Lauren Calvert

Snapshot:

• Industry / Sector: Business / Corporate

• Career Type: Business Owner

• Education Pathway: Self-Taught

• Mid Coast Connection: Relocated from Sydney

The Blurb:

Lauren Calvert is the founder and director of the Well Suited Group, providing flexible business administration support remotely for six years, and co-founder of Barrington Coast Women in Business, a group connecting professional women across the region.

Lauren began in sports administration, rising through the ranks while learning on the job into corporate communications as an executive assistant, including a role as partnership manager for the Qantas Wallabies. Those opportunities led her to start her own business.

Relocating from Sydney to the Barrington Coast, she missed the professional connections and so built the platform for herself. Soft skills, cultural fit and personal branding are her mantras, and her advice is simple: speak up, ask questions — people want to hear what you've got to say.

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• Video Highlights

  • Current Role: Founder and director of the Well Suited Group, providing remote, flexible business administration support nationally; also offers C-level EA recruitment, admin training workshops and 1:1 mentoring.

  • Career Path: Started in sports administration without a university degree → promoted through corporate roles → executive assistant at a corporate communications firm → partnership manager for the Qantas Wallabies → founded the Well Suited Group six years ago.

  • Key Skills: Soft skills — showing up, curiosity, enthusiasm, communication — over technical skills; being a good cultural fit.

  • Challenges Shared: Relocating from Sydney and losing her professional network; learning to find her voice instead of sitting quietly in the room.

  • What She Loves: The flexibility to structure work around her commitments, and helping clients solve their problems.

  • Advice to Younger Self: Make connections, manage your personal and online brand, and use your voice — no question or thought is wrong.

• Key Quotes

  • "Really just showing up and being curious in my role."

  • "Usually people just want to know that they can get along with you and that you're a good person, and then everything else can kind of be taught."

  • "I used to sit very quietly in the room, but you've got a voice and people want to hear from you."

• Transcript

  [00:00] Intro

  Hi, today I'm joined by Lauren Calvert, Managing Director of the Well Suited Group. Lauren will share with us a little bit about her pathway and the skills she has used to get to where she is today. Hi, Lauren. Thanks for joining me today for the TUC Human Library Project.

  [00:28] Lauren, would you like to start by sharing a little bit about what your professional life looks like today? What do you do for your work?

  I'm the founder and director of the Well Suited Group. We provide flexible business administration support. We've been running and operating for six years, and I run that remotely from my home and I have a team that works nationally. We partner with businesses who are looking for business administration support — whether that's executive support, event management, operations or board support — but they don't need someone on a full-time basis. 

  We also provide — I do EA recruitment at C-level, and also admin training workshops and 1:1 mentoring. I'm also the co-founder of the Barrington Coast Women in Business, which is a newly established group that we started this year to bring women, whether they're professional women or women in business, together to connect and learn and support each other.

  [01:33] Can you tell us a little bit about how you landed here? What was your pathway from school to where you are today?

  I didn't go to university. I started my career in sports administration. My first job was just literally dictaphone typing, sending faxes, emails when that started happening — really just showing up and being curious in my role. Sports administration, and got to work for some really cool companies. Internally I was almost like on-the-job learning and got to be promoted up the ranks through different roles. 

  Then I got into corporate and became an executive assistant working for a corporate communications firm. I also worked in my sporting career — I was a partnership manager for the Qantas Wallabies at the time. All those opportunities kind of led me to go on and start my own business, I guess.

  [02:44] What is it that you love about having your own business or your organisation? We might break it into two — thinking about the Well Suited Group, what do you love about that?

  For me, it's the flexibility. I like that I'm able to structure my work around my commitments. I also like the variety of the clients that we get to work with, and to see that people come to ask for help with a problem and that we're helping to solve that problem.

  [03:13] What about Women in Business — what motivated you to want to get involved?

  Well, when I relocated from Sydney, I was missing that kind of connection and looking for — I'm a big advocate for regional employment. Being able to meet people that are also doing similar things to me, that might be looking for opportunities to be working with businesses outside the region. I needed to know where to find them, and so by setting this group up, we were able to meet people doing similar things. It's been great, it’s been really needed. And just being able to make those connections to either help people or collaborate with them.

  [04:00] What are some skills that you feel like you've learnt or developed along the way that have proved to be really important to you in your pathway?

  Definitely the soft skills. Showing up, asking questions, being curious, enthusiastic — that's definitely more favourable than the technical skills. Obviously that's still important, but cultural fit in organisations is such a big part. Usually people just want to know that they can get along with you and that you're a good person, and then everything else can kind of be taught.

  [04:40] If there's one little piece of advice you could offer someone who is maybe thinking of a career change or starting out in their career, what would be your piece of advice for them?

  I would say just reach out to people, make connections. Also consider your personal brand and your online brand as well. These days, if you are applying for work, people are going to look you up, whether it's on your social media or your LinkedIn — use that positively. Creating your own brand profile on LinkedIn helps people to validate you and your experience. And just ask questions. 

  I used to sit very quietly in the room, but you've got a voice and people want to hear from you. Don't think any thought or consideration in a question is wrong. People want to hear what you've got to say.

Please note: All content is correct at the time of recording.