Meeting of the Minds brings together two different points of view from an industry rookie and an experienced expert.
The Mediaweek series aims to showcase their diverse perspectives, thoughts and opinions.
This month Andrew Murray and Priya Chotalia from UM Australia share the best career advice they received, guilty pleasure content and career goals for 2023.
Andrew Murray – head of trading, UM Australia
Best career advice – Hopefully I can have two here, because it is too hard to separate between these – “Be a sponge with regards to learning and development when you enter the industry, because it will set up your career” and “Be truthful and transparent in all your interactions”.
My favourite podcast/read – “A Promised Land”, Barack Obama.
Current streaming binge – Favourite go-to is Schitt’s Creek, but Your Honour on Stan is also one of my favourites.
Leadership hero – Barack Obama. Such a cool, collected but decisive leadership style.
I wish someone had told me – To buy crypto back when it was much, much lower
Guilty content pleasure – Big Brother, my go-to reality/content show, and a very guilty pleasure.
Best training course/session – hard to split between two key ones which shaped key areas of my career. Train the Trainer: which re-framed the way in which we build and develop training programs for our teams, and Manager Blueprint: How to work best as a Manager within the Mediabrands business.
Your mentor – I’ve had many over my 18 year career. I believe it is very valuable to have mentors who help you across all areas of your career – craft, leadership style and ensuring you can support the career development of your team.
Hot medium or show – Outdoor has always been my favourite medium to buy. The perfect mix of numbers and the human decision elements of trading.
Favourite media event – AFL Grand Final and September Club. The pinnacle of media events in Australia without a doubt.
Wish I’d done that – Created Facebook, or in another life owned a small bar at Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast.
Career goal for 2023 – To truly provide change for our UM Australia trading teams by advancing our approach to Screen trading. The time is now for change on a process and methodology which does not stack up to the new way of watching content.
Priya Chotalia – data analyst, UM’s Business Analytics Engine (BAE)
Best career advice – I would say focus on what you are passionate about and choose a career path that you love by always trying to make your life passion your career option. There will be tough times, but even when it looks like someone is given more opportunities or more chances, stay focussed and keep in mind that one day it will be your turn to seize the opportunity.
My favourite podcast/read – “All in the mind”. It is a UK- based podcast about psychology and mental health and talks about how the brain thinks, feels, and behaves. Some of the best and most interesting episodes were learning about mind games and emotional intelligence and the difference between brainwashing and being influenced.
Current streaming binge – Manifest on Netflix
Leadership hero – My dad. In every daughter’s life, her father plays an important role. My dad has always encouraged me to make life decisions by myself, such as choosing what to study and where to study. He never stopped me from making a wrong decision and even let me fail sometimes, but after each mistake, he was always there to guide me and let me learn from my experience.
I wish someone had told me – grades don’t matter. It’s the ability and willingness to learn that does. Coming from a community where students are judged based on their grades, I believed good grades was what made you successful in life. So, when I failed two units in my first semester at an Australian university, I thought my career was over. Later, I realised grades don’t matter, it’s the ability to learn things, and how you implement it in the real world, that does.
Guilty content pleasure – watching all the Christmas movies in OOT. Even though some of them are so childish — even my nephew says he is too old to watch them — I enjoy the nostalgic fun. Some of my favourites include The Princess Switch series, A Christmas Prince, and Holidate.
Best training course/session – In India, I enrolled in a public speaking and confidence development course called Dipti Shah’s public speaking course. I have always been an introvert and shy, and Dipti Shah’s classes really helped me build my confidence and get rid of my fear of being on stage and public speaking.
Your mentor – Life itself is a great mentor and teaches us so many things that nothing else can.
Hot medium or show – TikTok is officially banned in my home country India, probably because of national security issues. If you believe the stats, TikTok is in the top 10 most used social media applications with over 2 billion downloads and India was considered as the biggest overseas market for the platform, so banning it is a big call.
Favourite media event – There have been so many events to choose from, but my favourite media event would have to be UM’s Global Impact Day 2022, where as a company, we worked together to make a difference. That was my first event after joining UM, and it was the very first opportunity for me to get to know everyone and how UM people think, collaborate and work.
Wish I’d done that – I lost my grandmother in mid-2020 to Covid, and I wish I had visited her before she died. But the entire world was in lockdown, and there was no way I could travel back to India.
She would always ask my mum to ask me to come back and visit as I am the only girl grandchild among plenty of boys. The last word she spoke before she closed her eyes forever was my name. I think I will always feel guilty that I didn’t get to go back and visit her.
Career goal for 2023 – Focus on being a good data analyst. At the start of my career, I believed getting exposure across all kinds of projects was very important. Now, I know I should concentrate on being the best I can be at whatever job I am given.
In 2023 I will give one hundred per cent to finish the job at hand and learn from it so I can continue to improve my skills.
See also: Priya Chotalia shares her personal and professional growth as a data analyst for UM