I decided to become a journalist while travelling in Nepal in 1995. I was 22-years-old and wanted to change the world. As you do. I wanted to inspire others by sharing the extraordinary stories of ordinary people.
I wrote my first article about the impact tourism was having in Ladakh. This remote region, known as ‘Little Tibet’, is on the Tibetan plateau in India. My writing was untrained and impassioned. My first 2000-word feature was published in Nova Magazine with two of my travel photos in 1996. I had become a published writer and photographer!
This inspired me to go to university and study journalism. I started my undergraduate degree part-time when my son was one. He was eight when I graduated in 2005. I completed a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication (Journalism and Public Relations), with results placing me within the top five per cent of Murdoch University students.
I found my calling in feature writing. I had a portfolio of 50 published articles when I graduated. My dream was to have a feature published in National Geographic magazine.
I moved to Darwin to break into journalism. I worked as a features journalist and business reporter for the NT News. I also freelanced for ABC Radio Darwin, Darwin Life, Shop til you Drop and the Northern Territory Government.
I loved journalism, but it was a challenging career choice as a sole parent. I was offered an opportunity to manage digital content at Charles Darwin University in 2009. I embraced the online world and have never looked back. I’ve worked in digital strategy, content marketing and social media for 15 years. I did postgraduate studies in digital marketing in 2014. I’m a writer who has moved with technology. I’ve been writing for more than 25 years now, and I still love it.
For the past decade, I have been in leadership and management roles. I completed executive leadership training in 2018 and became an organisational coach in 2020. I’m currently progressing my training to become an accredited coach with the International Coaching Federation.