complaining session, it was a session about us and how confidence, effective communication, and clout will drive us to personal success. It really resonated with me and gave me insight into how I can use the lessons learnt to give back to other women wanting to build their brand.

Q: How do you think women can step in, speak up, and stand out?

The slogan for the master class and all Anneli’s programs is “step in, speak up, and stand out.” Step in: Make yourself known. Speak up: Women have fantastic ideas, experiences, and perspective, and we need to speak up and contribute. Stand out: Don’t be humble, know your worth, and don’t be afraid of playing yourself up. Don’t be apologetic for being you! Use your superpowers and blow everyone away.

Q: Why did you want to sign up for the master class?

I applied for a position in the Women @ Cook Business Resource Group (BRG) and did the interview but didn’t get chosen to be part of the council. I was thinking about ways in I could grow myself so that I had a better chance of being chosen “next time” and ways that I could still support women at Cook, even if I wasn’t on the BRG council. This program answered that thought. My personal goals for this master class were to grow my network, build my understanding of the dynamics of women at work, and gain tools to give back to women who come to see me about how they can make an impact and have success in their own career journey.

Q: Would you recommend the program to other women at Cook?

Absolutely. If you want to learn how to step in, speak up, and stand out, this program is one for you.

For more stories

Want to check out more Life@Cook blog stories? Click the images below.