From founding multiple startups to travelling the world through her day job, there is never a dull day in science and arts alum Michelle “MishManners” Mannering’s exciting career.
“I remember growing up thinking, ‘how am I ever going to find a job in the world? I like too many different things,’” said Mish. “I was able to find that through my studies at the University of Melbourne.”
Mish harnessed every opportunity to forge a dynamic career for herself, including growing her network as a student volunteer and exploring a vast array of disciplines through the University’s unique learning experience.
“In my career, I'm able to do everything from helping developers with their coding to talking to the Australian government about innovation and planning.”
The science alum’s entrepreneurial career started when she co-founded black.ai not long after completing her master’s degree in Global Media Communication.
In eight years of operation, the AI image processing startup has worked with some leading global brands.
“We developed AI 3D image processing that you can put in any kind of space, and they analyse the people and the movements through that space,” explained Mish.
Pursuing career diversity
Mish’s career extends beyond being an entrepreneur. Her nine-to-five is at GitHub, a developer platform that can be harnessed to build and deliver software.
“I'm a developer advocate, which means I get to advocate to and for the developer,” shared Mish.
“We're here to make the developers lives a lot easier – we want to understand their pain points, their needs, and what they would like to see from GitHub.”
Mish also writes about new tech and games as a social media influencer. And through her consulting business, MishManners, Mish runs Hackathons – competitions that help organisations make innovation breakthroughs.
“I did one a couple of weeks ago for the Department of Environment and Planning up in Sydney, and I'm flying up to the Great Barrier Reef to do one for the Australian Marine Science Institute,” said Mish.
With so much experience in the world of startups and innovation, Mish enjoys imparting her knowledge to those starting out in the industry.
“I still get to work quite closely with the University of Melbourne as a mentor in the Melbourne Accelerator Program,” said Mish.
“I get to see what people are building and help them along their journey; making sure they've thought of the things they need to and connecting them with other really good founders, mentors or investors.”
Connecting with budding entrepreneurs is a role that gives Mish great satisfaction.
“I was chatting to one of this year’s founders recently, and they said they’re about to launch their first product next month. It’s very exciting.”
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Strong ties
The University of Melbourne first captured Mish’s interest nearly 20 years ago during her school years.
“My brother's school at the time had the University of Melbourne come in to do a presentation,” recalled Mish.
“It was the first time they were talking about the Melbourne curriculum, and I just thought, ‘that's what I want to do’.”
The Melbourne curriculum is the University’s distinctive learning experience that allows students to become highly qualified in their chosen discipline, while discovering diverse and complementary areas of study.
“I was very interested in science, but I was also interested in other things – ancient history, media studies, all kinds of things,” said Mish.
“For me, the Melbourne curriculum was very attractive.”
Years later, Mish fulfilled her dream of studying at the University of Melbourne when she was accepted to study a Bachelor of Science with a major in Chemistry.
“I loved studying Science through the Melbourne curriculum and I had the opportunity to study many areas of science, including chemistry – which was my major – engineering, mathematics, IT, geology, and psychology,” said Mish.
“I would have loved to study physics as well, but unfortunately, I couldn’t fit that in! I also loved being able to study breadth subjects in ancient history and media.
“All these subjects gave me such a board view of the world and a great grounding base to build a career,” explains Mish.
She made it her mission to make the most of her university experience – both by connecting with her classmates and seeking out new opportunities within the community.
“I had the same lab partner from year one right through to the end of my degree, because we became really good friends,” said Mish.
As Mish completed each semester of her science degree, the relationships she had made helped her make it to the finish line.
“Our little cohort would get together and have study sessions, and when we told our lecturer, they offered to come along and help.”
Grasping growth opportunities
Throughout her studies, Mish volunteered each year at Orientation Week (O week) as a host and eventually as a leader.
“Because I was so ingrained in O week as a volunteer, the University staff knew who I was and would automatically accept me every year I came back,” explained Mish.
“One of the staff members back in the day was very influential in terms of understanding my value, my worth, and that I could be a leader and inspire others.”
It was that same staff member who tapped Mish on the shoulder for a paid role at O week one year.
“I got to interview thousands of students and chose 1000 students to be O week leaders – then I got to train them all up to be leaders and manage them on the day,” said Mish.
At the end of the year, Mish received a call from the University to take up an Events and Programs Coordinator role at Melbourne Connect.
“It was just a perfect role – I love science, but I like talking about it more than just being in the lab doing it and writing a report,” said Mish.
Looking back, Mish knows that volunteering is ultimately what helped her land her dream job, as “what sets you apart are all the things you do outside of your degree”.
From being inspired to attend the University of Melbourne as a student to staying connected as a mentor today, Mish’s ongoing relationship with the University reflects her gratitude for how it helped shape her dream career.
“I have a big soft spot for the University of Melbourne,” said Mish, “I literally would not be where I am without it.”