Angie Asimus is a Seven Network journalist, newsreader, weather presenter, and now the newly appointed Media Ambassador for the Women’s Resilience Centre. In this episode, Angie shares some insights into how she aims to be a good mentor, and how she herself has been mentored in the past.
“For me, it’s the people who offered advice when I didn’t ask for it that have had the biggest impact.”
Transcript:
Daisy Winney 0:00
Welcome to the Mondo mentor podcast, a place where we connect with some amazing people to reveal how you might be just one connection away. I’m your host Daisy Winney. And today I’m here with Angie Asmus. Seven Network journalists, news reader, weather presenter, and now newly appointed me your ambassador for the women’s resilience centre. Welcome, Angie. And thank you for talking to me today.
Angie Asimus 0:40
My pleasure, Daisy.
Daisy Winney 0:41
The first question I want to know is, you know, you’ve just been announced as the media ambassador for the Women’s Resilience Centre. How do you feel about this?
Angie Asimus 0:49
I was so thrilled to come on board with this amazing initiative. I’ve known Simone for a long time. And when she told me what she was doing here, I was just so impressed. So, look, there’s a lot of work to be done. But I guess the first big job is we’re going to have the inaugural lunch for the Women’s Resilience Centre at Parliament House in early December. And the idea of that is to raise money to help with traditional housing arrangements for women and their children, a recovery resilience programme. And what I also absolutely love about this, which is different to what anyone else is doing is a national online mentoring service. And I think coming out of COVID, it’s been in many ways, a really good lesson about how online learning and resources can be utilised to help people, particularly people who don’t live in major capital cities, so this will have so much reach all over Australia. It’s non confrontational, it’s online. We are we’re trying to work with local libraries so women can go in and do the programme in private without anybody else knowing. So that’s, they’re the kind of initiatives that we’re trying to raise money for. And I just think it’s going to have a huge impact. I’m thrilled to be part of it.
Daisy Winney 2:07
Great. And apart from being the media ambassador on the women’s resilience centre, tell us a bit about how you got down the career path you’re in today. Obviously, you’re a reporter and a journalist.
Unknown Speaker 2:17
Yeah, I absolutely love my job. I’ve worked for the Seven Network as a reporter and a journalist, as you said, and, look, I always loved writing and reading in English. And when I finished school, I wanted to find a way to get paid to do that every day. So I ended up doing heaps of work experience at various media organisations. So publicity, magazines, and, and television. And in the end, it was a week in the Sydney newsroom that just made me realise that that was it for me. So after that, that was in high school. And so after that, I directed all my attention down that career path. And I ended up getting a job through one of my work experience weeks at Prime News in Wagga, that led to me having a bit of a show reel. And in the end got offered my first full time job at Seven News in Townsville, in far north Queensland, which was an amazing experience, I was thrown into covering crocodiles and cyclones and incredibly different part of the world where I grew up in regional New South Wales. So it was an incredible experience, and then moved around to the Brisbane newsroom, and then been back in Sydney now for quite a few years. So I’ve I’ve travelled around to probably, you know, five or six newsrooms on the east coast of Australia, and very much happy to be settled back in Sydney, and still absolutely loving it.
Daisy Winney 3:47
Yeah, well, and as you said, it’s all about getting experience and the people you meet along the way, and you know, you’ve covering rural things, and back in Sydney, so when you were on these work experience weeks, and in all these jobs, were there any mentors who kind of guided you to choose the path that you are now on and get you where you are today?
Angie Asimus 4:07
Yeah, absolutely. I think for me, mentors have always played a big part in what I’ve done. And I’ve been really lucky to have some great ones. For me, it’s been quite a fluid process where I don’t set out to find a mentor, it has always happened pretty organically, and they seem to appear when they’re needed at different stages. And I’m still friends with all those people who’ve helped me even though now they may not have such a direct role in my life. For me, it’s the people who offered advice when I didn’t ask for it that have had the biggest impact. So a little bit of a tap on the shoulder saying, Hey, I’ve done this before. Why don’t you try this? This really worked for me or, you know, that was great, but, you know, you could you could actually try and weave this in and that’s that’s something that I’ve found helped helped me with my career. And it’s those kind of generous tips. I think that save you learning things the hard way sometimes, which is just invaluable. So, yes, I’ve had a lot of people who’ve helped when I’ve asked, but it’s the ones who’ve stepped up. And, and that’s a really brave thing to do. And I’d love to do the same for people that it is really hard. It involves trust, and and also having confidence to say, I’ve noticed this, and are you okay? Or maybe you could do better? And it sounds it’s hard for people to have those conversations. But I know for me, I’m so so happy that the people who did were brave enough to offer that advice to me, because I’m forever grateful.
Daisy Winney 5:44
Definitely. And, you know, you’ve had these mentors who have just appeared at times without you even asking for it. Now, for you to be in these higher sort of positions. And now to take on the media Ambassador role. How important do you think it is for you to now be a mentor yourself? And how do you think you’ll approach that?
Angie Asimus 6:01
Yeah, I think about that a lot. Because I’ve had so much help in my career, and I want to be someone who does that. And so I try and make a point of sending emails to people if I think they’ve done a great job, or just having a quiet conversation with people always, always having time, if I say someone’s having trouble asking how they’re going without being too confrontational. So I really do value, what wisdom was given to me, and I do try and impart that on to other people. But I think, you know, we can always do better. I think, you know, it’s interesting, when you said, as you, I guess, go through your career become more senior, and one thing I have noticed is that people stop offering to give advice to you, because they think, you know, you probably don’t need it anymore. But you never know everything. And I think that’s a common misconception that you think, Oh, I couldn’t possibly give that person advice. They’ve been doing this for so long. But I would love it if someone still said that to me, because it’s it’s constant, constant learning and constant growth. And I definitely see it as a as a two way street. So what I what I give, I’d love if someone said, Yeah, well, you know, I’ve got some something to share with you as well.
Daisy Winney 7:15
Well, that’s it, isn’t it? You know, just because you’re more senior have been somewhere for longer doesn’t mean that you can’t learn from other people in younger positions. So I guess the simple question is, what does the word mentor actually mean to you?
Angie Asimus 7:28
Ah, look, I think it means someone who you absolutely trust to show a little bit of vulnerability to and who will not take advantage of that, but we’ll help you with the information that you shared with them. I think it’s one of the reasons I believe I’ve had great mentors is because you’ve got to be discerning about who you share things with. But there’s very much a mentality of fake it till you make it in a lot of industries. And there’s probably a place for that with certain people. But I think you do have to let those walls come down at times, and just say oh, I actually would love a bit of help with this, or what would what would you have done in that situation? And I find when you do open up a little bit people go, Oh, wow, I’d love to help you. Or yeah, I’d be more than willing to share my advice. So I think just choosing wisely, and trusting that person and letting them in a little bit will make your life so much more enriched, and you’ll have so much more to learn, if you if you allow that to happen.
Daisy Winney 8:44
For sure. And what do you think is one of the most valuable life lessons you’ve ever learned from a person or even from yourself from your experiences?
Angie Asimus 8:53
I think for me, it’s constantly getting out of your comfort zone. So it’s, it’s interesting, a lot of people who grew up with me, in my early years would be amazed that I ended up in the career that I’m in because I was very, very shy and public speaking was, you know, the worst possible thing that anyone could ask me to do. But I think, I guess, you know, my first mentors were my parents, and they sort of put me into debating teams and, and sort of tried to break down those barriers. And one day, it just wasn’t a big deal anymore. And, and I’ve done that throughout my career as well. Just the first time you go live on air. You think yeah, I remember thinking why am I actually doing this job? This is awful. And the more you do it, the less daunting it is. So I think for me, it’s you’ve got to be prepared to feel the fear and the nerves and that that goes for anything new in life if you want to progress and get to the next stage or develop or grow? You just have to do it.
Daisy Winney 10:04
Yeah, that’s so important. So important, you’ll never know until you try, really. So this is a bit out of the box. But if you could teach everyone in the world one concept, what concept do you think would have the largest positive impact on humanity?
Angie Asimus 10:20
That’s a really good one. What keeps coming back to me is respect. I think that it’s hard sometimes to work with certain people, but I’ve always treated it as my job to find what that person has to offer. And that’s something my dad taught me that everybody has something to offer. And if you can find that common ground, or find where you do a lot, you can work well together, you can get on well together, and you actually make progress instead of focusing on what you don’t like about the person what they’ve done in the past. And I always, always, always like to make up my own mind about someone, I never listen to what someone else has said, because I only go off how they’ve treated me. And I think if we all did that, I think the rest of us, you know, it allow a lot more kindness and a lot more productivity, not just in the workplace, but in families in friendships and, and just in, you know, in all aspects of life. Really.
Daisy Winney 11:32
Yeah, that’s such a good answer. That’s something that I hadn’t thought of. But it’s so true. And you know, you said, everyone can come together, and you find that common ground that everyone brings something to the table. So, you know, there’s all different characters and all the different people who work at the Women’s resilience centre, what do you think, as a media ambassador, and as a woman, what do you think you bring to the table for that role?
Angie Asimus 11:57
It’s a really specific mission that they have. And for me, in my line of work, I see the absolute best of people and the absolute worst of people. So I’ve seen the effects of family violence, firsthand, in in the workplace, and in some of the stories we’ve had to cover on the people I’ve interviewed. And it’s the kind of stuff that’s just stays with you, you go home, and you think about it, you’re lying in bed thinking about it. So I, I think for me, I would like to bring an understanding of the flow on effects that this has, and also hopefully a platform from which to share some solutions and some positivity around what, what you can do if you have been in that situation, and that there are, there are places to seek help. And there are options and tried to share that message. That’s what I really think would be valuable in my role.
Daisy Winney 13:07
Definitely, and I think the team is so lucky to have you and thank you for speaking to us today. You’ve just covered everything perfectly. So that was amazing. Thank you.
Angie Asimus 13:17
My pleasure. Thank you for having me. All the best you’ll
Daisy Winney 13:21
give the women’s resilience centre the attention they need.
Angie Asimus 13:25
Oh, well, I hope so. It’s gonna be a team effort, but I’m really excited to be part of it. Thanks so much.