Ducks on the Pond
A podcast for rural women... by rural women. Hosted by Kirsten Diprose and Jackie Elliott, they seek expert advice and the stories of other rural women on issues such as succession planning, motherhood, starting a business...running for politics and much more!
Ducks on the Pond
Knowing Your Story and Building Genuine Connections - Rural Women Lead Collab series
Storytelling is so important for connection and information retention (there are several studies that prove this!) But have you ever stopped to think how important knowing YOUR OWN story is?
Hear from Sherry Johnstone, a Keerray Woorong woman, based in Warrnambool who didn’t feel confident in embracing her indigenous heritage, because she was so tired of people questioning it. But when she finally did acknowledge her culture, it markedly changed the direction of her life, giving her greater purpose and re-awakening her passion as an artist.
In this episode hear from:
*Sherry Johnstone - Artist (Spirit and Soul Connections) and educator and Kerray Woorong woman based in Warrnambool, VIC.
*Trudy Marr - Head of Strategy of Strategy and Projects at are-able, a not for profit organisation, which helps people with disabilities find meaningful employment.
Connection is also a strong theme of this episode, and the link between sharing your story and connecting with others. Trudy moved to Warrnambool from Scotland in her early 20s and had to quickly learn how to forge meaningful relationships. Since then, she has reimagined what networking means. For her, it's not about starting with an intention to climb the corporate ladder, but rather form a genuine connection - and through this, wonderful opportunities will emerge.
This episode has been made in collaboration with Rural Women Lead - an initiative led by Leadership Great South Coast. It captures some of the insights shared at recent workshops, funded by a community projects grant, from Elders.
Would you like to collaborate with us? Or sponsor a full season? Get in touch! kirsten@ruralpodcastingco.com
This is a Rural Podcasting Co production
I was sick of people saying what you can't be Aboriginal, like where? Like how much percent, how much percent. It wore me down over time.
Speaker 2:Just because you're one thing in one aspect of your life doesn't account for the rest of your entire upbringing. There's so much value to people, more than just a title.
Speaker 3:Hey, welcome to Ducks on the Pond brought to you by the Rural Podcasting Co. Kirsten Dipper is here, and this is part two of our collaboration series with Rural Women Lead. Now, telling people stories is obviously one of my absolute favourite things to do, and I've always seen the value of it. Our brains work in stories. There have been studies on storytelling that show how useful it is for retaining information and to help relate to someone. Politicians use it all the time, or at least the smarter ones do. But I had never stopped to think about how important knowing your own story is and how that can help you find direction, tap into your passions and inspire others. And that's very much Sherry Johnstone's story. She's a Kiriwurrung woman, an artist and educator based in Warrnambool. Gaining the confidence to fully embrace her Indigenous heritage markedly changed her life, and now you'll hear how the whole community around Sherry has benefited too.
Speaker 3:Also in this episode you'll hear Trudy Ma. She's the Head of Strategy and Projects at R-ABLE, a not-for-profit which helps people with disabilities find meaningful employment. But, as you'll hear, trudy is much more than a title, and aren't we all? Trudy is Scottish and she came out to Warrnambool in her early 20s and had to quickly learn how to forge good relationships. Since then she's reimagined what networking actually means For her. It's not about starting with the intention to climb the corporate ladder, but rather form a genuine connection, and then through that, wonderful opportunities will emerge, whether that's work, socially or anything else.
Speaker 3:To be honest, I was a bit unsure about interviewing both Trudy and Sherry together. They both have great stories, but their stories are so different and then I realized that's actually the point. Their lives crossed paths in an unlikely way and they themselves are an example of how a strong connection can emerge through a seemingly random encounter. They also delivered a workshop together just recently as part of Rural Women Lead, and it really worked. Just hearing their two perspectives together is such a treat in this episode and a reminder that those unlikely partnerships can sometimes be the best. So let's begin by meeting Sherry Johnstone.
Speaker 1:I was actually born in Woolwich in country in Colac. We were out on a farm out at Dreart, so it's about 20 minutes north of Colac, out past Alvey and Red Rock and all that. So it's my dad's side of the family's Aboriginal and my mum's side of the family's mainly of Scottish heritage, and I remember growing up on the farm out there and it's very rocky country. Then halfway through grade one shifted to Port Ferry. So I guess I've always been in these little rural towns and don't really have much interest in going to the big smoke. To be honest, I still don't like it today. Much interest in going to the big smoke? To be honest, I still don't like it today. So, yeah, love being out in the country, towns and just the sense of community and belonging and stuff that you get from that. So, yeah, I just feel like a farming girl. My husband and his family as well when we met they've had a run a farm for an awful long time as well and we've got 12 acres here. So we're like just hobby farmers as such.
Speaker 3:Yeah, do you run any?
Speaker 1:stock or anything. Oh yeah, only about 12 cattle. We've had horses and we've had dogs and I've got the one now that's spoilt as anything. But yeah, we've had the ones that have all slept outside, lived outside. We've had the hunting dogs. We've had the ones that have all slept outside, lived outside. We've had the hunting dogs. We've had all sorts of stuff. And did you grow?
Speaker 3:up with a connection to country.
Speaker 1:As an indigenous person, I think I was connected as a young girl, and particularly when I was, I used to ride my pony from like rosebrook into port fairy and stuff on the highway and then go on all sorts of adventures with another girl down the road near Toulon. She had a horse as well and we would just go out. But in saying that, I guess over time, as I got older and sort of hit that secondary school stage, I do feel like I, what would you say? I guess I disconnected from that a bit. I guess your life gets busy. And then I met my husband when I was 14 and we're still together. But just life got busy and you're trying to find your career. So I was doing, I started a sign writing, apprenticeship and that sort of life just got busy. And then that went into getting married, buying a house, having kids and still trying to find what you want to do actually. So it's it become a very busy time.
Speaker 1:I didn't realize it at the time but when I reflect back now I actually chose to what would you say? Not identify as Aboriginal or didn't really put it out there. More to the point, because I was sick of people saying what you can't be Aboriginal. Like where? Like how much percent? How much percent that stuff? I just it wore me down over time and I guess I just had to. I just ended up pushing that side of me down and not worrying about that for a while, just to protect myself from being hurt, just from all the shitty comments, basically, and I was just tired of without having to pull out a family tree and a DNA test and stuff.
Speaker 1:I was gutted that people wouldn't believe me in saying that once I finished my sign writing apprenticeship I ended up getting a job working with Aboriginal children in the primary schools around Warrnambool as a career educator at the time. So that is sort of ironic that even though I was doing this Aboriginal role and within community and teaching the kids about culture and stuff, I was still finding out who I was really. At the age of probably 40, something really changed. I've become more passionate and curious about culture and I don't know what, and I've realized that once I started to embrace it more and just learn about it more, it was like there was a deep calling. Really I found me again, but it was Aboriginal me.
Speaker 3:I'm glad to hear that, not so glad to hear that. Not so glad to hear your experience initially. Have times changed? Do you think Are the next generation embracing it from the outset, as opposed to having to go through that whole cycle that you did?
Speaker 1:I do believe they're changing. Definitely, I do school sessions and I often talk about that struggle that I've had, particularly with secondary school students, and I do feel that when I see the younger kids when I'm in primary schools and that now it's I do feel like if I had been dark-skinned and in my classes back in the day, I would have copped it for that too, so I would have seen the other side of racism. In that respect, it's funny how I could have seen the other side of racism. In that respect, it's funny how I could have either way, I probably wouldn't have won. So it's just about the kids.
Speaker 1:Today I do feel like there's so much of a diverse classroom culture, wise, it's just like we're not born racist, so it's something that's learnt or stuff that's been said around conversations, around tables or wherever it is.
Speaker 1:It's something that they've chosen to take on over time or been influenced by, whereas I feel like today's kids, there's so much diverse culture and they're learning about all of them and for them to have dark skin children or different coloured skin children in their classroom isn't uncommon anymore and I just don't think they'd be thinking twice about it, because how boring would the world be for all the bloody same, and that's what I say to the kids. You think about the fish, the birds, all the animals and things. We love them because of their differences. It might be the patterns on the giraffe, or it could be the stripes on the zebra, or it might be the colours that are in a particular fish species that just draw you to them, or the birds is the same. It's like why do we embrace them and love them for their differences, but when it comes to us, we judge each other on it.
Speaker 3:We'll explore more of your art and storytelling in a moment, but I wanted to bring Trudy, trudy Ma, into the conversation. Trudy, tell me what's your connection to rural.
Speaker 2:Australia. I noticed a lovely accent there. Yes'm from a little village called Carloway, which is on the west coast of the Isle of the Nervous, on the Isle of the Nervous, on the west coast of Scotland, and I was born and brought up there, did all of my schooling there before moving to the University of Dundee in mainland Scotland to do my degree, and during that time I came out to Australia to do my placement. And growing up in rural Scotland where the population of the village I grew up in was about 500, and having that connection to small communities really formed my view of life, I think, in having connection to where you live and connection to where you learn and make connections. And I've always had that love of living rurally, living on the coast. It was two minutes from the most spectacular beaches there are. If only we had the weather to match those beautiful beaches, that would be even better, but we made the most of it anyway. So always had that love of living in rural, regional areas.
Speaker 2:And when I had an opportunity to come to Australia there were a few placements that I explored and one one was put to me is near Melbourne and when you travel three hours in Scotland you're in the middle of Europe. When you travel three hours in Australia, you're still in regional Australia, I was told, near Melbourne, and I loved the look of this placement and it was everything that I wanted and came out here to Warrnambool and that's how I ended up here and I did a placement at Brophy Family and Youth Services here in Warrnambool and three weeks after I got here, I met the man who, to this day, is my husband and we have two beautiful children together and live on a, a regional property a couple of acres just outside of Warrnambool, and this is where we live, this is where we do our life, this is where we have fun, and I couldn't live anywhere but regional.
Speaker 2:I don't think I've lived in cities for a university and for different parts of my time, but I love the real connections that you can make in regional areas, more so than I feel that my friends that I know that live in the city find harder to make. So I really love that connection. So that's my connection to regional, whether it's regional Scotland, rural Scotland or regional Australia. I just love that connection, that close-knit feel.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and I think that's a really good point for us to talk about that notion of connection or networking. You came here probably not knowing anyone. How did you go about meeting people and really making a career and a social life in a completely different country?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and I think if I look back on it now I may have done it a little bit differently. Because when I think I was in my very early 20s when I got here I think I was 20 when I moved out and the importance you put on making connections early and maintaining those connections and as you gradually maybe drift away from some people, and the importance of that I put now on making sure I keep connections, even if I do drift away from workplaces or different things, because I think they're really important to the way we live, lives in regional Australia. But when I first got out here I was lucky enough to be at a placement so I had a workplace full of people and was able to meet my husband three weeks in and be able to tag along with some of his friends and make connections that way. But the small world that it was. I was in Aberdeen doing a placement where the CEO at the time of the place I was at had heard I wanted to go to Australia and they had just had a staff exchange with a group from Brophy to this place in Aberdeen because they were setting up the youth foyer here in Warrnambool or looking to set up the youth foyer and got some connections there and there was a staff member at Brophy who was actually dating a guy who lived in Aberdeen and she was going to be over and so I met her for a coffee in this little place in Aberdeen and she became my social mentor over here in Australia.
Speaker 2:But I think, similar to some of the things that Sherry was talking about, that the connection to culture is really important and so just to have that small, even just small thread of connection to my culture back home through this person was really great. Person was really great. I think, looking back, I would have done things differently, but getting involved in as much as I could and saying yes to the afterworks catch-ups or saying yes to the hey, we're going down the Great Ocean Road with our family. Do you want to tag along and just see something? I didn't have a driver's license back then. It's what for a nearly 20-year-old who doesn't have a driver's license at that point.
Speaker 3:Nothing like living in a regional town to make you get your driver's license. I reckon I didn't get mine until I was 23 and I was living in Bendigo at the time. So you talk about networking with intention. Can you tell me what that means and how to do it?
Speaker 2:Yes, I first of all would say that I'm not an expert on this. I don't think I don't think I'm the an expert networker, but I was really pushing myself to talk about this topic when we ran the rural women lead workshops because in hindsight I can see the importance of it and now in my career I can see the importance of it but not not for climbing a corporate ladder and really opened my eyes a lot more, as I and I really want to talk about this when we ran the session and it came out is that networking is not transactional. It shouldn't be a something on your to-do list of okay, my once a month, who am I going to network with today and what can I get out of it for the people in the room and Sherry was there so she might be able to talk about it as well it was fascinating how similar our views were on what connection and building trusting relationships was, and it was very much. Networking is about building relationships for us and building genuine connections and, without even planning it, the common thread that came through the whole day was finding that uncommon common connection that you have, which I think is really it's really easy to do in regional and rural Australia, because I did a bit of an activity with the group to say hardly any of you have met each other. I want you to have a conversation but really push past the small talk and really try and find that connection, because everybody in the room was very much saying connection is the most important thing to being able to pursue that relationship and building trust and getting on that same wavelength.
Speaker 2:And so I said I don't want. I don't want to know who's got dogs in the room. I don't want to know who's got dogs in the room. I don't want to know who loves yellow. I want to know whose uncle's best friend's dog went to the same dog trainer as yours did. And that really random connection that you can make in regional Victoria. And it was really fascinating to see the connections people made, people who'd pretty much lived their lives, one person who pretty much lived her entire life in this region, someone who had just moved here. But the person who lived here at some point in her life she had moved somewhere in Melbourne and she lived on the same street as this woman who's just moved from Melbourne down to regional Victoria. And you think, wow, that's so random, but it just works. And then other people went on. We've got mutual friends, mutual connections, mutual interests that are sort of off the beaten track and being able to make those connections with people was really important for those in the room and it flowed on to that trust builders and trust breakers and the idea that by having that connection you almost bonded yourself to somebody and almost got that creative skin in the game, rather than just going oh, I met Trudy, she works at R-Able, or I met Sherry and we did some art. Actually, no, we have that.
Speaker 2:One of the common things across the whole room was everybody in the room. Everyone's main purpose for networking was actually for to get social goods, to make communities better, to enrich the lives of others and I listened to the podcast that you did with the Geordie Fleming and Karen Foster recently and I think it was Geordie who said that really want, they constantly want to do things for other people. It's just in our DNA and it was really interesting to see the room talk about. I want to network because I want to find out how I can make this a better place for other women or young women coming up through workplaces or how I can make it more inclusive for my children or how I can make this thing over here better for that group of people, and it was a really interesting topic to listen to in the room and to find that thread, and that's why people wanted to connect less so for for I want that next job or I want that promotion, which is really what historic transactional networking has been used for yeah, no, I like that.
Speaker 3:It's funny how we just suddenly connect on that weird random thing that you've got in common. Sherry, what are your thoughts listening to that concept of networking?
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I think Trudy's definitely hit the nail on the head there and that was the common thread throughout that session. And it was just interesting to see out of I'm not sure how many women were there. Was it about 14, 12, 10? I'm not sure that. Yeah, we all did have the similar interests. It was building that trust, but also, like Trudy said, it wasn't about to get you somewhere or get you higher up.
Speaker 3:Yeah, connection is it's just so important yeah, I think it's in regional rural areas. We wear so many hats and so, yes, you might be treated from our able, but you're also the mother at the school, because we're so much closer and we network in so many different circles that you keep finding people popping up or links to people, which I think is fabulous. You don't have two-dimensional views of people. Then you get to see someone in all of their facets, which is what I like about the country Sherry tell me about storytelling through art and I suppose that link with connection as well. When did you first start calling yourself an artist?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it took me a long time to build myself up to that point. Obviously, I did the sign writing apprenticeship and I sort of wouldn't really call that art because it's a lot of lettering and stuff. It's not actual, certainly nothing like what I do today. I started to play around with drawing and stuff about 2014 and it was like a bit of a deep calling really and I just started to have a little go, even though it was busy, stressful times with the kids being young and stuff. But I did a drawing for a friend's birthday and I'd just forgotten how satisfying it was, just, and that sort of spurred me on. I'd continue doing it whenever I got a chance, just chipped away at things. I literally had to teach myself how to paint because there's so many layers to it which I hadn't even really thought about, because I didn't really have to do it that way when I was sign writing.
Speaker 1:It was 2018 when I was actually working at the Gunditjmara Aboriginal Co-op and I'd done a few different roles. I'd been doing cultural activities in kinders. I'd worked with Department of Human Health and Services to create cultural plans for Aboriginal children and home care. I then also did a graduate of family therapy, but it had a cultural lens which I really enjoyed and that gave me the confidence to work with Aboriginal women affected by family violence. That was actually really cool. It was really powerful, because with that working with those women, even though it was a really deep and heavy job, it was really about connecting with country and healing ourselves through that. So, as much as it was good for them, it was good for me as well, and some of the most powerful moments we had was when we actually said nothing, so we'd be sitting near each other but you would know that they were connecting because you give them.
Speaker 1:That time we went to a space and it wasn't. It was strength driven and I'd pick the woman up and say, okay, where do you feel like you need to go today? Is it the ocean? Is it the river? Is it the bush Places like Tower Hill, the Framlingham bush, things like that. So these are the sorts of places we were going to just to go and connect with, and I've found that over time, like I used to walk over the sand dunes purely for exercise, but then I realized I was actually connecting with nature and country and anything and everything around me.
Speaker 1:I was being awe-inspired by and I was. Yeah, I'd look at things like a child. I'd be so distracted by the colors in the sky and the patterns in the leaves and just anything and everything like that. I was so curious about it. I just couldn't get enough of it and after a while I've realized that, oh my gosh, I'm like it's like if I've opened up my sense of wonder again and it's like this awakening of my spirit and sort of.
Speaker 1:After that, I actually had some spiritual experiences over there that were really life-changing, because my ancestors come through and this. I wasn't expecting that, but it was the best thing ever. It like validated and confirmed me as an aboriginal person and give me the strength to go. You know, the confidence and the strength to say okay, actually, you know what if?
Speaker 1:If you don't believe me that I'm aboriginal, then it's your problem, not mine. I mean, I am who I am, and if I've got to pull out family trees and all that sort of stuff for you to get in your mind how much percent or how I am Aboriginal and why I feel so connected, and so really these days I try to let my artwork do the talking, because I couldn't possibly do what I'm doing and have all this amazing story and messages come through without that being a huge part of me. So it's been a hell of a journey really, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I found my happy place. It's this whole spiritual thing that's come through now that I wasn't really expecting, but it was probably always there.
Speaker 1:I just lost it for a while. I was like busy and stressed, because you really do have to be in the right headspace and it's about being open to it too. So just, it's a tricky one to explain. But yeah, I love doing what I do now and it's really I'm really passionate about it. I do now and I'm really passionate about it and I just hope that people see that through my artwork, that it's not just my story. I feel like I'm my ancestor's messenger and now I can only hope that people can connect with their message through me in my artwork.
Speaker 3:Wow, I loved hearing all of that. It's so powerful, isn't it, to live with purpose and passion and identify what that is within yourself. What sort of stories do you tell through your art? Because art is magic in that it's interpretive. We can all look at the same thing, get different messages, but what are you hoping people take away from your art? I?
Speaker 1:guess I really hope that people can see that it's just such a beautiful culture, like the wisdom that comes through with it, that connection to the land and the animals, the sea, the sky, all of that sort of stuff, that it's just really about living in harmony with it, being respectful, and then just you give yourself the time to connect with it, be open and connect with it. It's just so healing, it's so therapeutic when you do, and it's everyone will have their ancestors around them. It's just about being open to getting messages and signals. And to me, like the animals, particularly for me, the birds they're messengers as well. Sometimes, and if you're busy and stressed, you're like, oh God, the bloody bird's in the way or it's sitting on the fence in the way. But sometimes, like to me, I've realized over time it's like this in particular if one comes in front of you and it's almost like it makes sure you see it, you have to see it, it's got a message. But it's about figuring it out, out what that message is for you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've got plans into the future because I've. Usually I'll get a word when I see a bird. This has taken, taken over a few years. Particular birds will show themselves to me and I'm like, okay, what's the message from this bird? And I might get one or two words, so for bright future, and then I would come home and do some like automatic writing. So for me, one day, a goal would be to create like strengthening cards from the messages from the birds. So there's all these things I want to do from some of these amazing experiences that I've had, because I want to share that. I want to.
Speaker 3:I want other people to be open to that and to open themselves up to actually connecting and receiving messages from all the things that are around us yeah, and look, I think it'd be really hard for the western world and the western way of thinking, because it just it very much isn't, it's very much economically driven. And and we've done another, done an interview with Jess Fishburne who talks about biohacking your system, and she talks about walking in nature and how that's good for you and can lift I can't remember exactly which one, whether it was the serotonin, I think it was serotonin, could be oxytocin, but anyway the chemicals that make you feel good. Yes, and I just think it's interesting because cultures, ancient cultures like the Indigenous culture and other ones, have known this and we might not have the scientific explanation, but it's been known by humans for so long in different ways and we've somehow stopped valuing it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, for sure it's it.
Speaker 1:We truly do have to take the time, and it's a bit like the art session that I held for the women's lead for me when I worked with those Aboriginal women that have been affected by family violence.
Speaker 1:Most of the time it was the fact that I had the transport I could take them where they felt like they needed to go and it was giving them that option.
Speaker 1:But it was giving them that time for themselves and to heal and to connect, whereas most of the time we're just like, oh yeah, no, I haven't got time for that. So it really was about making the time and with the art session, normally once might be go through all sorts of things just to get to the art session, but once you're there, it can be so therapeutic and usually once the women start getting into it, they don't want to stop because they do realize, oh God, this feels nice and it might take a while for a design to come out or to actually get painting, but once they do, it's just such a lovely thing and a lot of the women are happy with what they end up coming out with. They don't expect it, but again, it's about you giving them the time to to do that, and that's what's really important really that thing about time, making space in your life or others lives.
Speaker 3:I think it's really important, trudy how do you make space or make time or encourage others to do that for connection, whether that is through meeting others or if it's through some form of storytelling? What are your thoughts on that?
Speaker 2:It's an interesting one because I'm still very much learning how to do this myself and be good at it. You work, you might have kids, you've got your hobbies, you've got all these other things and just being able to map out some time for yourself doing that art session with sherry, it almost gave everybody just this permission to sit for an hour and a half, or I don't even think it was that long, but it felt like time stood still and we just all sat there and created a story and it was all personal to us about what our story was, and I I cannot remember the last time I sat down just to do some art.
Speaker 2:It's just not something I would ever sit and do. You're much more likely to sit and scroll rather than sit and do something meaningful. But in terms of how we can carve that time out, I think being really intentional about it is really important. I think it's very easy for women especially to go I've got half an hour, I've got an hour, but if it's not a meaningful block of time, so you don't feel you can get anything meaningful out of it, so you fill it up with all these little five minute jobs to then try and think I didn't have the time. I think Joey and Karen might have touched on a similar topic. But what I, what I try and do, is I make sure I don't over commit, and this is something I'm learning to do, trying so hard to not over committing, because I think the friendships I have and the connections I have are only there because of the time that I put in and also the time the other person puts in as well, and so almost that mutual respect of actually, you know, this connection is really important to me and we have our inner circle and then we have layers going out in those circles and if it's at work, then making that time every morning when I come into work I make time to go, and if it's not first thing in the morning because of my diary, then it's sometime during the day. I make sure that I'm walking around and I'm physically talking and making connections with people in our workspace. I'll try and get out to the other sides. We have 39 sites across Victoria and South Australia, so for me it's really trying to make connections as much as I can with those people and really investing time into them.
Speaker 2:But the one thing that came out through the session that we did was really talking about giving people the confidence to actually get out of their comfort zone and do that with people. It was a lot of things like I'm not worthy of that person's time or I'm not important enough to talk to that person, or what could I offer that person who has a higher title than me or a bigger job or, from the outside, a more well-rounded family or social life or whatever it might be? And so there was about 16 people in the room, I think. Out of them, maybe 12 or 13 I had not met before, and these are all people from our regions. So I made 13 new connections and I want to keep those connections. So I said, you know what I'm going to put a date in the diary and it's going to be a couple of hours and who can make it makes it. And we'll try and try and keep this connection going, because what we also want to be and I know we talked a lot about how connection not isn't necessarily about what job I can get or what connection I can make in order to get that but there those benefits will become part of your connections. They would just become a byproduct of it. And so when we're all in the room saying we want to be able to create connection to a social good or to make that thing better or for the betterment of this, then being able to maintain those connections and making space to do them is really important. And I'm really excited about being able to very concretely put some time in my diary for the next 6-12 months and really making meaningful connections with people from various sectors outside of my main sector, outside of my comfort zone.
Speaker 2:And I look at the most random way in which Sherry and I met a good few years ago now, and Sherry lives nearby where my husband had a workshop where he builds furniture, and Sherry at the time was I'm going to get this wrong and she can correct me after but she was doing something with a piece of timber. She wanted to know how to finish it correctly and my husband gave her some advice on how to finish that piece of timber. And then, as a note of thanks, we got a calendar with all of Sherry's beautiful art. And then I said I want a piece of Sherry's art in my house and now this massive I don't know how big is it two metre long piece of artwork it sits in the front room of our house and it's all about the wonders of Warrnambool and that culture and connection.
Speaker 2:And it was so important for me to have that in our house and for us to be able to instill that Indigenous, historic and current culture in our children, as well as bringing my culture and connection to our family but being also a talking point. And so, from one little piece of one little grain of a connection a few years ago to now seeing Sherry and things like this and having the pleasure of running a session with her a few weeks ago, you just never know where those little connections and those little introductions will take you, and that's what I love about this regional overall space is that a random meeting three years ago is never just going to be a random meeting three years ago. It will continue to be some sort of ongoing connection through time. So yeah, just so back to your question being intentional about making the time to make those connections and keep those connections, I love that example that you gave and how much more meaningful is that piece of art now to you.
Speaker 3:It already told a story, but now it has new meaning as well to you because of that connection with Sherry and the rest of your family.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 3:I was thinking of that quote earlier and it was never above us, never below us, always beside us, and you were talking about people thinking that they weren't worthy of speaking to someone, or for whatever reason that is of speaking to someone or for whatever reason that is.
Speaker 2:Yes, I think it wasn't surprising in the room when we heard the comments like I don't feel worthy or that person might not have time for me, but we are all just human beings running this race and I think we all have something to give. I love to surround myself with as many people as possible, with as many diverse thoughts as possible, because that's how we're going to get to the best possible outcome. And hierarchy in an organization means nothing when it comes to coming up with place-based solutions or when it comes to networking with women or being able to champion a cause, because just because you're one thing in one aspect of your life doesn't account for the rest of your entire upbringing, your education or your life experiences or the organizations you're involved in, or ethics and values that form your opinions and your upbringing and the way you do life. And I think there's so much value to people more than just a title or how they perceive themselves. And it's often the quiet people in the room that you really want the advice from, because they're sitting and taking it all in. And so, if I can do anything, if I can get alongside anybody, particularly women who are coming through and wanting to make a difference and cashing out for a coffee or listening to ideas is something I can do.
Speaker 2:It's something that I genuinely want to be able to build into my day and my work life and my personal life and to throw in just a gender stereotype, because men don't feel this way on the same scale as women do, and it's a societal thing that's come through and I think we're working towards it and I think, hindsight, if we look back, we've come a long way.
Speaker 2:But if we look back, we've come a long way. But if we can, we've got a long way. We've got a long way to go and I've been fortunate enough to be born with the how hard can it be? Gene and I will just have a go at anything, but I know I still have a lot of imposter syndrome and that doubt, self-doubt that you put on yourself and I would come across as quite a confident person. It's a learned behaviour and I think if I've learnt it, I can teach it. We've got such a long way to go to make sure that we are hearing the voice of women. We're hearing the voice of regional and rural women who are very smart, capable, competent, electrifying people in society, and their voices need to be heard.
Speaker 1:I feel women they are so much more capable than what we give ourselves credit for. We need to build each other up and really respect each other's abilities and capabilities and be inspired by each other. Just keep cheering each other on, because you really need it. I honestly feel like women have been the rock of society and families for absolute generations, like hundreds of years and generations, and it's just clear that we're probably a lot stronger than what we give ourselves credit for.
Speaker 2:Agreed, I think, following on from sherry, again, it almost feels like we're at a bit of a turning point and I think, watching a lot of different movements and I I for one, work with a very capable and impressive group of women, but I also work with a very capable and impressive group of men, and I think, collectively, when we come together. And again, that diversity of thought, while it's very much about empowering women, it's also about empowering men to empower women as well, and I think we can do a lot more in workplaces and society to be able to bring that up to a better balance. And I think there are a lot of men who are championing that cause as well, championing that cause and do feel empowered to be able to bring women to the table for these important conversations. And again, it's equally about being able to make connections at that level as well, with men and women at the table together, working on shared solutions.
Speaker 3:And that's it for this episode of Ducks on the Pond. Thank you so much to our guests Trudy Ma and Sherry Johnstone. If you want to check out Sherry's artwork, then head to her website. There's so much beautiful stuff there. Thank you to Rural Women Lead for collaborating with us on this series they're a partnership of several organisations led by Leadership Great South Coast and thank you to Elders for supporting Rural Women Lead through its Community Projects Grant. Our third and final episode for this series is out next Thursday, where we look at leadership skills for those big systemic problems how to create change when it's hard. This is a Rural Podcasting co-production. Thank you for listening. I'm Kirsten Dipperose and I'll catch you again soon.
