Monkey Media Senior Editor, Jessica Dickers, has been named as a finalist in the Mumbrella NeXt Awards to be held in Sydney in early December. The awards recognise people making a splash in the industry within their first ten years of work.

Jessica is well known for her journalistic talent in the infrastructure space, and an article of hers was recently featured in The Australian newspaper. Her nomination in the Content Marketers category of the awards was made possible by the growth of Monkey Media, and her own willingness to take on new challenges.

Not only is Jessica the Editor of Monkey Media’s Infrastructure magazine, but she’s also the driving force behind the Asset Management for Critical Infrastructure event. After starting with the company in a junior position in 2016, she has progressed her career in leaps and bounds, gaining a senior role usually reserved for those beyond her years.

She moved through roles such as data entry for the business’ subscriber list and searching for media releases, to Journalist, Associate Editor, Senior Associate Editor, Acting Managing Editor (in a maternity leave position), to her current role as Editor of Infrastructure magazine.

While the NeXt awards recognise new and up-and-coming talent in the industry, at Monkey Media Jessica is a veteran of the team, and well and truly an established talent. Along with her Editor duties, Jessica is also the Editorial Development Manager, ensuring the rest of the editorial team also have the opportunity to refine their craft to excel in their careers. 

Opportunities to grow

One reason for Jessica’s fast rise to the top is working at a fast-growing company. She explains that Monkey Media has more than doubled in size since she started working there, and how this presented her with ongoing opportunities.

“Since I started with Monkey Media we’ve launched several new publications and products, including creating a number of industry events which have been huge. In 2018, the company was listed in the Australian Financial Review’s Fast 100, recognising the fastest growing companies in Australia, and we’re continuing to push ourselves. We already have big things in the works for 2020 and beyond,” Jessica said. 

As the company has grown and matured, so too have Jessica’s skills. Although fortunate to be provided with many opportunities to take on more responsibilities and lead products and teams, Jessica needed to throw herself into hard work and invest in herself to learn as much as possible about the industry. This included stretching her writing abilities from pure journalism into marketing.

“I’ve found that coming from a journalism background has really helped me working in marketing, as I know how to get down to the core of a story to produce the best result,” Jessica said. 

The combination of in-house journalistic talent and a need for businesses to tell their stories has allowed Monkey Media to branch into all forms of marketing, with a strong focus on quality content. 

A bright future ahead

While many aspects of publishing are changing, Jessica is optimistic about her own and Monkey Media’s future in the industry. She said that success has come from a focus on creating the highest quality content, regardless of the medium – whether it’s online, in print, or at an event – and she sees those high standards continuing.

“While it’s true that mainstream publishing and the journalism industry isn’t the same as it was ten or even five years ago, I think there are still opportunities and a demand for good content and storytelling,” Jessica said.

“It’s also important in publishing to adapt to the changing landscape, not push against it, and always aspire to try new and different things rather than resting on what has worked previously. That’s something myself and the whole team here are constantly striving for.”