Finding resilience and growth
Meiava speaks with Johanna Townsley about her career journey in the IT industry, being a Generation Y working woman today, and her goals for a healthier future.
Johanna Townsley is the Strategic Director of Pronamics, a leading Australian-based cost estimation and project management software company. The company serves private and public sector clients across a range of industries including, construction, mining, engineering, infrastructure, and manufacturing. Johanna is responsible for aligning the business operations, people, and venture initiatives with the company’s strategic objectives. This often means being agile in the face of market dynamics, which Johanna describes as volatile and challenging, but presents opportunities for the infrastructure industry. She is leading Pronamics’ efforts to strengthen their brand with existing clients to provide a strong foundation to expand further into Canada and the United States.
Career Journey
Meiava: How did you find your way into this industry?
Johanna: By sheer chance! I grew up in a small town in Central Queensland, Australia and was determined to explore the world, so I pursued a degree in aviation. However, my passion for travel did not translate to a passion for flying an aircraft, so I transferred to a business degree and took a temporary data entry job with Pronamics, a small software engineering company, early in 2003. Within 2 weeks I had been offered full time employment, and upon completion of my business degree in 2005, was appointed Operations Manager. At the time, Pronamics was a Brisbane-based software house creating estimating and project management software servicing the construction industry nationally. During my time in this role we transitioned to a global enterprise, expanded our services to the infrastructure, mining, manufacturing, pipeline and electrical industries, and in 2008 I was offered the role of CEO, which I held until I transitioned to Strategic Director in 2015.
Meiava: What is it like being a working woman in your generation within this industry?
“Women (in the IT industry) are better positioned to influence and change digital content and products than they have ever been before.”
Johanna: Being a working woman in the IT Industry still holds plenty of challenge for women of my generation, though traditional gender barriers are breaking down. While “on-the-tools” jobs of developers and technicians predominantly remain the domain of men, the opportunity for women to take on management roles is vast, as their communication skills coupled with expertise in subject matter lets them act as a conduit between the “tools” and the “public”.
The nature of the industry is such that remote work is common, which gives women flexibility since unpaid carer’s work still falls more heavily on their shoulders at home. And while traditional social narratives still dictate much of what is produced, women are better positioned to influence and change digital content and products than they have ever been before.
Grit and perseverance
Meiava: Psychologist Angela Duckworth found that talent does not equal success. She indicates that it takes grit which is a combination of passion for a goal and the perseverance to achieve it. Do you agree? How might this relate to you, and is there an example you can share?
Johanna: Absolutely, because grit and perseverance build skill, and those things combined allow people to take advantage of or even create opportunity. In my work, I have a natural talent for reading people, but I also want to bring out the best in them – it is my passion - so I continue to work with people even when I get pushback or resentment. Sometimes it is hard, because I allow myself to be vulnerable around people and their words and actions can hurt, but the skill I have developed in this area means I have resilience, and I have learnt when and how far to push, as well as when to seek support for myself. I would not have the success I do in business and social relationships if I did not continue to practice my talent.
“I allow myself to be vulnerable around people and their words and actions can hurt, but the skill I have developed in this area means I have resilience…”
Looking ahead at goals
Meiava: Speaking about goals, can you tell us about a goal that you have set for yourself? So, within the next year, what do you hope to achieve?
Johanna: My definition of success is freedom of choice, and I’ve achieved this in all of the traditional ways, but this year I’ve realized, my health is in fact controlling me more than anything else that I’ve worked so hard to emancipate myself from. As a working mother I have found that it is easy to lose myself in the pursuit of fulfilling the needs of those around me, both personally and professionally. Left unchecked, healthy compromise can become complete loss of identity and self, which can in turn have devastating effects on my mental and physical health.
This year, my goal is to take control of this by investing in educating those around me, both at work and at home, to be more empowered, collaborative, and self-sufficient. This in turn creates more space and freedom for me to retreat, rest and grow, ultimately allowing me to take control of that last aspect of my life that I have ignored for so long – my health. Within the next year, I hope to be able to say that I have enjoyed more joy than misery, more good days than bad days and exercised my freedom of choice in pursuit of my own true personal success.
Being a Generation Y Working Woman
Meiava: What is a major challenge that your Generation faces today?
Johanna: For Generation Y women, there is an expectation to be and have everything. We are so indoctrinated in a consumerist society, yet so far removed from the creation and supply process that drives that system. Worth is now measured in quantity rather than quality.
“We are all subjected to the incessant pressure of trying to ‘succeed’ in all aspects of life, proving our ‘worth’ and rewarding ourselves with instant gratification.”
Not only are we expected to have a successful and fulfilling career, but there is a lot of pressure to also be fit, attractive, fashionable and have happy, healthy families with whom we spend lots of quality time. We are expected to travel, be zen, invest in our wellbeing, all while having the latest and greatest of everything available on the market.
It is overwhelming and unrealistic, yet we are all subjected to the incessant pressure of trying to ‘succeed’ in all aspects of life, proving our ‘worth’ and rewarding ourselves with instant gratification without the time or energy to appreciate and enjoy the fruits of our labor; or in fact, acknowledge the effort that went into them in the first place.
Meiava: In what way, if any, is this challenge more pronounced for women?
Johanna: Women are most affected by this as so much of our societal value is placed in our ability to ‘do and have it all’. Juggling relationships, careers, social lives, and self-care activities while childbearing and carrying the lion’s share of the household duties is a big ask, yet we do it. But at what cost?
Meiava: What might be practical solutions to address this challenge?
Johanna: We need to first acknowledge this culture of pressure and guilt that we have created – the one where we take pride in being ‘busy’, where our egos are fed (or eroded) by peer comparisons and we reward ourselves with material possessions; and eradicate it by consciously challenging those beliefs.
If we give ourselves and those around us permission and encouragement to invest our valuable time in fewer pursuits, reintroduce ourselves to the creation and supply process, and drive cultural appreciation for quality over quantity, we will build a society that derives pride from purpose and action. Our egos will be fed by a celebration of privilege and diversity. Our reward will be the pursuit and achievement our own individual ideals of success.
Meiava: What advice would you share with working women of your Generation?
Johanna: We are all trying. We are all showing up and doing the absolute best we can – whether our individual choices are valued by the greater society’s expectations or not. Each of us are entitled to our own definition and pursuit of success without judgement or competition. If you find yourself surrounded with people who do not support you, keep looking for your tribe because they are most certainly out there.
“If you find yourself surrounded with people who do not support you, keep looking for your tribe because they are most certainly out there. ”
Defining moments
Meiava: What has been a pivotal moment in your career or life? What impact did this have on who you are today?
Johanna: I grew up in a family and town to which I never really belonged, so at a very confused and frustrated 17 years of age, I moved to the city, and on my own, began my journey of self-discovery. I saw the good, bad, and sometimes very ugly sides of myself, others, and life in general. Over the following 3 years I developed a strong sense of self, fierce independence, and shrewd survival instinct, which over time began to attract like-minded people and opportunities. From that, a career beyond my wildest dreams flourished, those people became my family, the city became my home and I created the safe, full, and joyous life for myself that I had not even imagined possible growing up.
Having it all
Meiava: What is your view on career and life - Can you have it all?
Johanna: Can I have it all? No, I cannot. But do I want it all? Really? Or do I just *think* I do because that is what I am told a ‘good woman’ does? Can I have what I need? Yes! Can I have what I want? Definitely. I can totally control that. But no, I cannot have it all, and I do not want it all, because having it all requires me to sacrifice my own personal success, and it is a compromise I am not willing to make.
Reflections of 2020
Meiava: When you reflect on the global events this year, what has it highlighted to you as a working woman?
Johanna: Global events have highlighted to me just how much we have come to rely on very delicate supply chains for the necessities of life, and how tenuous the two-income family dynamic is in the face of high unemployment. The economic ramifications of which may see large numbers of women back in the home and required to hone the basic survival skillsets we have spent decades compromising in pursuit of our careers. It is a sobering thought, and one that is left me wishing my education and subsequent life choices had included a better balance of practical and academic practices.