I met Lou Barrett last year when I was speaking at a News Corp event. She was the woman wearing fluro leggings who bounded onto the stage to congratulate her audience for being recognised as News Corp’s top sales people in the country. Her energy was infectious and with the music pulsing and the audience whooping I felt like I was at a rock concert and I momentarily wished I was working for this woman as one of her top sales people in the country. Because she was magnificent.
Fast forward 6 months and we are talking about the choices Lou made over the course of her life to ensure she prioritised her career in a vastly male dominated media industry. Lou started work in television at Channel 9 and unlike many of her chronological peers who Lou describes as being bred in captivity because they reached their heady heights in media by swimming solidly in one lane, Lou has swum across all the lanes and has a diverse media background. Lou did the hard yards across television, radio, news print, magazines, digital and back again. And it is this breadth of experience that Lou has loved about her career: I have been in the industry for 37 years and I still love it today as much as I did when I started. I was always strategic. I was always curious. I’ve loved the learning curve. And I love that I continue to learn. You can’t ever get to the stage where you think you have nothing more to learn.
In her current role as Managing Director – News Corp National Sales, Lou oversees sales for over 80 separate media assets including magazines, newspapers and digital content. She warmly acknowledges the support of News Corp’s Chair who is focussed on merit and bringing brilliant women into the business, but notes that her career has not always seen this same level of support. To this day, she is one of only two woman ever to have held the role of Chief Revenue Officer in a TV network. EVER.
At 58, Lou has one eye on the future – I’m getting to the stage where I think – ‘How much longer do I want to go this hard?’ Because I do want to have time in my life to enjoy my life. As my kids are getting older, I have more time. But I also ask myself – ‘What will I do when I get off the treadmill?’ Because I am so used to running at this pace.
These are the exact same questions I have been asking of myself and of my readers in The Life List: Master Every Moment and Live an Audacious Life, so it is validating to hear these words coming from Lou.
But she’s not slowing down just yet – My friends and I talk a lot about the whole cup half full analogy. And they say that I am the ultimate full cup – full to the brim! I am so positive and driven and full of energy. I feel very fulfilled as a woman.
Lou has three clear messages for young women starting their own magnificent careers, whether in the media industry or elsewhere –
First – You can have it all – you just need to make the right life choices. You need support at the back end and an amazing partner. My career really hit its straps when I met my second husband, and we have been together for 17 years. We made the decision together that we would focus on my career. He is the most amazing support to me and our family. Together we have 5 beautiful children and a very close family. My parents helped raise my kids. Without question, the support I had and continue to have at home has allowed me to achieve my success.
Second – If you make a mistake, learn from it and don’t make it again. I always say there will be a stage in your career where you will lose your job and all your confidence with it. You have to be prepared for that and use it as a learning experience. You will come through it, and it will make you a better leader.
Third – You have to be very driven. You have to have an enormous about of energy. There will be days where you think – fuck it – but you need to turn up and just do it.
Right now Lou is loving being able to reap the rewards of decades of hard work. Mostly she loves being able to travel again. And she has the time, freedom and money to do it. She is also focussing more on her health, noting that she has never really got the whole work/life balance thing right – Going through Covid made me realise that if I don’t get my health right, I won’t be able to continue at this pace for the amount of time that I want to. I realise that, at 58, I need to prioritise my health. I saw my parents with loads of health issues because they weren’t active. And so, I’m doing Pilates three times a week, I walk a lot, we have a farm and I am mad about horse riding. Plus I’m a mad snow skier. These are the things I want to prioritise now.
Next on Lou’s Life List is perhaps stepping back, at some stage, and going for a complete career change. She has a dream of running a little business on a Greek Island, and spending winters in Canada. I do want to step back a little – the big question is ‘When?’ Because at the moment I just don’t want to stop! But I also don’t want to leave it too long – I want to be young enough to enjoy it.
We finish our chat with Lou on a reflective note about the life choices she is making these days – People might call me selfish for wanting to prioritise myself – but there are so many people relying on me that I need to focus on being ‘me at my best.
And I love this because it’s true – as women running empires and as mothers and partners and daughters, people rely on us to turn up as our best selves, day after day. Prioritising our health and happiness does not make us selfish. It makes us brave.
