In this episode of The Admin Avenues Podcast, Candice is joined by Trinity James and Alicia Fairclough from EA How To for an honest conversation about connection, visibility, confidence, salary and the future of the administrative profession.

While Trinity and Alicia will be presenting different keynotes at the upcoming Admin Avenues Conferences, their messages share a powerful theme: building a successful administrative career requires intention.

Working hard and hoping someone notices is no longer enough. Administrative professionals must understand their value, communicate their impact, build meaningful professional relationships and place themselves in the rooms where opportunities, insights and career-changing conversations happen.

Trinity explores why community and connection are essential to career growth, particularly as administrative professionals navigate rapid technological change and increasing expectations.

Alicia shares insights from the Australian Administrative Professionals Salary Report and discusses why benchmarking, evidence and confidence are critical when approaching salary and career conversations.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Whether working hard is still enough to get noticed
• Why administrative professionals often underestimate their value
• What may be holding admins back from progressing
• How visibility, community and professional relationships create opportunities
• Whether being in the right professional circles influences career growth
• Why AI has made professional community more important than ever
• What employers value as the administrative profession evolves
• Why salary conversations remain so uncomfortable
• How data and benchmarking can support better salary negotiations
• The role community plays in building career confidence
• The career progression myths Trinity and Alicia would love to bust

Meet Trinity James

Trinity James is the APAC Community Manager at EA How To and will present The Connected EA: How the Right Room Changes Your Career at all three Admin Avenues Conferences.

Her keynote explores how the right professional community can transform an administrative career - creating greater confidence, stronger connections, shared learning and access to opportunities that may never appear through traditional career pathways.

See Trinity at:

• Adelaide - Monday 28 September
• Adelaide – Monday 28 September: https://www.eventcreate.com/e/the-2026-admin-avenues-conf-adl

Meet Alicia Fairclough

Alicia Fairclough is the Founder of EA How To and Co-Founder of the Administrative Professionals Salary Report.

At the Sydney Admin Avenues Conference, Alicia will officially launch the 2026 Australian Administrative Professionals Salary Report, giving attendees an early look at the latest Australian salary data and career trends.

She will then present the national findings in Brisbane through her keynote Paid, Valued & Future-Ready.

Alicia’s session will help administrative professionals better understand their market value, approach salary conversations with evidence and prepare for the future of the profession.

See Alicia at:

• Sydney – Monday 12 October 2026
  https://www.eventcreate.com/e/the-2026-admin-avenues-conf-syd

• Brisbane – Monday 26 October 2026
  https://www.eventcreate.com/e/the-2026-admin-avenues-conf-brisbane

Trinity will help you build the relationships, confidence and community that create opportunities. Alicia will help you understand your market value, navigate salary conversations and prepare for what comes next.

Together, their insights offer an essential roadmap for becoming a more connected, visible, valued and future-ready administrative professional.

Join us at the 2026 Admin Avenues Conferences to experience these important conversations live.

All conference links on Admin Avenues website: www.adminavenues.com

Connect with Alicia Fairclough on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aliciafairclough

Connect with Trinity James on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trinity-james

Check out EA How To here: https://www.eahowto.com