Recently, I had the pleasure of sitting down with the accomplished Michelle Chee, Program Manager and Mentor at Cicada Innovation's  in Episode 2 of the Pop Perceptions podcast. Michelle talks about her career progression from 'vanilla' high school student to internships in a global Med Tech firm being based in Bangalore, India at the age of 22 years old. An internship at the U.N. and more recently her work at Australia's Leading Deep Tech Incubator. This conversation is an honest and frank account of a career path that began with a Bachelor of Science, with great insights and advice for those unsure of their career direction and interested in making a difference in the new world of work.

Podcast Transcript

Bec McIntosh: Welcome to Michelle Chee Program Manager and Mentor at Cicada Innovations . Some maybe familiar with Cicada Innovations in its previous incarnation of ATP Innovations, Australia's leading Deep Tech Accelerator, so welcome to the show Michelle.

Michelle Chee: Thank you so much Bec for having me.

Bec McIntosh: It's a pleasure! So let's take it back in time to the high school years, what were you excelling at school. What were the things that you were doing, at school.

Michelle Chee: Well, in terms of academia I was pretty vanilla, not very exciting to be honest. I did a language, I studied Japanese, I did biology, chemistry. Chemistry is really interesting, I had a fantastic teacher which sparked by attention there. Even though I wasn't the best performing student she had a profound impact on me. But, during my high school years I did a lot of music. I has classical guitar lessons and was in the ensemble. I was in the choir, did singing lessons and I felt like quite a creative person and I really enjoyed that. Thinking back I really should have applied myself more, I think it was great. Something to note in high school is that I didn't really enjoy it in general. I went to an all girls catholic high school and I guess I felt I really didn't feel like I fitted in anywhere. I was the quiet one in the library not really outside talking about sport or dresses, or things like that. Something that seemed to consume the interest of others at the time.

Bec McIntosh: And did that sense of belonging change when you went to university?

Michelle Chee: Definitely

Bec McIntosh: And so the path led to a Bachelors of Science. Where did the thought processes come about in terms of you looking towards a career path in the area of Science.

Michelle Chee: So again, looking back it was that chemistry teacher that really inspired me and at this point in time I knew I wanted to to something important, or something with impact. I really did not know what was. I thought at the time, what is a problem that I face? Growing up I have had various skin issues so I thought I would study chemistry and be a chemist and work in a big corporate like L'oreal However, as I went through it things changed dramatically, particularly in the middle of my Bachelors.

Bec McIntosh: Was that a thought 'beyond the bench', that you were going to step 'outside'. Was there any particular guest speakers that came in that opened your eyes to a different world beyond the lab?

Michelle Chee: No, what I found during my Science degree was that I wasn't enjoying it that much. I found it interesting in terms of how it could be applied to technology and impact in that way. But actually doing the science, I didn't really fit in and I didn't enjoy it that much. It was a little bit isolating and I loved talking to people. So I thought I'm not seeing myself working in a lab down the track. So I was half way through and I thought I just need to finish this because it wou...

In the first ever Pop Perceptions podcast launched on International Women's Day 2018 we #PushforProgress highlighting the stories of amazing women over the next 5 weeks, because you can be what you can see. In our first episode we interview Anna Robson, CEO of Refugee Talent. Anna is a pleasure to talk to, her passion to help refugees lights up every aspect of her work. Providing refugees with employment opportunities is one of the most important social levers for migrants through facilitating a community connection, a sense of belonging, role modelling in the family and feeling valued by delivering value through your work. While Anna is literally changing lives everyday with her co-founder Niari, the platform Refugee Talent has over 250 employers on the books providing paid employment. As CEO she juggles business development, strategic and financial planning, recruitment, sales and the occasional marketing brochure, all in a days work. Anna's relaxed approach belies the steely determination of someone hell bent to change the world. I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did. It's the story one women and a refugee changing the world, one job at a time.

Podcast Transcript Episode 1

Welcome to Pop Perceptions, we are here today with the fabulous CEO of Refugee Talent, Anna Robson. We will be talking about your career and how it has grown….from little things big things grow. Let’s take it right back to the start where did you grow up and what was it like growing up as a child in the area you came from?

Anna Robson: I was born in country Victoria, Australia in Sale and a few years later moved to Melbourne. Went to school for a few years there and then my family moved to Brisbane. So I really grew up in Brisbane. It was a great place to grow up. Lot’s of outdoors and sports. Mainly sport was the main thing I did growing up. I really loved team sports: hockey, soccer and volleyball. I pretty much played every sport at high school and that was my life.

Bec McIntosh: Awesome, so team building skills right from the start. Was it just you and you family or did you have any brothers or sisters?

Anna Robson: I had a sister and my parents divorced when I was about 12 or 13 years old, as many people have experienced. In can be a turbulent time. It really makes you mature and I felt I was quite mature as a kid. I was good at chatting to adults and good at chatting to people older than myself through that experience. And no I have 4 step brothers as well but we didn’t really grow up together, but we have a big extended family now.

Bec McIntosh: So Christmas’s are big at your house?

Anna Robson: Two lot’s of Christmas’s

Bec McIntosh: Primary School to High School. 12 was when your parents split up as you were moving into high school. Tricky time for all kids when they are making that big step up. What was high school like for you? Did you have a good time and kept on playing team sports?

Anna Robson: Yes I think I threw myself into study and sports and I think I just had a packed schedule. Every afternoon you have something and on the weekend, play sport. I think like everyone you feel like you didn’t fit in and you are finding that place where you fit. But I enjoyed it. I played hockey, basketball. I just loved it, I enjoyed being part of a team and that’s where I thrived the most.

Bec McIntosh: Did you take that love of sports into your subjects? What kind of subjects did you do in Grade 11 and 12.

Anna Robson: P.E (physical education) was my favourite subject and I studied legal studies and business. I took the easiest Maths I could because it wasn’t my forte. Really sports and business where the ones I loved the most in Grade 11 and 12.