12 People of Christmas – Charlie Hales

MD of Waterstons Australia, Charlie Hales, graduated with a degree in Aerospace Engineering just after 9/11, and the graduate training program she had been accepted onto was closed. Needing a career pivot, she stumbled into an IT role, and from there, hasn’t looked back.

After moving from support to infrastructure in a financial organisation, then running a transition program for a council, she moved to Waterstons over 10 years ago as an Executive Consultant. Six years later, after being the Head of Technology Consulting, I got the opportunity to relocate to Australia to open Waterstons Pty in 2019.

Now, she looks after the people, clients and overall business in Australia and APAC for Waterstons. As a small team, that can be anything from helping deliver work, to strategic guidance, to support for our people.

She tells us more about herself and her plans for 2024.

“My career wasn’t what I expected right from the start. It’s been a difficult and challenging journey, but one I wouldn’t change. I have been so fortunate in my career to have people to support me and learn from along the way, and I hope to be that role model for my team too.

“2024 is an exciting year for us as we grow the Australian side of the business. It’ll be tough, but we have an amazing team and I look forward to seeing what we achieve.

“Moving to Australia has been incredible for my family and I - although I never expected there to be so many culture differences!

“Outside of work and technology, I love space - literally anything to do with it. As well as flying helicopters (not that I can afford to do it very often!). I love teaching my kids about space, stars and galaxies and seeing their minds blown by it - my son in particular loves it too. If you’ve never been to a true dark spot where there is no natural light, do it - the night sky is amazing.”

If you’re an Australian business, or have an arm Down Under, that would like support in developing cyber security, improving managed services, or understand more about data, get in touch with Charlie at Charlie.hales@waterstons.com