About

All women in our 50s, we are running our own businesses and holding down leadership roles in other organisations while also raising teenagers, managing large family and friend relationships, running households and contemplating what’s next.

A lot of the time we are just plain tired, sometimes we are fed up and nearly always we feel like we are letting someone down.

Sound familiar?

We got to here through hard work and finding people along the way who would support us in life and in work, believed in us and encouraged us to do things we didn’t think were possible.

But it wasn’t and isn’t easy.

Along the way and behind closed doors there have been self-doubt, tears, frustrations, joy and sorrow, highs and lows, hardships and unfairness, and always, always, always a shortage of time only ever matched by a never-ending amount of housework!

Looking back with the benefit of age and experience, so much of what we struggled with was unnecessary and we all wish that somebody had pulled us to one side and told us to work smarter, not harder.

That is how My Intentional Career began and went from an idea to a reality.

Our dream is that My Intentional Career will bring together thousands and thousands of women and help them design and build their own successful Intentional Careers that are a part of happy and healthy lives driven by purpose, and sustainable throughout the seasons of life.

By building this community of friendship and support, we hope to be a driver of change for our generation and those to come.

For us, the magic has always happened when we come together and bring our shared experiences, knowledge, perspectives, attitudes and honesty – so let’s make things interesting.

As a senior partner in a large law firm, I saw first-hand how challenging it had become for professional women to successfully manage their careers. The commitments in their working lives made it very difficult for them to be involved with their families and to participate in their broader communities.

In 2019, I established Lacuna to provide lawyers with another option – a way to continue a rewarding and satisfying legal career as well as enjoying their lives outside of the law.

In addition, I am the Chair of CleanCo Queensland, a Non-Executive Director of North Harbour Clean Energy and the Scheme Financial Vehicle under the NSW Government’s Electricity Infrastructure.

Until recently, I was a Council Member of  King’s College, University of Queensland, and previously served as a Commissioner at the Australian Energy Market Commission, the rulemaking and advisory body for the Australian national energy markets, from 2018 to 2022.

In 2016, I was one of five independent expert panel members appointed by the Queensland Government to conduct an inquiry to guide the development of a renewable energy strategy for Queensland. I also served as a non-executive director for energy company Stanwell Corporation Limited, from 2016 to 2018. In 2021, I was a finalist for Executive of the Year at the Women in Law Awards.

I grew up in a small farming community on the Queensland and New South Wales border. I moved to Toowoomba as a boarder for the later years of my secondary schooling and completed a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) and Bachelor of Arts majoring in journalism at the University of Queensland.

A graduate of the AICD Company Directors Course and Finance for Directors Course, I also completed the University of Melbourne’s Executive Leadership Course at the Mount Eliza Business School.

Married with two daughters in secondary school, I am committed to my community and helping people navigate their own lives and careers. My family and I live on acreage just outside Brisbane, Australia.

I have nearly four decades of corporate and coaching expertise across the UK and Asia Pacific to support professionals and organizations. In 2009, after a successful career at The Economist Group, I left to establish The Career Business, a leadership, coaching, and talent development practice.

The Career Business is supported by a broad and experienced team of skilled partners, coaches and facilitators.

Today, my focus is on executive coaching, leadership development, and supporting women navigating organisations with intent.

With over 4,000 hours of executive coaching experience, I dedicate my time to guiding leaders through complex challenges and growth across industries and cultures.

My experience spans one-on-one executive coaching and facilitating impactful management and leadership programs, both virtually and in person. These sessions foster meaningful conversations, equip leaders with essential skills, and promote actionable strategies.

Passionate about supporting professional women, I have consistently focused on research and development in this area.

Since Covid I have developed a growing interest in leadership wellbeing, particularly focused on identifying and preventing stress and burnout. I now offer short, practical workshops to support managers and individuals in these areas.

Always up for an adventure, I chose a non-traditional path and after completing high school, I jumped on a plane and have continued to travel, take risks and embark on adventures ever since.

My life experience gives me  a very different perspective to the lawyers on our team often asking “What could go right” when the rest are asking “What could go wrong?”

Certified across Myers Briggs as an MBTI assessor, the Neuroleadership Institute as an Executive Coach, I am also a certified assessor for Hogan Assessment, data based personality insights helping to maximise organisational success, and Global Leadership Wellbeing Survey providing a complete view of the factors affecting energy, resilience and wellbeing and the resources to meaningfully improve them on an individual, team and/or organisational basis.

Divorced with three children, I live between Hong Kong, my home for nearly 30 years, and the UK where my children are now at school and university.

An accredited executive coach, I have 20 years’ experience in business development, client relationship management and marketing in law firms, and also worked for 10 years as a lawyer both in law firms and in-house.

This was not in my original career plan – growing up in a small town in country South Australia, the only options that seemed available to me were nursing, teaching or marry a sheep farmer. Given that I didn’t like blood or sheep, this left me with teaching. After four years of studying and a very short stint as a relief teacher, I discovered I didn’t really like kids either. This now makes sense given I was little more than a kid myself and is an opinion that has completely changed over the years.

I worked a number of odd jobs until I landed as the receptionist at my uncle’s law firm and thought “I can do this!” Next thing, I was studying law externally and part-time, and working full-time. 

Needless to say, I am definitely the team member without a plan in the early stages of my working life!

After being admitted as a lawyer, I moved to Hong Kong and worked for different law firms and with the International Finance Corporation. When the first of our three children arrived, it quickly became apparent that my hours were incompatible with parenting so moved into a role as a Practice Development Manager and have continued to work in management roles within various law firms. The hours were much the same or sometimes worse than those of a lawyer but I enjoyed the work a lot more!

Returning to Australia with three children, an English husband, an inability to cook and complete aversion to housework was the biggest shock of my life! I continued to work in law firms for a few more years but was overwhelmed by how hard it was to “have it all” or “do everything” even with loads of support around me.

To be honest, I was also a bit ticked off.

After growing up as the only girl with three brothers, I had always believed that I could do anything they could do. And that was true, right up until I got back to Australia with a family where the system is not set up to support me in my career and as the primary carer of our children, in the same way it supports my husband and brothers.

After trying to compete on an unequal playing field and slowly losing my mind, the idea to create Lacuna with Allison to support others in the same or a similar situation was one of the easiest (and best) decisions of my life.

And the evolution of that decision has led us to here – launching My Intentional Career to help you and thousands of other women who are struggling with the juggle of demanding responsibilities and careers.

After completing all my schooling at a small country school with approximately 400 students, I completed a Diploma in Teaching (Secondary Music and English) before completing a Bachelor of Laws at QUT in Brisbane. In 2004, I sat the New York State Bar Association examination and was admitted to practise law in New York.

Since returning to Australia in 2012, I graduated from the Australian Institute of Company Directors in 2018 and received accreditation as an Associate Certified Coach by the International Coaching Federation in 2022. 

Married to the wonderful and very patient Julian, we live with our three children on the northern outskirts of Brisbane and spend as much time as we can with our extended family and friends enjoying the wonderful Sunshine Coast where I run an AirBnB property.