Today is International Women’s Day, and we are celebrating one of our senior staff members at Synergy Radiology! Meet Jung Park, Senior Group Administration Manager and leader to all of our administration staff. We sat down with her for a few minutes and asked her how she started at Synergy, her thoughts on being the sole female in the leadership team and her advice for any other women wanting to move up in their career.
How long have you been at Synergy? 15 years!
Describe yourself in four words? Driven, passionate, an optimistic pessimist
What made you want to join Synergy?
I worked with a few of the senior partners when they were working as locum doctors in my previous job. Tej spoke to me about the team and the business plan for Bella Vista and, after seeing the drive and passion that they had, it made me want to join forces with them.
As a woman in the leadership team, how do you think your gender affects your role and your position?
I would like to think that I bring a positive impact on the team as a female. Peter, Prash, Baek and I have worked together for many years and yes, there are times where we have our differences but we always find the resolution in respectful ways and I feel very lucky to work with such a great team. I’ve always felt like an equal in the team and that my opinion is taken seriously.
I will say this though – I’m very appreciative of the fact that I can bring the feminine side into management!
What is your favourite part of your job?
Creating a team from scratch – from setting them up, training them and bringing more people into the team. It can be challenging but also very exciting. I feel very privileged to work with a great team. Synergy has given me great opportunities personally and being part of the company growth in the past 15 years has made me stronger and wiser.
What are your passions outside of work? I love gardening and would like to spend more time on my Bonsai trees. I also love animals and one of my goals is to work with helping and rescuing animals in the future.
Who is your inspiration, not only as a woman but as a working professional?
Within Synergy, all the partners. They’ve all influenced me in some way or another to be passionate and professional.
Personally, it’s my mum. She is a strong and independent woman who has gone through some tough times in her life but always faced the challenges with an open mind and positivity which has inspired me to follow her footsteps. She has taught me to believe in myself and focus on the positives in life which is something I try to work on every day.
How can we challenge gender bias in the workforce?
In the Synergy world, we’re very lucky that we are very gender sensitive. The culture of the work is also very gender sensitive due to the demands in the community. For me, I would say to put the emphasis on what the community needs rather than what we prefer. For the working environment, I think the key would be to continue to work with our differences with respect as we have been.
What is a piece of advice you’ve received that you’ve never forgotten:
In the professional world, it’s to let go of the little things and look at the bigger frame of things. It’s something that’s always in the back of my mind but will need to be reminded of from time to time.
As a manager, to support and encourage the team because without them it would not be possible to do the job.
On a personal note, it’s to stop and smell the roses. Enjoy the moment and take the time to appreciate the people around you at this moment. I struggle with this a lot as I tend to get caught up in the storm, but it’s something I am becoming much more aware of.
