Sarah Turner gets up at 4:50am every day to cycle in the dark, before getting the kids ready for daycare and school, and heading to her job as General Counsel of EBOS Group.
She packs as much as possible into her day, gets home in time to read the kids a story and tuck them into bed, and then jumps on the laptop to keep working once they’re asleep.
Working hard appears hardwired into Turner’s personality. She says she was born with a ‘competitive, determined gene’ and has memories of trying to finish her maths work in year two before anyone else.
She took six weeks maternity leave after both of her kids were born (although now concedes she’d take longer if she were doing it again) and has kept an efficient, determined working pace for as long as she can remember.
That determination saw her complete a law degree and quickly commence a leadership career after being poached to head up the legal department at a dot com start up. Still in her twenties, it gave Turner legal scope over the massive process of building eight data centres across Europe and developing SAS (what’s now known as the ‘cloud’).
“It was an extraordinary time. It was my first job outside a big law firm environment. I was the only lawyer,” she says.
And it gave her opportunities most young lawyers couldn’t even imagine.
“We raised several hundred million Euros in debt and equity funding. I worked with incredibly clever people, most of them from the US,” she says.
“They were exceptionally demanding. We were planning to IPO before the funding ran out. I learnt to develop a legal department from scratch, run it, deal on a daily basis with the CEO, CFO, and heads of business units, managed work in eight different countries, prepare a company for IPO! It was incredibly unnerving at my age, but exhilarating!”
When the dot come crash came, the IPOs dried up, and Turner found herself in London and out of work. She took a holiday (and proudly got her skippers ticket for being ‘captain’ of a yacht) and had another job to go to within two weeks.
When she later returned to Australia, she took an in-house role with BlueScope Steel before going to the Victorian Bar, and later to another tech company.
She started with healthcare company Symbion in February 2012, where she oversaw a $1 billion plus merger with EBOS Group, New Zealand’s largest listed healthcare company. She was appointed GC of EBOS midway through last year.
Turner’s not slowing down. But when asked what advice she’d have for her younger self, she says it would be to take her time, a little. “Calm down! You don’t need to take over the world today!” she says.
Turner was a finalist in the NAB Women’s Agenda Leadership Awards 2015.
The short facts on Turner’s story.
Born. Hobart
Childhood. Hobart
Leadership qualifications? I have a number of formal qualifications, LLB (Hons), BA, Grad Dip in Applied Corporate Governance. I’m a Fellow of the Governance Institute, a Fellow of Chartered Institute of Secretaries, a Member of the Insitute of Company Directors. I’m not quite sure that leadership necessarily requires formal “recognised ” qualifications. My experience has been more about “doing” than education (though I’ve had plenty of the latter).
High school career ambition? I was going to be either a lawyer or a doctor, but I loved words more than I loved science, so I ended up in law.
And your first, ever job? I ran a cleaning business! (that’s not quite accurate. I used to clean houses when I was at University because it was a very flexible job. Through word of mouth I built up a small number of clients.
How do you stay informed on a daily basis? Obviously I read Womens’ Agenda! I also read the AFR, Age, I try and scan the pages of a UK and US broadsheet (I like to read different opinions about the same thing), and I receive a number of legal alerts from law firms and legal bodies.
And manage your wellbeing? I get up at 4.50am and cycle in the dark! I love the time I have with my children and husband on the weekends. And, against every feminist principle, I really enjoy technical baking. It is impossible to think about work and make unnecessarily complicated food at the same time!
First thing you do in the morning? Cycle.
An average day in the life… I get up at 4.50am. Cycle. Wake my children up and dress one for daycare and one for school. I leave home at 7am and am in the office by 7.30am. I treasure that first hour of answering emails, and trying to get some of the technically difficult things out of the way. My brain works best in the mornings. The rest of the day is highly variable. I meet with people. Talk to my CEO (who also cycles!). Chat with my team. I might talk to my mentees. I do lots of legal work (of course). I try and get home to read my children a story and tuck them into bed. If I’m lucky, my husband isn’t travelling and will make dinner. And then I get my laptop out again, and work until bed.
Leadership ‘superpower’? I’m not sure whether its efficiency, or directness!
What do you believe needs to change in order to better support women at work – particularly in your industry? I took six weeks maternity leave off for each of my children (which I wouldn’t do again if I could have my time over). But I think the real struggle is not maternity leave, it’s what you do with the children when you return to work. Obviously I am in the fortunate position of being able to afford full-time child care. But that child care was incredibly difficult to get – there are so few places out there. I wish it was easier to find great, affordable, places for small children when their parents, whether women or not, are working.
I’m not particularly political, but I quite liked the idea of a Government funded maternity scheme, but that helps only with a very very short period in the child’s life. To get women back to work, you need to help them look after their children.
Advice to your 18-year-old self. Calm down! You don’t need to take over the world today!
Sarah Turner’s story is the latest of our 100 Stories Project, in which we’re asking women about a turning point that’s shifted her leadership career. Telling 100 stories from January 1 2015, the project showcases the diverse range of leadership careers available, as well as some of the brilliant achievements and fascinating career paths of women. It also demonstrates how planned and unexpected forks in the road can take you places you never thought possible.
Got an idea? Get in contact. Check out more on our 100 Stories Project here.
Other women featured in this series include:
Sarah Turner: How to head up a legal department while still in your twenties
Aviva Tuffield: The story behind supporting female story-tellers
Kim McGuinness: How to commit to a career change and make it happen
Christina Matthews: Loving cricket and rising to CEO
Julie McKay: How came to head up UN Women
Angela Ferguson: The woman designing the future of work (Google included)
Jo-Ann Hicks: eBay’s leading woman on the risks that made her digital career
Annabelle Daniel: ‘I’m the unlikely combination of CEO and single parent
Sarah Liu: Multiple job titles and variety: Life as a ‘slashie’
Lindy Stephens: When the power shifts, women should make the most of it
Kate Morris: Why I gave up law to become an online entrepreneur
Jacque Comery: Leading a team of 12 on an Antarctic base