Jessica Mellor | Embracing the Swift Effect

QUT alumnus and The Star's CEO,  Jessica Mellor, reflects on her own experience among the multitude of Taylor Swift concert-goers. She was struck by more than infectious melodies but by the indelible mark of Swift's entrepreneurial prowess and culture-shaping influence. In the wake of the electrifying spectacle of her recent tour, the resounding impact of her presence lingers, transcending mere entertainment to illuminate profound societal shifts.

"I know she’s officially left the country, but the Taylor Swift effect is hard to shake off. I was very lucky to be one of 624,000 who went to one of her Australian concerts. And while I guess her songs are kind of catchy, I’m far from a ‘Swiftie’. I am, however, a huge fan of her business acumen and the way she’s built her influence. She is nothing short of an economic and cultural phenomenon.

The national economic impact of the Australian leg of her Eras tour has been valued at more than half a billion dollars. That’s more than the Australian Open and around 15% of an Olympic Games! That’s just what our country gets out of it, before taking into account Taylor’s earnings.

Already a billionaire (US $1.1 billion), it’s estimated Taylor will pocket A$35 million from the seven shows she performed in Australia. In a stroke of genius, she’s re-recorded the masters of her early songs to gain control over them financially and creatively, meaning she will be the one earning the bulk of money from her songs in perpetuity. She also made GRAMMY history recently, winning her fourth album of the year – the most of any artist.

Can you believe, all of this with no discussion about her gender?

They say, ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’. Well, what an incredible story of grit and success for the ‘Swifites’ to look up to.

Just after Taylor headed off to conquer the next leg of her world tour, we recognised International Women’s Day, with the theme of 'Count Her In' focussed on economic inclusion. There’s no doubt it’s important to continue the discussion about gender balance, equal pay and the profile of women in the workforce. However, I’m hopeful that some of the moves we’ve seen in the right direction are not just because of roles models like Taylor Swift, but because of a general normalising of female achievement.

Last year the Matildas became lightning rods, galvanising a nation. Not because they were female soccer players but because they were incredibly inspiring athletes and people. I love the stories I’ve heard firsthand of young boys role-playing as Sam Kerr in their backyard soccer games. In fact, one those anecdotes came from a former Socceroo (they’re the male version of the Matildas)! We have women leading some of the biggest companies in the country. Amanda Bardwell (a fellow QUT Alum!) has been appointed to lead the Woolworths Group, Vanessa Hudson replaced Alan Joyce at Qantas and Leah Weckert became CEO and Managing Director of Coles Group on 1 May 2023. Looking at their bios they aren’t referred to as ‘female CEOs’.

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) last month published the results of the gender pay gap for employers with a workforce of 100 or more employees and it suggests women are still being paid less than men to do the same job. It highlighted some of the companies being led by the women I just mentioned ranked poorly. However, what we are seeing is that there is not so much inequality related to earning the same pay for the same job, but underrepresentation in senior and technical roles.

How do we improve those representations? It’s a blunt instrument, and sometimes a dirty word:  Targets.

At The Star, we do have leadership gender targets; 45% men, 45% women and 10% for any gender or gender diverse. I’m so proud that we’re getting super close, with 39.9% female leaders as of 31 March, 2023, and only a 4.5% gender wage gap.

We also have roles traditionally viewed as “male-orientated” that are being filled, led and elevated by women. In our facilities management team for instance, the change has been significant. In the last two years we’ve increased our female representation sixfold with carpenters, supervisors, operations managers, painters and engineers.

I’m so fortunate to be surrounded by some truly talented, strong and inspirational women every day.

When I talk to young people, both at The Star and also across many of the organisations I am proud to be involved with such as The Gold Coast Suns, LifeFlight and Surf Lifesaving Queensland, I’m so excited to see a shift - the next generation just really doesn’t seem to see gender as a barrier… or as a benefit for that matter. I’m sure we’ll see this shift borne out in future statistics and QUT can play a part in creating the pipeline through its focus on STEM, and world leading research.

I’m excited to have to find something else to talk about in the future when gender equity will be a Blank Space instead of a topic of conversation.

… Are You Ready For It?"

Jessica Mellor

CEO - The Star, Gold Coast 
Executive Master of Business Administration QUT, (Class of 2020)

Do you have a question for Jessica? Connect with her on LinkedIn.