August 18, 2025 • 29 mins
Chanelle Pearson, Chief of Staff at the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, shares how her career moved from journalism to leading teams in advocacy, media, and events. She talks about launching the Chamber Change women’s leadership program, organizing the upcoming World Chambers Congress in Melbourne, and balancing her diverse responsibilities. Chanelle also offers advice for other Chiefs of Staff and explains how her team listens to members and shapes business policy.
Links Mentioned:
14th World Chambers Congress
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- Strategic Planning Checklist
- Chief of Staff Skills Assessment Checklist
- A Day in the Life of a Chief of Staff
- Chief of Staff Toolkit
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Who Am I?
If we haven’t yet before - Hi👋 I’m Emily, Chief of Staff turned Executive Leadership Coach. After a thrilling ride up the corporate ladder, I’m focusing on what I love - working with people to realize their professional and personal goals. Through my videos here on this channel, books, podcast guest spots, and newsletter, I share new ideas and practical and tactical tools to help you be more productive and build the career and life you want.
Time Stamps:
00:39 Chanelle Pearson's Career Journey
02:25 Understanding Chambers of Commerce
04:05 Victorian Chamber of Commerce Activities
07:38 Women in Business Program
13:56 Role of Chief of Staff
19:00 World Chambers Congress
26:09 Final Thoughts and Farewell
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
emily-sander_1_07-15-20 (00:25):
Welcome back to
1752613307612 (00:26):
Leveraging leadership today, I am joined by
Chanel Pearson, who is the chiefof staff at the Victorian
Chamber of Commerce andIndustry.
Chanel, welcome to the show.
Hi, Emily.
It's great to be with you.
Thanks for having me.
I'm excited to share your story,and I always ask guests how they
became chief of Staff, and youhave a really interesting story
(00:46):
that involves media andcommunications and different
things, and mayors and allthese,
emily-sander_1_07-15-2025_1 (00:51):
all
1752613307612 (00:51):
these things.
So tell us how you became Chiefof Staff, please.
Well, interesting is one wordfor it.
Um, sometimes I think that it'sa bit of a story of failure
because, uh, what I wanted to bealways when I was younger was a
TV reporter.
I loved the news.
I loved the, um, I suppose theglamor of it, and that's what I
set my sights on.
(01:11):
Studied incredibly hard.
Um.
Was a really hard worker, wouldput myself forward for any type
of work experience, anything inthe media.
That's just what I had my, myheart set on.
And then throughout the process,I somehow wound up work, wound
up working in state politics, soin the Victorian, uh, state
opposition.
And after five years there,which I loved and just learned
(01:33):
so much when it came time tomove on to, you know, go to the
next step in my career, Ireflected and I went, actually,
I really.
Don't wanna do that anymore.
I love being on the other side.
Some people call it the darkside when you move out of, uh,
out of media and into advising,but I loved the fact that I
could actually help shape thenarrative and shape the stories
(01:54):
and make a public policycontribution rather than just
report on the stories.
And so that's really led me towhere I am today through various
roles in local, state, uh, andfederal government and also in,
uh, industry bodies.
Including the one that I worknow in the Victorian Chamber of
Commerce and industry.
And I think every chief of staffthat I've come across
particularly, you know, all the,the great chiefs of staff that I
(02:16):
come across are very purposedriven.
And I think that that's what I,that's what drives me and um,
that's what's kept me over hereon the dark side.
Beautiful.
Thank you.
And, and you mentioned therejust a minute ago about
emily-sander_1_07-15-2025 (02:27):
about
1752613307612 (02:27):
the local, state and national level.
And in the United States wehave.
emily-sander_1_07-15-2025 (02:32):
have,
1752613307612 (02:33):
I believe the same structure, so I know why of
my local city Chamber ofCommerce, which helps local
businesses, network and findeach other.
And then there's the state.
We have 50 states and that'smaybe advocating for certain
legislation.
And then there's the nationalpart.
I believe there's aninternational Chamber of
Commerce that kind of leads intostuff you're doing in the
future, but just for generalcontext, for our US based
(02:55):
listeners, how is that organizedin Australia?
In terms of the chambers ofcommerce, similarly, yes.
Yeah.
Um, very similar.
So we do have local chambers ofcommerce, so in regional towns,
um, and in cities themselves.
And then we do also have statechambers of commerce, of which
we are one.
And then we also have theAustralian Chamber of Commerce
and Industry.
(03:15):
And we are actually a majorshareholder of.
The Australian Chamber ofCommerce and Industry because
basically we, um, charge themwith doing our national work
because it wouldn't make sensefor every state chamber to have
a presence in, uh, Canberra,which is the equivalent to our
Washington, I suppose, to dothat advocacy work for us.
And then as you correctlymentioned, there is the
(03:36):
International Chamber ofCommerce and industry as well,
which I'm working really.
Closely with, uh, to bring toMelbourne in September, the
World Chambers Congress, whichis the first time that it'll be
hosted here.
So it's held in another globalcity every second year.
So Melbourne first time,incredibly excited to have it.
It was held in Sydney, one ofour.
Sister Cities, of course, in2017.
(03:58):
So that's going to be huge andum, is keeping me very busy at
the moment.
I can only imagine.
Yes.
And I definitely wanna get tothat just for the Victorian
Chamber of Commerce.
What, what is the mandate andwhat are your main activities
and scope there?
Essentially we exist sobusinesses in our state can be
successful.
So we basically offer every typeof service that you need, every
(04:22):
type of forum that you need tobe successful in business in our
state.
So we run a series of events.
I actually oversee our eventsteam on top of, um, a few other
teams.
So I think we run something like120 events a year, which can be
anything from small roundtables.
To huge, um, galas, uh, and theworld chambers Congress
(04:42):
obviously.
So for example, just this yearwe ran a major autumn ball and
we had, um, as our guest there,Eric Banner, whom you might
know, Emily.
Yes,
emily-sander_1_07-15-2025_1 (04:51):
yes
1752613307612 (04:52):
I do.
Yes I do.
He's been on the screensworldwide, so, you know, really,
um, fantastic events.
We run training courses.
We are one of our.
State's largest trainingproviders.
We also are the largestconnector of apprentices with
employers in, in the country.
Uh, and we, we exist, orchambers of commerce exist to
(05:12):
provide, um, that certificationto export.
So that's called certificates oforigin, uh, which is something
people don't know that we do.
Another really interesting thingthat we do is, um, provide
basically the passport forpassports.
For goods.
So for example, if you are, uh,going overseas to.
Um, put on a concert, all ofthose, all of those equipment,
(05:34):
so all the instruments, they allneed a passport to show that
they're traveling and thatthey're coming back.
So, um, that can be reallyinteresting as well.
And, and one area that I'mclosest to obviously is that
advocacy piece.
So being that.
That voice, that strong voicefor business, uh, which was
particularly important hereduring COVID.
Um, as you know, we were thelongest lockdown city in the
(05:55):
world, I think.
So having the voice of businesswas extremely important.
And, and that was the time thatI came over to the Victorian
Chamber.
So that was sort of part, again,of that purpose for me to help,
you know, raise that voice ofbusiness.
Amazing.
And I'm gonna try to, to notmake this entire episode about
Eric Bana
emily-sander_1_07-15-2025_1 (06:14):
and
1752613307612 (06:14):
Chris Tamworth and every, uh, other actors that
come from Australia.
Um, some of my favorite.
But you mentioned one of yourteams, I believe was the events
team.
And I'm wondering, so a lot ofchiefs of staff we speak to
don't have teams or they haveone or two direct reports, and
it sounds like you might havemultiple teams rolling up to
you.
So I'm curious about thatstructure.
Yeah, that's, uh, that's right.
(06:34):
I oversee, uh, the mediafunction.
Um, obviously I'm a journalistby trade and, and that is my
background.
So that would make sense.
That's how I actually came intothe organization.
Yeah, before I became the chiefof staff, uh, events.
Yes.
Oversee the events team, whichis, you know, something, an area
I've never really worked inbefore.
But I suppose, you know, I lovepeople and I love, um, seeing
them have a great time.
(06:55):
So that was kind of a naturalsegue for me.
Uh, the World Chambers Congress,I oversee that department as
well, which is, you know.
Probably the biggest projectthat we've got going on at the
moment.
Uh, also our Women in BusinessProgram Chamber Change.
Oh yeah, our chief executive andI designed that, uh, a bit over
three years ago now, and we'vejust, uh, we're just about to
clock through 500 participants.
(07:17):
Uh, and we're up to programnine.
And our national governmentthrough the Australian Chamber
of Commerce and Industry haveactually funded it to go
national.
So over the next few months,I'll be training every other.
State and territory chamber inthe country to run this program.
It's been an amazing success andsomething I'm really passionate
about as well.
Wow, that's amazing.
Congratulations.
(07:38):
And talk a little bit about thatwomen's initiative.
So was this your idea?
Was it in conjunction with yourCEO?
It sounded like.
How did that come about?
Yeah.
So, um, the Victorian Chamberfor quite a while had wanted to
do something in this genderequity space, as we know there's
not enough, uh, women in seniorleadership positions.
And we were looking at, youknow, why is that and what can
(07:58):
we do to address that?
And we didn't wanna just create.
Another program that was, youknow, same old, recreate the
wheels.
So what our chief executive andI did, and it was during COVID
too, by the way.
So a lot of this was on Zoom,was, um, speak to the, some of
the experts in this field.
So we have an organization herecalled wia, which is the, um,
gender Equity Association, theNational Association, which is
(08:21):
headed up by, uh, an incrediblewoman named Mary Wildridge.
We spoke with her, we spoke withsome other leaders in this
space.
Uh, women like Carol Schwartz.
What's working, what's notworking?
Where do you think the gaps inthe market are?
We spoke to other industryassociations that had similar
programs, uh, and we came upwith what we thought was a good
idea.
And then at that point wesurveyed our members to say,
(08:43):
Hey, what do you wanna see inthis space?
What do you think that we shouldcreate?
And out of that, the feedbackwas that 70% wanted to see more
women in positions of leadershipand 50% wanted more, um,
networking opportunities forwomen.
Mm-hmm.
So from off the back of that, wedesigned.
The program called ChamberChange.
So effectively every program isthree sessions and the
(09:04):
participant groups, there'sabout 30 in each group in each
program, and they hear from ourchampions.
So the champions are seniorwomen in business, so CEOs, vice
chancellors, highly impressivewomen.
You know, the idea is if you cansee it, you can be it.
They speak to our participantgroups on the topic of either
power.
Balance or career journey, andour participants get to hear
(09:27):
from them.
I do a bit of a q and a with theparticipants.
Then we also have a networkingcomponent and also a presenting
with purpose training workshop.
So setting our participants upfor success.
And so then out of that, thethree sessions per program, uh,
cohorts have formed between theparticipants themselves.
They've heard theseinspirational, inspiring
(09:49):
stories, and then they go onand.
Basically they're inspired tofurther their career.
And the success stories thatI've had out of this program
have been like, trulyincredible.
People have told us that it islife changing.
It's encouraged them to go forthe next job.
They're still in contact withtheir cohorts.
They've, um, found a mentor insome of the champions.
And yeah, it's just beenincredibly rewarding to be a
(10:11):
part of.
emily-sander_1_07-15-2025_1 (10:12):
And just,
1752613307612 (10:12):
just curious, how did you, there's many other
programs that do similar things,as you mentioned, it seems like
you're uniquely positioned tooffer something in that space.
How did you find that niche andmake sure, okay, we're gonna
operate in a different way thanwhat other people are offering.
I suppose just the, um, theconcept and the position of
(10:33):
where the Chamber of Commercesits in, in the landscape, in
the business landscape in thatbasically we have the
connections in with our businessnetwork and we see what's going
on in terms of.
Leadership overall and, and howwe can play that role and how we
can really influence.
Um, that's really been our sweetspot, I suppose, in that we are
(10:55):
so connected into business andwe're a trusted voice, I
suppose.
We are.
We're not just a, um, acommercial entity.
We are actually, you know, verypurpose-driven, purpose-led, and
we are trusted by our members.
So I think that's where, that'swhy it's been so successful.
Yeah, the, the trust and thereputation goes a long way.
And I remember as chief ofstaff, I was chief of staff for
(11:17):
a company in the private sectorand one of my jobs was to speak
with customers and make sure wewere getting the voice of the
customer into our leadership
emily-sander_1_07-1 (11:24):
discussion.
So
1752613307612 (11:25):
So I'm imagining, you mentioned survey and
different, differentconstituents and stakeholders.
How do you and your team
emily-sander_1_07-15-2025 (11:31):
teams
1752613307612 (11:32):
make sure that you're hearing the voice of the
people around you and whatthey're asking for and what
they're really after from theChamber of Commerce?
The most important thing is tolisten, isn't it?
Um, I think in, in all of thosematters, like we are listening
and we're talking to our membersevery day, you know, whether
that be, you know, at events orat meetings or at round tables
or, um, we also run task forces,so we'll focus in on particular
(11:55):
issues that we wanna see.
Speak to our members about andlearn more from them about, and
that then enables us to shape,you know, what is the position
that we then take to usually togovernment.
Um, could be federal or state orlocal government, but that
enables us to speak withauthority because we are, we've
got the.
Uh, Intel from the coalface ifyou like.
Um, there's an expression that Ido love, which is, you know, in
(12:17):
God we trust and all othersbring data, we also rely very
heavily on surveying our membersas well, you know, strength in
numbers.
And we don't pretend to have allthe answers.
You have to speak to people atthe coalface.
To know.
And, um, I mean, I say oftenchambers of commerce exist to be
that conduit between businessand government because
government can't possibly speakto every business.
(12:41):
And Sure business, everybusiness can't possibly speak to
government.
So that is where, where and whywe exist.
And, and that's a reallyimportant role and, um, and a
role that we take, you know,very seriously.
Yeah, certainly.
And it sounds like there's twobig sides of that if you're the
conduit between business andgovernment, and you mentioned
the different levels ofgovernment as well.
(13:01):
Are you doing activities andmaking sure you're building and
maintaining relationships onthat end as well?
Oh, absolutely.
Um, you know, we talk withgovernment every day on every,
on very many, many differentlevels.
We have a fantastic policy andadvocacy team here at the
Victorian Chamber who are, youknow, very tapped into members,
but also into government.
(13:21):
Uh, we have obviously ourexecutive team, our chief
executive, myself, therewouldn't be, um, a person there
wouldn't be a, um.
Level of government that we arenot talking to every single day.
And as I mentioned earlier, wealso have that network of the
Australian Chamber of Commerceand Industry, which is, you
know, a fantastic organizationin its own right.
(13:42):
And then we also have theInternational Chamber of
Commerce, which sort of doesthat, uh, advocacy piece on a
global scale.
So, you know, we're a big, uh, abig network and a very important
one to be that voice ofbusiness.
Yes.
And you mentioned some of theinternal teams there.
So for the fellow chiefs ofstaff listening, how do you
interact with your principal,the CEO?
What's your interaction likewith the other executive team
(14:04):
members or equivalents thereof?
Yeah, I mean, I think look likea lot of chiefs of staff.
My job changes as the needs ofthe organization changes.
Uh, but on, so obviously I workin extremely closely with our
chief executive.
My primary role is obviously tobe that, uh, key strategic
council to our chief executiveand also on our executive team.
(14:25):
We do have our executiveassistant, whom I also work
really closely with.
We have a Chief executive of theCommittee for Melbourne, and
that is our top membership tier,essentially.
So it's sort of a departmentwithin the Victorian Chamber.
Uh, we have our CFO, ourExecutive Director of Policy and
Advocacy, who I mentionedearlier, our executive director.
Uh, information Communicationsand Technology Executive
(14:47):
Director of Commercial Services,our executive director,
membership, international andApprenticeship Services, hr, and
then of course, me.
So, um, how do I work in withthe principal or extremely
closely is the answer to that.
Um, we meet formally, uh.
As an executive team as well,and collaborate, obviously
daily, depends on the projectsthat I'm working on on any
(15:09):
particular day.
Um, and also given my remit tooversee media as well.
Um, you know, that's, that's adaily occurrence and can happen,
you know, anytime from five inthe morning till 11 at night or
overnight.
'cause as we know, media doesn'tsleep.
So, um, very, a very close.
Working relationship because itneeds to be.
And, and you know, it's a greatworking relationship too.
(15:30):
We, um, we also enjoy eachother's company, have a lot of
fun, um, yeah.
And get along really well.
Uh, the executive team are alsofantastic and we very much
operate as a big, as a unit andwe're, you know, very
collaborative.
Yeah.
How do you balance all that youdo?
I mean, you mentioned so manydifferent things there.
Media is 24 7 and you have thatbackground, so you know better
(15:51):
than anyone.
And then you have things like,I'm organizing.
This worldwide event coming uplater this year?
I mean, how do you, I mean, howdo you balance all that?
Oh, it's funny actually, Emily,in our, uh, women in Business
program Chamber Change, one ofthe recurring themes is balance
and, um, one of the analogies.
That is often used is that forburn a stove, you know, at some
(16:13):
point you've gotta turn up, youknow, work and then family goes
down or friends are up andexercise or health is down.
And I sort of think of my worklife like that.
Um, you know, it'll depend onthe time and the, and the
priorities.
That, that need your attention.
So at the moment, I'm probably70% on the world Chamber's
Congress.
Oh, okay.
'cause that's only, you know,six weeks away.
(16:33):
And, uh, that's, that's theproject that I'm overseeing, so
really important and is taking alot of my time and energy.
Uh, and then probably ourchamber change program, as I
mentioned, that's goingnational, so that's taking a bit
more of my time at the momentnow too.
Um, and then you've got sort ofmedia and events and then, you
know, a little bit of, uh,traditional.
(16:54):
Chief of staff type duties, andthat's probably on the lower end
of the burner at the moment.
Um, so it just, you know, you'vejust gotta prioritize.
Um, have incredible teams, trustyour teams, empower your teams,
and, you know, they, they willdo incredible jobs, which they
are.
Um, I love seeing people thriveand grow under that, you know,
having that autonomy has been.
(17:16):
Incredible.
Yeah.
As I said, I'm really fortunateto have really great direct
reports here at the Chamber, soyeah, it's, that always helps.
It's a balance.
Yeah, it's a balance, you know,like everything like life,
you've just gotta prioritize dayto day and, uh, everyone has the
same hours in the day asBeyonce.
It's how you use, use it.
Yes.
I heard someone describe it withthe, it's like an orchestra.
(17:38):
You're the ma, you're themaestro, and it's like the drums
are will come, but the stringswill come up and then this part
will fade out.
And I'm like, yes, that's right.
It's not.
Balance necessarily.
It's just kind of, this is beingemphasized during this part of
the song, but, um, I can relateto you in the sense that I had.
Key initiatives where it's like,okay, I'm being assigned to
this.
This is gonna take 75% of mytime, and it sounds like maybe
(18:01):
similar to you.
I would turn around to my teamand say, okay, guess what?
I'm gonna be over here for 75%of the time.
Which means for you, you get to,you get to step up.
In these other areas and they,my team members were fantastic
and they stepped up and didthings better than I did.
So I'm wondering if that's kindof the, I love when that
happened.
The same kind of analysis foryou.
(18:22):
Hey, I know this set event iscoming up, so for the first half
of 2025, I'm gonna be prettydedicated over here.
Does that give you a chance tospeak to your other team members
in, in their roles?
Absolutely.
And as you said, Emily, it'sbeen amazing just to see them
step up and, um, you know, runthe show really.
Uh, it's great to see thatcapability coming out.
(18:43):
And, you know, change is great.
Change is refreshing, and, youknow, if we can't, uh, do that
as chiefs of staff, asexecutives, you know, I don't
think that we're, I think we'redoing ourselves a disservice.
So you've just gotta sort ofroll with the punches and, uh,
life goes on and, uh, just doyour best.
Absolutely.
So tell us about this.
Is it World Chambers, Congress,the 14th World Chambers Congress
(19:04):
is coming, is coming to, andyou're running this whole, whole
show?
Oh, yes.
Well, look, with my teams and,and across the whole broader
department, um, there's not aperson in, in the Victorian
Chamber of Commerce and industrythat doesn't have some kind of,
uh, role to play in the world.
Chambers Congress, we sort ofrefer to it as the business
Olympic.
Essentially it's, you know, thebiggest business event, uh, in,
(19:26):
in the world.
Really, it's that opportunityfor Chamber of Commerce
executives all over the world toget together and share, you
know, best practice insights inand intel.
Um, it's, as I said, it's thefirst time that we've hosted,
it's co-organized with.
The International Chamber ofCommerce, world Chambers
Federation, uh, and US ofcourse, and it's a three day
(19:47):
forum.
So Global Network under thetheme of business chambers,
government partners forprosperity.
As I mentioned earlier, wereally see Chambers of Commerce
as being that conduit betweenbusiness and government.
So what we wanted to reallyunpack as part of our Congress
was, you know, how we play thatrole.
So making it more inclusive of.
Government and chambers, notjust, sorry, government and
(20:09):
business, not just, you know,chambers talking to Chambers and
having been to a few of theseforums around the world in the
last few years and beyond that,it's, it's really interesting
that you can kind of pick up anyof these congresses and drop it
anywhere else in the world.
And we are all facing the sameissues.
You know, it's geopoliticaltensions.
(20:29):
Yes, it's ai.
Energy, it's housing, it'sskills shortages, and that has
been quite incredible to me.
So I, so I, you know, when wewere designing this, this
program, it was like, let'sexplore these huge issues that
are relevant for cha, not justChambers, but.
Business and government andreally unpack that on a global
scale and, and, you know, seewhere we land.
(20:52):
So we'll be hearing from worldrenowned thought leaders and
policy makers.
Um, the US will have a reallygreat contingent, uh, we hope.
Um, we've, we've got GaryLipman, the Senior Vice
President of Global Initiativesat the US Chamber of Commerce.
We've got the OCD.
Yeah, so us coming over, we'vegot the os.
C.
D.
Secretary General with isCorman, the director of the
(21:12):
Global Indicators Group at theWorld Bank, Norman Za, and you
know, many more thought leaders,our premier Jacinta Allen.
So it's going to be terrific.
As you can tell, I'm verypassionate about it.
And looking forward to a rest onthe 5th of September.
emily-sander_1_07-15-2025_1 (21:27):
Not that
1752613307612 (21:27):
that you have that circled on your calendar,
counting down the days oranything.
Um, yes.
Fantastic.
Do you know about how manycountries are being represented?
A hundred countries, Emily.
So it's very much yeah.
A global event.
And, and you know, Melbourne isa really multicultural city.
I think we are one of the mostmulticultural cities in the
world.
So, you know, this is notunusual for us.
(21:47):
We're used to welcome, we we'rebasically a country, um, you
know, built on multiculturalism.
So, you know, we are verywelcoming city.
Uh, we're an exciting, vibrantcity.
Really excited to welcome our.
Colleagues from all around theworld.
And, um, actually just laterthis week, I'm heading over to
the US with our chief executivefor the, um, American, uh, the
(22:08):
American version, basically.
So that's going to be reallyinteresting just to see how the,
you know, what the difference isfor, um, Victorian or Australian
Chambers of Commerce and then,you know, how they operate in
the US and, and also to forgesome connections there and
hopefully, uh, entice a lot ofthem to come over to the 14th
World Chambers Congress.
Yes, for sure.
(22:28):
And so you mentioned a lot ofthe businesses are coming in are
being that with the same issue,so AI and different things like
this.
How do you put together yourprogram or your agenda?
Do you wanna hit the things thathave already been talked about
but give the updates?
Were you trying to add a freshflavor to things?
How did you put that together?
Yeah, I mean, look, all of theabove.
(22:49):
Um, we've, as I mentionedearlier, working really closely
with the International Chamberof Commerce.
Uh, we both have incrediblepolicy teams who, you know, that
they, they look at these issuesevery day and they are at the
forefront of those issuesbecause they're speaking to our
members, they're speaking togovernments, so they know, you
know, what is.
What is, what is needed?
What do business need to hear?
What does government need tohear from business and vice
(23:12):
versa?
So it's very much, what's thestatus now?
How can we work together toachieve great impact in these
areas and what does it look likegoing forward?
So it's a bit of all of that.
Um, but very much, you know, I'dsay future focused and how can
we make real impact and how wecan we make a real difference.
Yeah.
And is is the.
emily-sander_1_07-15-2 (23:33):
Congress speaking
1752613307612 (23:33):
to economic development, is that
international policy?
Is it all of the above?
Is is, is there one theme thatyou and your team have tried to
really center and focus it on?
Or is it just Emily?
It's, it's everything andanything.
The theme overall is, um,business chambers, governments
partners for prosperity.
So we are very much centered onhow do we drive and influence
(23:56):
prosperity, global prosperity,economic prosperity, um, what is
our role in that?
Yes.
And if someone in the US oranywhere in the world is
listening, they're part of achamber of commerce, either at
the local, state or nationallevel, are they invited to come?
How do they, how do they decidewhether they can make it over?
(24:16):
What's, what are therequirements?
Tell us about that.
Oh, they most certainly are.
I would love to see you allhere.
Um, just, um, their website is,uh, wcc dot icc wbo.org, or you
can just Google the 14th WorldChambers Congress.
Anyone can register.
So, as I mentioned earlier, we'dlove to see business government
chambers all represented there.
And, and we know from theregistration so far, we are
(24:39):
going to get.
Fantastic cross representation.
Um, we also actually got that,funnily enough, the Chief of
Staff Association is one of oursponsors.
Yes.
So we expect to have a largecohort of, uh, chiefs of staff.
Um, we wanna see lots of chiefsof staff here as well.
So.
Good.
We've had Trenton Good.
Yeah.
Ex.
Oh, you've had Trent on?
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
They're fantastic.
(24:59):
Yeah.
Really great, um, organizationand, and they're very much
leaned into the world ChambersCongress.
So it's anyone really who has aninterest in that global
prosperity.
We wanna see you here.
I love that.
I love that the chief of staffcohort is being represented.
So good job.
Trent, the Chief of StaffAssociation, they're, they're an
awesome group and he's got somuch energy, so if he's there,
(25:20):
he'll bring the life to theparty.
Um, for folks listening, when,when is this event, uh.
This event is from the second tothe 4th of September, Emily.
And of course there is also awelcome reception.
It wouldn't be Melbourne withouta party.
So that's being held atMelbourne Sea Life Aquarium on
the 2nd of September.
And then we have a gala dinner,which will be incredible, which
is on the 4th of September, onthe Thursday.
(25:41):
And that's at Crown Palladium,which is one of our fantastic
function spaces here in, uh, inMelbourne.
Yes.
And will Eric Bana be attendingany of those events at all?
Can you get him on the roster?
Oh, you never know.
You're luck in a big city likeMelbourne.
As you've, as you've said, we'vegot a lot of staff power here.
If any of the Hemsworth brothersare there, I will personally fly
(26:02):
to that event.
Also from Melbourne, theHemsworth boys, so who know?
Yes.
Yes.
And I would be remiss not to askif you're speaking to aspiring
chiefs of staff or currentchiefs of staff, what advice or
guidance or any pearls of wisdomwould you wanna pass on?
Oh goodness.
Uh, where to start?
Um, I think the most importantthing is, you know, being
(26:24):
yourself, being authentic, um,being true to your purpose and
your values.
I think you know that if you,that's my North star.
Um, you can't go wrong, really.
I mean, I love that expressionto be yourself because everyone
else is taken, like we're inthese roles because of what we
have to offer, so.
Really lean into that and, and,you know, back yourself, um,
investing in your network.
So who is going to help you toachieve your goals?
(26:47):
And when I say your goals, I'mtalking about the broader
organization's goals, theprincipal's goals, who are your
aligned partners and, you know,get out from behind the desk,
meet people, go to events, pressthe flesh.
There's, there's no shortcutsfor that personal connection and
being a trusted and encouragingcoach and leader for your teams.
Again, we spoke a bit about thisearlier, Emily, it makes your
(27:07):
life a lot easier if you've gotfantastic.
People, um, surrounding you.
And you can only do that byencouraging, you know, their
ambition, their innovation andtheir progression.
And if your teams are doingwell, that's of course a great
reflection on you and it makes,you know, expands your
resources.
So that's really a no brainerfor me and it's incredibly
rewarding and continuing to growand learn through.
(27:29):
Further education, readingself-improvement books, and
listening to podcasts like yourfantastic podcast, Emily, which
I've been doing a lot of myself.
Um, and just acknowledging, uh,as you mentioned earlier about,
uh, you know, the burners, uh,that burner analogy that we
talked about, you know, giversas a lot of chiefs of staff are,
I think, you know, looking afteryourself and being aware of that
(27:50):
need for balance.
None of us can do everything.
Uh, and finally also I found mymembership of.
The Chief of Staff Association,as we mentioned a bit earlier,
has been really beneficial bothfrom an educational and a
network perspective as well.
Very cool.
And I don't know if you canthink further past the World
Congress, but are there, arethere any other things that you
(28:11):
or the Victorian Chamber ofCommerce industry are excited
for later in the year, even into2026?
Well, interestingly, um, andparticularly in my role, we
actually have a new chiefexecutive coming on board.
Oh.
Um, yeah, just, uh, just on thesame time as the World Chambers
Congress.
So that's going to be reallyexciting.
Uh, you know, a new, a new CEO,a new head, um, new.
(28:34):
Fresh vision.
So that's really exciting forthe chamber.
And, um, our chief executive,who I've worked with for the
past five years has been anincredible leader.
Like, if anyone could, uh, fillthose shoes, our incoming chief
executive, Sally Curtin is, isthe woman for the job.
And, you know, that's reallyenergizing for the organization,
for the business community, andsomething we are looking forward
(28:55):
to as well.
Beautiful.
Well, um, as you and I mentionedbefore we got on the air, we did
see the sunrise because you gotup so early to take this call.
So now it is light.
But um, thank you so much Chanelreally appreciate you sharing
everything.
And one more time, the website,if people wanna find out more,
where can they go for moreinformation there?
It's wcc icc wbo.org.
(29:17):
Beautiful.
And we'll have that in the shownotes.
Chanel, thank you so much again.
Thank you so much, Emily.
Congratulations on a fabulouspodcast.
Thank you.
Welcome back to
1752613307612 (00:26):
Leveraging leadership today, I am joined by
Chanel Pearson, who is the chiefof staff at the Victorian
Chamber of Commerce andIndustry.
Chanel, welcome to the show.
Hi, Emily.
It's great to be with you.
Thanks for having me.
I'm excited to share your story,and I always ask guests how they
became chief of Staff, and youhave a really interesting story
(00:46):
that involves media andcommunications and different
things, and mayors and allthese,
emily-sander_1_07-15-2025_1 (00:51):
all
1752613307612 (00:51):
these things.
So tell us how you became Chiefof Staff, please.
Well, interesting is one wordfor it.
Um, sometimes I think that it'sa bit of a story of failure
because, uh, what I wanted to bealways when I was younger was a
TV reporter.
I loved the news.
I loved the, um, I suppose theglamor of it, and that's what I
set my sights on.
(01:11):
Studied incredibly hard.
Um.
Was a really hard worker, wouldput myself forward for any type
of work experience, anything inthe media.
That's just what I had my, myheart set on.
And then throughout the process,I somehow wound up work, wound
up working in state politics, soin the Victorian, uh, state
opposition.
And after five years there,which I loved and just learned
(01:33):
so much when it came time tomove on to, you know, go to the
next step in my career, Ireflected and I went, actually,
I really.
Don't wanna do that anymore.
I love being on the other side.
Some people call it the darkside when you move out of, uh,
out of media and into advising,but I loved the fact that I
could actually help shape thenarrative and shape the stories
(01:54):
and make a public policycontribution rather than just
report on the stories.
And so that's really led me towhere I am today through various
roles in local, state, uh, andfederal government and also in,
uh, industry bodies.
Including the one that I worknow in the Victorian Chamber of
Commerce and industry.
And I think every chief of staffthat I've come across
particularly, you know, all the,the great chiefs of staff that I
(02:16):
come across are very purposedriven.
And I think that that's what I,that's what drives me and um,
that's what's kept me over hereon the dark side.
Beautiful.
Thank you.
And, and you mentioned therejust a minute ago about
emily-sander_1_07-15-2025 (02:27):
about
1752613307612 (02:27):
the local, state and national level.
And in the United States wehave.
emily-sander_1_07-15-2025 (02:32):
have,
1752613307612 (02:33):
I believe the same structure, so I know why of
my local city Chamber ofCommerce, which helps local
businesses, network and findeach other.
And then there's the state.
We have 50 states and that'smaybe advocating for certain
legislation.
And then there's the nationalpart.
I believe there's aninternational Chamber of
Commerce that kind of leads intostuff you're doing in the
future, but just for generalcontext, for our US based
(02:55):
listeners, how is that organizedin Australia?
In terms of the chambers ofcommerce, similarly, yes.
Yeah.
Um, very similar.
So we do have local chambers ofcommerce, so in regional towns,
um, and in cities themselves.
And then we do also have statechambers of commerce, of which
we are one.
And then we also have theAustralian Chamber of Commerce
and Industry.
(03:15):
And we are actually a majorshareholder of.
The Australian Chamber ofCommerce and Industry because
basically we, um, charge themwith doing our national work
because it wouldn't make sensefor every state chamber to have
a presence in, uh, Canberra,which is the equivalent to our
Washington, I suppose, to dothat advocacy work for us.
And then as you correctlymentioned, there is the
(03:36):
International Chamber ofCommerce and industry as well,
which I'm working really.
Closely with, uh, to bring toMelbourne in September, the
World Chambers Congress, whichis the first time that it'll be
hosted here.
So it's held in another globalcity every second year.
So Melbourne first time,incredibly excited to have it.
It was held in Sydney, one ofour.
Sister Cities, of course, in2017.
(03:58):
So that's going to be huge andum, is keeping me very busy at
the moment.
I can only imagine.
Yes.
And I definitely wanna get tothat just for the Victorian
Chamber of Commerce.
What, what is the mandate andwhat are your main activities
and scope there?
Essentially we exist sobusinesses in our state can be
successful.
So we basically offer every typeof service that you need, every
(04:22):
type of forum that you need tobe successful in business in our
state.
So we run a series of events.
I actually oversee our eventsteam on top of, um, a few other
teams.
So I think we run something like120 events a year, which can be
anything from small roundtables.
To huge, um, galas, uh, and theworld chambers Congress
(04:42):
obviously.
So for example, just this yearwe ran a major autumn ball and
we had, um, as our guest there,Eric Banner, whom you might
know, Emily.
Yes,
emily-sander_1_07-15-2025_1 (04:51):
yes
1752613307612 (04:52):
I do.
Yes I do.
He's been on the screensworldwide, so, you know, really,
um, fantastic events.
We run training courses.
We are one of our.
State's largest trainingproviders.
We also are the largestconnector of apprentices with
employers in, in the country.
Uh, and we, we exist, orchambers of commerce exist to
(05:12):
provide, um, that certificationto export.
So that's called certificates oforigin, uh, which is something
people don't know that we do.
Another really interesting thingthat we do is, um, provide
basically the passport forpassports.
For goods.
So for example, if you are, uh,going overseas to.
Um, put on a concert, all ofthose, all of those equipment,
(05:34):
so all the instruments, they allneed a passport to show that
they're traveling and thatthey're coming back.
So, um, that can be reallyinteresting as well.
And, and one area that I'mclosest to obviously is that
advocacy piece.
So being that.
That voice, that strong voicefor business, uh, which was
particularly important hereduring COVID.
Um, as you know, we were thelongest lockdown city in the
(05:55):
world, I think.
So having the voice of businesswas extremely important.
And, and that was the time thatI came over to the Victorian
Chamber.
So that was sort of part, again,of that purpose for me to help,
you know, raise that voice ofbusiness.
Amazing.
And I'm gonna try to, to notmake this entire episode about
Eric Bana
emily-sander_1_07-15-2025_1 (06:14):
and
1752613307612 (06:14):
Chris Tamworth and every, uh, other actors that
come from Australia.
Um, some of my favorite.
But you mentioned one of yourteams, I believe was the events
team.
And I'm wondering, so a lot ofchiefs of staff we speak to
don't have teams or they haveone or two direct reports, and
it sounds like you might havemultiple teams rolling up to
you.
So I'm curious about thatstructure.
Yeah, that's, uh, that's right.
(06:34):
I oversee, uh, the mediafunction.
Um, obviously I'm a journalistby trade and, and that is my
background.
So that would make sense.
That's how I actually came intothe organization.
Yeah, before I became the chiefof staff, uh, events.
Yes.
Oversee the events team, whichis, you know, something, an area
I've never really worked inbefore.
But I suppose, you know, I lovepeople and I love, um, seeing
them have a great time.
(06:55):
So that was kind of a naturalsegue for me.
Uh, the World Chambers Congress,I oversee that department as
well, which is, you know.
Probably the biggest projectthat we've got going on at the
moment.
Uh, also our Women in BusinessProgram Chamber Change.
Oh yeah, our chief executive andI designed that, uh, a bit over
three years ago now, and we'vejust, uh, we're just about to
clock through 500 participants.
(07:17):
Uh, and we're up to programnine.
And our national governmentthrough the Australian Chamber
of Commerce and Industry haveactually funded it to go
national.
So over the next few months,I'll be training every other.
State and territory chamber inthe country to run this program.
It's been an amazing success andsomething I'm really passionate
about as well.
Wow, that's amazing.
Congratulations.
(07:38):
And talk a little bit about thatwomen's initiative.
So was this your idea?
Was it in conjunction with yourCEO?
It sounded like.
How did that come about?
Yeah.
So, um, the Victorian Chamberfor quite a while had wanted to
do something in this genderequity space, as we know there's
not enough, uh, women in seniorleadership positions.
And we were looking at, youknow, why is that and what can
(07:58):
we do to address that?
And we didn't wanna just create.
Another program that was, youknow, same old, recreate the
wheels.
So what our chief executive andI did, and it was during COVID
too, by the way.
So a lot of this was on Zoom,was, um, speak to the, some of
the experts in this field.
So we have an organization herecalled wia, which is the, um,
gender Equity Association, theNational Association, which is
(08:21):
headed up by, uh, an incrediblewoman named Mary Wildridge.
We spoke with her, we spoke withsome other leaders in this
space.
Uh, women like Carol Schwartz.
What's working, what's notworking?
Where do you think the gaps inthe market are?
We spoke to other industryassociations that had similar
programs, uh, and we came upwith what we thought was a good
idea.
And then at that point wesurveyed our members to say,
(08:43):
Hey, what do you wanna see inthis space?
What do you think that we shouldcreate?
And out of that, the feedbackwas that 70% wanted to see more
women in positions of leadershipand 50% wanted more, um,
networking opportunities forwomen.
Mm-hmm.
So from off the back of that, wedesigned.
The program called ChamberChange.
So effectively every program isthree sessions and the
(09:04):
participant groups, there'sabout 30 in each group in each
program, and they hear from ourchampions.
So the champions are seniorwomen in business, so CEOs, vice
chancellors, highly impressivewomen.
You know, the idea is if you cansee it, you can be it.
They speak to our participantgroups on the topic of either
power.
Balance or career journey, andour participants get to hear
(09:27):
from them.
I do a bit of a q and a with theparticipants.
Then we also have a networkingcomponent and also a presenting
with purpose training workshop.
So setting our participants upfor success.
And so then out of that, thethree sessions per program, uh,
cohorts have formed between theparticipants themselves.
They've heard theseinspirational, inspiring
(09:49):
stories, and then they go onand.
Basically they're inspired tofurther their career.
And the success stories thatI've had out of this program
have been like, trulyincredible.
People have told us that it islife changing.
It's encouraged them to go forthe next job.
They're still in contact withtheir cohorts.
They've, um, found a mentor insome of the champions.
And yeah, it's just beenincredibly rewarding to be a
(10:11):
part of.
emily-sander_1_07-15-2025_1 (10:12):
And just,
1752613307612 (10:12):
just curious, how did you, there's many other
programs that do similar things,as you mentioned, it seems like
you're uniquely positioned tooffer something in that space.
How did you find that niche andmake sure, okay, we're gonna
operate in a different way thanwhat other people are offering.
I suppose just the, um, theconcept and the position of
(10:33):
where the Chamber of Commercesits in, in the landscape, in
the business landscape in thatbasically we have the
connections in with our businessnetwork and we see what's going
on in terms of.
Leadership overall and, and howwe can play that role and how we
can really influence.
Um, that's really been our sweetspot, I suppose, in that we are
(10:55):
so connected into business andwe're a trusted voice, I
suppose.
We are.
We're not just a, um, acommercial entity.
We are actually, you know, verypurpose-driven, purpose-led, and
we are trusted by our members.
So I think that's where, that'swhy it's been so successful.
Yeah, the, the trust and thereputation goes a long way.
And I remember as chief ofstaff, I was chief of staff for
(11:17):
a company in the private sectorand one of my jobs was to speak
with customers and make sure wewere getting the voice of the
customer into our leadership
emily-sander_1_07-1 (11:24):
discussion.
So
1752613307612 (11:25):
So I'm imagining, you mentioned survey and
different, differentconstituents and stakeholders.
How do you and your team
emily-sander_1_07-15-2025 (11:31):
teams
1752613307612 (11:32):
make sure that you're hearing the voice of the
people around you and whatthey're asking for and what
they're really after from theChamber of Commerce?
The most important thing is tolisten, isn't it?
Um, I think in, in all of thosematters, like we are listening
and we're talking to our membersevery day, you know, whether
that be, you know, at events orat meetings or at round tables
or, um, we also run task forces,so we'll focus in on particular
(11:55):
issues that we wanna see.
Speak to our members about andlearn more from them about, and
that then enables us to shape,you know, what is the position
that we then take to usually togovernment.
Um, could be federal or state orlocal government, but that
enables us to speak withauthority because we are, we've
got the.
Uh, Intel from the coalface ifyou like.
Um, there's an expression that Ido love, which is, you know, in
(12:17):
God we trust and all othersbring data, we also rely very
heavily on surveying our membersas well, you know, strength in
numbers.
And we don't pretend to have allthe answers.
You have to speak to people atthe coalface.
To know.
And, um, I mean, I say oftenchambers of commerce exist to be
that conduit between businessand government because
government can't possibly speakto every business.
(12:41):
And Sure business, everybusiness can't possibly speak to
government.
So that is where, where and whywe exist.
And, and that's a reallyimportant role and, um, and a
role that we take, you know,very seriously.
Yeah, certainly.
And it sounds like there's twobig sides of that if you're the
conduit between business andgovernment, and you mentioned
the different levels ofgovernment as well.
(13:01):
Are you doing activities andmaking sure you're building and
maintaining relationships onthat end as well?
Oh, absolutely.
Um, you know, we talk withgovernment every day on every,
on very many, many differentlevels.
We have a fantastic policy andadvocacy team here at the
Victorian Chamber who are, youknow, very tapped into members,
but also into government.
(13:21):
Uh, we have obviously ourexecutive team, our chief
executive, myself, therewouldn't be, um, a person there
wouldn't be a, um.
Level of government that we arenot talking to every single day.
And as I mentioned earlier, wealso have that network of the
Australian Chamber of Commerceand Industry, which is, you
know, a fantastic organizationin its own right.
(13:42):
And then we also have theInternational Chamber of
Commerce, which sort of doesthat, uh, advocacy piece on a
global scale.
So, you know, we're a big, uh, abig network and a very important
one to be that voice ofbusiness.
Yes.
And you mentioned some of theinternal teams there.
So for the fellow chiefs ofstaff listening, how do you
interact with your principal,the CEO?
What's your interaction likewith the other executive team
(14:04):
members or equivalents thereof?
Yeah, I mean, I think look likea lot of chiefs of staff.
My job changes as the needs ofthe organization changes.
Uh, but on, so obviously I workin extremely closely with our
chief executive.
My primary role is obviously tobe that, uh, key strategic
council to our chief executiveand also on our executive team.
(14:25):
We do have our executiveassistant, whom I also work
really closely with.
We have a Chief executive of theCommittee for Melbourne, and
that is our top membership tier,essentially.
So it's sort of a departmentwithin the Victorian Chamber.
Uh, we have our CFO, ourExecutive Director of Policy and
Advocacy, who I mentionedearlier, our executive director.
Uh, information Communicationsand Technology Executive
(14:47):
Director of Commercial Services,our executive director,
membership, international andApprenticeship Services, hr, and
then of course, me.
So, um, how do I work in withthe principal or extremely
closely is the answer to that.
Um, we meet formally, uh.
As an executive team as well,and collaborate, obviously
daily, depends on the projectsthat I'm working on on any
(15:09):
particular day.
Um, and also given my remit tooversee media as well.
Um, you know, that's, that's adaily occurrence and can happen,
you know, anytime from five inthe morning till 11 at night or
overnight.
'cause as we know, media doesn'tsleep.
So, um, very, a very close.
Working relationship because itneeds to be.
And, and you know, it's a greatworking relationship too.
(15:30):
We, um, we also enjoy eachother's company, have a lot of
fun, um, yeah.
And get along really well.
Uh, the executive team are alsofantastic and we very much
operate as a big, as a unit andwe're, you know, very
collaborative.
Yeah.
How do you balance all that youdo?
I mean, you mentioned so manydifferent things there.
Media is 24 7 and you have thatbackground, so you know better
(15:51):
than anyone.
And then you have things like,I'm organizing.
This worldwide event coming uplater this year?
I mean, how do you, I mean, howdo you balance all that?
Oh, it's funny actually, Emily,in our, uh, women in Business
program Chamber Change, one ofthe recurring themes is balance
and, um, one of the analogies.
That is often used is that forburn a stove, you know, at some
(16:13):
point you've gotta turn up, youknow, work and then family goes
down or friends are up andexercise or health is down.
And I sort of think of my worklife like that.
Um, you know, it'll depend onthe time and the, and the
priorities.
That, that need your attention.
So at the moment, I'm probably70% on the world Chamber's
Congress.
Oh, okay.
'cause that's only, you know,six weeks away.
(16:33):
And, uh, that's, that's theproject that I'm overseeing, so
really important and is taking alot of my time and energy.
Uh, and then probably ourchamber change program, as I
mentioned, that's goingnational, so that's taking a bit
more of my time at the momentnow too.
Um, and then you've got sort ofmedia and events and then, you
know, a little bit of, uh,traditional.
(16:54):
Chief of staff type duties, andthat's probably on the lower end
of the burner at the moment.
Um, so it just, you know, you'vejust gotta prioritize.
Um, have incredible teams, trustyour teams, empower your teams,
and, you know, they, they willdo incredible jobs, which they
are.
Um, I love seeing people thriveand grow under that, you know,
having that autonomy has been.
(17:16):
Incredible.
Yeah.
As I said, I'm really fortunateto have really great direct
reports here at the Chamber, soyeah, it's, that always helps.
It's a balance.
Yeah, it's a balance, you know,like everything like life,
you've just gotta prioritize dayto day and, uh, everyone has the
same hours in the day asBeyonce.
It's how you use, use it.
Yes.
I heard someone describe it withthe, it's like an orchestra.
(17:38):
You're the ma, you're themaestro, and it's like the drums
are will come, but the stringswill come up and then this part
will fade out.
And I'm like, yes, that's right.
It's not.
Balance necessarily.
It's just kind of, this is beingemphasized during this part of
the song, but, um, I can relateto you in the sense that I had.
Key initiatives where it's like,okay, I'm being assigned to
this.
This is gonna take 75% of mytime, and it sounds like maybe
(18:01):
similar to you.
I would turn around to my teamand say, okay, guess what?
I'm gonna be over here for 75%of the time.
Which means for you, you get to,you get to step up.
In these other areas and they,my team members were fantastic
and they stepped up and didthings better than I did.
So I'm wondering if that's kindof the, I love when that
happened.
The same kind of analysis foryou.
(18:22):
Hey, I know this set event iscoming up, so for the first half
of 2025, I'm gonna be prettydedicated over here.
Does that give you a chance tospeak to your other team members
in, in their roles?
Absolutely.
And as you said, Emily, it'sbeen amazing just to see them
step up and, um, you know, runthe show really.
Uh, it's great to see thatcapability coming out.
(18:43):
And, you know, change is great.
Change is refreshing, and, youknow, if we can't, uh, do that
as chiefs of staff, asexecutives, you know, I don't
think that we're, I think we'redoing ourselves a disservice.
So you've just gotta sort ofroll with the punches and, uh,
life goes on and, uh, just doyour best.
Absolutely.
So tell us about this.
Is it World Chambers, Congress,the 14th World Chambers Congress
(19:04):
is coming, is coming to, andyou're running this whole, whole
show?
Oh, yes.
Well, look, with my teams and,and across the whole broader
department, um, there's not aperson in, in the Victorian
Chamber of Commerce and industrythat doesn't have some kind of,
uh, role to play in the world.
Chambers Congress, we sort ofrefer to it as the business
Olympic.
Essentially it's, you know, thebiggest business event, uh, in,
(19:26):
in the world.
Really, it's that opportunityfor Chamber of Commerce
executives all over the world toget together and share, you
know, best practice insights inand intel.
Um, it's, as I said, it's thefirst time that we've hosted,
it's co-organized with.
The International Chamber ofCommerce, world Chambers
Federation, uh, and US ofcourse, and it's a three day
(19:47):
forum.
So Global Network under thetheme of business chambers,
government partners forprosperity.
As I mentioned earlier, wereally see Chambers of Commerce
as being that conduit betweenbusiness and government.
So what we wanted to reallyunpack as part of our Congress
was, you know, how we play thatrole.
So making it more inclusive of.
Government and chambers, notjust, sorry, government and
(20:09):
business, not just, you know,chambers talking to Chambers and
having been to a few of theseforums around the world in the
last few years and beyond that,it's, it's really interesting
that you can kind of pick up anyof these congresses and drop it
anywhere else in the world.
And we are all facing the sameissues.
You know, it's geopoliticaltensions.
(20:29):
Yes, it's ai.
Energy, it's housing, it'sskills shortages, and that has
been quite incredible to me.
So I, so I, you know, when wewere designing this, this
program, it was like, let'sexplore these huge issues that
are relevant for cha, not justChambers, but.
Business and government andreally unpack that on a global
scale and, and, you know, seewhere we land.
(20:52):
So we'll be hearing from worldrenowned thought leaders and
policy makers.
Um, the US will have a reallygreat contingent, uh, we hope.
Um, we've, we've got GaryLipman, the Senior Vice
President of Global Initiativesat the US Chamber of Commerce.
We've got the OCD.
Yeah, so us coming over, we'vegot the os.
C.
D.
Secretary General with isCorman, the director of the
(21:12):
Global Indicators Group at theWorld Bank, Norman Za, and you
know, many more thought leaders,our premier Jacinta Allen.
So it's going to be terrific.
As you can tell, I'm verypassionate about it.
And looking forward to a rest onthe 5th of September.
emily-sander_1_07-15-2025_1 (21:27):
Not that
1752613307612 (21:27):
that you have that circled on your calendar,
counting down the days oranything.
Um, yes.
Fantastic.
Do you know about how manycountries are being represented?
A hundred countries, Emily.
So it's very much yeah.
A global event.
And, and you know, Melbourne isa really multicultural city.
I think we are one of the mostmulticultural cities in the
world.
So, you know, this is notunusual for us.
(21:47):
We're used to welcome, we we'rebasically a country, um, you
know, built on multiculturalism.
So, you know, we are verywelcoming city.
Uh, we're an exciting, vibrantcity.
Really excited to welcome our.
Colleagues from all around theworld.
And, um, actually just laterthis week, I'm heading over to
the US with our chief executivefor the, um, American, uh, the
(22:08):
American version, basically.
So that's going to be reallyinteresting just to see how the,
you know, what the difference isfor, um, Victorian or Australian
Chambers of Commerce and then,you know, how they operate in
the US and, and also to forgesome connections there and
hopefully, uh, entice a lot ofthem to come over to the 14th
World Chambers Congress.
Yes, for sure.
(22:28):
And so you mentioned a lot ofthe businesses are coming in are
being that with the same issue,so AI and different things like
this.
How do you put together yourprogram or your agenda?
Do you wanna hit the things thathave already been talked about
but give the updates?
Were you trying to add a freshflavor to things?
How did you put that together?
Yeah, I mean, look, all of theabove.
(22:49):
Um, we've, as I mentionedearlier, working really closely
with the International Chamberof Commerce.
Uh, we both have incrediblepolicy teams who, you know, that
they, they look at these issuesevery day and they are at the
forefront of those issuesbecause they're speaking to our
members, they're speaking togovernments, so they know, you
know, what is.
What is, what is needed?
What do business need to hear?
What does government need tohear from business and vice
(23:12):
versa?
So it's very much, what's thestatus now?
How can we work together toachieve great impact in these
areas and what does it look likegoing forward?
So it's a bit of all of that.
Um, but very much, you know, I'dsay future focused and how can
we make real impact and how wecan we make a real difference.
Yeah.
And is is the.
emily-sander_1_07-15-2 (23:33):
Congress speaking
1752613307612 (23:33):
to economic development, is that
international policy?
Is it all of the above?
Is is, is there one theme thatyou and your team have tried to
really center and focus it on?
Or is it just Emily?
It's, it's everything andanything.
The theme overall is, um,business chambers, governments
partners for prosperity.
So we are very much centered onhow do we drive and influence
(23:56):
prosperity, global prosperity,economic prosperity, um, what is
our role in that?
Yes.
And if someone in the US oranywhere in the world is
listening, they're part of achamber of commerce, either at
the local, state or nationallevel, are they invited to come?
How do they, how do they decidewhether they can make it over?
(24:16):
What's, what are therequirements?
Tell us about that.
Oh, they most certainly are.
I would love to see you allhere.
Um, just, um, their website is,uh, wcc dot icc wbo.org, or you
can just Google the 14th WorldChambers Congress.
Anyone can register.
So, as I mentioned earlier, we'dlove to see business government
chambers all represented there.
And, and we know from theregistration so far, we are
(24:39):
going to get.
Fantastic cross representation.
Um, we also actually got that,funnily enough, the Chief of
Staff Association is one of oursponsors.
Yes.
So we expect to have a largecohort of, uh, chiefs of staff.
Um, we wanna see lots of chiefsof staff here as well.
So.
Good.
We've had Trenton Good.
Yeah.
Ex.
Oh, you've had Trent on?
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
They're fantastic.
(24:59):
Yeah.
Really great, um, organizationand, and they're very much
leaned into the world ChambersCongress.
So it's anyone really who has aninterest in that global
prosperity.
We wanna see you here.
I love that.
I love that the chief of staffcohort is being represented.
So good job.
Trent, the Chief of StaffAssociation, they're, they're an
awesome group and he's got somuch energy, so if he's there,
(25:20):
he'll bring the life to theparty.
Um, for folks listening, when,when is this event, uh.
This event is from the second tothe 4th of September, Emily.
And of course there is also awelcome reception.
It wouldn't be Melbourne withouta party.
So that's being held atMelbourne Sea Life Aquarium on
the 2nd of September.
And then we have a gala dinner,which will be incredible, which
is on the 4th of September, onthe Thursday.
(25:41):
And that's at Crown Palladium,which is one of our fantastic
function spaces here in, uh, inMelbourne.
Yes.
And will Eric Bana be attendingany of those events at all?
Can you get him on the roster?
Oh, you never know.
You're luck in a big city likeMelbourne.
As you've, as you've said, we'vegot a lot of staff power here.
If any of the Hemsworth brothersare there, I will personally fly
(26:02):
to that event.
Also from Melbourne, theHemsworth boys, so who know?
Yes.
Yes.
And I would be remiss not to askif you're speaking to aspiring
chiefs of staff or currentchiefs of staff, what advice or
guidance or any pearls of wisdomwould you wanna pass on?
Oh goodness.
Uh, where to start?
Um, I think the most importantthing is, you know, being
(26:24):
yourself, being authentic, um,being true to your purpose and
your values.
I think you know that if you,that's my North star.
Um, you can't go wrong, really.
I mean, I love that expressionto be yourself because everyone
else is taken, like we're inthese roles because of what we
have to offer, so.
Really lean into that and, and,you know, back yourself, um,
investing in your network.
So who is going to help you toachieve your goals?
(26:47):
And when I say your goals, I'mtalking about the broader
organization's goals, theprincipal's goals, who are your
aligned partners and, you know,get out from behind the desk,
meet people, go to events, pressthe flesh.
There's, there's no shortcutsfor that personal connection and
being a trusted and encouragingcoach and leader for your teams.
Again, we spoke a bit about thisearlier, Emily, it makes your
(27:07):
life a lot easier if you've gotfantastic.
People, um, surrounding you.
And you can only do that byencouraging, you know, their
ambition, their innovation andtheir progression.
And if your teams are doingwell, that's of course a great
reflection on you and it makes,you know, expands your
resources.
So that's really a no brainerfor me and it's incredibly
rewarding and continuing to growand learn through.
(27:29):
Further education, readingself-improvement books, and
listening to podcasts like yourfantastic podcast, Emily, which
I've been doing a lot of myself.
Um, and just acknowledging, uh,as you mentioned earlier about,
uh, you know, the burners, uh,that burner analogy that we
talked about, you know, giversas a lot of chiefs of staff are,
I think, you know, looking afteryourself and being aware of that
(27:50):
need for balance.
None of us can do everything.
Uh, and finally also I found mymembership of.
The Chief of Staff Association,as we mentioned a bit earlier,
has been really beneficial bothfrom an educational and a
network perspective as well.
Very cool.
And I don't know if you canthink further past the World
Congress, but are there, arethere any other things that you
(28:11):
or the Victorian Chamber ofCommerce industry are excited
for later in the year, even into2026?
Well, interestingly, um, andparticularly in my role, we
actually have a new chiefexecutive coming on board.
Oh.
Um, yeah, just, uh, just on thesame time as the World Chambers
Congress.
So that's going to be reallyexciting.
Uh, you know, a new, a new CEO,a new head, um, new.
(28:34):
Fresh vision.
So that's really exciting forthe chamber.
And, um, our chief executive,who I've worked with for the
past five years has been anincredible leader.
Like, if anyone could, uh, fillthose shoes, our incoming chief
executive, Sally Curtin is, isthe woman for the job.
And, you know, that's reallyenergizing for the organization,
for the business community, andsomething we are looking forward
(28:55):
to as well.
Beautiful.
Well, um, as you and I mentionedbefore we got on the air, we did
see the sunrise because you gotup so early to take this call.
So now it is light.
But um, thank you so much Chanelreally appreciate you sharing
everything.
And one more time, the website,if people wanna find out more,
where can they go for moreinformation there?
It's wcc icc wbo.org.
(29:17):
Beautiful.
And we'll have that in the shownotes.
Chanel, thank you so much again.
Thank you so much, Emily.
Congratulations on a fabulouspodcast.
Thank you.
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