Brisbane Digital Spotlight is a blog series that aims to shine light on the exceptional talent within the city’s digital community. With each post, I uncover a devoted individual within my network who I’ve recognised to be deeply engaged in the digital industry. Whether it be a Digital Marketer, a Developer, a Co-founder, a Project Manager, or even a Recruiter – my goal is to highlight the work these remarkable individuals do; day in, day out.

Whether it be high school students or adults, providing the right support and advice can immensely help grow your personal and professional development.

After starting as a youth worker who provided support for teenagers, Michael Rubio made the transition into the digital industry when he identified the need to solve similar problems for professionals.

I’d met Michael in 2017 at a digital marketing meet up. Over the years, I’ve admired his willingness to learn and continually embed himself across the digital landscape.

When he’s not attending every meet up imaginable, you’ll find him sharing his insights across LinkedIn and Twitter, or cruising through the City on a Lime scooter.

Keep reading to uncover more about Michaels story.

Tell us about your background. How did you land in the digital space?

My background is completely different from any kind of typical pathway. My career started in youth work where I provided social, emotional and spiritual support to teenagers at high school. 

In this role I’d often counsel kids regarding their future career pathways. I loved unpacking people’s passions and skills and helping direct them to finding meaningful directions to place their energy. 

This passion to help people led me to connect with my friend, Allen Smith. What started out as a coffee to get advice about applying these skills to the corporate world, ended up as a job offer for Seventwenty. 

Seventwenty has our foundations in Creative Advertising, Marketing and Digital. We do HR consulting, career advice and recruiting in this space. Since joining Seventwenty, I’ve loved connecting with the Brisbane digital scene and meeting many great professionals in the industry.

Tell us a little about Seventwenty and the exciting work they do.

We work with some of the best Creative, Digital and Tech companies in Brisbane and Perth. Our central service offering is Career Advising and Recruitment. 

This year we’ve really started investing into the Brisbane startup space too. 

Brisbane is one of Australia’s best startup cities and we find that when you’re building a fast-growing startup, you cannot discount the importance of having the right team around you.

This year we’ve had some great wins for our candidates and our clients. We’ve helped digital professionals feeling stagnant in their careers by connecting them with businesses that share similar values and goals.

What does your role at SEVENTWENTY entail?

A lot of coffee 😉

As a Senior Career Advisor, I’m always at local cafes in the valley and city meeting amazing people and hearing about their career stories. I also love engaging with clients to hear about their work, then understanding where I can help them build their team. 

I’m driven by a passion to make a positive difference in the lives of everyone I encounter, so I love hearing peoples stories and playing a part that can help them out. 

Apart from that, a lot of my day to day is recruiting for my clients – so finding the right creative,

What are some emerging job trends you’re seeing in the Brisbane digital space?

I think there is a general push into more tech focused roles. Also, data and human/user/customer experience is key.

If you’re a marketer, I’d be researching and pushing more into digital, data, social, content, and automation. 

If you’re a creative, I’d be pushing to link your creative mindset with tech eg. designer – push into UX/UI, digital design, recent design trends; videographer – nail social media videos, short sharp youtube ads; Art Director – master storytelling in a 1.5 sec glance at a digital tile.

If you’re a developer, you know that this industry changes so quickly. At the moment in Brisbane there’s a huge need for good javascript developers, particularly with frameworks like react.js, node.js, vue.js, go, and flutter (although chasing recent trends doesn’t always pay off. Consider if it may be better to become an expert in time with tested tech stacks).

What advice would you have for anyone looking to enter the digital landscape?

1. Get in it, get your hands on whatever you can, even if you don’t think it’s your sweet spot. Start broad and get an understanding of the digital landscape.Setup adwords campaigns, try building social communities with and without a budget, do some EDM, CRM, SEO, SEM, tweak your CTR, A/B testing, (get really good at Googling acronyms and don’t feel stupid for asking! (No one knows them all).

   Have a crack at design, shoot, edit and post some video, etc.

   Start broad and then narrow in and find what you enjoy and have a natural affinity for. Once you find this, you can become an expert.

2. Network. Connect with people and companies that are doing great work that you love and respect, even if they’re competitors. Focus on building relationships (protect relationships, don’t bad mouth others).

   
   A few non-digital related pieces of advice include;

3. Build wells. A well is a source of life for the long term. You don’t dig a well for your current job, you dig it for your career. Build habits in your work and personal life that keep you healthy – physically, emotionally, and mentally.
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4. Plant trees. In your workplace do actions that have the same long-term vision as planting trees. When you plant a tree, you usually won’t benefit from it. It’s a long-term investment for the future, for those who come after you.

   This means when you’re at a workplace, set things up for the long-term future of the company.
   
   Don’t just make things convenient for yourself in the present knowing you might leave soon. If you are the kind of employee that builds your company for the future, you are pure gold and your reputation will proceed you. 

5. Invest in people. It doesn’t matter what industry or field you’re in, if you invest in people it’s never a waste!
   
   I don’t just mean sucking up to those who can make your life better. Help those around you to win, celebrate their wins, speak well of others, look out for when those in your team or a different team are struggling and see if there’s anything you can do.
   
   If you invest into people around you, it’s an investment that will never be wasted.

Finally, what are some of your favourite things to do around sunny Brisbane when not at work?

• I love boxing! This keeps me sane, fit and it’s fun. Shout out to “No Deal Boxing” down in Ormiston.
• I love taking my little fam (wife, 1YO girl and little fur baby) down to Wellington Point. 
• Coffee crawls are my jam and I love chilling at local Brissy cafes. 
• E scootering 🛴
• I love my church. For me, it’s a well that keeps hope and energy in my life. Shout out to Lifeplace Church

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About me: 

I’m a twenty-three-year-old Digital Marketing & Conversions Specialist based in Brisbane, Australia. With a passion for all things digital and tech, I aim to connect and learn from as many like-minded digital enthusiasts as possible. If you have a passion for emerging technologies and digital practices, I’d love to connect and hear your story.