We asked successful women what they wish they knew earlier in their careers

While there are more women in paid work than ever before, the battle for workplace equality isn't over yet.

Maybe you've struggled to be taken seriously, had to dodge a boss's inappropriate advances or faced judgement for becoming pregnant.

Or maybe your problems are bit more prosaic — you're not sure whether to make a five-year plan and stick to it, or if you're in the right industry.

We gathered advice from a range of impressive Australian women to help make the career journey a little easier for women who are just starting out. And fellas, some of the wise words below can apply to you, too.

So read on, take heart, and fight the good fight.

Be assertive and introduce more women into the fold

Dr Nikki Stamp from Perth is one of only 13 female cardiothoracic surgeons in Australia.

What do you wish you knew at the start of your career?

That your life and career rarely follow a linear trajectory, or even the path that you planned out for yourself.

I have had so many times where I've had completely unexpected changes. Some of these have been great, but some of them have been awful and challenging.

I think if you manage those expectations as well as having a 'Plan B' in mind, that is the best way to keep growing and moving forward, even in those times you feel like you're going backwards.

A word of advice on bringing more women into the fold

In medicine, there is quite a bit of research on how female doctors are judged more harshly than their male counterparts for the same behaviours or assertions. As a result, you feel like you have to be ultra-nice all of the time.

I know so many female doctors who bake for work colleagues because it's a feminine, non-threatening way to be liked.

I think the way around this is to be assertive and introduce more women into the fold, so that the full spectrum of female behaviour and leadership in the workplace is normalised, rather than leaving it standing out as an anomaly to be picked on.

Do not be silenced in the face of unacceptable behaviour

The Barossa Valley's Maggie Beer is a famous foodie now and an entrepreneur, but before she found her calling she worked a variety of jobs, including as a nurse, receptionist and lift operator.

What do you wish you knew at the start of your career?

That you have to continually search for what it is that is going to be right for you. There's no point being a square peg in a round hole.

I left school at 14 because my parents [experienced a] bankruptcy, and my older brother and I kept the family [going]. So my circumstances were different.

In some ways it was a gift to me because it gave me huge resilience, that I also spent 20 years looking for what it was I really wanted to do.

A word of advice on handling inappropriate advances

One thing I did suffer from when I was about 18 — and it was very prevalent in workplaces [back then] — was bosses wanting to be amorous.

I was a receptionist … I was a junior being groomed for a more 'interesting' role.

I didn't leave the job, but I avoided being put in positions … [where I would be] left alone with the boss.

I never told anybody. I just handled it myself.

But I wasn't overwhelmed by it. I just became strategic. That's not the way I would like to see young people do it today.

My advice is not to be silenced and to find the [right] person to talk to. It's unacceptable.

Know what you're trying to achieve and keep pushing forward

Kristal Kinsela, from Port Macquarie, is the managing director of a majority Indigenous-owned management consulting company with 25 staff across four states. In 2017, she was named the NSW Aboriginal Woman of the Year.

What do you wish you knew at the start of your career?

[The value of] getting a solid foundation in a particular workplace.

Really early on in my career, I moved around a lot. And when you move around a lot, only staying in one place for six months to a year, you don't understand the full cycle of what it's like within an organisation.

I think that [sticking around] would have allowed me to excel in my career, faster.

A word of advice on struggling to be taken seriously

It has happened to me all too many times that I've got a male, non-Indigenous business partner and you go into a room to pitch something, and immediately people will [look to] him. And he'll go, 'No, she's the head of our business. Talk to her'.

There's like this automatic thing that men will speak to men.

It's not just me as an Indigenous woman, but I think across the Indigenous sector as a whole, we are quite often stereotyped that we don't have … the capacity [to deliver quality work]. I've constantly got to keep proving myself … nothing is ever taken on face value.

It all begins and ends with self-belief … You're not always going to convince everybody, and that's OK. As long as you know what you're doing and what you're trying to achieve, you've just got to keep pushing forward. That's the only way.

Don't let people make fun of your enthusiasm or your passion

Tammi Jonas, from Daylesford in Victoria, is a high school teacher turned academic, turned boutique pig farmer and food activist. An American, she moved to Australia in 1992, aged 21.

What do you wish you knew at the start of your career?

Mostly that the world is not as good as I thought it would be.

I wanted to do things that were useful in the world — I wanted to be a teacher and an academic, I wanted to contribute to the public good. And schools and universities … are just as subject to politics and managerialism and corporate control as other intuitions.

I've stopped working for anyone else — that's probably the most significant thing [I've done as a result of learning that].

A word of advice on staying curious

Pursue things that interest you with great enthusiasm — and as somebody who was born in America, but moved to Australia, I would say … don't let people make fun of your enthusiasm or your passion for things.

I see people afraid to express how interested they are in things [or] afraid of looking like they don't know something. And I think that I've learnt far more in my life from being like, 'Oh, man, I don't know anything about that, tell me about it!' or 'I know quite a lot about that and I'm not afraid to say so, and say how much I care about it!'

I've certainly had a much happier life because I'm not to be thwarted with my enthusiasm for things.

Paying lip service to family-friendly workplace policies is not good enough

Ita Buttrose's career has taken her to the very top of journalism and publishing in Australia. She is the second woman to be appointed ABC Chair.

What do you wish you knew at the start of your career?

How far I could go.

When I started work at 15, the kind of career I've had was not envisaged. It was thought that we could work for a couple of years, get married, have children and go home.

Well, I got married and I had children and I didn't go home. I stayed there … when I got to about 21, I thought, 'Gosh, I could go a lot further than I thought, maybe I could aim a bit higher.'

A word of advice on pregnancy and being a working parent

When we had my second child, my son, it was about the same time I was launching Cleo. And the Packers were horrified. When they saw that… just because I had a baby on board didn't mean I couldn't function, they were very relieved.

[When] I was coming back to work, the Packers actually gave me a Mothercraft nurse … they'd already worked it out that if they really wanted me back, and I was operating a very high level, then they had to help me, they had to make it easier for me.

So I got a nanny. And I do say to women who are in corporate life, ask for a nanny package! You can always add to your salary later, work out what your priorities are.

Now some women say to me, 'Oh, my company says they can't do that'. Of course they can! If they really want to keep you, they will find the way around the problem. There's always a way around the problem.

When we talk about family-friendly policies and workplaces, we've got to make sure they exist. You know, lip service is not good enough. Women have children. And we have to just accommodate that.

Being proactive can help bridge the gender and diversity gap

Uppma Virdi left her career as a commercial lawyer to start her own business importing and selling tea from India.

What do you wish you knew at the start of your career?

A big part of me wishes I learnt how important self-awareness [would be].

[I faced] all these pressures, especially as a first-generation migrant in Australia … my parents wanted me to be a commercial lawyer or a doctor and I didn't bat an eyelid.

So I think it's important for young women to take a step back and say, 'Hey, no, let me just have some time to myself … let me be a bit more self-aware [to figure out] what I should be doing'.

A word of advice on being persistent

A lot of the places I worked at [before starting my business] I was always a minority — we talk about the gender gap but the elephant in the room is the diversity gap.

I learnt from earlier on that it was going to be difficult for someone with a name like mine. I always knew it was important to make myself stand out.

I would always contact the HR person … find their email from LinkedIn and contact them directly to ask them things about the application, catch up with them for a coffee — so they could put a face to the resume.

I called up the CEO [of one firm that valued diversity and creativity], he caught up with me for a coffee. He said, 'Just stay in touch and maybe there will be an opening.'

Every month I would message him… every month he'd say, 'Not yet, stay in touch'.

I did that every month for six months until there was an opening and he said: "You can start next week."

Interviews edited and condensed for clarity and brevity.