{"id":1082,"date":"2019-05-16T01:45:06","date_gmt":"2019-05-16T01:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotlineit.com\/?p=1082"},"modified":"2019-05-16T07:46:12","modified_gmt":"2019-05-16T07:46:12","slug":"michelle-joosse-journey-from-a-non-tech-background-to-it-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.hotlineit.com\/michelle-joosse-journey-from-a-non-tech-background-to-it-ceo\/","title":{"rendered":"Michelle Joosse: Journey from a non-tech background to IT CEO"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From unknown to CEO, Michelle Joosse is one of Australia\u2019s success stories, but for those who want to follow her example, she believes that the path is clear.<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Michelle Joosse is the CEO of leading Australian IT firm Hotline IT.<\/strong><\/a> An Australian owned and operated full-service IT management solutions provider, the firm touts itself as being focused on the end user of every business. Hotline IT supply proactive maintenance, to ensure fewer IT issues and speedier IT problem-solving. Michelle recently spoke to Eric Dye of the Enterprise Podcast Network about how she made the successful move from a non-tech background to her senior position among one of the nation\u2019s burgeoning IT success stories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With an initial full-time job working for a small cast iron foundry, she didn\u2019t think that was going to help with her career at all but seeing that she was one of only two people in the office it helped her gain great exposure to all aspects of the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile I was there, I was completing my accounting degree,\u201d she recalls, \u201cand once I had completed that I stepped into more of an assistant accountant position at (now defunct Japanese electronics company) Sanyo. It was there that I was promoted to accountant after proving myself by streamlining their processes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having completed her CPA qualifications, Michelle met her then-boyfriend\u2014now husband\u2014and wished to work closer to where he lived. \u201cI worked for a company called Jupiter\u2019s Gaming which is now called TabCorp, a major Australian gaming and gambling company,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was a management accountant for the game Keno. I enjoyed that job even though it was quite highly regulated. By now my husband had approached me to come work with him at the IT services firm Hotline IT. He thought my brain for numbers and process-driven approach would be an asset for the business; it would also compliment his skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor the next few years, I worked on improving the process and financial position of the business and got to the point where we thought that Hotline had \u2018plateaued\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter my husband had been running it for 20 years, he felt that I would be better suited to run the business. Is took me a while to agree, but I finally said yes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe inside joke is that I\u2019ve always been the boss\u2014I\u2019m the boss\u2019s boss\u2014now I guess it\u2019s just official!\u201d<\/p>Michelle Joosse<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

With a title next to her name, Michelle became focused on growing the business. It is in this role of CEO that Michelle discovered the struggles that many experience, no matter what the trade. But her experience taught her many things, including how these struggles can be overcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRegardless of what industry you\u2019re in, it can be a bit of a lonely job. Sometimes there are a lot of decisions that need to be made and a lot of weight falling on your shoulders. I guess the challenge is that you need to be able to make those relatively quickly, because you don\u2019t want to stop the organisation from moving along. You also need to make sure those decisions are educated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re the CEO, you\u2019re not just in charge of finance, you\u2019re not just in charge of marketing; you\u2019re in charge of everything. I use the analogy of \u2018keeping all the plates spinning\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI always make sure I\u2019m addressing everything equally, and regularly make sure I\u2019m not focusing on just one aspect of the business. I think that sometimes when businesses aren\u2019t so successful it\u2019s when they\u2019ve lost focus on one aspect. But no matter what industry you\u2019re in you need to make sure you have good people around you who you can trust and be able to rely on their advice in their skills, particularly in areas in which you are not as strong.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michelle believes her positive, focussed mindset is the key factor which helped cement her, and Hotline IT\u2019s success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the beginning, I had my doubts. I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d be able to do the role because I\u2019m not technical. But then when I thought about it, I saw it as being something of an asset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy competitors are technical, but the prospective clients we meet with aren\u2019t technical. I feel that I can talk the same language as them; I don\u2019t get bogged down in the technical jargon, I know enough tech to be able to explain it in layman\u2019s terms, but I don\u2019t focus on the tech as much as a lot of people in my industry do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy main approach, which I think is different to a lot of people in my industry, is that the conversation is more about focusing on the IT as being an asset and knowing what challenges the clients are having. Rather than just telling them about the features and facts about our service, or the products and the technology itself, it\u2019s more about getting an understanding of what their challenges are, and how the technology can overcome it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She believes that there are a number of substantial mistakes made by companies when it comes to approaching IT solutions and it\u2019s her impression that it comes down to their having the right mindset when it comes to investing in IT infrastructure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe biggest mistake I see companies make is how they\u2019ll often see IT as a cost; a necessary evil, rather than seeing something that\u2019s an asset for their business and something that\u2019s worth investing in. If you see it as a cost, it results in more of an ad-hoc approach and short-term thinking which will end up costing more in the long term. So, if managers see IT as an asset, they\u2019ll include IT in their strategic planning, which I think is crucial. They\u2019ll have the infrastructure that will support their IT needs now and into the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having achieved her status and success in a male-dominated field is rare enough, but Michelle believes that other women can do the same if they have enough skills, ambition and self-belief\u2026especially for those women who don\u2019t necessarily come from technological backgrounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou need to ensure you have good, smart people around you, who are good at what they do, and you need to learn from them. I recognise that I\u2019m not as strong in the technical area, but I still have a lot to offer the industry. So, I need to make sure I\u2019ve got really good people who are really strong in the technical area to compliment my own skill set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGet yourself a good mentor. That really helped me in this industry. Someone who can really help me when I\u2019m doubting myself or be a great sounding board.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t be afraid to upskill, and step outside your comfort zone. As someone who came from a primarily finance background, I\u2019ve had to upskill in the technical, but also in marketing, HR and other aspects of the business, so I\u2019ve pushed myself outside my comfort zone, but it\u2019s been a really big reward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFinally, don\u2019t listen to that doubting inner voice. I think we all have that, but you need to know that if this is something you\u2019re interested in pursuing, you need to give it a go.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From unknown to CEO, Michelle Joosse is one of Australia\u2019s success stories, but for those who want to follow her example, she believes that the path is clear. Michelle Joosse is the CEO of leading Australian IT firm Hotline IT. An Australian owned and operated full-service IT management solutions provider, the firm touts itself as being … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1087,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[23],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMichelle Joosse: Journey From A Non-Tech Background To IT CEO | Hotline IT<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"From unknown to CEO, Michelle Joosse is one of Australia\u2019s success stories, but for those who want to follow her example, she believes that the path is clear.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Michelle Joosse: Journey From A Non-Tech Background To 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