The Welder’s Dog was buzzing on Thursday, October 31 as over 70 women came together for a meeting of the minds.
The first of its kind, the Exchange was hosted by HealthWISE Tamworth, and brought together a diverse panel of women to discuss their business successes and challenges.
Topics ranged from launching new businesses and fighting impostor syndrome to birthing calves.
HealthWISE director Amy Creighton enthralled the room during her Welcome To Country address, explaining the importance of honouring the Gomeroi people and the need to switch focus from generational trauma to generational strength.
Host of the wildly popular Australian news podcast The Squiz Today and commercial director of The Squiz media entity, guest speaker Kate Watson talked about creating a viable business from the free service. She encouraged attendees to be courageous in pursuing their careers, recalling her journey from political staffer to working for the Australian Women’s Weekly to Sky News before taking a ‘calculated risk’ on The Squiz.
Panel member Heidi Austin had the audience rolling in the aisles when she recalled the early days of her career, when many farmers doubted the abilities of a female vet.
“One bloke said to me ‘You don’t look strong enough (to deliver a calf),’” she said.
“The calving was so easy that I actually had to hold the calf in the cow for a while before I delivered it to make him feel ok! At the end he said ‘I should have been able to do that,’ and I said ‘Yes, you should!’”
Belinda Judd and Penny Crawford spoke about their own start-ups in education and foot wear respectively. Belinda outlined the challenges of bringing talented teachers together and meeting the needs of the syllabus, while Penny discussed the obstacles she faced bringing her safety boot invention to life and how to command respect in a male-dominated field.
HealthWISE integrated care manager Anne Williams inspired many audience members to consider mentoring others in her discussion of the mentors who helped her adjust when she stepped into the high level management role.
HealthWISE hopes to host more events like this in the future, and encourages community input. To make suggestions or learn more, call HealthWISE on 6766 1394.