I became increasingly frustrated with a system trying to fit square pegs into round holes.

Writing your own bio is a funny old thing. 

It feels a bit like being asked to write your own reference letter while simultaneously pretending you don't have imposter syndrome. So rather than giving you a polished list of achievements, I thought I'd tell you the story of how I got here.

My professional journey began where all sensible careers start ... in a theatre dressing room.

Like many aspiring performers, I left drama school in 2001 bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and convinced I was destined for the stage. I moved to Melbourne and spent the next few years working across theatre, film and television, learning the art of storytelling and human connection. While I loved the creative industries, life had other plans waiting for me far from the city lights.

In 2005, my father, who was Principal of a remote Aboriginal community school in the West Kimberley, called and asked whether I would be interested in running a creative arts project with local community kids.

I happened to be "between gigs" at the time, which is actor-speak for unemployed, so I said yes.

That decision changed my life.

The project brought together local Elders, traditional stories, contemporary music, rap, breakdance and performance. It took an asset-based approach and focused on the strengths, knowledge and cultural wealth already present within the community. The outcomes were significant, improving attendance, strengthening social inclusion and increasing community participation.

But the real transformation was mine.

Somewhere out there in the red dust, surrounded by extraordinary people, I discovered work that fed my soul more than any stage ever had. It was there that my first business, Troupe Kidz, was born.

Over the next decade, Troupe Kidz delivered programs to more than 200,000 young people across Australia through partnerships with schools, justice services, community organisations and remote communities throughout the Northern Territory and Western Australia. What began as arts engagement evolved into workforce development, mentorship, community capacity building and leadership pathways for young people often excluded from mainstream opportunities.

More importantly, it was during this time that I began learning what meaningful relationships with First Nations communities actually look like.

Not consultation. Not engagement. Relationships.

The kind built through showing up consistently, listening deeply, being accountable, and understanding that trust is something earned over years, not projects. These experiences shaped my understanding of relational accountability and established a foundation for the way I continue to work today. Many of those relationships remain some of the most valued in my life.

In 2011, my husband Mick and I were approached to design the SEDA, an innovative applied-learning model for young people disengaged from traditional education pathways. Working alongside major arts organisations, we developed a learning experience that combined vocational qualifications with authentic industry engagement.

Teaching within the program deepened my understanding of educational inclusion and reinforced something I had witnessed repeatedly throughout my career:

There was never anything wrong with the learners.

The problem was often with the system - square pegs don’t fit into round holes.

Determined to better understand how people learn and how systems can be redesigned to support diverse ways of knowing, being and doing, I completed further study in education and applied learning, graduating with lifetime membership to the Golden Key International Honours Society. From there, my focus expanded beyond teaching and into learning design, organisational capability and systems transformation.

My work continually led me back to remote Australia, to community, to relational learning and eventually, working alongside Anangu communities and later as Learning Coordinator for the National Indigenous Training Academy. Across these roles I worked alongside Elders, Traditional Owners, educators, community organisations and industry partners to co-design culturally responsive education and workforce pathways.

These experiences reinforced a lesson I continue to carry into executive leadership today:

The most sustainable solutions emerge when communities lead.

Over more than two decades, I have worked extensively within the cultural interface, supporting organisations to navigate the space where First Nations knowledge systems, cultural governance and community priorities intersect with non-Indigenous institutions, policy frameworks and organisational objectives. This work requires humility, cultural responsiveness, strong governance, and a commitment to ensuring that First Nations voices are not simply consulted but genuinely influence decision-making.

My commitment to First Nations self-determination sits at the centre of everything I do.

Whether developing workforce capability frameworks, leadership pathways, cultural capability programs or strategic learning initiatives, I believe communities must have agency over decisions that affect their people, aspirations and futures.

This philosophy has guided my work with some of Australia’s leading First Nations organisations, to school classrooms where embedding Indigenous perspectives and linking education providers with Traditional Owners equates to genuine systems change to re-imagining what VET curriculum can look like when we move beyond compliance requirements and embed 8 ways Indigenous learning frameworks.

Today, as Managing Director of NMC Inclusive, I lead strategic learning, workforce development and organisational transformation projects across education, community services, government and First Nations sectors.

NMC Inclusive was born from both frustration and hope.

Frustration with systems that weren't delivering for people; and hope that we could do better.

We started by listening. Listening to learners, families, educators, communities, cultural leaders and evidence. Then we built models, frameworks and learning experiences designed to create meaningful outcomes, not just good intentions.

Our work combines Indigenous pedagogies, trauma-informed practice, Universal Design for Learning, place-based learning models, cultural safety and evidence-based learning to drive sustainable organisational change and workforce capability. More importantly, it helps people create environments where everyone can belong, contribute and thrive. Were First Nations voices are not just heard but amplified.

I remain passionate about strengthening leadership, supporting organisations to move beyond awareness toward action, and helping translate big ideas into practical change.

And while the work has taken me from theatre stages to boardrooms, universities, remote communities and executive leadership tables, I'm still guided by the same belief I discovered all those years ago in the red dust:

Real change begins with relationships.

And yes, I still carry a little red dust with me wherever I go.

Like many of us, my path to this point has been a strange and winding journey. 

Like Nat, I too began in the performing arts, studying theatre performance at the University of Tasmania and playing gigs around Launceston as a solo acoustic singer-songwriter. I graduated in 2000 and quickly relocated to Naarm (Melbourne) to tap into the much richer arts scene on ‘the mainland’. In Naarm, I focused on music and music production, completing a Bachelor of Engineering Technology (audio engineering) in 2003 and was working in the prominent South Melbourne recording studio, Metropolis Audio. From here, I joined an up and coming Melbourne band, and began touring the east coast of Australia, and between 2006-2009 was intermittently travelling and touring with the band to Europe, UK, Canada and the USA. I learned a lot in this time, about running a small business on a shoestring, about myself and the motivations of others. 

But I’m a lifelong learner. I love to discover new things, learn new ideas, challenge what I currently think and find new ways to learn.  

I left the rock’n’roll lifestyle behind me, choosing to enrol in a Graduate Diploma of Secondary Education with Victoria University (VU) to gain a formal teaching qualification and begin working in education. 

It was at this time in June 2010, with the strong urging of my partner Nat, that I ventured to the Central Desert region on a month-long project with Alcoota School at Engawala (Alyawarr and Eastern Arrernte language groups), 200km north-east of Mparntwe (Alice Springs). The project—called SWIRL (Story Writing In Remote Locations)—involved working with local primary-aged young people to develop simple written stories that reflected their life on community. There was no written literature available to them in English that reflected their life in Engawala, and the young people loved to share their stories of footy and bush food and daily life. For them to see their stories in print was exciting. It was here that I recognised the power of storytelling for driving educational engagement; all the while, meeting key literacy outcomes. I quickly realised that storytelling and context can fundamentally change a learning experience. 

Upon graduation from VU in 2010, I secured a role with the College of Sound and Music Production as the National Manager of the Tech Production Network—a network of schools and teachers across Australia who were designing and delivering vocational (VET) music and music production qualifications in schools. I travelled regularly to meet with the teachers and was able to combine my love of music, audio production, travelling and education in one handy job. At the same time, Nat and I were working closely developing Troupe Kidz projects that were meeting social and emotional outcomes and re-engaging young people with education. Again, we used storytelling—beatboxing, slam poetry, music, visual arts—to engage and empower these young people.  

In 2012, I joined Nat to develop the SEDA Arts program, spanning Certificate III, IV and Diploma courses. The core driver of this program was (you guessed it) to contextualise learning for disengaged and marginalised young people who were struggling with the industrialised, cookie-cutter educational approaches that prevail in many schools today. As I developed the VET curriculum, which is often seen as bland, dry or generic, I found myself thinking back to SWIRL, thinking back to telling stories and making this curriculum meaningful to those who are in the learner’s seat. So we asked them questions. We created learning experiences with our students, and we asked them to tell their stories, to shape the learning collaboratively.

My next big career transition began in 2017, I discovered a new area of education that was growing rapidly—online learning design. It was technology, education, innovation and learning all bundled into an online delivery model. What I love about the online learning space is the accessibility and flexibility that it offers its learners. Anywhere. Anytime. You set the timetable. Make it work for you. In a way, the design aspect is a lot like music production—trial and error, best practice, finding the right tools for the job—and it’s a creative space, so I fit right in. I quickly rose through the ranks at OES to become Lead Learning Designer in 2019 and have rapidly broadened my experience in leadership, project management, people management and best-practice online pedagogy. It’s here that I’ve been able to work on and lead projects that feature trauma-informed learning design, accessibility and scalability, early intervention and support initiatives for remote learners and First-in-Family (FIF) students. 

While still working remotely with OES, the move to Uluru in September 2020 was a watershed moment for NMC inclusive, although we didn’t realise it at the time. It was clear that the distinct lack of support, cultural nuance and awareness of contextualised learning opportunities, particularly for Indignenous learners, sorely needed to be addressed. The seeds were sown, plans were sketched and NMC was gathering steam.

In 2021, to formalise my industry experience, I enrolled in a Graduate Diploma of Digital Learning Leadership with Deakin University. A key feature of this study pathway is the opportunity to conduct some research and I’m excited to explore trauma-informed learning design while embedding Indigenous perspectives into existing educational models of teaching and learning.

But at the heart of it, the best learning for me always happened in real time, on the job, in context.