E22 | Susan Rix AM: Saying Yes, Serving with Purpose and Staying Curious

In this episode of the 20 Years of Women on Boards podcast, Claire Braund OAM speaks with Susan Rix AM, an accomplished business leader, chartered accountant and corporate adviser whose career has run alongside more than four decades of board service.

From her first board role as treasurer of Noah’s Ark Toy Library to major Queensland Government, infrastructure, education, community and private sector boards, Susan’s board career has been built less around a carefully mapped plan and more around being willing to say yes, contribute her skills and keep learning.

Susan reflects on growing up in Lismore, spending a formative year in Germany as a Rotary Exchange student and beginning a career in accounting that would eventually see her become a partner at BDO – and, for seven years, its only female partner in Australia.

She shares how her accounting and governance skills opened doors at a time when far fewer women were sitting around board tables, and why some of the roles that mattered most were those where she could see the difference strong governance could make.

Now Chair of CleanCo Queensland, Susan is still stepping into unfamiliar territory and learning new sectors – proof that a long board career doesn’t mean you stop being challenged.

The conversation also explores a question that has shaped Susan’s approach to board service: is being a director a career, or is it also about service?

Susan discusses why not every board role needs to be highly paid, what decades working with family businesses have taught her about succession, and why being the founder’s son or daughter doesn’t necessarily make someone the right person to run the business.

She also reflects on what has changed for women in accounting and leadership, what she would tell her younger self, and why directors can’t simply stay in their area of expertise as governance becomes more complex.

And after 20 years as a Women on Boards member, Susan looks at what the next generation of directors will need to know – including why AI governance is something every director needs to start understanding.

In this episode:

• Being BDO’s only female partner in Australia for seven years
• Why a clearly defined skill set helped open boardroom doors
• The board role where she felt she could genuinely make a difference
• Why board service should be about more than remuneration
• The biggest mistake families can make in succession planning
• What has changed for women building careers and families
• Why directors need to keep learning beyond their area of expertise
• AI governance and the emerging challenges facing boards
• Susan’s reflections on 20 years as a Women on Boards member

It’s a candid conversation about service, opportunity, resilience and staying curious throughout a long career – and why sometimes the most important career decision is simply being prepared to say yes.