Experience Gold Coast boss John Warn on why he won’t appear on all-male panels

Experience Gold Coast CEO John Warn is surrounded by women at home, at work and out and about - and reveals his rules for the modern-day male.

If actions speak louder than words, a Warn-ing is positively deafening.

He’s known as the CEO and front man for Experience Gold Coast, but John Warn has been applauded for the role he plays behind the scenes, off the stage and in the office when it comes to empowering women.

From his previous executive experience at Accor and Westfield to his role chairing Cricket NSW, Mr Warn said he was passionate about promoting female equality and representation.

Now, as one of the most in-demand panel speakers in this city, he has strict rules when it comes to the optics of the stages on which he sits.

“I will not be on a panel of all men, or where the women are all pushed to one end,” he said.

“I’m not rude about it, but I will explain to the organisers that my rationale and position is that there needs to be equal representation - not five men, not four men and one woman, not four men and two women on the end.

“I don’t believe it’s right as a father and I don’t believe it’s right as an executive.

“My conviction is that what you see on stage should reflect society and the real world. In EGC we actually have more women than men, they make up almost 65 per cent of our workforce and all of our streams’ executive leaders are women. Our board is 50-50 and if you take out the mayor and council CEO, which are ex officio roles, it’s five women and three men.”

Experience Gold Coast CEO John Warn celebrating the ‘Stars of Tourism’ category sponsored by Experience Gold Coast at Skypoint up the Q1. Picture: Glenn Hampson

Mr Warn said while his panel rules were sometimes challenging for older generations who grew up with more stereotyped gender roles, he said change had to start somewhere.

And his conviction is not just professional, it’s personal.

“I lost my dad when I was 12, he died of cancer in the mid 1980s, so I was brought up by my mother and sister,” he said.

“So from a young age I just had more awareness about female equality and representation, I saw it in action and it made me who I am.

“Then I met my wife, we started a family and the first three children were all girls.

“Now they are teenagers and, as a father, I want not just my daughters and son but all of the young people to see that there are opportunities for women, they are out there as leaders and they should see them on the stage.

“Whether you’re an executive or a coach, if you’re a man you have a responsibility to set this example. Women are ready, it’s our job to make sure we’re not closing doors they are opening.

“As a society we should want to see strong, independent women who feel everything is possible.”

Mr Warn said he has already seen the positive pay-off from championing women’s equality and representation.

The 'Stars of Tourism' celebratory morning tea at Skypoint, Q1 in Surfers. With the category finalists (centre, from left) Alicia Szerszyn, Bronwen Hemmings and Renee Soutar with John Warn (far right). Picture: Glenn Hampson

As the former chair of Cricket NSW he fought for the decision to fully professionalise female players and scored a win on and off the pitch.

“In 2015 we made the decision to ensure our female players, from the lowest rookie up, were at least being paid the minimum wage, which was $53,000 per annum back then,” he said.

“Next thing, every other state was forced to do it too because otherwise their women simply weren’t competitive. If you don’t pay a full-time wage, the players have to work a second job and can’t train as much - and so the teams don’t win.

“That’s why women’s cricket is on free-to-air TV, because the standard of play is excellent because they earn enough to just focus on their sport.

“It’s great that we have footy codes with women’s teams now and they’re being paid, but they’re getting less than what we paid women cricketers almost 10 years ago, so they still have to work a second or even third job. That’s not giving them a fair shot.”

Belinda Dawes and John Warn. Picture: Glenn Hampson

Mr Warn’s support for women is not just on stage or on boards, but in the office as well.

He said he encouraged every staff member, male or female, to take time for their families, and modelled that behaviour as well.

“If one of my children has a sports carnival, rather than sneak off and say I have a medical appointment, I tell the team exactly where I’m going,” he said.

“I want them to know that I have a life and to give some perspective that it’s just an hour out of the day, there’s no shame, it’s important we show up for our families whether we’re the mother or father.

“I want to normalise that, and it also has the added bonus of letting the team know that they can handle anything that happens when I’m gone. They know I trust them.

“Flexibility is the easiest thing to offer, especially to a working mother. Anyone who can juggle corporate life and children, they are masters of organisation and multi-tasking and we should do anything we can to keep them in the workplace.”