Returning to the country I worked for companies such as Coliban Water, Bendigo Brick and as HR/Risk Officer in local government establishing systems and processes from scratch.

For a while I have even turned my hand to sandblasting and painting and joined up with my dad and uncles to train and sell working sheep dogs from our family kelpie stud, Yandora Working Dogs.

I have worked in small training businesses developing manuals and training materials to help them become registered training organisations (RTO) and in not-for-profit such as community neighborhood houses and leadership programs.

In the west I worked in Mining in the organisational development field documenting processes, establishing compliance contracts management and was involved in setting up the financials and system for a mine start-up as a top line manager.

Later I became a Bookkeeper and Registered BAS Agent, launched my small business consultancy, and managed the local business development centre. During this time I worked with clients as a bookkeeper, training and business mentor. Clients included hair and beauty, mining contractors, graphic designers, psychologists, retail, travel agency, Heavy Vehicle Mechanics, Pub owners, Liquor wholesalers, cafes, tradies, Gyms and more. All this while navigating a marriage separation and a couple of tiny kids...talk about "hat juggling!"

Over the past 6 years while settling the family back in Victoria I have worked with a practical innovation company who specialises in designing and manufacturing products to improve safety in mining across the world. Their key products are Laddertube escapeway ladders for underground mining and the new Bortana Electric Vehicle designed to cope with the underground mining environment and reduce carbon emissions underground.

While working there my achievements included:

ISO (International Organization for Standardization) certification in ISO 9001:2015 - Quality, ISO 45001:2018 - OHS and ISO 14001:2015 - Environment,Scope, feasibility studies, source, design and develop software systems for Records Management, Plant & Equipment Management, OH&S, Reporting and Compliance requirements,Daily Human Resources, Quality, Internal Project and Risk Management

Through all of this I gained invaluable experience in what it takes to establish a business so it can be sustainable in the long term. I like to call it “establishing strong foundations” to grow and manage challenges as they appear - AND THEY WILL!!

Yes, I have qualifications and education to back up the experience. I have a Bachelor of Arts from Monash University with majors in Marketing and Communications and a minor in Sociology, Cert IV Assess & Train, Cert IV Bookkeeping & BAS Management, Diploma of Business (Small Business Management) and am currently undertaking a Certificate IV In Work Health and Safety because some people just need to see the certificate to start the process of building a trust relationship with their mentor - and that's OK.

However, trust me when I say there is no piece of paper that can ever match up to being involved in minor and major incident investigations, working with authorities such as Worksafe, Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), Department of Transport, Governments at Local, State and Federal Levels, Mines Department in WA, Australian Taxation Office (ATO), Fair Work, WA Racing, Gaming & Liquor etc to ensure compliance for businesses, managing the audit process and responding to non-compliance notices.

Nor can paper replace the experience of managing small and big teams of people, or catering to the myriad of challenges thrown at organisations in the space of strategic planning, HR, Risk Management, Health, Safety & Environment, Compliance and Financial Management.

At the end of the day this is why I can confidently assure you that there is very little in business that surprises me and I believe the only way to manage a challenge (regardless of how big) is to identify it and put a plan of action in place to get through it.