COVER STORY
In the big chair
SUE HICKEY Interview Stephanie Williams
A
s the city ramps up efforts to help the less fortunate, politician Sue Hickey has placed herself firmly in the centre of the debate. Not one to shy away from controversy or hard work, we discovered what has shaped Sue’s drive and determination to help.
Some readers might not know but you were Miss Tasmania. Did that shape your interest in public life? With reflection, it was a blessing I didn't understand at the time. Everywhere the Premier or Lord Mayor went, Miss Tasmania was expected to go. Having that experience gave me a lot of confidence and poise and all of those things you need for public life. I'm still opening flower shows all these years later! That started my interest in the not-for-profit sector and being aware of people, who for no fault of their own, were suffering disability and disadvantage. You're not scared of hard work. Is that born from 30 years as a small business owner? Definitely. Also from having hardworking parents. We were raised that if we wanted anything in life we had to work for it. So from the age of 15 I was working at the very first Kmart in Tasmania. It instils 14
a lot of things - discipline, working in a team and responsibility. I don't think hard work hurts anybody. In fact, I rarely have any time off. I read something that said, ‘the time you choose to waste is not waste of time’. I have to actually enforce that for myself, otherwise I’d be going 24 hours a day. You were Telstra Business Woman of the Year in 2007 and completed your MBA in 2012. What advice do you have for people carving out their careers or creating a business at the moment? Never stop learning. Never assume you know everything. Try and find yourself a mentor when you need it and put in. Anyone who thinks you can just cruise through small business is kidding themselves. When I started out, there'd been many a times I was working through the night. I have one daughter but she might be sick in the office, and I'd still be banging away quotes at 3am in the morning. That's what I had to do to survive because I couldn't afford stuff. I was the cleaning lady, did the quotes, sold the goods, packed the items. You created the business, Slick Promotions? Yes. With $1,000 borrowed off my father. 26 years later I had to sell it to go into Parliament. It was a really good
