About Me

I Believe in the Worth of Every Person

I believe there is more to every person than the labels we give them, the assumptions we make about them, or the differences that can seem to separate us.

For much of my life, I have been curious about what happens when we look beyond those differences and really listen to one another. Not to agree. Not to change each other’s minds. Simply to understand the human being in front of us.

That belief has become the thread running through my work as a Compassion Curator, speaker, bestselling author, and host and executive producer of Chocolate and Coffee Break: A Compassionate Proposition.

How a cup of coffee and a piece of chocolate became something much bigger

In 2015, following a time of heightened fear and division in Australia, I began with a very simple invitation: share chocolate and coffee with someone different from you and listen to their story.

There was no grand plan to create a movement. It was simply an invitation to move towards one another rather than further apart.

That invitation became Chocolate and Coffee Break.

Over the years, I have sat with people of different cultures, faiths, identities, abilities, experiences and points of view. I have discovered again and again that listening does something extraordinary. It allows us to encounter the person before the label.

Today, Chocolate and Coffee Break has grown into a movement and television conversation series, Chocolate and Coffee Break: A Compassionate Proposition. Through the show, community gatherings and wherever people choose to meet with curiosity, the invitation remains remarkably simple: sit together, share stories, listen and discover the humanity we share.

The road that brought me here

My path to this work hasn’t been a straight one.

I began my professional life in the healing arts, qualifying in Naturopathy and Homoeopathy before building one of Australia’s early online businesses. After selling that business, I moved into the corporate world, later working in publishing, leadership, speaking and community initiatives.

Each chapter taught me something about people. But increasingly, I became less interested in the titles we carry and more interested in the human being underneath them.

My writing followed that exploration. Across five books, I have explored compassion, purpose, prosperity, leadership and our capacity to contribute to something beyond ourselves. My work has also been recognised through awards and honours for writing, communication and leadership, including Toastmaster of the Year and a Wordsmith Award.

Today, much of my speaking centres on a question that has become increasingly urgent to me: How do we bring people together in a world that so often pulls us apart?

I speak about dissolving division, listening to understand, moving towards difference and recognising the inherent worth of another person. These aren’t ideas I’ve arrived at from a distance. They have been shaped by my own prejudices, mistakes, relationships and encounters with people whose stories are very different from mine.

Because recognising another person’s worth doesn’t require us to agree with them.

It asks us to remember that they are human.

The work continues

Whether I am sitting across from a guest on the television series, speaking to an audience, writing, or sharing chocolate with someone whose life looks nothing like mine, I keep returning to the same belief:

Our stories are different. Our humanity is shared.

And while hate and division can be extraordinarily loud, I don’t believe they have to have the final word.

I live in Melbourne, Australia, amongst the gumtrees, kangaroos and cockatoos with my husband and my feathered companion, Fella, who has been part of the family since 1973. I am also a grandmother, and some of my favourite adventures involve two small people, puddles and very little concern for keeping clothes clean.

Perhaps that’s part of why this work matters so much to me. The world we create isn’t an abstract idea. It’s the world we leave for those who come after us.

Let Love Be the Loudest Voice.