Only Human Stories

  ‘An hour with the Chairman? You’re dreaming….’ Take it from me. Busy people need to be interrupted more often. Back in 2010, I was trying to get time with the late James Strong AO, Chairman of the Australia Council for the Arts. Kathy Keele was the Council’s CEO and she wanted me to help…

During my time at Uni, I volunteered at a medium-sized not-for-profit organisation. My role included making coffee, handling post office errands and doing research here and there. It was a pretty cruisey way to earn a uni credit, and everyone in the organisation was smart, kind and generally relaxed… until the dreaded Annual Report was…

Some years back, I was meeting with the exec team and board members of a disability organisation. There were about 12 of us. I’d been gathering stories from the founders and staff for their 40th anniversary and on this day, I was going to share some of what I’d discovered. I’d chosen a range of stories…

For many not-for-profit organisations impact stories are essential for showing the world (and reminding themselves), of the amazing work they do. Yet, for some reason, be it lack of time, confidence, enthusiasm – the stories they want rarely appear. We often meet with these leaders and get asked ‘Where do I find the stories?’ ‘Can…

Firecrackers for the Brain: A list of things that fuelled our creativity and inspired us.   🧨   Uncomfortable about sharing personal stories at work? This month, I watched one of my LinkedIn posts snowball, reaping thousands of new views. It was a simple personal story about digging out my old briefcase to take on my…

Welcome to the blog version of our new fortnightly newsletter of discoveries that have fuelled our creativity and storytelling, and just might fuel yours too. 🧨  Learn from the best! Imagine how much power would come your way if people could really understand the incredible work you do? And be as excited by it, as you are?…

Last Friday, I was watching 25 year old Lisabel, packing up her desk ready to take off, on a three month adventure, to the other side of the world. After 2 years of COVID and bushfires and floods and closed borders here in Australia, she was ready and raring to go. As we bid farewell,…

A few weeks ago I (accidentally) deleted the last 2 years of my iPhone photos. People who know me know, I’m very sentimental and that I take a LOT of iPhone photos. I love documenting things, especially the ‘small’ and intimate moments we don’t always remember or post on social media. It’s my way of…

  Growing up in my hometown was pretty dreamy. It’s a coastal town, where weekends were always at the beach. You know, sunbaking, swimming, maybe even snorkeling but surfing? Nah…that was for the boys.   It’s no secret surfing is traditionally dominated by men. It’s better now, but it’s taken a while.    So after…

  January 1999. Five people walk into a bar. Well, actually it wasn’t a bar…. It was a Sydney beach cafe called Stella Blu… but it’s still a great start to this story. Steven and John Bennett were multi-year winners of the prestigious Prime Minister’s Employer of the Year Awards. They were determined that their trophies should…

I was 41 weeks pregnant when I nabbed my first job writing for television. I remember waddling into the Executive Producer’s office and seeing him quickly look from me to the spindly chair I was heading towards. He was a polite guy and tried to hide his amazement. (Note: he didn’t hide it very well.)…

Does it sound weird to say how much I miss my work husband? I don’t want to sound ungrateful … or even disloyal… to my everlasting, 24 hour kitchen sink partner, Ross. After all, he is the father of our kids and in the new WFH lockdown regimen, I guess he might qualify as a…