The Canberra mum of four who is reshaping Defence Industry Networking
Alice Fitzsimmons (second from right) at the awards ceremony for the Lifeline Canberra Women of Spirit Awards 2023
Alice Fitzsimmons ran away to the Navy when she was 19, working on submarines and travelling around the world. Now, this mum of four and finalist in the 2023 Lifeline Women of Spirit Awards is working to connect industry, startups and current and ex-ADF men and women through Defence Industry Networking (DIN).
From bartending to travelling the world
Fitzsimmons’s decision to create a career in the navy came about somewhat unexpectedly. She originally aspired to become a police officer, but she was told she was too young and to come back in six years’ time when she had more life experience.
Not to be deterred, she decided to look around and find something else she could do in the interim. Her grandfather had served in the army and had talked about his time in the services. She thought it might be interesting to join the Navy as she could travel the world. ‘It was never intended to be a long-term thing,’ she said.
Inspired by the promise of travel and watching ‘too much GI Jane’, she joined the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Six years came and went, and she ended up staying for 15 years before transitioning out in October last year. She developed professional skills and discovered new passions, such as playing volleyball and touch football. Fitzsimmons hadn’t always been sporty – she describes herself as being overweight as a child – so her navy career changed her in more ways than one.
Woman on a boat
During her navy career, Fitzsimmons has worked in unique environments where there haven’t been many women. This included serving on a submarine. She wasn’t the only female onboard, but she was the minority: there were six women in a total crew of 63 on her boat when it left, with only 3 when the submarine returned to Australia.
Living on a submarine was a unique lifestyle, especially for a woman. It’s no place for anyone interested in being Instagram-pampered. Crew were allowed a 30-second shower every second day and, depending on the operation, could only wash their clothes every few days. In addition, she was in a confined space surrounded by a lot of male testosterone.
Defence Industry Networking
Fitzsimmons loves networking and serves as Director for ACT and ADF Engagement for Defence Industry Networking. But her first defence industry networking experience wasn’t successful; she didn’t even make it in the door.
“I thought, oh my God, how am I ever going to have anything to talk about? What should I say?”
‘I walked into a bar where there wasn’t any good signage, and there were a lot of white, older men,’ she recounted. ‘It was still overwhelming for me to go into that room even though my career was one where there’s predominately been men around me. I thought, oh my God, how am I ever going to have anything to talk about? What should I say? Am I even in the right place?’
At that point, Fitzsimmons was thinking about leaving the RAN at some point and wanted to network to help make a smooth transition into another career. She felt that she would feel more comfortable going if she had a purpose for being at the networking event. So she contacted Defence Industry Networking CEO Sandy Taylor, explained her passion for helping ADF service men and women transition, and asked if he would be interested in supporting this. He agreed and appointed her Director ADF Engagement.
Fitzsimmons then started to reach out to people she knew who were considering leaving the ADF and inviting them to attend DIN events. ‘I didn’t want to poach people who still had the passion who wanted to remain in the ADF, so I approached local people who were transitioning out and suggested they come along if they were interested in defence industries’.
“When you’ve done so many years in defence, you don’t really know what’s out there”
‘Working with veterans, I found one of their hardest challenges was finding employment after service that they were happy with. When you’ve done so many years in defence, you don’t really know what’s out there, and obviously, defence industry has so many different acronyms and job titles that you don’t really understand what those jobs are. So I saw it as a really great way to get service members that education prior to leaving and having a soft landing after they left to make the transition smoother,’ she said.
With time, Fitzsimmons was introduced to more people, and the overwhelming feeling vanished. Later, she was appointed Director for Defence Industry Networking ACT and she developed a narrative around inclusivity to ensure everyone was welcome. ‘I began to stand right at the front door, so if I saw anyone worried, I would say, “Come on in!”. I would then go and find some regulars and pair them off so they have more conversations.”
With time, attendance at DIN events grew from around 20 people to between 100 and 170. Sometimes, there can be even more when networking takes place in conjunction with special events such as the Australian Defence Magazine (ADM) congress later this month.
What are defence industries?
You might be surprised to learn that defence industries are broader than just things like guns, tanks, fighter jets and ships. Fitzsimmons describes defence industries as any industry that supports defence. ‘That’s from your bigger industry players like Boeing, THALES, Raytheon, BAE, SAAB, Lockheed Martin, Airbus and L3 Harris, to small-medium enterprise (SME) industries that are developing anything that will be sold back to defence to support sovereign capability, to smaller players.’ They have even had a videographer attend their meetings. He ended up working with defence on advertisements and other materials and was booked solid thanks to contacts made through Defence Industry Networking.
Fitzsimmons said that historically, there had been a disconnect between the defence and the defence industry. It was important to get people in the room to talk about the projects that people need to work on collaboratively. That often led to exploring synergies, whether for talent recruitment or for opportunities for businesses to work together. DIN events attract a mixture of senior ADF officers and senior executives working in defence, senior corporate executives from defence industries, startups, and current and serving ADF staff and defence public servants.
Canberra and defence industries
“There’s surprisingly a lot happening in Canberra in defence industries”
‘There’s surprisingly a lot happening in Canberra in defence industries,’ said Fitzsimmons. She qualified that by saying that places like Adelaide and Brisbane were traditionally larger locations for defence industries, but in the last few years, she’s witnessed strong growth at Canberra events.
‘What I really love about the Canberra defence industries networking community is that people are so friendly there. It doesn’t matter your position in your organisations; people use it as a developmental or mentorship opportunity. People will have questions, share what they are working on and seek ideas on how they could improve,’ she said.
She said that regular attendees were often willing to help people who wanted advice. Recently, some university students working on startups came along. One was working on a 3D startup, and some industry participants were able to help connect them with contacts.
Defence Industry Networking meetings
Want to get networking? DIN events are informal. There are no pitches or speeches. There are no meeting fees. Meetings are hosted at Kingston’s Canadian-themed restaurant, Caribou. Snacks are available, and participants buy their own drinks. Meeting details are shared via LinkedIn. Attendees don’t need to RSVP – they can just rock up.
‘Canberra is big, yet small,’ said Fitzsimmons. ‘When you walk in, you might not know everyone, but around 70% of people attending are ex-ADF.’ She said she often hears people who thought about coming along for a long time but didn’t because they didn’t think they would know anyone. But when they do attend, they reconnect with a classmate or college from 15 years ago. ‘It’s amazing seeing people re-interact after so long without them realising that they were all still in Canberra.’
It’s not just for current and ex-ADF: startups and companies are welcome, too. While no deals are made on the night as the focus is on networking, Fitzsimmons said that a lot of business cards are exchanged. The events provide a good opportunity for startups and companies to get access to senior defence and defence industry figures. ‘It has definitely helped people get in front of people they might not have gotten in front of previously,’ she said. And when there’s an event on, there are often interstate attendees.
Transitioning out
Fitzsimmons’ passion is helping ADF members transition into defence industries. And her networking has helped her land an ideal job.
Fitzsimmons started attending DIN meetings almost two years before she considered leaving the RAN. Before she transitioned out last October, she had ten job offers through contacts she had made at networking with people who had heard she was thinking of leaving.
She ended up accepting a position with TGI Cargo, a freight forwarding company, as their defence relations partner. ‘It was completely out there as my background was intelligence – and this was logistics,’ she said. ‘All I knew about freight forwarding was that you get one parcel from A, and it goes to B, and you’re done.’ The role allows the company to grow its defence footprint, allowing her to draw on the skills she learnt with defence networking. So, by helping other people transition to employment in defence industries, she ended up helping herself.
Outside of work, she started a business last November - Empirical Solutions. Fitzsimmons said she has had much early success with her company thanks to her DIN connections. The company now has two other business partners (veterans) working full-time contracting out of the company. The company is now applying for its first tender with another company that it met through DIN connections.
Lifeline Women of Spirit Award
In August 2023, Fitzsimmons was a finalist in the Lifeline Canberra Women of Spirit Awards 2023 after being nominated by a good friend. The award acknowledged her considerable work in helping ADF service people transition into new careers.
‘It was overwhelming, and I felt extremely out of place,’ Fitzsimmons humbly said of the experience of being on stage with a cohort of other inspiring women. ‘I’m much more comfortable with the light on other people rather than myself.’
Fitzsimmons said she was grateful that Lifeline Canberra has the award to recognise women in our local communities and shine a light on their amazing work.’
Next Defence Industry Networking event
The next DIN event is being held after the ADM Congress.
Date: Wednesday, 21 February
Time: 5.30pm to 9.00pm
Venue: Caribou Kingston, 44 Jardine Street, Kingston
LinkedIn: Find the event here.
