More than a hundred print industry leaders were gathered in the heart of Sydney city on Wednesday for the penultimate session in this year’s Women in Print series.
Set in the Tea Room in Queen Victoria Building, the morning kicked off with Mahlab Media founder Bobbi Mahlab and Blackwood general manager for marketing Melissa Hayes discussing how print continues to lead their businesses.
With more than 20 years’ experience in journalism and content marketing, Mahlab said despite the enormous digital disruption across media, the evolution of her business still sees print media account for half of it.
“[Our clients] see print as the lifeblood of how they communicate with their members,” she said.
“It’s the changeability and visibility of print as an experience that we recognise print as important to the work we do.”
The discussion shifted from print to women in industry, as Mahlab and Hayes expressed the importance of mentoring and encouraging women both within the workplace and in their personal lives.
“I firmly believe good women help good women, and good people help good people,” said Mahlab.
With collaboration echoing as the core tenet of this event, the audience turned to keynote speaker Amna Karra-Hassan who inspired the crowd with her vision, work ethic, and achievements in bringing women to the forefront both on the sports field and in industry.
In an articulate address, Karra-Hassan’s personal story in overcoming adversity was filled with humour and insight, and further demonstrated how her local women’s AFL team rose to the elite, professional level alongside the Greater Western Sydney Giants team.
Karra-Hassan sparked a number of empowering messages for the audience, leaving us with the standout idea that, “If you want to achieve greatness, stop asking for permission.”
The Women in Print series has travelled around the country for two weeks, with events held in Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney, and ended on its final leg this morning in Melbourne.
