Kelly Shay: Advocacy, Women's wealth, Doing work that matters
This week's guest is Kelly Shay, Retirement and Retention Leader at Mercer Australia - someone who has spent her career working to improve outcomes for people who can't always speak for themselves. From student politics at Murdoch University, to organising aged care and disability workers in Australia and the US, to superannuation - Kelly's career has been anything but conventional, and entirely on purpose.
In this episode:
- What a retirement and retention leader actually does - and why it matters for the million Mercer members she serves
- The gender superannuation gap: why women retire with less, and what the industry is doing about it
- What the union movement taught her about doing more with less - and why those skills translated so well to financial services
- How she organised disability care workers from $4 an hour to a living wage - and why she's still proud of it
- The pivot from union organising to superannuation, and how a board role at Hesta opened the door
- How to know when it's time to move on: Kelly's test for when she's reached her impact ceiling
- What "commercial with a heart" means in practice - and why she holds both objectives equally
- Her work as a board member of FREE, a family and domestic violence service in Melbourne
Kelly's career advice: Clear is kind (Brené Brown), does this spark joy?, and the power of "both and"
Resources mentioned:
- Brené Brown’s work, including Dare to Lead
- “Man in the Arena” - Theodore Roosevelt (referenced by Brené Brown)
All opinions are the guest's own.
New episodes on a Wednesday, with interviews with leaders or experts every week and a monthly discussion on what we've heard in the last week of the month.
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Career Stories is hosted by Dr Luella Forbes, who works with organisations on leadership, change and storytelling. To find out how she can support your leaders and teams, visit luellaforbes.com/services
More about the podcast: luellaforbes.com/career-stories
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Creators and Guests
Host
Dr Luella Forbes
Dr Luella Forbes is a consultant specialising in Organisational Change and founder of The Career Library and it's podcast, Career Stories.
Guest
Kelly Shay
Kelly Shay is a purpose driven, results-oriented leader with a strong track record of exceeding targets. Kelly enjoys leading dynamic teams with diversity of identity, ideas, experience and expertise to achieve a common goal. She is focussed on finding solutions for people who can't find them for themselves.
