The new corporate life

Susan Moore is a public relations executive for a global tech firm, Gartner.

The team she manages is spread across the globe, one in China, one in Japan and one in India. Each team member is responsible for different countries where the firm operates, with Susan managing Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia.

With an international team responsible for Gartner’s public relations in 10 countries, you are probably imagining Susan on the tenth story of a high rise in Melbourne or Sydney.

While Susan’s career is undeniably global, her home life took a turn for the local with a move to one of south east Tasmania’s best known small towns, Franklin.

“The manager I had at the time was English, but lives in New York. And so I rang him and said my husband and I had decided to move interstate,” says Susan.

Her manager’s first response was to find Tasmania on Google Maps, and after that Susan had a nine month trial to see if being based in one of that state’s southernmost towns was going to work.

And why Tasmania?

“My husband and I wanted to move out of Sydney for almost 10 years before we made the move. We did the classic thing where we came to Tasmania on our two week holiday and drove around and we loved it.”

Tasmania offered something that larger states couldn’t. Living out of the city elsewhere and wanting to work full time, even remotely, presented challenges with travel and long distances to capital cities.

“You can draw a circle around Launceston and Hobart airports and still live in a rural environment, still be close to Hobart and Launceston, the airports and to the facilities. That’s why we chose Tasmania.

“[In other states] it’s not practical when you’re working, you can’t do it. Whereas, [in Franklin] I live exactly one hour’s drive from the airport.”

For Susan, making it Tasmania has meant being able to find that balance between local and global, and the right balance between lifestyle and work.

“I live in the middle of nowhere, so if I turn out of my driveway there’s two more houses, then forestry, then wilderness until the West Coast. So there’s nothing, and that to me is paradise.”

Susan believes that working remotely is underestimated and underutilised.

“It’s not for everybody, but I think a lot of organisations are missing a trick with this. They’ve got stressed out staff who spend two hours a day commuting.”

Outside of work Susan and her husband have dived head first into Tasmanian life. Susan has been involved with the Huon Valley Dog Walking Association, the Hobart Walking Club and is an alumni of the Tasmanian Leaders Program, and Susan’s husband David runs a comedy room in Franklin.

The same ease of access that has helped Susan professionally has also led to trying things she would never have tried in Sydney.

“It’s easier to do the things you enjoy in Tasmania than elsewhere, that’s what I’ve found.”

Published 2 October 2017