International Women’s Day: Mihaela Piculist, Office Manager
8th March 2023
On International Women’s Day, Freshwater Habitats Trust Office Manager Mihaela (Micky) Piculist considers the importance of equity and what drives her.
What do you enjoy most about your role?
In my role as Office Manager no day is the same. Every day there is something different to solve, update, review, or think about. And this works perfectly for me as I am a Jack of all trades with an innate need to take things apart and put them back together in a more efficient way.
What inspired you to pursue your current career?
I was working in the probation sector when I realised that the thing I enjoy the most in work is to organise, to improve, and put systems in place. After I left, I decided to apply for a masters degree in business management and entrepreneurship, but after a few classes it turned out to be disappointing. I decided to gain the experience through work instead. This included, among others, an administrative role with a fire and rescue station and data administration and information officer positions for charities.
After my interview with Freshwater Habitats Trust, I felt excited to work for the first time for a charity that focuses on nature conservation.
The theme of International Women’s Day 2023 is ‘Embrace Equity’. Why is this important in conservation?
I think equity is important in everything and is essential to living life well. My role doesn’t have much to do with hands-on conservation, but has everything to do with the people who do the hands-on work. Equity is important in conservation because people need to share equity with each other to work in harmony.
What advice would you give to a woman who is just starting out in a similar role to yours?
I would give the same advice to everyone, regardless of their career choice and job. Do what you love, because work is a big part of your life and doing a job you don’t enjoy is a self punishment you don’t deserve. How would you know if the job you’re doing is a job you love? Ask yourself what work you’d be doing if all jobs paid the same.
A piece of practical advice I would give to, let’s say my role’s successor is this: keep organised and make sure you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time a new task appears by writing ‘how to’ guides.
Who or what inspires or drives you in your role?
It might sound a bit callous, but I learnt to be my own inspiration. Sure, I do admire some great personalities, but, I understand that success comes in many forms and no one walks the same path in life.
What drives me in my role? The need to fix, solve, update, and improve.
Micky Piculist joined Freshwater Habitats Trust in September 2022. As the Office Manager, she manages and supports on many different areas of the organisation, including HR, health and safety and data protection.