In Your Shoes - Emilee Simmons

Monday

You caught me in a very busy and exciting week! This week we have students coming back to university to start the second semester/term of the year. So, it’s typically ‘all hands-on deck’ as we get ready to welcome everyone either a.) back from the winter break or b.) the new students arriving as January starters.  

As Head of Dundee Business School, I am there for my team to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible. So, on the first day, I’m often replying to requests and/or fixes for any unexpected issues that have cropped up. Ultimately for me: it’s trying to find things I can do to make their workday a bit easier & better.

On a personal note, this is also a great day for me – as I technically had off today to celebrate my 20-year anniversary with my partner. Wow. 20 years. I don’t feel old enough, but I’m sure a lot of people can empathise!

Tuesday

Today I’m back into work but starting in the ‘virtual office’, i.e. working from home. In my role I often work 40/60 at home and on campus. I find that I can ‘get my head down’ and focus on any reporting or analysis at home, rather than the office. When I’m in the office, I want to make sure I’m flexible and always available for a chat with students, staff and wider stakeholders.

It was also an exciting workday as I was completing final preparations for interview panels for the rest of the week.  There’s a lot of turmoil just now in the Higher Education sector, so it’s a great feeling to be able to offer new jobs and exciting opportunities in this space.

On a personal note, I am also travelling from my home in Yorkshire up to Dundee via train this evening. I know what you must be thinking – ‘what?!?!? Yorkshire?!?!?’.  Yes, we’re still working on getting all the jobs around the house finished (which have been on the books for years at this point) so we can get it on the market and then move up to Dundee. Until then, I have a 6-hour commute each way. But it’s worth it. So far, I’ve done this for just over a year – and I’m still here! Though I am getting excited for finally settling in Scotland.

Wednesday

What a day! Today we interviewed 5 candidates, which ended up taking most of the day (9am-5:15pm). I love interviewing. It’s always exciting to see what talent is available – and there’s a lot – as well as being able to share my plans on how we’re growing Dundee Business School.

How are we growing Dundee Business School? First and foremost, I’m all about transformative leadership and the power of community. So, as a team, we’ve redesigned our mission, vision & values.  We’re also currently working on redeveloping our entire portfolio and bring in community and business events to help connect us to the wider Angus & Fife areas. So, watch this space and if you’d like to get involved, please reach out!

• Our Vision is to empower our learners to become transformative leaders in a dynamic and interconnected world

• Our purpose is to provide an inspiring space and place where learners can explore their potential, whilst innovating and engaging with the local and global community

Thursday

Talk about a whirlwind day. It all started at 8am when I went through emails from the day before, which I couldn’t catch up with due to yesterday’s interviews. After firefighting and supporting ideas for new/better ways of working, I went back into interviews again in the morning.  But the afternoon is when I had a lot of fun. Like I said in the previous blog – on a Monday, it’s the start of term, which looks completely smooth to the students (as it should) but in the background it can be chaotic. Today, I was down a couple of team members, so I stepped in to help teach.  First, I went in to launch our Contemporary Issues in Business class for our final year Undergraduates and then I taught the first class of Strategic Management to the MBAs.

As Head I’m not really in the classroom anymore. Which is a shame as most academics go into academia to support our learners. Then as we do well in that area and innovate, we get promoted. Though often those promotions end up taking us further rand further from what brought us joy in the first place.  Saying that I wouldn’t change my job for the world! I love leading the fantastic team of academics here at Dundee Business School – and I’ve learnt how to step away from teaching, to help mentor and inspire others.

Friday

It’s the end of the week, but it’s been so busy it feels like the week went in a flash! This morning started like most, with 8am reporting and/or paperwork followed by emails (always timed to be post 8:45am, where I can). Around 9:15am I was thrilled to leave the office and head to grab some coffee for a quick ‘coffee catch-up’ with a colleague and friend. Although the weather wasn’t great, it was fantastic to get out and stretch my legs. Especially in this role, I find I sit behind a computer a lot more than I used to, so I really need to build in times like this to stretch and reflect.  After catching up, I went to welcome two new colleagues who are helping us this semester on an International Business module. What I love about this, is that we have an early career academic and a practitioner working together to deliver the learning for our students. This is part of our ‘new direction’ for Dundee Business School for our new programmes launching in 2026.  So it’s exciting to launch this pilot and to see from day 1 how well it works – fingers-crossed this continues!

By the end of the day, we have even more interviews up until 4pm.  By 4:30pm I am back on the train down to Yorkshire. I find the train journey is really helpful for getting work done. Especially my research, where I need no distractions and a chance to read/write in peace. On the train, you’ll often find me with my airpods on & head down, which is a great time for me to work on my passions/research.  However, this Friday is a bit special. I’m using this trip to prepare for a trip down to the House of Lords next week, where a report on Female Founders is being launched. I’m thrilled to be attending, as well as to share my knowledge in this area, plus meet with likeminded individuals so we can hopefully continue to better opportunities for female entrepreneurs.