PEOPLE PROFILE: KIM FITZPATRICK

Kim joined MiX 2 years ago, after spending over 20 years in the corporate sector in various technology leadership roles. Since joining MiX, Kim has led projects for many of our key clients, ranging from 26,000 ft2 to over 240,000 ft2.

Tell us a bit about what keeps you so busy at MiX:

As an IT Project Director, my role is to ensure that a clients’ internal IT strategy is aligned to the overall strategy on a project. I lead the technology design and guide our clients from a technology perspective through the process of office relocations and (or) in situ refits.

How did you find yourself in IT industry?

In my early 20’s, I joined a busy college as a trainee IT engineer. As a team of just two, we supported everything technology related (or anything with a plug). It was a wonderful start to my IT career, which gave me a springboard to working with some fantastic organisations over the following 20 or so years.

What appeals to you most in the industry?

I’ve always loved problem solving. As a child, I loved puzzles and figuring out how things work. This skill has been very useful in the industry as a large part of the role is understanding problems and developing a solution.

What do you think the biggest challenges in the IT & AV industry are today?

Technology progresses rapidly and there are so many options available to our clients now. The challenge is finding something that is easy enough for anyone to use and that also provides the correct level of functionality required. ‘Keep it simple’ is a statement that we hear time and time again! Another challenge we face is to provide a solutions that are scalable – not only ones that can be deployed in various office locations all over the world but also ones that can be added to at a later stage as business needs change and evolve.

What kind of skills do you need to have to succeed a role like this?

You have to be able to work well with other people and work with them collaboratively to develop the best solution. Being able to explain complex technical information in a straight forward way to people who don’t have a technical background is key. And as a project director you have to understand the bigger picture so that the design solutions put forward interface and support the rest of the project.

Spill the beans, what do you like about working at MiX?

I love the variety of clients we work with. In my time with MiX I’ve worked for clients such as The Economist, ASOS, McKinsey and Turner Broadcasting which includes brands such as CNN, Cartoon Network and HBO among others. It’s a really satisfying feeling guiding them through processes that they might not have come across before and seeing our design solutions turned into a reality

With such a busy day job, what do you do to unwind and relax?

I have two daughters and a music producer husband. We love to spend our downtime travelling and going to concerts