About Me - My Biography

Hi, In my previous life I was a Registered Nurse.  I “trained” at The Royal Melbourne Hospital and did my midwifery at St George”s Hospital also in Melbourne.  That was prior to nursing training became “education” in universities.  I look back now and remember caps and aprons and thick grey panty hose and black shoes.  I really don’t feel that old.  I remember sitting 3 hour exams in my own time, often before a night shift. It was a lot of study on top of working a 40 hour week, often more with unpaid overtime.

I then  travelled overseas for two amazing years and worked in London, The Austrian Alps and Rhodes – Greece.  I didn’t always nurse over there.  In Greece I worked as a mini mum (in charge of children’s entertainment) and a singer-performer in a cabaret.  I loved Greece. In Kitzbuhel, Austria I worked as a chambermaid and kitchen hand in a small pension where few people spoke English.  Unfortunately it was whilst I was working in Kitzbuhel that my father died suddenly in a car accident, and so I returned home to Melbourne.

I reluctantly returned to nursing as a district nurse with Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.  However I loved being out and about. I never really liked being “stuck within hospital walls” with all its politics and hierarchical expectations and restrictions.  Out on the road, I could care for people from my heart, not what fitted into someone else’s definition, that is, what was controlled by bureaucrats.  I was safe and adhered to the expected practice, but with a personal touch where I got so much more satisfaction and was valued more.

When my son was born a number of years later, he was born with what was once described to me as having a big hole in his face.  For many years, I spent my time on both sides of the health service.  It was a challenging time.  James spent the first year in and out of hospital having surgery.  Surgery continued for a number of years to follow but not as often as the 5 admissions he had before he was 12 months old.  James was also a bit different to other kids, and we found out along the way that he was on the autism spectrum.    He has grown up into a beautiful gentle person, with a huge heart, and so tuned in to where people are at, together with a tenaciousness,which helped him to get his qualifications in IT in which he now works full-time

In the 1990s I was actively involved in consumer health and was The Woman’s Health Convenor at The Doncaster District Health Council.  I was on a number of hospital committees and helped organise a women’s health day on menopause, infertility and birthing practices.  During this time our women’s health committee managed to get state government funding to run menopause, breast check, and pap smear education workshops following a local women’s needs survey.  The workshops were in English, Greek, Italian, Mandarin, and Vietnamese  languages    They were run as mother and grandmother days and evenings at local kindergartens, schools and community centres by community health providers representing each different nationality, so both language and cultural barriers could be identified and overcome. Up until then there had been huge gaps in this area, particularly in “New Australian” communities.

Following this I set up my own Home Nursing Agency “NurseCare”.  It was during this time that I separated from my husband.  It was a financially, physically and mentally challenging time, because by then I was a  mum of a young child with special needs.  As if that wasn’t enough, I thought I would go back and get my nursing degree. It was too much, surprise, and I gave up the degree with only two subjects to go.  I couldn’t just pass, I wanted distinctions.  Oh my giddy aunt!

I returned to Peter Mac in late 2000 and stayed working there, mainly within hospital walls  for 14 years.  During this time I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  One great advantage, I could have my surgery at my workplace, also my radiotherapy treatment where I was able to continue working. The biggest challenge for me was the hormonal treatment (tamoxifen) that put me into menopause, followed by the drug femara, that worked by stopping my body producing oestrogen.  Mama Mia what a menopause.  Whilst I am so grateful for the treatment, I experienced brain fog, muscular aches, chronic fatigue and hot flushes.  Honestly they could have plugged me into the Victorian power grid!

As a result of the treatment, I retired earlier than planned. I also remarried my long-time partner, and for a short time worked as a Rodan + Fields Skincare Consultant. I joined HerBusiness during this time and it was on their REACH retreat that I  realised selling skincare was not my passion. I decided to follow my long held dream to write and perform in my own one woman cabaret about life Behind The Screens of our health-care system. As  a trained singer I had  performed jazz in a couple of jazz clubs in Melbourne and also on stage in cabarets. I  had also done some freelance writing and had a number of articles published,  but these were always as a second fiddle to nursing.

As a way to build a following for my show, I decided to set up “The Giddy Aunts” Facebook page to build up an audience prior to launching a You Tube series of The Giddy Aunts later in 2020. I teamed up with Jenny De Lacy who I knew through business networks in Melbourne and who is now a member of HerBusiness, to do the tech stuff. In late February, not long before the Covid-19 Virus made its way into the world, “The Giddy Aunts” Facebook page was launched. Jenny had also helped me in the first few videos, but since the “lock-down” I have continued solo, and using a phone and some basic props I am now uploading comedy videos onto the page. I have been both  astounded and thrilled with the response so far. I am still doing some writing for “Behind The Screens” and have a team of people I can contact a little closer to that premiere.  At the moment my main focus is on The Giddy Aunts, which I am really enjoying. At this stage particularly, I am helping many people who are isolated to put a smile on their dial and have a laugh and escape from the world around them.

Please feel free to check out “The Giddy Aunts” Facebook page and also have a laugh and escape for a short time what is happening around us. Go on to my personal Facebook page for the link or look for The Giddy Aunts in Facebook. You should recognise me by the photo.

, I wanted to reach my potential, which I never felt I had managed to do in the nursing profession.  I had also completed the hormonal treatment (2017), and was starting to get my “mojo” back.   I am now an independent skincare consultant for Rodan + Fields.  I used their products.  I liked the company ethics, and the way the products were well researched, and so I thought, this is for me.  For the first time in my life I look after my skin.  Twice a day I use the product regimen that suits my skin.  It has been amazing, not just for my skin, but how I feel on the inside.  I am taking time caring for me for the first time in my life. I really want to share these wonderful products with others, and help them to take time out and look after their skin, after all, we wear it for a long time.

Thank goodness for HerBusiness.  I love the team, the people, the courses, and all the information and knowledge made  available to “Her Members”.  I am challenged, but learning so much; most of all, I love being part of an energetic, inspiring, motivating and supportive community.  AND one day I will “get” all that digital stuff.