Q1. Take us back to the beginning.
I grew up on a Dairy Farm; we had
a rural business. I was the youngest
of six and had a very typical country
upbringing. We worked seven days a
week, twice a day. We took it easier
on a Sunday- we went to church;
came home to a big roast lunch
and afterwards we’d pull out the
monopoly board. Dad would have a
snooze or when we got a television
(when I was about 7) there might have
been a midday movie we could watch
before heading off to the dairy in the
afternoon.
Q2. What was your relationship with
your parents? My Dad, at 6 foot 8,
was called the gentle giant. You hardly
ever saw him upset but when he did
get upset, you knew that you had done
something really bad. That made me
feel worse! What Mum said went.
She ruled the roost for sure. During
my teenage years, we butted heads a
little bit but we still got on and had to
do the work. She was shaping me for
who I am today. But, we really grew
a stronger connection in the years to
come. I miss her terribly for she was
my sounding board and my advocate.
We had a family business to run that
was 7 days a week, so we all worked
really, really hard. That’s what you
did, but we did have fun along the
way. Little did I know, that Mum was
instilling that strong business ethic
and community connections that I
live by today.
Q3. Did you finish school. Yes, I
finished year 12. I wanted to go off
to University, but I didn’t have the
confidence to do that and found myself
on my own – none of my friends were
going there anyway. Remember, I was
from a small country town. There
was this big argument I had with my
Mum because she wanted me to stay
working on the farm for the family
and I thought “no thanks”. So two
weeks later I moved out and got a
job in the closest town - Ipswich. I
started my first full time job there
before moving to Queensland Medical
Laboratory, because I wanted to get a
“real” job and forge a career.
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Women’s Network Magazine
Q4. What job did you get there?
I started as the Office Junior, and
worked up to the main admin team.
My goal has always been to strive
to be the best I can be. I progressed
up to the highest position I could
in that office. When I turned 21, I
applied for a transfer and moved to
Brisbane to work as the PA to one of
the department heads.
Q5. Tell us about Bruce.
Bruce and I met through QML.
Social Clubs were active back in the
80’s. Yes – I was also on the Social
Club Committee. We used to have
a big Christmas Party organised by
the Social Club: dinner and a big
dance band at the likes of the Hilton
or Sheraton. There would be about
400 plus people from all around the
state who would get together. I used
to chat to Bruce over the phone, but
I met him there at the Party with his
mates very briefly. So when I moved
down to Brisbane, I attended the
social gatherings, where I would
always gravitate toward Bruce.
Three months later, he called and
asked me out. We were together 5
years before we got married in 1992,
and Harrison came along in 2006
thanks to IVF. Four months after
Harrison was born Bruce had a
scheduled major heart surgery, but
complications set in. An operation
that should have been 6 hours went
for 20 hours. Bruce was revived
twice. After that he got a hospital
acquired infection and that resulted
in him having no sternum. He ended
up staying there for three months
followed by home therapy and care
for six months. Yes he was very sick
-- and he never recovered fully so
life certainly changed for our family.
I had a little baby at this stage and
you know, I just had to do what I
had to do and we all survived!
Q6. What was that like?
What was the work life balance?
Obviously everyone has issues
that they have to deal with but you
had next level things to deal with,
how did you handle that time? It
is what it is, and if you had known
Bruce he was just like, “lets get on
with it”, and we did. 1990 was when
Bruce has his first aortic dissection
and that’s when he first got quite sick.
He was on life support for 2 weeks in
hospital and wasn’t expected to come
out. When he woke up in ICU he said,
“Well, that was a bit bloody drastic way
to get me to give up smoking”. So that
was him! He was just like “well it is
what it is, let’s get on with it”, and we
did - we worked together, we were a
team. His business acumen, and ability
to map it out, and our teamwork made
the dream work.
Q7. You can fight change, you just have
to roll with it. Yes you do. We had a
business in property management,
and had been involved in real estate.
The plan was after Harrison was
born we would purchase another
business, but with Bruce’s health,
we changed our plans. We ended
up selling our property in Manly with
the water views, and moving to a low
set because that’s what suited our
family circumstances.
I could adapt. Bruce’s health was up
and down, but I had a part-time job
as well as my VA business from home,
and so had a bit of work/life balance.
It’s just really about giving it a crack,
connecting with others and seeing the
art of collaboration. It certainly kept
me busy.
Q8. How did Harrison handle it all?
Harrison is a big thinker. He is very
much like his Dad that way and
has a tech brain like him. We take
everything is our stride; he and I
have been a team for a long time.
When Bruce was unwell I’d be the
one to go out for a walk to the park,
whilst he rode his bike. He didn’t
really realise how unwell his Dad
was. The thing that hit home was
right before Bruce passed away.
Shorty had just finished school for
the year and he’d written a note to
Santa; all he wanted was for his Dad
to be home out of the hospital for
Christmas. It’s been a while now but
its still tough, but I had my friends
and my tribe there to support me.