Coming to Sydney in her childhood, St Andrew’s College alumna Amy Hann’s journey has been anything but ordinary. With an early career in luxury fashion, Amy has since carved out a new path as a Career Coach and founded Amy Hann Career Coaching. Drawing on a decade of experience in global recruitment and leadership roles at David Jones and Korn Ferry, Amy now helps others navigate their own professional pivots with purpose and clarity. Reflecting on her time at Drew’s, the lessons learned across continents, and her mission to make meaningful, fulfilling careers accessible to everyone, she is driven to empower others to find confidence and direction in their own career journeys.
Can you tell us a little about yourself – where you’re from and where you grew up?
I was born in London and grew up in Malaysia and Singapore. When I was 15, we moved to Sydney where I finished school. My childhood memories all revolve around travel and hard-working parents who also knew how to have a good time!
What led you to choose St Andrew’s College? What aspects of Drew’s stood out to you the most?
Having only been in Australia for 3 years I knew I wanted to go to college to meet more people. I was keen for a more ‘traditional’ university experience that is the norm overseas. Drew’s had a great reputation, and I distinctly remember a feeling of belonging from the day I had my interview which continues to this day.
Looking back, what part of College life did you enjoy most – sport, performing arts, events, friendships, or something else?
Friendships – I met some of my best friends at Drew’s! People who I moved overseas with and am now navigating motherhood with.
How did your time at St Andrew’s shape you, both personally and professionally, after College?
As the saying goes “show me your friends, I’ll show you your future.” I can confidently say my Drew’s friends make me a better person. They push me constantly and they are the ones I have the most fun with. (I’m banking on no other friends reading this!) On a more serious note, Drew’s also taught me a lot about personal values and how to use them to make decisions for yourself.
Before moving into career development, you worked in the fashion and design industries – including roles at NET-A-PORTER and Vanilla Home Design in Singapore. What did you take away from those experiences, and how have they influenced your work today?
After university, I moved to London to pursue my dream of working in luxury fashion. I joined Net-a-Porter as a Personal Assistant and worked my way up to Womenswear Buyer over 4 years. It was as fun as it sounds, the company was experiencing strong growth, and I enjoyed annual promotions as a result. I travelled to New York, Paris and Milan multiple times a year and was the recipient of a very generous uncapped staff discount! The success did not come without a serious amount of grit and determination and on reflection I relied on the job to inform my whole self-identity. Unfortunately, as my buying career progressed and I took on more responsibility, I started to realise I did not want my boss’ job. The never-ending travel, constant pursuit of the new and uncomfortable negotiations left me drained and burnt out. I left and took a role in Singapore where I set up the ecommerce arm of a homewares business called Vanilla Home. It was a fun 2 years, but something still didn’t feel right. I could do the work but the feeling of fulfillment was short lived. Looking back, I’m so grateful for these experiences as they forced me to challenge my definition of success.
What first sparked your interest in career development, and what do you find most rewarding about working in this field?
I arrived back in Australia shortly before my 30th birthday, unsure what to do next. My Dad suggested working with a Career Coach and I remembered one of my colleagues in London said her Mum did that. Over five one-hour sessions with her I successfully pivoted my career into HR landing an in-house recruitment role at David Jones. Working with a coach changed everything for me, so much so that I decided I wanted to learn how to help people in that way and commenced my coach training. We spend 1/3 of our lives at work, if you don’t enjoy it life can get hard fast. Helping people find work that is both meaningful to them and commercially viable is extremely rewarding.
You’ve also held senior roles in recruitment and search at David Jones and Korn Ferry. How did these positions help prepare you to start your own career coaching practice?
10 years in recruitment both in-house and at a global consultancy practice laid solid foundations for the work I do now. I know what decision makers are listening for and how to craft solid value propositions that convert to real opportunities.
You now run your own practice, Amy Hann Career Coaching. How is it going so far, and what kind of services do you offer to your clients?
I find working for myself empowering. I’m a doer rather than a thinker so red tape in big corporates frustrated me. Now if I have an idea I can just hit go. I work 1:1 with a select group of private clients providing career transition coaching. My approach is strength based and combines proven organisational coaching techniques with personalised self-assessments.
Alongside your own practice, you also coach with Directioneering, Australia’s largest career development firm. What does that role involve, and what are you most looking forward to there?
I am very grateful for this contract role as it provided financial security during the initial months of launching my private practice. My work with Directioneering is focused on providing career transition coaching to people who have recently experienced redundancy and have been sponsored on a program by their employer.
You’ve also volunteered as a Career Coach with Dress for Success Worldwide. What is this organisation, and what was that experience like for you?
Dress for Success is a global not-for-profit organisation that empowers women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and the development tools to help women thrive in work and in life. I coach pro bono for them and also volunteer once a month in their Sydney showroom styling people for job interviews. Having the flexibility to fit this into my working week was one of the reasons I wanted to start my own practice, the 1 day a year that most corporates offer didn’t ever cut it for me.
What advice would you give current students or alumni who are thinking about their next career step?
Here are three things I wish I’d known sooner:
- Career change is not failure. Far from it. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report for 2025 estimated 170 million new jobs will be created this decade and Gen Z are likely to navigate an average of 4 career changes during their lifetime.
- High performance gets you in the game, but impact and exposure get you ahead. The PIE framework is helpful: To grow your career effectively you need to perform well to build credibility, increase impact by working on things that matter and build exposure to make sure your work is visible to right audiences.
- You don’t have to go it alone. Build a team of mentors, sponsors, coaches, therapists, dogs…whatever it takes.
For someone considering a career change, what does working with you look like, and what’s the best way to reach out?
First step is an introductory call where I learn more about your coaching needs and you learn more about how I could help you. Typically, we would have 3 x one-hour sessions via Teams or in person depending on your preference. Cadence and time frame is determined by you and your goals. You can book an intro call via my website, amyhann.com.