IB Woman
Issue No. 26 - December/January 2005/06
Seek choice and realise who you are
Ingrid Marshall
by Penelope Herbert
Ingrid Marshall’s country town background has not inhibited her big-picture thinking.
If anything, she says, it has inspired her to seek out challenges and set herself high-achieving goals.
As a small business operator, Ingrid was in partnership both personally and professionally. When that ended after nine years, and with two sons to support, Ingrid looked inward to find a new direction.
“Courage is a powerful thing,” she reflects, “and I was determined to understand who I am and to define myself through success, both in business and in life.”
Westpac Banking Corporation was Ingrid’s first major employer, where she worked her way from a country branch to State Manager, Women in Business, based in Sydney.
She thrived in the corporate environment and says Westpac is a forward-thinking and responsive organisation that quenched her thirst for challenge and knowledge.
Which is why her move to CEO of a small not-for-profit organisation, Arts Around Adelaide, may have left some onlookers puzzled. But Ingrid says one of her strengths is her ability to take calculated risks. Using her big business background to support a strategic arts marketing consortium suited her game plan.
“My role was to establish and implement contemporary business growth strategies across the arts sectors,” she says. “My commercial acumen combined with corporate experience enabled me to bring a broad set of skills and knowledge to the table.
“I was also learning about another sector of business; not for profit.”
After her one-year contract expired, Ingrid chose to move into another sector; to local government. On this third, and arguably most important, government tier, working as Group Manager, Social Planning and Community Development at the City of Playford offered Ingrid yet another business environment. However she found it “too political” and left within a year.
“Working in social planning an...
