SOLL Staff Series: an Interview with Ashley Michailaros
Felicia Lee
Ashley joined the School of Languages and Linguistics, University of Melbourne, this year as School Operations Coordinator. She is involved in the day-to-day operations at the school and is also a student undertaking her Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the Melbourne Business School.
Felicia interviewed Ashley about her experiences at work and as a part-time student.
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Ashley, thank you for doing this with us! Could you tell us a bit more about yourself and what you were doing before you joined the University of Melbourne as School Operations Coordinator?
In a nutshell, after high school (all those years ago), I did a degree in agricultural science at Dookie College, which changed while I was there to become part of the University of Melbourne. I didn’t do a lot with that, but when I was married and I had my three young children, I went back to university; I went to Swinburne University and did a Bachelor of Business with a minor in IT. Then about two years after that, I went back to Deakin University and did a Graduate Certificate in Professional Writing, and now I’m at the Melbourne Business School doing a Master of Business Administration (MBA), which I started last mid last year.
I started out my career in sort of admin and office management roles and then moved into a more operations type of role. I used to work at Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, in the Human Resource department, which I really loved.
Immediately before joining UniMelb, I was working for the Victorian Association of State Secondary Principals in North Melbourne, which is reasonably close to here, where I was Manager of Communications Events and Membership. It was a small team basically. I was involved in operations like I’m doing here just by a different name, and I was there for about four and a half years, which was a really good experience. I’ve always thought I’d like to work for a university proper so when this role came up, I decided to apply.
How has working at UniMelb been so far?
Yeah, it’s been really good! The team is amazing. My school manager, Mel, is amazing and Katie and Lourdes, we share an office and they’ve been very kind. When I first started, they tried not to overload me with information because as a new person to the university, obviously there are lots of new systems. I need to not only get my head around them, but it’s kind of my job to make sure we’re compliant with them, so I’m really doing a bit of an in-depth look at those. So gradually, I’ve just increased my responsibility and it’s been a really good experience, like right down to I love working on the campus. It’s a great place to work. Also, there’s been lots of opportunities for development and learning, which is my thing. So yeah, it’s been good so far.
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You mentioned you are doing an MBA right now too. Tell us more about that!
I used to say to my husband that if I could get paid for being a student, I would be a student forever. I’m sort of three quarters of the year through the course, which has been an amazing, really great experience. I’m glad to be back in the classroom and more professional than any of the other things that I’ve done. And just yeah, I kind of, I feel like I’m 49 and I’ve found my tribe over there.
When I first applied for the MBA, my goal was to one day be the CEO of some sort of not-for-profit, not necessarily charity, but not-for-profit organisation. That’s possibly still a goal long term, but now that I’ve started, I’ve done a few subjects, and I’ve realized that I can do more than I thought. My imposter syndrome is disappearing. I’m thinking maybe strategy or yeah, something like that. Not consulting, that’s not my thing, but maybe a job that involves strategic planning and leadership. But yeah, again, it’s a work in the making but it’s been great.
This is amazing. How do you juggle so many things on your plate?
Yeah, it can be difficult. I did two subjects last term, which nearly broke me because one of them was really hard. I’ve got three sons, a husband and a dog so yeah, it’s busy. Some people ask me how I do it and I’m not really sure. I have a great husband who steps up when he needs to, and often cooks for the boys and the dog even though it’s not his thing. But yeah, I think that’s how I do it. He’s very supportive and just tries his best and he generally works from home. One of our kids has challenges, so we try to have someone home most of the time and he sort of takes a lot of that on now that I’m here and at MBS. It’s like the almost complete reverse of how it worked when our kids were smaller.
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So besides overseeing the operation matters at school, you’re also working with the school’s podcast team (Secret Life of Language), right?
Yeah, I’m working with Gavin. Gavin runs the studio for the podcast, and so I’ve just been given the responsibility to oversee the project rather than involving myself in the creative part. I’m hoping to contribute a little bit creatively though my role is more operations driven. I’ve been working my way through the past episodes to have a listen and really, they’re great. Some of the stories are really interesting; it’s the stories that I love, the ones that sort of tie in with the languages and linguistics stuff. We’re just starting up again for this year and hopefully, we’ll have a few things out.
We’ve also put a call out to the academics in the school to see if anyone would like to be included in a podcast. I think we’re going to make about 5 or 6 episodes this year, and one of them is sort of already in production. We’d love more people to listen and if anyone has any ideas, send them through!
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It seems like you’re leading a really busy but fulfilling life right now! Apart from work and studying, what do you like to do in your free time?
I try and be a bit involved in my kids’ lives, family life, and also Scouts. I was a Cub leader once when my kids were Cub Scouts, so I used to take them camping and all that kind of stuff. Actually, camping is not really my thing, but it was good because it kind of makes you a bit uncomfortable and it helps you to, you know, learn. And I like that age group. Once they get to be Scouts, they’re teenagers. I’ve got enough teenagers at home. I don’t need any more! The younger age group are still sort of I don’t know, they still wonder at life, you know, and it’s lovely. And they ask you the most hilarious questions sometimes! Being a Cub also gives them opportunities to do things that they often would never get otherwise.
I hope you get time to rest and relax amidst your very busy schedule. Well, thank you for chatting with me, Ashley! You’re such an inspiration and it reminds us that learning should never stop!
Thank you, Felicia.
Listen to podcast series on The Secret Life of Language here!