At CCC we’re passionate about empowering and celebrating women. Our Empowering Women Series focuses on Inspiring Women who are all doing their part to help others and make positive change. Grab a cuppa and enjoy this exploration of experiences, challenges, insights and advice.
Kim Trajer, a seasoned professional with 30 years of experience at McCullough Robertson, describes herself as curious, optimistic, and organized. These three traits have shaped her approach to work and life. “I’m always thinking about whether there’s a better way to do something,” she explains, emphasizing her curiosity. This drive for improvement has fuelled her career, especially in the legal industry, where change is often met with resistance. Her optimism has helped her remain patient and persistent while navigating resistance to change: “Being optimistic that … there is a better way of doing things, and we will get there,” she says. Lastly, her organization is crucial in managing the various tasks and challenges of her role. Kim jokes that OneNote is her “good friend,” enabling her to keep track of her to-do lists, manage stress, and focus on both the big picture and the details.
Kim’s career began after completing her Commerce Law degree. She worked her way up through McCullough Robertson, starting in the Gold Coast office, handling various roles from property and wills to commercial work. Early on, she discovered her interest in superannuation law and shifted to the Brisbane office, where she dove into commercial transactions. Her career truly took shape when she started her Master’s in Taxation, a challenging five-year, part-time program she completed just before starting a family.
Working part-time with limited technology posed its own challenges, particularly in the complex field of tax law. “I would take a wheelie suitcase full of paper files to work from home,” Kim recalls, highlighting the difficulties of managing demanding commercial work without modern tools. Eventually, she transitioned to knowledge management, where she and a colleague revamped all of the firm’s legal precedents and documents during a major rebrand.
This period sparked her interest in risk management and innovation. Through these projects, she began to understand how system integration and effective processes could enhance a law firm’s operations. “I started realizing the benefits of innovation,” she says, recalling the time when the firm collaborated with a Professor from UQ Business School to develop an innovation strategy for the firm. It was this shift from the practice of law to the business of law that made Kim realize where her true passion lay. She enjoyed working on strategy development, AI projects, and community partnerships, all of which she continues to oversee as COO of McCullough Robertson—a role she’s held for eight years.
Looking back on her career, Kim acknowledges that not every step was planned. “I had no plan for that sort of very jungle gym kind of career,” she admits. Instead, she credits the opportunities given to her by the firm’s partners and her willingness to embrace roles that challenged her. While some partners were highly supportive, others were not as receptive. “I work for 58 partners, each with different personalities, driving their own agendas,” she says. However, Kim has learned a great deal from those who didn’t support her, seeing these interactions as opportunities for growth.
When asked about her leadership approach, Kim emphasizes the importance of focusing on the outcomes and why they matter to the business. Lawyers, she explains, are trained to “pick holes” in ideas, so she prepares for that and uses data to back up her points. By addressing client feedback and financial data, she is able to present a compelling case for change, always linking it back to the firm’s broader strategy. She believes in making change palatable by showing lawyers “what’s in it for them” and slowing down the process to ensure a smoother transition. “The rollout of something is never the end … if you slow down and take a bit longer to do it, you often get a better outcome in a shorter time frame,” she explains.
Balancing her professional and personal life has been an evolving process for Kim, who is a mother, wife, and executive. “There was certainly an era when we did think we could have it all, all at once,” she reflects, admitting that it took time for her to learn that balance wasn’t always achievable. She now values taking breaks and disconnecting from work on weekends. “I used to work every weekend,” she recalls, but over time, she realized the importance of rest for maintaining efficiency and well-being.
Her children, now between the ages of 16 and 22, are more self-sufficient but still need her in various ways, which she tries to balance with her professional responsibilities. She also focuses on health and self-care, making time for activities that give her joy, like gardening, cooking, and walks by the water. “If you can do all of that … the challenges at work are not so big, and you actually manage to get more done,” she notes.
Kim concludes by sharing a piece of wisdom that comes with experience: perfection is not always necessary. “If you make a mistake, it can be fixed,” she says, encouraging others to adopt a more flexible mindset as they navigate their own careers and personal lives.
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