In this entertaining episode, Val Flight - Head of Payroll at Westpac Group - confides how her curiosity and skill for picking apart and breaking systems made her ideally suited for life as a payroll professional and shares her perspective on utilising AI. From receiving her first proper payslip in a convenience store job at 17 to becoming the driving force behind payroll at one of Australia’s Big Four banks, Val walks us through the evolution of her career and how a change of location gave her a whole new perspective, personally and professionally.

For this episode of Women In Payroll, Graham and Melanie had the pleasure of meeting with Sharon Tayfield. Sharon is one of the Payroll industry's most passionate professionals. During our conversation, Sharon explains how she joined the payroll industry and used her payroll and entrepreneurial skills to become part of a team that developed new software for the Payroll industry in Africa. Like many of us, Sharon's successful career within Payroll has been shaped and inspired by others and she speaks about those who have been her greatest influences and mentors.

Melanie and Graham met with Melanie Duffus for this episode. Melanie began her working life in Insurance and was intrigued to decipher her first payslip and understand why the tax man took so much money each month. Her curiosity launched her career in payroll! In the '90s Melanie worked for a recruitment agency, processing their payrolls, and her love of payroll was cemented. Melanie is passionate about getting in front of stakeholders to directly address queries and explain how payroll work. This has helped her build important relationships throughout her career. Networking, people skills and attention to detail are Melanie's niche and she encourages everyone who works in the payroll industry to discover their own specialism.

Barbara is passionate about Payroll. Like many people in our industry, she fell into payroll and got the bug. Barbara is an advocate of networking and explains its benefits; both in furthering your career and with day-to-day payroll processing. She also champions ongoing learning and encourages her team to take time to learn new things about payroll and share what they have discovered. Barbara is admirably forthright and encourages fellow Payroll professionals to be open with bosses about the job you want. That positive drive took her all the way to director!

Graham and Melanie had the pleasure of meeting Lara Smart for the latest Women in Payroll Podcast. As a Payroll Transformation Consultant, Lara comes to payroll from a slightly different perspective than our other guests. During this revealing episode, Lara provides helpful insight into what makes a good and successful Transformation project and discusses potential complexities together with the importance of engaging with all business partners. We get Lara's take on how prioritising positive reporting will change the profile of the payroll industry not only in-company but also externally. We also find out whether the last week of a transformation project gives Lara the same adrenaline rush as taking part in extreme sports!

In this entertaining episode, Graham and Melanie interview Samantha Williams the VP Head of Global Payroll at NielsenIQ. Samantha's very first role was in Payroll and she hasn't left the industry since. Samantha shares insights from her time with multiple international organisations, the ups and downs of her career and how early experiences shaped it. In her own words: All roads lead to payroll!