AKQA Australia’s managing director Justine Leong and Meaningful Agency founder Jemima Simpson Smith have highlighted the importance of pushing through the mindset of the grass being greener elsewhere, and feeling like ‘jumping ship’ is the right thing to do.
It comes as B&T continues its Women in Media Superwoman Series, presented by Are Media, ahead of the B&T Women in Media Awards next week.
The vodcast series, created as an Are Media x B&T content partnership, brings together women from across the media, marketing and advertising industries to share honest conversations about ambition, career journeys and what leadership looks like today.
Each episode pairs an established industry leader with a B&T Women in Media Rising Star finalist, creating intergenerational conversations around the challenges navigated, lessons learned and the future of leadership.
The latest episode brings together Leong, who has been named on the B&T Women in Media Power List and Simpson Smith, a B&T Women in Media Awards Rising Star finalist and B&T’s 30 Under 30 winner for 2026.
Previously we’ve heard from Saatchi & Saatchi’s Mandie van der Merwe alongside Leo Australia’s Jessica Brackstone, Innocean’s Jasmin Bedir alongside Wavemaker’s Kate O’Loughlin and Bonds’ Kedda Ghazarian alongside EssenceMediacom’s Jazmaree Bell.
Hosted by Woman’s Day editor Katherine Chatfield, the interview delved into a range of topics but in particular, how to battle the temptation of walking towards the “shiny new thing” and why sometimes the most valuable career move can be to simply stay put and see things through.
For Leong, who has built a long career across the advertising industry, she said the temptation to jump ship can be particularly strong for younger professionals eager to find their next opportunity.
“There is a tendency for younger people to often jump ship quickly,” Leong said. “I think the grass can often seem greener on the other side, and I think there is a lot of excitement in shiny new things sometimes.”
But looking back on her own career, Leong said she would give her younger self very different advice.
“If I gave myself advice 20 years ago, I do think I would say that there is a lot to be learnt in being still and being patient to see things through,” she said.
Rather than constantly seeking the next opportunity, Leong argued there is value in allowing circumstances around you to evolve while remaining grounded in your own position.
“Be still and have the world around you, which is constantly shifting, be the change for you,” she said. “We’re in a world that is actually going through so much change at the moment, so you can be a constant in that change.”
For Leong, that does not mean ambition should disappear. Instead, it is about recognising that growth does not always require a new job, title or company.
Sometimes, the biggest lessons come from staying long enough to experience the difficult periods, see projects through and understand how an organisation or industry changes over time.
Simpson Smith added that while the desire for something new can be difficult to ignore, she said there is also value in recognising what is already in front of you and “allowing experiences to develop” rather than constantly comparing them with an imagined alternative.
“For me, early on, I got some clear advice, which was just focus on what you can control, which is essentially how much effort you put in.”
“So for me, it wasn’t that all the other variables didn’t matter, I just wanted to focus on the effort that I put in.”
She said across the industry women often “put a lot of pressure on themselves”.
“We always want to excel and do well, so for me winning is about enjoying what I do, not jus trying to get to the next award or the next client. It’s instead, ‘Do I enjoy what I do?’ and to me that’s winning.”
With new technologies, roles, agencies and opportunities appearing constantly, the pair highlighted that despite the feeling of something being better just around the corner, constantly moving on doesn’t always mean moving forward.
The B&T Women in Media Superwoman Series, presented by Are Media, continues to bring together established industry leaders and emerging talent for honest conversations about ambition, leadership and the realities of building a career in media, marketing and advertising.
Watch the full episode in the video above and keep your eyes peeled for the next one coming soon…
