Cassandra Heilbronn | Concierge Connect
Cassandra Heilbronn
Senior Associate | Minter Ellison
President | Women Lawyers Association of Queensland
Winner | 2016 Emerging Leaders in the Legal Sector | Womens Agenda
Q. What does a regular day look like for you?
Alarm for 4.55am, gym from 5.35am to 6.30am. Breakfast at my desk, reading of newspapers and updating of social media until 7.30am. Days can be filled with meetings relating to (apart from work) Women Lawyers Association of Queensland, Squash Australia, and generally with legal students who have asked for a catch up. I try and leave the office by 5.30pm one day each week (or in Summer I use the “get home by sunset” timeframe). If I don’t have soccer coaching or training, or a meeting, in the office until about 7pm. I try and get to bed by 9.30pm, but that never happens as I am also doing my Masters of Law at the moment so my nights are taken up with reading.
Q. Do you feel as though you have enough ‘time to live’ in your week for things that you like doing?
Certainly do. I am all for scheduling in time for myself. Saturday morning is always “Cassandra time”. I go to boxing and then take myself out for breakfast and reading the Australian. I won’t lie, my days are jam packed but that is a choice I have made. I know I have the ability to say no to things, but at this stage in my life I would not have it any other way.
Q. How do you manage work/life?
I always find this difficult to answer. But I think it comes down to discipline. I know what commitments I have, I know where I need to be and when, so I make sure I just do it. As I said above, I am all for scheduling; I even do it for phone calls with my Dad!
Q. What are three things you can’t live without?
iPhone, parker pen and my mini soccer ball I am constantly throwing around the office.
Q. Do you have any ‘guilty pleasures’ in regards to your time?
Yes! If I don’t have a meeting, once I have grabbed my lunch I spend 10 minutes reading Daily Mail. It is good to take that time out and read something “light”.
Q. Do you have any outside help?
A cleaner, and I use Doctor’s Kitchen for meals (usually lunch and/or dinner).
Q. How has having them changed your lifestyle for the better?
Yes. There is nothing worse than dealing with the return to work stress of a Sunday night, while realising cleaning needs to be done. I say it’s an investment for my time.
The Doctor’s Kitchen meals has helped – I am not spending as much money at restaurants and buying lunch and it is certainly healthier. Given the way the meals are designed and who is involved, I cannot see ever getting a chef at home, despite some friends having that help. My propensity to skip meals has almost gone!
Q. What next big exciting event is on your ‘list’?
A number of things both professionally and personally! Personally, I am looking forward to learning how to run again (my leg was snapped in half playing soccer in mid-June 2016). Professionally, I am looking forward to what the next few months brings in my role as President of WLAQ. We have a number of initiatives that will be launched and I am excited to see how they will work in helping women in Queensland’s legal profession.