Jeri Hall is all about commitment. Juggling life between family, several business ventures, including a family-owned bus company, farm life at home, and being Deputy Mayor of Lismore City Council, Jeri proves it's possible to perform these duties in a quality manner.

With coffee in hand, Jeri sat with Philip Tsourlinis at one of her favourite Lismore cafes, La Baracca Espresso Bar & Trattoria, and explained how it is all possible.

I was born in Moree in the autumn of 1987 ('Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up' was top of the charts that year). When I was one, my parents moved to Dalby in Queensland, where I attended school in year 9. 

My parents separated, so I moved to Leeton, near Wagga Wagga. My mum eventually purchased a house in South Lismore, so she moved away from Dalby, where she was, to Caniaba Street. I was 15 years old at the time and moved here with her. 

(Donna and Craig Brazier with a 10-year-old Jeri Hall)

So I have lived here for 21 years now. I was in South Lismore until my early 20's when I met my husband. We met at the Cinema here at Lismore (Jeri points to the Cinema from her outdoor dining seat at the Cafe). That's the spot we met right here. We watched 'The Bucket List', which combines sadness and happiness. It's a movie about two terminally ill men who escape from a cancer ward and head off on a road trip with a wish list of to-dos before they die. An excellent movie.

We married when we were 23, had our first child at 26, and our second when I was 28. Ryder and Willow. 

Before having children, I was lucky enough to work in large local institutions, which taught me about corporate governance. A skill that has helped me get to where I am today. 

I worked at St Vincent's Private Hospital. I was the Executive Assistant to the CEO there, which was fascinating. I worked closely with the Board of Directors, which allowed me to work in the governance sphere of an organisation. I loved St Vincent's. Everyone who worked there was fantastic people. 

Then it was off to another big local institution, Southern Cross University. I worked in governance services for the University Council. It was during my employment here that I became pregnant. The University was fantastic in supporting me through this period of my life.

My husband and I live on our family farm in Numulgi, a 140-acre property. It's a property our kids can live the best possible farm kid life. 

After having children, it was at this point that Aaron and I began to chart our business careers. My previous employment career gave me confidence and insight into managing and juggling business duties.

It grew from purchasing Aaron's family's bus company, Hall's Country Buses, to include a four-way partnership with Aaron's parents at the property, where we run a cattle farm and have four Air BnB properties. We have a farm stay there, something I must disclose as part of my Lismore City Councilour role. My husband is the CFO for Mountain Blue Farms, the Blueberry farm. He is a busy man with an active job; I manage the Air BNB and the cleaning, bookings and day-to-day operations; I am a Councilour, now Deputy Mayor; we have cattle, animals, kids and the bus company. 

To juggle, everything is time management, commitment and desire to complete the tasks. It's something I enjoy doing.

All this came about when I was due to return from maternity leave at Southern Cross University after having our second child, Willow. 

Aaron's parents, who owned and ran Hall's Country Buses, were due to retire.

It was an opportunity for Aaron and me to take over the business. They had two bus runs, and seeing it was a successful business, with government contracts for bus runs, we couldn't resist. We purchased the company and still operate this today. 

My kids grew up on the school bus. I have had my children in baby seats behind me while driving the school bus. That is how family-friendly the company is. Other kids have sat beside them, put blankets on them, put their dummies back in when they fell out and sang to them. 

We changed the company to Hall's Bus Co and now have three contracted school bus runs and a spare bus run for Charters.

The bus company has allowed me to be free in the late mornings and afternoons to help at the school canteen and other duties. It has enabled me to attend council committee duties like the Traffic Advisory Committee, so I am fortunate. If need be, I hire bus drivers to cover me when I need to attend meetings for Lismore City Council (LCC) in Sydney. It's an expense I pay for; however, I am happy too, seeing it's my work for our community.

The bus company allows me also to have fun with the community. I can get them involved in a fun-style approach to school transport. For example, we throw a party on the bus every Easter, Halloween and Christmas. I get others to dress up and make over 120 lolly bags for the kids. The kids love it. 

My closest neighbour is 1km down the road, with a 500-meter driveway. There is no opportunity for these country kids to go trick or treating. So, we like to bring that fun community aspect to the bus service. 

It has obstacles, like dressing up as a nun with bleeding eyes for Halloween and dropping off my kids and other children at their Catholic School. However, the point is to get these kids involved, and it's always fun and engaging. 

I have also been involved in flood rescues when causeways flood, and cars get trapped in flood waters. 

In 2020, I returned the children to a covered area during fast flash flooding, which resulted in being picked up at the end of the day by my husband so I could get home. 

It was my scariest day as a bus driver. I didn't even know if I could get home to my family; it was just chaos trying to get all the kids out safely. 

But overall, the bus company is so rewarding and fun.

Then I have my political career. This world is opposite to the bus company. However, it involves community, talking to the community and listening to the community. So I enjoy doing it anyway, so I appreciate the responsibility. 

I walked in really naive and vague about what is involved in the political sphere. However, now I sincerely appreciate and understand what is involved.

It all started during covid in mid-2021 when Aaron and I were working out in our garage, seeing all the gyms were closed. I got a call from Steve Krieg asking if I wanted to join a local council campaign. I initially rejected the offer to join the ticket. It wasn't for me. Politics was an open door to getting insulted on social media, plus I am generally a kind person and did not want that type of attention. I have a business and do not want to jeopardise that in the political realm. 

However, I thought about it for a few days when it struck me that there is not anyone in local government like me, my age and my experience. I might regret this opportunity if I did not throw my hat in the ring. 

Also, I drive daily buses, allowing me to see more of our community, talk to them and understand concerns.

Steve ended up putting me high up on the ticket, at number 3 out of about 15 people. 

When the election occurred, and we won in late 2021, it was an enthusiastic time when we wanted to get the City out of the red, fix the roads, make the town thrive, invite more activities for the kids and improve all of LCC's services. 

Only having been sworn in for four weeks and starting to put together the momentum we needed, the flood hit.

It was like holy s**t. Instantly the experience transformed me and those of us who were elected. For example, watching Steve (Mayor), who lost everything, and I mean everything, from home to business, and see the amount of stress and pressure while his kid's clothes were lost, was intense. He has been phenomenal throughout the entire experience and quickly became one of my best mates. 

The experience taught me that Local Government has no say in these big moments. You want to step in and help; however, at the end of the day, Council must make way for other agencies during recovery and reconstruction. State and Federal governments took over much of the handling. An example is flood mapping. That was released to us when it was released to the public as a media release. So we were offered less input than we would have liked. However, we did everything we could in the powers that we had to help and be as active as we could.

Lismore is starting to come back, and I am so proud of our community. People still want to invest in our town. It's great to see.

The challenge as a council is for us to continue to attract investment to our town. That we have returned. However, at the same time, continuing to ask for assistance from State and Federal governments to support our recovery. 

Being Deputy Mayor, I get even more involved with the community, talk to them about every issue, travel to Sydney and speak to the Premier. I did not expect this, and now it has become something I genuinely enjoy.

Juggling all these commitments, which are all community driven (pardon the pun), is done for the betterment of us all. I am entirely community focused, so I can juggle these commitments and deliver 100% effort. 

However, ultimately, getting the balance right is my priority. On top of all this are my kids, who are our number one priority. Aaron and I chose these career paths; we decided to own and run a business and selected to be on Council. However, I want to ensure they look back on their life and know they had the best childhood with fun parents and did not miss out on anything. I want them to have full hearts and be great sensible people growing up. 

We go camping, beach, motorbike riding, and more. These are part of our weekly schedule. In our busy lives, this is my priority.



Overall, we won't stop. We have some business plans and opportunities we want to pursue. I love my husband, family and business. I will never leave Lismore. I love the life we are giving our children. This country lifestyle has everything we want. 

Our community has suffered a lot, and we have our challenges. However, this region is still a fantastic place to live. 

We must continue to repair our town, help those still uncertain of their future, build up the number of kids' activities, create business investments, and more. 

There is hope.