marketingmag.com.au

50 CAREER PROFILE

W

ith 18 years’

experience in

marketing and

communications,

Conrié’s career

has crossed back and forth between

her native France and Australia.

What at fi rst seems like unconnected

career moves – between luxury

hotels like Le Royal Monceau and

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts,

to Cognacs Hennessy at LVMH in

Paris, then to PR agencies in Sydney

before transitioning to PR Manager

at Opera Australia – instead reveals

her following a consistent passion for

creating meaningful experiences that

bring people together. “I’ve always

worked for places where creativity

is really valued, encouraged and

rewarded. I’ve worked for brands

where the idea of service is really

embedded and so are storytelling

elements,” Conrié says. “Luxury

hotels aren’t dissimilar to a museum –

it’s about feeling something, sharing

something. It’s a passion for service

and experience coming together.”

While many of us put ourselves

through university waiting tables

or working in retail, Conrié built up

valuable experience in the events

industry. “I worked in heaps of events,

from events for the fi nance minister

to the FIFA World Cup, to VIP nights...

and I loved it, I loved the variety,”

she recalls. From seeing people

around her crash and burn during their studies, she had

the foresight to build experience towards a separate career.

After realising that the path from English literature studies

went into teaching and that didn’t

suit her, she thought about what else

she could do. “I love communication,

I love events, I can structure my ideas

really well and I’ve studied English...

I’m going to work in comms.”

Her fi rst job after university

was as PR assistant at Four Seasons

Hotels and Resorts. This experience

was pivotal. “The attention to detail

was just incredible and why that sat

with me was that it all comes back

to... the element of surprise, telling an

interesting story, that’s where it really

got me hooked – the intersection

between service and marketing.”

She also emphasises having both

in-house and agency experience as

proving invaluable insight. “I would

recommend to anyone to have both

agency and client experience because

it gives you an idea of what it takes

to make that relationship work.”

Conrié talks about being able to go

really deep on a topic from all angles

when you’re in-house, compared to

navigating politics in a fast-paced

agency environment focused on

strategy and creativity. “It’s like being

a conductor; you have to know how

to balance all the elements and make

everything work together.”

Conrié and her husband had

never been to Australia before moving

here when she was 29. The brief

for their move? “We just wanted a

life change.” Coming from Biarritz,

a beach region in the south-west of France, Conrié’s

husband’s only condition was that he had to be able to surf.

Arriving on working holiday visas and not knowing what

to expect, they both completed RSAs (responsible serving

of alcohol certificates) in case they needed to fall back

on bar jobs. Instead, what they found was a thirst for new

talent and were able to easily fi nd work in their fi elds. Two

of the first things she appreciated about Australia were the

forward-thinking and the ‘lab country’ vibe where there’s

an openness to test things.

Career timeline

2015 – PRESENT

Head of marketing and

communications, Museum of

Contemporary Art Australia

2012 – 2014

Director communications and

marketing, Le Royal Monceau –

Raffl es Paris

(Fairmont ACCOR Hotels)

2011 – 2012

PR manager, Opera Australia

2008 – 2009

PR account director, PPR Australia

2007 – 2008

PR account director,

Spin Communications

2004 – 2006

Account director,

Ketchum Public Relations, Paris

2002 – 2004

International PR executive –

Cognacs Hennessy, Louis Vuitton

Moët Hennessy, Paris

2001

PR assistant, Four Seasons Hotels

and Resorts, Paris

MARKETING 2019

Telling an interesting

story, that’s where it really

got me hooked.