It's a mantra she lives by and one which has allowed her to crack the top 100 Most Influential Women in Australia list.

The former Mt Carmel student has a fierce passion for computers and I.T, and works for the Australian Government Chief Technology Officer in Canberra. Part of her job is operating the national open data platform- data.gov.au. In layman's terms, this involves getting data out of the commonwealth government and making it accessible to all Australians.

She also works tirelessly making the government more digital, which includes improving social media and online service delivery.

It's a job she is proud of, but the work she does outside of office hours is believed to have been what landed her in the esteemed top 100 list.

A shining light on Pia's CV is her volunteer work with GovHack, a developer event where more than 1300 developers come and, over a 48-hour period, work to create applications and generate mash-ups and visualisations. They also work to reuse and remix government data.

"It was huge this year because what it meant was that we had about 12 federal government departments, plus five state and territory governments, plus about a dozen local governments all working with industry and with citizens," she explained.

"It was this huge collaboration and melting pot of innovation where we could create hundreds and hundreds of really clever new projects and new applications, so that's been a big one."

The 34-year-old said doing work outside the office is imperative.

"I guess working in the community keeps it real, because when you work in a job, particularly in government, it’s very easy to get caught up in that organisation's view, so by continually making sure that I'm involved in things outside of the organisation really helps me keep my finger on the pulse of what's really important."

She said growing up in a place like Yass set her up perfectly for the role she is currently in.

"Yass is a wonderful community, there's a lot of opportunity, there's a lot of trust, which means as a little kid I suppose you can stretch your wings a little bit... I think kids who grow up in the city might have more entertainment but I think they have less options.

"I think kids from the country tend to be more sociable, tend to be more open, tend to be more collaborative and, I reckon, just have a better attitude about life."

Pia's mum Denise also worked in IT, and that sparked her interest in computers. She hasn't looked back and is more than happy with where she is at this point in her life.

"I absolutely love my job. The way I see it is if you don't like what you do, then find something else to do.

“The reason I left the private sector to work in the public service was to make a difference, so I know what it's like to move around until you find something you really love."

Pia was nominated to make the top 100 list by a colleague and was recognised specifically for her standout work in the field of innovation.

"I was flattered when I was told that they wanted to nominate me and I honestly thought nothing would come of it... to make the list is really special."