I was born in Sydney, at Belmore South Hospital and our family lived in Lakemba and Wiley Park for the first few years of my life. That is why our family are die-hard Bulldogs supporters. My Dad played for the club during the 1950s.

Our family moved to Carlingford in Sydney, and we lived there until the end of my schooling. After that, we moved to South Maroota, which is halfway between Wisemans Ferry and Windsor, a beautiful part of Sydney. There were the four of us mum, dad and my brother Darren.

I was involved in ballet for most of my young life. I loved dancing, ballet, tap and jazz and I loved performing on stage and competing in eisteddfods. In fact, when I started work I stopped dancing for a while but missed it too much and returned. I was lucky enough to be a choreographer at a youth theatre company in my twenties and I still have a love of attending the theatre to see musical comedy and ballet.

I finished school in 1977 and I commenced studying at Macquarie University but really did not enjoy it. I was studying anthropology, politics and English and realised these subjects were not leading me to a worthwhile profession. So I left university and obtained work in an administration role at the CSIRO.

As part of this role, I was required to study, and I completed a course at the local technical college called the Personnel Administration Certificate which led me to my career in human resources management.

I have worked in human resources management for over 40 years with a variety of organisations.

After the CSIRO, I started working as a Personnel Officer at the United Permanent Building Society in Parramatta. Then I went to Johnson and Johnson in Sydney as a Human Resources Manager. I worked in their head office in St Leonards and at a manufacturing plant at Campbelltown. Then I moved to Bathurst to work for Uncle Ben's (part of the Mars Corporation).

During this time I became a mother, and when I came back from parental leave, I was transferred to Albury to work at the Uncle Ben’s manufacturing plant.

I found being away from my family difficult with a young son and trying to work full-time, so I made the decision to move up to Sydney to be closer to family and work as a Human Resources Manager at Dow Corning. I was only there for a short while as my son became quite sick and the cost of childcare was skyrocketing. My parents had retired to the North Coast, and so I decided to relocate to be with my family.

It was difficult at first trying to find work in human resources as there were few positions at that time on the North Coast. I did a couple of things; I started my own business providing human resource advice and training to small companies. I also started to teach the Human Resources Certificate and Diploma at Lismore TAFE.

This was also a time of learning for me as I was able to complete my degree part-time in Human Resources Development at Southern Cross University.

After a few years of part-time work, I did get a job with the NSW Business Chamber as an industrial advocate. Then Southern Cross University and Norco as HR Manager.

I was appointed as a director on the board at Summerland Credit Union (now Summerland Bank) in 1999, and after about two years they offered me a full-time job as the Chief Operating Officer.

This role has allowed me to take on a broader range of responsibilities, including human resources, property, security, compliance, payments and financial crimes. I have also been involved in the development of Summerland’s sustainability program where we have implemented a number of activities to improve the environmental and social sustainability of the business, our customers and the community. We have now been accredited as a B Corp organisation in recognition of the work that has been completed in sustainability, something I am very proud of.

Summerland is a lovely organisation to work for. It is a small organisation; the staff are very genuine and care for all our customers. It is also an exciting business to work in. We compete with larger banks so there is always change in our organisation to keep up with the competition. I love this environment and it makes work interesting. No day is ever boring.

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As a business, we were affected by the floods in Lismore with two of our floors damaged I am currently managing the project to refurbish the building and we are looking forward to getting everyone back into the office in April when the work is completed.

Another part of my life I am passionate about is my community work. I have been on the Northern Rivers Conservatorium (the Con) board for 10 years now, currently as the Deputy Chair.

It is a wonderful organisation who provide musical education on the north coast. The conservatorium is located in the old Lismore School which absolutely beautiful building and will be going through a refurbishment over the next twelve months recovering from the flooding and updating the older infrastructure. The Board meets on meet on Zoom now, but before the floods, we used to meet in the building, and often an acapella group would be practising upstairs while were in the meeting.

I am on the board of CASPA in Lismore. It is an organisation that provides child welfare and care services in the community. I am quite new to the board there but believe the work CASPA does is very worthwhile, and I am looking forward to working with the organisation.

I am also a council member of Business NSW Northern Rivers, which provides assistance to business on the Northern Rivers.

From a personal perspective, I have been a member of Toastmasters for the past 29 years, which is an organisation that teaches public speaking and leadership skills. I have been involved in clubs in Lismore and Ballina.

Toastmasters provides a program that assists you to be more confident to speak in public from formal presentations to interviews or speaking at meetings. Toastmasters also provides education on developing leadership skills. It is a great organisation to be part of and the members are very supportive. Currently, members of clubs I am involved in are conducting a six week speechcraft course for our staff at Summerland Bank.

In the next few years, I will be retiring, and I am thinking about what I can do in the next stage of my life, I am really interested in being involved with the Red Cross if I can, particularly in their emergency services. I have an elderly mother who I care for, so I am looking forward to spending more time caring for her. Travel will be on the agenda as well.

It will be difficult to say goodbye to my career after working for so many years in an area I love but I am also looking forward to the next stage of my life.

I absolutely love living in Lismore. I feel so honoured to be able to serve this community.