Elena Petroska’s career journey

21 July 2026

Elena Petroska’s career journey

Elena Petroska’s career journey with Scentre Group has spanned more than two decades and includes taking part in Scentre Group’s bespoke Enterprise Leadership Program delivered in partnership with the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business Executive Education.

My career journey started with Westfield in October 2002.

At the time, I worked at Gloria Jeans in Westfield Liverpool, making coffees for the centre management team each morning.

One day, the Centre Manager approached me and said, "We'd love you to join our Concierge team."

I had no idea what happened behind the scenes of a shopping centre, but I've always been curious, so of course I said I'd love to find out more.

When I arrived for the interview that afternoon, I was nervous. I already knew Peter, who was the Marketing Manager at the time, and I met Sandra, the Marketing Executive, who I'm still in contact with more than 20 years later.

I was so nervous, but I didn't need to be, because after I told them I could do an Excel spreadsheet, that was it, I started the very same day.

Over the next two years I immersed myself in the business, working across Concierge, was a Westfield ambassador and supported number of operational roles while Westfield Liverpool underwent a major redevelopment.

As the development ramped up, I was offered a full-time Concierge Supervisor role. I turned it down because I wanted to finish university.

By then, Peter had become Centre Manager. He said to me, "Give me three months and if you don't like it, you can go back and finish uni."

So, at 21 years old, I suddenly had 24 people reporting to me. It was daunting. It was exciting. It was one of the best decisions I ever made.

Looking back, that conversation changed the course of my career.

After four years at Westfield Liverpool, I moved into my first marketing role as Marketing Assistant at Westfield Penrith. Although I'd enjoyed every role I'd done to that point, marketing was where I found my passion.

That role opened the door to new opportunities, taking me to the Support Office, then Westfield Mount Druitt and eventually Westfield Sydney before I took parental leave with my first child.

When I returned, I joined Westfield Burwood and became one half of the very first operational job share.

At the time, there was a view that operational roles simply couldn't be job shared. But another colleague and I were determined to prove otherwise. We successfully job shared for five and a half years while we both raised our young families.

I like to think we helped pave the way for the flexible working arrangements that so many people across Scentre Group benefit from today.

After my second period of parental leave, I was given the opportunity to establish the Brand Partnerships role. From there, I went on to establish and grow the Retail Partnerships team, building strategic relationships and creating new opportunities for our customers, our retail partners and our business.

When I look back across my career, every opportunity came because someone trusted me with something important before I had done it before.

That trust continued when I was invited to attend the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business leadership program in the United States.

I was blown away to be selected.

If I'm honest, I was also full of self-doubt. I questioned whether I belonged there.

What USC gave me was much more than a leadership program. It gave me the confidence to recalibrate how I see myself and to recognise the value I bring. It was a turning point.

USC fundamentally shifted my perspective from thinking as a functional leader to thinking with an enterprise mindset. It challenged me to look beyond my own expertise and understand how every part of the business influences another, and how positive influence is essential if we're going to deliver the best outcomes together.

One of the biggest lessons I took away was around curiosity.

Curiosity has always been part of our DNA at Scentre Group, but USC introduced me to the idea of open curiosity. Instead of leading with what we know, we start by asking, "How can I help?" That simple shift changes everything. It moves us from delivering in our own roles to delivering together for the business.

I still find myself using the language and principles from USC every day, and I see their impact across our leadership team as they've become part of how we think, collaborate and lead.

Attending USC was one of the defining moments of my career. Not long afterwards, I was promoted.

My role expanded to Head of Marketing, Destinations and Partnerships, bringing together marketing, key partnerships and enterprise relationship building. I still love marketing, but I also love being part of conversations that have a broader impact across our business and helping shape opportunities that extend well beyond my own function.

When I reflect on the last 20-plus years, what stands out isn't the titles I've held or the roles I've been fortunate enough to do. It's the people.

The people who took a chance on a young woman making coffees at Gloria Jeans. The people who encouraged me to say yes when I wasn't sure I was ready. The people who challenged me, trusted me, invested in me and helped me see possibilities I couldn't yet see for myself.

When I joined Concierge, I'd only been in Australia for five years and was still learning English. If someone had told me then that one day I'd be studying at one of the world's leading business schools, building strategic partnerships, leading national teams and helping shape the future of our business, I never would have believed them.

Those opportunities have shaped not only my career but also the kind of leader I want to be.

Today, one of the things I'm most passionate about is helping other people grow. I love creating opportunities for people, building their confidence, encouraging them to back themselves and helping them achieve things they didn't think were possible.

Scentre Group has given me an incredible career, but more importantly, it has shown me what great leadership looks like. Leadership is believing in people before they believe in themselves.

After more than two decades, I still love this company, I still love the people I work with, and I'm excited about what's ahead, not just for me, but for the next generation of talent that I have the privilege of coach, support and develop, just as so many people did for me.