Member Profile// Jacqui Ooi
Jacqui Ooi is a writer and communications consultant, and the host and producer of the What She Did Next podcast. She has had an extensive career in the media and communications space, starting out as a journalist and editor in women’s magazines before making the leap to the not-for-profit sector.
Since starting her own consultancy, Jacqui has worked with some of Australia’s most respected not-for-profits, including Australian Red Cross, Black Dog Institute, The Smith Family and Women for Election Australia. She loves working with socially minded individuals and organisations to help build their comms strategies, shape their messaging and bring their stories to the world.
What’s your local life story? How long have you called the South Coast home?
I am from Sydney originally and we moved down here nearly a year ago. We actually decided to escape the city a few years back. My partner and I moved up north to be closer to my mum who was living in the Byron Bay area. Then my brother ended up moving his family to Thirroul and we decided we all wanted to be together, so we packed up, Mum as well, and moved down here to join them.
How does your work/life balance look? Does it look much different to if you were working in the city?
It’s definitely less frenetic, especially the start of the day. I don’t feel like it’s that alarm going off and rushing out the door that it used to be. I don’t even have an alarm anymore, I just wake up naturally! So now, it feels a lot more relaxed. I suppose, not having to commute first of all, having all the beaches right there and being able to go for a walk at some point in the day. I’m still learning with the whole balance thing though, because I still work a lot! But being in the environment we’re in and having the beach there is so nice.
Working for yourself. It’s a journey. When did you take the leap?
So nearly two years ago I quit my full-time job. I’d started my career in my twenties as a magazine journalist, and then in my thirties I made the leap to the not-for-profit sector and worked for different charities. Then I decided to take some time out initially, I had a few months off work before I started working for myself. I work as a writer and communications consultant now, mostly with not-for profits and with purpose-driven businesses. I had freelanced before as a magazine journalist so it wasn’t completely new to work for myself, but it was different this time working as a consultant on a whole range of media and comms projects.
What was your greatest fear when you took the plunge and started working on your own/ (or remotely)?
I think it was figuring out what I wanted to do! I have a lot of different skills, as a writer and an editor, all things communications. So it wasn’t so much a fear as it was a process, figuring out how I wanted to use my skills in a positive way and also use the various skills I had in a way that was most satisfying. So yeah, it wasn’t so much a fear as I knew I’d be fine working on my own, just a process of what working for myself would look like in this chapter of my life.
What’s been the biggest hurdle you’ve had to overcome?
Probably figuring out that balance of not being alone too much of the time. I really like how productive I am when I’m on my own, but I definitely need people time as well. That’s why coming to something like WorkLife has been good because it gives me one or two days with other people. So just finding that balance of what’s going to work for productivity, mental health and social interaction. Also trying to establish some consistency. When you’re working for yourself it tends to be either feast or famine. You can’t really control when the work is going to come in, so having that consistency, I suppose, and trying not to be too flat out all of the time. Managing the juggle when it’s just you, takes a little bit of figuring out.
How does it work for the rest of the family? What’s been the impact on them?
My partner also works from home, and has for about 13 years. So the biggest impact is that he was used to having the house to himself and I would head off to the office. This was pre-Covid. And now he’s had to adjust to me “cramping his style”! We just had to figure out that dynamic of us both working from home. We do have the space but that’s why I do kind of just take myself away, two mornings a week, so we both have that separation time as well. That was probably the main adjustment, just having both of us working from home.
Is there anything that’s been a surprise to you?
Coming down to the South Coast, it was definitely finding a house! We made the decision to come down before the start of Covid, but by the time we got here it was like half of Sydney was escaping the city. So finding somewhere to call home was definitely a challenge, and a surprise. But we got there and we’re very happy where we are now. I suppose the number of people doing their own thing was a bit of a surprise also. I mean they were always there, but coming to somewhere like WorkLife and seeing how many people are doing their own thing and running their own businesses, it’s really nice to see others making it work. You know, you don’t have to be a multi-millionaire, you just need to be able to sustain yourself. So seeing the absolute breadth of creative outlets and little businesses people are running was a lovely surprise.
What’s your passion project/side gig? Is there anything that you’re hustling on?
I guess it would be my podcast, which is called What She Did Next. It was something I knew I wanted to start working on as soon as I started working for myself, to start exploring some of the creative outlets I just did not have the time or brain space to do when I was working in really high-pressured roles. I started it about 18 months ago, partly to just learn the skills. I really love listening to podcasts myself, so I liked the idea of learning how to make them. It wasn’t intended to just be my own podcast. As I work with not-for profits and purpose-driven businesses, I liked the idea of being able to make podcasts for them as well. So yes, I guess that keeps me rather busy! I just wrapped up season three and I interview women who have made big career or life changes, so it’s relevant to what we’re talking about. Mostly women who have made the leap to something fairly purposeful, who’ve found ways to use their skills for good in the world, is the broad theme. They’re all really different stories and all really different women.
Picture your bookshelf at home. What’s the one book on it that everyone should borrow?
I would probably say the Hetty McKinnon cookbooks. She’s an Asian-Aussie cookbook author. I interviewed her on the podcast actually! She does all vegetarian food, but the most incredible and simple vegetarian food. My partner would not eat vegetarian when we met 20 years ago, but he has pretty much been converted through her books to eat a lot more veggie meals. He does most of the cooking now as well because of how simple they are. We have all four of her books, but I would probably recommend Family. That’s the one I seem to cook most dishes from, and it’s really delicious, all vegetable, hearty meals. I recommend them to everyone and they love them!
What piece of furniture in your house makes you the happiest?
Probably our lounge. I really like reclining, it’s my favourite state of being! We didn’t have our couch for a long time because it took us so long to find somewhere to live down here, our stuff was in storage for so long. So yeah, my couch for general comfort and relaxation at the end of the day.
When people come to the South Coast, what’s the one thing they should eat locally?
The one thing I’ve missed down here is Malaysian food because my Dad is Chinese-Malaysian. I keep hunting for the best Malaysian food, so if anyone has tips that would be good! In lieu of being able to find that, we really love the veggie curries at Shahi Aroma, which is an Indian restaurant in Thirroul with really yummy veggie curries and mango lassis. We also had a beautiful anniversary dinner recently at Rookie Eatery in Wollongong. They’re kind of modern Australian with an Asian twist to the flavours they use. Super yummy seafood too.
What’s your go-to listen (music/podcast) for any trips into the city?
Well, when I am in the middle of producing my show, probably my own podcast! There is so much editing and listening back to each of the conversations, and they’re quite indepth interviews. So listening to my own podcast is kind of working at the same time. But other podcasts, depending on my mood it could just be one of the Mamamia podcasts, which are a bit of fun, or a conversation on Women’s Agenda. There is one called Second Life — it’s an American podcast talking to quite high-profile women about their career journeys. Or I tend to get recommended episodes or interviews of random podcasts from other people. And I recently met Susanna from The Nordic Mum podcast who lives in the local area, so I’ve been listening to some of her episodes too.
What’s your best productivity hack to get the most out of each workday?
Getting started early. That might sound obvious but I used to be someone whose energy would kick in later in the day and I would find particularly working in an office where you had meetings and all sorts of things taking your attention, you wouldn’t actually end up sitting down to do work until four o’clock in the afternoon. I think for myself if I have a lot of deep thinking stuff to do, strategies to write for someone, or an opinion piece that requires some good focus, if I just get up and pretty much start working solidly for the morning, I don’t even necessarily need to do the afternoon because I just got it all done while I was fresh. I find I have three or four hours of really good focus time, so I’d rather just get it done in one hit. That’s in an ideal world obviously. When you’re juggling lots of projects you might not have the luxury of just getting up and getting stuck into one thing. But whenever possible, that’s when I find I get the most done.
What’s the best thing about your membership to WorkLife?
Probably meeting people, as we are still relatively new to the area. I joined just before the International Women’s Day lunch and that was really cool, there were maybe 30 women from the area just getting together for a really yummy lunch. That’s when I kind of got a sense of how many different businesses and creative outlets people, particularly women, are working on here. So that’s been nice, feeling a little bit more embedded in the local community and just having somewhere different to come that’s not the same four walls every day. The surroundings are beautiful too, we have the escarpment and the ocean. We live about 10 minutes away so that drive along the coast from my house to Coledale is a lovely way to start and end the day.
Imagine tomorrow is a perfect snapshot of your Best Life. What are you doing?
I mean if it wasn’t Covid times, it would be getting on a plane to go anywhere, we love travelling. We have family and friends overseas so some sort of travelling would be living my best life. However, if we’re talking just a normal day, then it would be getting up early and getting down to the beach to see the sunrise. The colours of the ocean at that time are so beautiful. Probably getting a chai from Two Sisters Garage in Bulli, which does the best chai. Then possibly getting a few hours of work in and chatting to a super interesting woman for the podcast or working on a great project for one of my not-for-profits. Getting a walk in before the sun sets in the afternoon, then meeting up for a nice dinner with our friends. That would be a good day.
WorkLife is a community of awesome people and a network of Coworking spaces on the South Coast of NSW.
Book a tour: worklife.org.au
