Michila Macleod
Commercial & Executive Leader
With over two decades of experience in the media industry Michila has demonstrated her ability to lead high performing, revenue generating teams, resulting in growth and commercial success.
Michila's approach to creating lasting impact has been anchored in
authenticity and a client centric approach, with a focus on building genuine relationships to create meaningful and impactful
partnerships. Michila has worked in high pressure leadership roles across many publishers, developing strong stakeholder management skills that helped nurture relationships both internally and externally.
Michila's career has been defined by her commitment to innovation, strategic thinking and constant dedication to achieving excellence for herself, her clients and the people she leads.
Career & Background
What inspired you to do what you are doing now?
My family. At the end of last year, I made the tough decision to leave an incredible role with the deliberate strategy of nowhere to go.
I loved the business I worked for, my team and was so proud of the partnerships we were creating and the growth we were achieving. However as our team grew bigger and bigger so did my son and my husband’s career. We were both working full time, both travelling for work and both doing big jobs that were fulfilling us. But our life was chaotic, unsustainable and not fair to our little human. I had to look at what we could change and fortunately for Eddie, being a parent wasn’t one of them haha. So I took the plunge, had an honest chat with my GM and handed in my resignation. Although the wallet was a little lighter for a few months, my heart is a lot fuller.And I’m grateful for the break I had. So after enjoying my first summer off and having the capacity to slow down and reflect, I now know what my next role needs to look like. And until then, I’m enjoying the wonderful and very inspiring world of consulting.
I’m currently working full-time across two businesses and no day is the same, which I’m truly LOVING!
Could you tell us a bit about your professional background and where you are headed in your career right now?
I started my career working in magazines. In an era pre social and digital. It was all the good bits of Devil Wears Prada and so much more! I LOVED those days. After a stint in the UK working for the BBC, I came back to Australia with the desire to up skill and learn a new medium. I moved into digital and radio and thats where I cut my teeth in people leading. I’ve remained in digital for over the last decade, most recently at Broadsheet where I fell in love with the power of content and the connection we had with our audiences and in turn what that meant for our client partnerships.
I’m really enjoying the diversity of working for multiple business at once with varying opportunities and challenges. Helping scale and grow new businesses whilst also driving innovation in more mature businesses to create new revenue streams.
Your favourite food for thought
Books
Honestly, I’m no help here. I was only ever a book reader on holiday’s. I have a very short attention span. And holidaying with a toddler has so far not given me any opportunity to read. However I’m hopefully for the future reading Michila 🙂 Please ask me again in 2 years and I promise to have a better answer.
Podcasts / Thought Leaders
The Imperfects
Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard
Mamamia Out Loud
What drives and inspires you
What are your core values?
- Authenticity
- Kindness
- Loyalty
Who is your biggest inspiration and why?
From a professional perspective, I’ve been incredibly lucky to work for many inspiring female leaders.
In chronological order of career. Andrea Salmon, current Director of Sales at Nine, Danika Johnston MD of WeAre8, Jaclyn Clements GM of Media at Clemenger and Sian Whitaker GM at Broadsheet Media.
Collectively these women taught me the importance of fostering genuine relationships and the meaning of true client service.
The necessity of understanding the ‘why’ behind a good idea. And being able to articulate ‘why’ in every pitch.
The importance of backing myself and the decisions I made early on as a leader and being kind to myself if I got it wrong.
And finally the need to keep innovating to stay relevant, especially when faced with tough market conditions.
From a personal perspective – it’s my friends. I’m very blessed to be surrounded by a strong, formidable group of friends. We all work across different industries and levels. However over the years as we’ve approached career milestones, pivoted career changes and explored opportunities, it’s been so valuable to have this team by my side. love how we show up for each so fiercely. We challenge each other in ways that might seem confronting for others but after 20+ years of friendship, we respect the place it comes from and use it to help push each other forward in our careers and personal lives.
You as a Mentor
Why have you decided to become a mentor?
I think it’s important to give back and support the next generation. This is my 3rd year being a mentor with Assisterhood and I can honestly say it’s been so rewarding year after year.
I was lucky enough to have a strong network of peers and leaders to look up to that helped me navigate those early and sometimes confronting career conversations. I know this is not always the case.
If I can provide a safe space for a mentee to be vulnerable, bounce ideas, pressure test up coming conversation’s that might seem daunting and enable them to feel more confident, more informed and better prepared regardless of the outcome, that’s enough for me!
Sometimes the outcome is out of our control, business factors, economic factors. Being prepared for both outcomes can be incredibly empowering and often help to create a more professional experience for everyone involved.
What are the top 5 skills or qualities you bring to mentoring?
- Compassionate
- Confident
- Generous with time
- Great listener
- Supportive
Ready to apply?
The best time is right now. Take a chance – you never know where an Assisterhood mentor can take you.