Meet Mitchy Koper, General Manager Communications & Marketing  

1.What do you do at CreditorWatch and why do you love it? 

I joined CreditorWatch to work with Patrick and the executive team on a strategy to take the business to a whole new level by bringing my love of all things communications and marketing to life.  Now with a new-look team in place, the change I wanted to happen is coming to fruition. I am lucky to have a super team who are all extremely smart and pride themselves on getting on with the job at hand. They are self-motivated and very capable.  This is a big plus and allows me to think of the bigger picture stuff!

2.What does your average workday look like?

I start my day, in order, with a cup of strong strong tea, a bit of reading and a pilates session or walk – it’s the greatest way I know to prepare my mind for the day ahead and efficiently achieve all the jobs on my daily TO DO list. To help me keep up with myself, I’m a real stickler for lists – I write everything down that I need to do, I take lots of notes from meetings. I like to close out my day knowing that I’ve dealt with most activities at hand and am well set up the next day and ready for new beginnings.

3.What makes CreditorWatch special to you? 

I’m attracted to all that it is – a super-efficient business model that genuinely helps businesses to operate, and survive. The CreditorWatch concept is so clever – I want everyone in business to know just how valuable the solutions and insights are and why, as a business owner, you wouldn’t consider doing business with anyone until they passed the CreditorWatch Pub test.

4. What’s the biggest career lesson you’ve learnt so far?

When you’ve been around as long as I have, there is never just one lesson. There are quite possibly hundreds. I’d have to say my personal value system; a short list of things I live by. While I’ve tried to waiver from them every now and again, sticking to my core values as my guide in life was always the best choice.  I do review and tweak the list from time to time – I’m probably going to do that again soon.

5. What was your first job?

I took a job in a florist shop – I wanted to be a florist. The lady who hired me was very old and set in her ways. She ended up sacking me because I bundled flowers up in bunches as a new idea over sticking them into an oasis and an ugly decorative box.  My next job, while at college, was in a hospital – my dad’s friend got me the job. He was the boss and my dad told him I could do anything. Yeah right dad!  I had to help out in the intensive care unit – fixing the flowers, talking to the patients, reading to them and more. One day I was given a lesson on how to use an industrial cleaner – it took off at a rapid speed and crashed into some beds holding seriously ill patients. Again, I was sacked.  I hated that job but my dad said it would teach me a thing or two. Well, it did – I’ve hated vacuum cleaners ever since!

My real first job out of college was as an assistant to a movie director – I wanted to be a producer. I worked for a meagre $5 per hour but I got to travel and soon became a leader in his team.  I then ended up working for the amazing Club Mediterranean group as a G.O.  A long way from the movie world but a super fun job where I learnt very rough island French and had the best time of my life wearing a sarong and flower as my daily attire.

I was so lucky to live in so many wonderful places – Washington DC and Laguna Beach in California.  My big break came when I went to London and landed a job with the BBC – that was very cool! I later moved back to Australia and into the corporate world of marketing and communications – the rest is history.

6. Who or what is your biggest inspiration? 

My children – I am so so proud of who they are and what they’ve become. They bring me joy every day – they are gutsy beyond belief, challenging and naughty at times but wow – they are both so capable.  When you become a parent, you truly know what real love is.

7. If you could do another job for just one day, what would you do?

Well, there are a few jobs I’d like to do.

Some day, I’d love to be on the board of the RSPCA, or another board where I can pass on my skills and love for my work. Encouraging people to think outside of the box and buckle the status quo – try being different rather than following the rules – hence, one of my favourite sayings and something I’ve instilled in my kids is ‘ask for forgiveness, not approval’.

I love flowers and antique furniture. I would really enjoy running a beautiful hotel.

And on a serious note, I think I would be a great Queens Counsel (QC)!

8. What has kept you busy during COVID lockdown? – activities e.g., cooking, binge of shows/movies. 

I like to keep busy so the thought of going into lockdown was super scary for me. Queensland has been the lucky state, albeit with a reputation for being a bit communist-like. But it’s kept us safe. It was sad that I couldn’t have my kids come visit.

9. If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would you go? What would you want to see?  

I’m a boat girl. Put me on a yacht and I’m super happy. A place I’d love to visit on a sailing trip is Croatia.

10. What are you most looking forward to doing once we get out of lockdown? Post lockdown bucket list? 

Visiting my daughter in Victoria and my son in Western Australia.  Maybe jumping back in the saddle and going on a few long horse rides or simply keeping fit and healthy by taking a few walking adventures with my mates.