Co-Owner, Tambo Teddies

Alison Shaw is the Co-Owner of Tambo Teddies. Her career journey has a fascinating amount of twists and turns. She is worked on a goat dairy, as a wool classer and Jillaroo, a small business entrepreneur and as an Arts and Cultural Officer with Regional Council.

Having dropped out of University as a young woman to travel around Australia, left her native New Zealand, she resumed tertiary studies as a mature age student and in 2016 completed a Bachelor of Business specialising in marketing. During this period, she purchased Tambo Teddies with a business partner. With fresh ideas and thirst for a challenge, the pair have managed to grow the iconic Tambo Teddies business and raise the profile of Tambo.

After receiving a steady stream of requests for grant writing, Alison figured it was time for another challenge. In 2019 she created a new business The Right Grant, drawing on her ability, life experience and knowledge of the funding space. She enjoys matching projects to the right fund and helping businesses and organisations grow.

Website: tamboteddies.com.au
Facebook: @tamboteddies
Instagram: @tamboteddies
YouTube: tamboteddies

Aulpunda’s (Jean) art tracks her journey through country as she weaves the old stories with colours of the land in a unique spirit of discovery. She finds beauty in the gnarled tree, and love in the sand against bare feet, a love for country that brings colour and life to her paintings.

For Aulpunda (Jean) as a Wangkangurru/Yarluyandi woman, the big questions inspire her works are, 'who am I, and where do I belong?' Those are the questions she explored in her artistic journey.

Through deep listening to the spirit of the land, a spirit that beats in her blood, Aulpunda comes to her art as learner and teacher, bearing the gifts of an ancient culture to share with family, children, and grandchildren, and those not yet born.

Fitness Instructor, Charleville Leading Group Fitness

Angela Stirton is currently working as a fitness instructor in Charleville leading group fitness. She has many sessions with children, teenagers, mothers, and adults. She also offers Pilates classes to the local community. Angela is registered as a middle school teacher and qualified psychologist. In her past careers she has had worked as an organisational psychologist and youth counsellor for Lifeline.

Having experienced mental health difficulties, personally and professionally, as well as within her family and friends, she is deeply passionate about normalising the language and conversations around mental health. She is a huge advocate for physical activity aiming to bring positivity and benefits it can bring to our mental health.

Facebook: @PilateswithAnge
Instagram: @AngelaStirton

Artist

Aulpunda (Jean)’s art tracks her journey through country as she weaves the old stories with colours of the land in a unique spirit of discovery. She finds beauty in the gnarled tree, and love in the sand against bare feet, a love for country that brings colour and life to her paintings.

 For Aulpunda as a Wangkangurru/Yarluyandi woman, the big questions inspire her works are, 'who am I, and where do I belong?'  Those are the questions she explored in her artistic journey.

Through deep listening to the spirit of the land, a spirit that beats in her blood, Aulpunda comes to her art as learner and teacher, bearing the gifts of an ancient culture to share with family, children, and grandchildren, and those not yet born. 

Senior Biosecurity Inspector, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries

Bec has always had a keen interest in Agriculture. After leaving school, Bec spent a year working as a jillaroo in an otherwise-all-male stock camp in the Channel Country. She then enrolled at UQ Gatton Campus, graduating with a degree in Applied Science, (Production Animals) with a specialisation in Beef Cattle obtained at Texas A&M University USA.

Bec worked for two years in an Abattoir with an all-male crew, trail-blazing a path for other women. For the last 13 years Bec has been working in a traditionally male role as the ‘Stocky’ Biosecurity Inspector in Charleville. In recent years, she is delighted to have seen an increase in the number of women join the ranks in Queensland.

Her husband Chris is a local tradie who is often working away from home. Consequently, while she has a nanny during her work hours, when Chris is not there, she juggles work and parenting three small children on her own. Bec’s downtime revolves around their garden which is both beautiful and productive and the ever-increasing menagerie of dogs, chooks, and assorted feathered friends.

Instagram: @Corymbia

Artist – Founder, POPSART

The core of creative entrepreneur, Bec Mac’s work is unifying communities through candid conversations and experiences as an artist, creative producer, presenter, and arts journalist.

Bec Mac’s legendry live art event LOVE TV has been presented Internationally in partnerships with multiple City Councils including the City Of New York.

As founder of "POPSART; Content Creator Conversation Curator" she revolutionised the way audiences engage with the arts through spontaneous, insightful interviews with artist at their exhibitions openings and launches. Working with Caroline Gardam POPSART collaborators have included QAGOMA, UQ Art Museum, Museum of Brisbane, Opera QLD, and Inner-West Council Sydney and Richard Bell for Embassy 2019 Venice Biennale.

Recently Bec Mac launched Chrysalis Projects with Carmel Haugh; an artist-led economic stimulus projects aimed to foster philanthropy within the community.

Her work is unique and sits at the intersection between the creative community, on-line media, the urban environment, cultural organisations, government, community engagement and the philosophy and outcomes of Placemaking.

Instagram: @becmactv
Facebook: Popsart@becmactv

Post-Doctoral Fellow, Policy Innovation Hub, Griffith University

Dr Elise Stephenson a creator, characterised by her love of hands-on and atypical projects. She is recognised by Google and Deloitte as one of Australia's 50 most outstanding LGBTIQ+ leaders and has travelled by road over 75,000kms over the past few years chasing her passion for empowering women and driving social change. Now, she is a multi award-winning researcher and strategist in the Policy Innovation Hub and Climate Action Beacon at Griffith University. She is also on the board of queer feminist creative agency, Social Good Outpost, combining entrepreneurship and academia for social change.

Web elisestephenson.com
LinkedIn Dr. Elise Stephenson

Director, WOW Australia

Faiza El-Higzi OAM is an active community member who has been living in Australia for the past 20 years. She is of African, Mid-Eastern descent.

Faiza has worked in Australia and overseas, in the public, private and the NGO sectors and has more than ten years public sector experience in Australia providing strategic policy advice at both the State and Federal levels.

She is currently the National Human Rights Advisor for the National Council for Women and was the Economic Advisor for the Queensland Chapter.

Faiza holds four post graduate degrees in science, education, project management, and international business. She is currently the Manager of the Romero Centre, a drop-in community centre in Brisbane for refugee and asylum seekers’ support.

LinkedIn: /Faiza-el-higzi

Irene Frances retired to Charleville in 2019, having worked there as a social worker for several years. Throughout her life she has had a traumatic journey to deal with the consequences of a problematic past, a journey that included more than a decade of therapy to address a major mental health disorder. Irene maintains that without her strong faith in God she would not have come through those challenging years. She is keen to share something of her understanding of God’s love, peace and freedom with others who find life difficult.

LinkedIn: Irene Frances
Facebook: @IreneFrances

Director of Femeconomy.com

Director of Femeconomy Jade Collins has 20 years’ global experience in corporate executive Human Resources and management consulting roles in the Mining, Energy and Aerospace industries, leading large scale, and complex multi-million-dollar change management programs. The combination of Jade’s HR, Psychology and MBA qualifications, and her leadership experience, is invaluable for creating networks and engaging others to increase gender equality in leadership across industries. Jade is a member of the Queensland Government's Strategic Advisory Group for the Toward Gender Parity: Women on Boards Initiative and the 2019 CQU Alumni of the Year for Social Impact for her work with Femeconomy.

Jade was born and raised on the land of the Darumbal people at Rockhampton, and now lives and works on Turrbal and Jagera Country.

Web: femeconomy.com
LinkedIn: JadeCollins-Femeconomy

Katrina Lehmann

Owner, Katrina Lehmann Photography

Katrina Lehmann, Owner of Katrina Lehmann Photography is an award-winning photographer based in rural Qld town of Charleville and hails from a creative family of artists and photographers. Her photography business began organically 20 years ago when she was gifted a digital camera at age 16.

As well as photographing weddings, newborns, families, commercial industries, and freelance journalistic work Australia wide, Katrina also runs beginner photography and Cyanotype workshops and is Co-Owner of her family’s plumbing business. Most recently she has been creating dried botanical art arrangements and botanically inspired fine art photographic prints that she sells online and locally via the KLP Creative Co Banner.

Katrina has a passion for capturing and show casing rural Australian and the amazing people in it.

Facebook: @KLPCreativeCo
Instagram: @katrinaLehmannphotos @klp_Creative_co

Owner, Smithco Management Pty, Ltd

Kylee Tindale-Smith is a wool classer, wife, mother, and creative rural businesswoman. She is the owner of Smithco Management Pty, Ltd or known as Gidgees Smith which produce and create Australian made bags. Her determination to stay in the bush lead her to think outside the box and push her to create opportunities for herself and her family to survive financially and emotionally. These days, she judges her success on being able to feed and educate her children each and every day, for her, anything above is a bonus. Providing her children with the opportunities that she never had experienced when she was young and becoming women in business is important for her personally.

Facebook: @gidgeesmith
Instagram: @gidgeesmithbags
Twitter: @gidgeesmithbags
LinkedIn: Kylee Tindale-Smith
YouTube: @GidgeeSmith

Creative Director, Red Ridge the Label

Laura Churchill is a pre-eminent fashion stylist with many years’ experience in personal styling as well as event production and fashion business more broadly. Laura is passionate about working with women to feel confident and comfortable in their wardrobes and believes style is for everybody.

As creative director of Red Ridge the Label, Laura is also involved with this Blackall-based fashion project that gives back to the regional Queensland community through arts and employment opportunities.

Website: redridgethelabel.com.au
Instagram: @laurachurchill @redridge_thelabel
LinkedIn: Laura Churchill

Director, Of One Mind

Leigh Tabrett PSM has worked as a teacher, university administrator and senior public servant in education and the arts. She has led teams of people since she was in her twenties, and has had plenty of “hard conversations” in that time. She is a keen student of what it takes to make workplaces happy, safe, and high performing, and now works as a company director and executive coach. Her involvement in WOW over the last 7 years reflects a lifetime of advocacy for women and their access to education, and the fact that she is the mother of two adult daughters.

LinkedIn: @LeighTabrett

Manager, Red Ridge Interior Queensland

Louise Campbell is a manager at Red Ridge Interior Queensland, servicing Central West Queensland for over 10 years since the formation of the organization. Living as a Blackall resident for over 20 years, Louise has continuously brought the arts to the Outback in a way that directly responds the needs and demands of the communities. Working tirelessly to create opportunities, infrastructure, and networks across vast region, Louise has been behind all the workshops, events and projects held by Red Ridge Interior Queensland. Striving to connect and enrich the lives of people around her, Louise has always seen the incredible value that art can have in benefiting communities, from inspiring public art, life-changing workshops to extravagant exhibitions.

With Louise's belief in the value of arts supported by her expertise, and determination to make ideas reality, Blackall has become a hub for all things creative. Louise has ensured that Red Ridge has made a name for itself in Central Queensland as a professional, reliable arts organisation that often achieves the impossible to deliver momentous art opportunities for all in the region, no matter the distance. From Louise's passion, Red Ridge able to bring the magic of creativity over 15 government areas.

LinkedIn: @LouiseCampbell