In The Game Podcast
Each week, Master Connector Sarah Maxwell sits down with incredible people and extracts the stories of their lives. Using her Neuro-psychology background, she delves into the DREAMS they had as a child and then weaves them back to the present moment. Who have they become? How have the dreams they had for their life realised themselves? How have they overcome challenges? What matters to them most NOW?These conversations are gripping and transformative, for both host and listener. Sit back, relax and enjoy!
In The Game Podcast
Australian of the Year Juliette Wright OAM on Creating the Innovative Giving Platform GIVIT
Listen in as host Sarah Maxwell sits down with Australian of the Year Juliette Wright, the innovative mind behind GIVIT.
Her story is one of vision and resilience, as she tackled the challenge of bridging the gap between well-intentioned donors and the real needs of charities in Australia. From her early days writing updates to family in Ireland to the creation of a platform that made a tangible difference during the Queensland floods, Juliet's path is a testament to the power of persistence and inventive thinking.
We peel back the layers of charitable giving:
- exploring the unanticipated needs that often go unnoticed and the importance of clear communication between donors and recipients.
- the logistical challenges charities face
- how a collaborative approach with social workers helped refine a practical model that respects privacy while meeting critical needs.
As Juliet steps away from GiveIt, she shares her ambitious vision for a global platform called "Recovery," aimed at addressing humanitarian needs worldwide.
Join us in celebrating trailblazing women who carve their own paths, offering inspiration and encouragement for the next generation to dream big and make a meaningful impact.
The Podcast's 7th Season
Welcome to In the Game, a podcast where we aim to touch, move and inspire you to what's possible in life. My name is Sarah Maxwell and I am a self-proclaimed relationship engineer. Ever since I was a little girl, I was curious about how people work and how they interact with one another. With a degree in biopsychology representing my country of Canada in beach volleyball. With a degree in biopsychology representing my country of Canada in beach volleyball, retiring from sport into mindset and purpose coaching, I now spend my days running Chatta-box Media, where we aim to story-tell for brands through the medium of podcasting, all while raising an eight-year-old daughter with my partner of 24 years. We are now in season seven of this podcast, featuring a special series on women called who Knew that Was Work aimed at young women who want to broaden their horizon when it comes to career choosing.
Go deeper into the pod and discover incredible stories of changemakers who manifest their dream lives. Gain tangible tools to apply to your own life by scrolling back to that initial season where we were more workbook focused. Have a laugh when we initially were coined the Nat and Sarah show, when my five-time Olympian partner, natalie Cook, and I bantered and had loads of fun interviewing and discovering our common passion individuals who rise to the occasion in life. Okay, now it's time to dive on in to this episode.
Ge...
Welcome to In the Game, a podcast where we aim to touch, move and inspire you to what's possible in life. My name is Sarah Maxwell and I am a self-proclaimed relationship engineer. Ever since I was a little girl, I was curious about how people work and how they interact with one another. With a degree in biopsychology representing my country of Canada in beach volleyball. With a degree in biopsychology representing my country of Canada in beach volleyball, retiring from sport into mindset and purpose coaching, I now spend my days running Chattabox Media, where we aim to storytell for brands through the medium of podcasting, all while raising an eight-year-old daughter with my partner of 24 years. We are now in season seven of this podcast, featuring a special series on women called who Knew that Was Work aimed at young women who want to broaden their horizon when it comes to career choosing. Go deeper into the pod and discover incredible stories of changemakers who manifest their dream lives. Gain tangible tools to apply to your own life by scrolling back to that initial season where we were more workbook focused. Have a laugh when we initially were coined the Nat and Sarah show, when my five-time Olympian partner, natalie Cook, and I bantered and had loads of fun interviewing and discovering our common passion individuals who rise to the occasion in life. Okay, now it's time to dive on in to this episode.
Sarah Maxwell:Today, I am thrilled to sit down with Australian of the Year, juliet Wright, receiving her OAM for helping to alleviate the effects of poverty across Australia is one huge mission. Poverty across Australia is one huge mission. She's the founder of GiveIt, an online platform established in 2009 to connect those who have with those who need. Juliet's background was naturopathy, but her light bulb moment for GiveIt came into focus in her attempt to find suitable need for baby clothes that she no longer needed. She discovered that charities were overrun with things they didn't need, yet, desperate for specific items that were in high demand, sitting around her kitchen table with friends, she began throwing around possible solutions to what she discovered was a problem. She just knew that something could be done to match the giving to the need that was out there. Her relentless determination was dragged out of her when facing repeated website failures. Upon launch, everyone around her was telling her to throw in the towel. The no's were everywhere, and yet she just refused to fail. She knew it was a good idea, and boy did she know. Giveit became the fastest growing charity in Australia In 2011,. During the devastating Queensland floods, her platform became the state government's official website for managing donations during disasters. The GiveIt website received 1.8 million hits in 10 days. They went on to establish a dedicated Give it disaster and emergency recovery service, now in place in the ACT New South Wales, queensland and Victoria, as well as a drought relief program in 2018.
Sarah Maxwell:Recently stepping away from Give it so that new leadership can take it to its next iteration, she has found a new project that keeps her purpose ticking along and, as she's just shown me, she's now got a whole bunch of new diaries or journals in place. So welcome, juliette, to In the Game podcast. Thanks for having me. We did it. We've had many attempts, but as we know with you, juliette, failure is not an option. We got here.
Juliette Wright OAM:And I'm so glad to be on the show. Thank you, Sarah.
Sarah Maxwell:Okay. So, Juliet, what do we need to know about you growing up? That would determine the level of perseverance you had to give it off the ground.
Juliette Wright OAM:That's such a good question and I've never been asked that. And I put it down to. The fact is that I live in Australia but most of my family live in Ireland and I used to only get to see them every 18 months. So my favourite auntie and uncle I used to write them on a typewriter or on a computer and fax them a weekly update of my life. And I'd read through them and it's like this boy and this boy and I'm doing this and I'm going to do this in the next week.
Juliette Wright OAM:And then when I'd write them the next fax, I'd look at the last week and I'd go did I do what I said I was actually going to do? And then I would explain why I hadn't done it. And then I was like, no, I'm going to actually going to do. And then I would explain why I hadn't done it and then I was like, no, I'm going to actually have to do this. And so I had this weekly journal that other people were responding to and I think that made me go, be careful what you say you're going to do, because because you know you're going to do it right you have to do what you say you're going to do.
Juliette Wright OAM:Wow, this kind of explains the journals that you were showing me just now. I'm thinking that he's going to do. I'm into bullet journaling and I'm in a major. I love bullet journaling and I've been doing it since a friend recommended it maybe a decade now. But I used to do all of the journaling in one and it just I just burned through the diaries too fast.
Sarah Maxwell:So now I've split them into personal and I've got two, three, two, four, four work jobs yeah right, I did say um project and then I like, if you think back, so thank you for that story about connect, like how you were giving almost like these life reports, and that learning about your word and wanting to be true to your word, I really got that. But take us back just that little bit to you as, like a young person, like would your parents be surprised at all that you'd achieved? Like what were some signs that this was in you?
Juliette Wright OAM:Oh, I think that they would have just called me incredibly rebellious and obstinate and a heels digger in her. I think that when I really wanted something, I just really wanted something and I would work towards it. So, but I didn't get it and my parents said, no, I'd not be probably the best behaved child you've ever met.
Sarah Maxwell:Okay so rebellion, Okay. So in a way that does sound like determination, though. So give us a story of when you were young and maybe you got in trouble fiercely for something, but you were determined.
Juliette Wright OAM:I was determined. I broke my bedroom door with the slamming. Thank you, okay.
Sarah Maxwell:Got it.
Juliette Wright OAM:So it was pretty constant then, that feeling of being determined yeah definitely no, I definitely got more and more determined through my teenage years. Um, no, I definitely got more and more determined through my teenage years and I think that I hit academic determination too late in year 12, okay, but, um, by the time I'd hit uni, I was definitely more, even more determined. But after, when I was in, before I went to uni, I loved the fact that I did a TAFE course, I did a commercial arts course, fashion illustration, came out and wanted to try lots of different things because I just wasn't yet sure. So, instead of actually thinking about what am I going to do for the rest of my life, I was very much in the mode what do I really want to do right now?
Sarah Maxwell:yeah, right, so okay, actually, I'm super curious about what you just said there about trying lots of different things, but I did want to quickly ask before we leave teenage land were you cause oriented Like? Did you want to save the world? Was? Did you have determination in that area?
Juliette Wright OAM:I had. I have a massive injustice streak issue Got it, so I was very much into. I've given that to my daughter in spades. I have to tell you it's challenging to be with so many geopolitical environmental issues right now, refugee issues like it's just 100% of our conversations.
Sarah Maxwell:Yeah, cool, your parents are probably laughing now watching you navigate what they navigated. Yeah, yes, right, Okay, so tell me how. I kind of qualified you just by saying naturopath, but it sounds like you tried a lot of things. So take us through the journey to naturopathy. But then the kind of decisions that you were making in your schooling, like back then, when you know, when you're not sure and everyone's asking you what are you going to be when you grow up, Kind of take us through that journey a little bit.
Juliette Wright OAM:I was living in a share house and I had a beautiful woman that was living with me called Peter, and she had a sore throat and she was just taking a gargle and I ended up getting the same sore throat and she got incredibly sick. I got incredibly sick and she just got better and so I was going what did you gargle? And she said I had some ginger and gentian. And I was like what are you talking about? Anyway, so she started to bring up herbs into the garden and I was saying what's this for? You know, simply chamomile. And she would add it into her tea and I'd ask her what's in that? And then, going to the library, I'd often get my books out of the library and then I started kind of gravitating towards botanicals and then started going okay, but this chamomile is not very popular, why is she drinking this chamomile? And then you go down a rabbit hole of this is the one that's being studied and this is the one that's relaxant.
Juliette Wright OAM:And my dad was a doctor and he had just come back from the UK and he had studied nutrition and a lot of things came up out of that, like high potency vitamin C, and this is way before this was all trending and before anyone even had a vitamin injection, my grandfather was doing it for years before anyone ever spoke about it and I my worlds just collided. I understood. I started to understand what dad was talking about and I've obviously been around a medical lingo all the time, so I knew about lots of different types of diseases. So I thought I really want to help people. But I don't think that I want to be a doctor. I think I'd like to become a nutritionist but a naturopath at the same time. So I studied both. So I first finished naturopathy, then I got a Bachelor of Health Science and then studied and completed my nutrition.
Sarah Maxwell:Got it so interesting. So, when 2009 rolls around and you've got these baby clothes and I really related to that story actually because I had an experience wanting to give something as well, like you did, and some of the challenges so you saw that charities needed things but they were overrun, like they literally didn't really want your baby clothes. So you know what made you believe in the moment around the baby clothes situation that you could solve such a big problem Because obviously I didn't go to solve it situation that you could solve such a big problem, because obviously I didn't go to solve it.
Juliette Wright OAM:So I had the two kids that were under, you know, 20 months to under 20 months and I really had a gut feel at that point that I didn't want to go back into being a naturopath nutritionist anymore because I was starting to specialize in like autoimmune diseases and just really hard stuff and it burnt me out all the time because I'm like sympathetic, not empathic. I'm the wrong type. I cry with patients. It's very inappropriate. Um, so when I was talking to charities about please take these beautiful baby clothes, come on, they're so gorgeous, it's seed and sprout and Calvin, take these baby clothes. And they refused to take them. I dug in. I was like why, why can't you take these? Why can't you just take these clothes, just my clothes. And they said we get the pick of the bunch of Lifeline and Salvos and I, after being rejected lots of times at least 20, I said well, what do you need? And the answer was always so kooky, so surprising, that I always my curiosity went from 5% to 100% it's still there. And I said okay, one charity needed sanitary items and I said lots of different types and I said why? And she goes. She goes, well, because obviously we've got lots of different types of women that come through the service not like you, really young girls and really old ladies that need lots of different types of sanitary pads and items and I said, oh, I get it.
Juliette Wright OAM:And then one charity said that they needed closed-toe work boots. And I was like, why does the children's charity need the boots? And they said, well, if we could get this husband this, this father boots, he'd be able to get work on the roads. And then and I was like, are you telling me a pair of boots is going to pull a whole family out of poverty? And she said, well, yes, but with the help of help of social services, yes. And I said, okay, what's the size of those boots? And she didn't know.
Juliette Wright OAM:So I realised three really important things Charities didn't have a way of requesting the daily needs of their clients. Like you think Red Cross and Salvos have lots of stuff you know. So you think there's. You know there was no Facebook or anything like that and they didn't have the warehouse out the back like Red Cross and Salvos. So they just didn't have the mechanisms to actually get these boots. And this woman told me that she was going to be on the phone all day just ringing everyone she ever knew for boots.
Juliette Wright OAM:And then the third thing I realized is that we're really bad at guessing what they need. We don't know, we're not talking to them. So I think that everyone needs baby clothes, because I've just got loads of them. No, they don't. They need close-to-work boots, microwaves, baby change tables, uh, violin, like you know, an mp3 player. Um, and so my curiosity just was a hundred percent and I thought why isn't anybody filling the actual real needs? Why is there no way of me finding out what the real needs are? And that's when I thought, no, I will be able to give it, and hopefully someone like me would want to give something to someone who actually needed it directly and you never questioned whether you could be the solver of the problem.
Juliette Wright OAM:I had to go and visit a lot of my friends who are social workers. Now, I've never mentioned this, but I've got like eight friends who are social workers, so I don't know what that says about me, but I spoke to them about their job, their role and how do they receive items, and they just don't. They don't have a truck to go and pick up items or a ute. They don't have anyone in their community that would be able to do that. And so when I said to them the model is that charities have to register and be authenticated and they couldn't request whatever it is they need for their clients. They can go pick up or post it or it will be delivered to them and even my social worker friends at the time said, yeah, we don't have time for that.
Sarah Maxwell:Even my social worker friends at the time said yeah, we don't have time for that, Okay.
Juliette Wright OAM:But because of the Privacy Act I didn't want to introduce the donors to the recipients, so the charities had to be the middleman. So that was another reason why so many people told me it wasn't going to work.
Sarah Maxwell:Got it. So you were out there asking people, kind of on the front lines of the problem, trying to find solutions, and I'm sure you were uncovering more and more problems. Actually, this is something I didn't think to ask until now, but as you start to, because you're someone who likes to help people, how do you stay on track to the first problem that you're trying to solve, versus almost get like sidetracked? You know, just then, when someone said, well, we don't have time for that, well then, I'd want to be, you know, solving social work and why don't you guys have any time? And yeah, like how do you stay steadfast almost on the the first problem that you're trying to solve?
Juliette Wright OAM:so one of the people in my life, christina Snowden I've she's been a friend of mine since she was 13 and I love her I felt like when I was having the conversation with her about the model, I felt like I had a little dart and she had a tennis racket and I was trying to get through the tennis racket that she was just holding up saying no, you can't do that. And I was like, can I do this? Can I do that? Can I do this? Can I do this? Could I do that? Could I do this? Could I do that? And then she went one day. She went, yeah, you could do that. But then she said charities won't have the time or they don't have a truck. And I said, don't worry if I can do that and she said yes, and we worked out the model together. So it was kind of like ping pong of her saying no to me until I finally got a.
Sarah Maxwell:Yeah, that could work and then that's a very good visual. I like that, and so that determination that we spoke about. You know the young person who you know, you as a teenager, who slammed your door a lot when you got frustrated. Is this what happened when the website failed? You know, because, basically, you, you, you came to a place that you start to really focus in and you thought yeah this is it.
Sarah Maxwell:I'm going to do it this way. Um, you had an understanding of what you wanted from the website when it failed and everyone was telling you to throw in the towel. Tell me a little bit about how you navigated that and how you didn't just leave the door slam shut.
Juliette Wright OAM:It failed twice, sarah. So the first time I always thought it was my fault because he just the guy that I brought on just didn't have the web experience to do it. But he said he did. So I felt naive. And then the second time, I needed it to be automatic. So if you donated a microwave, it would drop off the list of needs automatically, because I don't want the next person to see a microwave. So my one thing in the mind because I had two kids that were so young, I need the items to automatically fall off the list. So I read through the contract, I put it in there and then I got the finished website and it wasn't automatic unless I logged in, press a button and then it would fall off the list.
Juliette Wright OAM:And I was so angry and waste of money you know it's like burying money I was like oh God. And everyone in my world said it was going to fail. Look, even my husband, who was supportive, said hey, is this risky Because you're building a donation management platform? Are we in harm's risks way here? Like is this, are we going to lose everything? My mum was like that's not going to work. Christina's like Jules, they don't have utes or cars to pick up these donations. They don't have the time to request them. And I was like, okay, and I was like okay and I was so angry.
Juliette Wright OAM:I remember I was actually bending over like I was in the grit of. I sometimes see athletes in that poise, but I think that they're exhausted, but sometimes they're just dealing with a massive amount of disappointment. You know, I see them just bending over going. Oh, that was brutal. Anyway, I remember the kids were bathing so I really was multitasking with my anger and bathing at the time and I was like, oh, oh, my God, what am I going to do? And I said, no, I am going to ignore the universe and everyone in it and I'm going to do it anyway. And I think my husband just went ah, she's in. I just said I'm not giving up. I just know that this is. I just know that this is going to work, and if it doesn't I'll fall on the sword, but I'm just not going to give up. I just know that this is. I just know that this is going to work, and if it doesn't, I'll fall on the sword, but I'm just not going to give up.
Sarah Maxwell:Tell me that the moment after that kind of doubled over frustration and disappointment, when was the moment where you went? It's working.
Juliette Wright OAM:Like what? That was a while. That was a long time. No, that took years and years and years.
Sarah Maxwell:Really, are you telling me that it really actually felt like it wasn't working for years?
Juliette Wright OAM:Okay, so the first donation that happened. I just put a little thing on Facebook and just someone called you know. I said this is what I've been up to, sorry, I've been quiet, and then obviously breeding. And then someone called Lisa donated a microwave to a. Because I had eight charities on board at this, I had to have some needs on there before launch and had to wrangle this charity social worker friends of mine to make requests. And Lisa donated a microwave to a charity, to a man whose father, whose wife, hadn't taught him how to cook hot food, so the charity requested it so that he could have food in the freezer, so he could have something hot other than tea and toast. And Lisa donated it and said she would drop it off to the charity. And that was my first thing where I went. Oh, that works, got it works. Yep, I was. That was a big win. I high-fived the charity and that was my first thing where I went. Oh, that works, got it, it works. Yep, that was a big win. I high-fived the dog. Like I was alone at the time, like I was like celebrating in the kitchen, just like woo-hoo.
Juliette Wright OAM:And then the biggest thing that happened quite quickly then was charities were saying requests, started requesting and telling friends about it, but then donors started saying I've got stuff that's not on the list.
Juliette Wright OAM:And I was like, oh, okay, and then. So I would then get four or five donors a day or a week or whenever they're coming in quite fast, and so then I would put those offers out to the, the charities that had registered. You know, they could opt in in these emails and they'd say, yeah, I'll take that whole house full of stuff, but I don't want any of the kids items. So then I'd have to do another email to everybody going it's taken, but do you want kids items anyway? So I was really busy. Within two weeks I was just on the computer all the time and Glenn came home and said no, this isn't working, you know. And so we created the virtual warehouse, which is now a catalogue of offers for the community, and the website started matching the catalogue of offers from donors and the catalogue of needs from charities, and that's when the website started to go on that.
Sarah Maxwell:And then I had a point of oh, that's working, that was good. Your husband was noticing that there was no scalability on that. This is gonna one person can't manage this, and so then you had the next problem to solve in terms of. I just wanted to go to that point of the virtual warehouse just for a.
Juliette Wright OAM:Funny is that the reason he got frustrated is because I was working full-time on this website within two weeks and I forgot to wash all his undies, and so he actually said this isn't working for me. Oh my god, come on, I can't tell you how many innovation awards the website's got and I've never don't tell anybody that. Basically, the online virtual warehouse is the most innovative thing that's happened in uh, disaster recovery for a generation and and I'm like, yeah, yeah.
Sarah Maxwell:Thanks to my husband's undies. I love that this is not working for me. We are not going to solve poverty while my undies are dirty, okay.
Juliette Wright OAM:This is not working.
Sarah Maxwell:Oh my God, that is so funny.
Juliette Wright OAM:It is so funny, but that's that need and necessity and it not working for the mother needing to innovate a website so that the mother and not working for the mother needing to innovate a website so that the mother could actually do what the mother needs to do while the husband was at work. It's all very stereotypical, I suppose, but it's all just the truth that I had to. Within two weeks of launching, I was full time.
Sarah Maxwell:Yeah, but I'm actually glad that you tell your story so honestly, because I think that that's this underlying question that always is there for me is like, how do you do that when you have two young kids? How do you do that when you're doing laundry? How do you manage the balance, and do you even believe in work-life balance? Manage the balance and do you even believe in work-life balance.
Juliette Wright OAM:Oh, I have to say I I'm not the I'm not for the first 10 years of give it I'm. It's probably the biggest criticism my team could probably have of me is that I didn't have any work-life balance. I had to work on the business and we had volunteers only for five years and so, you know, wherever there was gaps, I was always doing the gaps, and a lot of volunteers have made Give it what it Is Today hard work. I had one volunteer work full time, you know, because we were just on a rocket and we couldn't afford the fuel, so it was just manpower. And you know, one of the biggest criticisms of me was that I was probably overworked because I'd have to do the grants on the weekend, because I had no money. So to do the grants on the weekend, admin during the week, it was hard, it was hard, it was the hardest thing I've ever done.
Sarah Maxwell:I was going to ask you about that, the money, like what? Actually, it's interesting to me, this space that we're in, so let's have this conversation right now because you know, you can see the, the narrative. People started to become disillusioned with charities because they don't believe that the money's going where it's supposed to go. I love that you're. What you've established is very clear. Like, what I'm giving is going there. There's a lot of transparency, but I also want to talk about there's like a human behind that working, meaning you are doing all of that for no money, as were a lot of other volunteers, like you said, someone working full-time, volunteering. So where does the money come from then?
Juliette Wright OAM:Yeah, that's really really good question.
Juliette Wright OAM:There was no money except my husband was running a boutique kind of industrial real estate company called Right Property and he would give me so 0.01 of his turnover.
Juliette Wright OAM:So he was giving us at one point 30 30 grand and that paid for um, a fantastic part-time accounts officer, because that's just not my color wheel. And then eventually he's doing really well and it went up to 65 70 000 a year and so I could bring her on more um and just paid for that contract person to just do that, because as a charity you get, you have to do an acquittal every year for the ACNC. So it's really important that you have your financials really in control. And then, after the 2011 floods, the Queensland government really saw the benefit in the model being able to capture generosity when the disaster is happening, but being able to distribute that generosity later when people actually need it. So the Queensland government came on and funded us for that pilot disaster recovery service in 2013, which funded my first state manager and someone doing 0.6 comms, which was game changer was it because you did mention like that time where there was everyone was a volunteer.
Sarah Maxwell:So that time, like 2013, is where things really shifted when you started yeah, I think she came in 2014.
Juliette Wright OAM:50 yeah, that's right, so it had been up and going five years before I'd really had anyone other than just that.
Sarah Maxwell:I that um accounts lady which, like when you're doing important, you know totally and it's interesting, like how you're scrutinized as well in terms of the money. You have to make sure everything's in order. I mean, a lot of the stories that we're hearing is the original problem that you wanted to solve has had an incredible impact. But when you're working so hard and you're just always, it feels for me like you're always kind of putting out fires in a way. Yeah, do you connect to the impact while you're doing it, or is it only now that you're sort of exiting out a little bit?
Juliette Wright OAM:Oh, there are some stories that just break through and just floor me for two or three days. I remember in that early phase I was about to go on radio and I was looking at the list of needs and at that time there would have been two or three pages. Right now there's 50,000 needs and at that time we'd be lucky to have 150 or 300. I can't remember, and I was looking through all the ones that were local because I was about to go on a local Brisbane radio but I saw this Western Australian request for a boxing bag for a mum and I said, hey, I think that's an I want, not an I need item, so I think that should get off the list. Anyway, I spoke to my Western Australian volunteer manager and she said no, I really trust this charity.
Juliette Wright OAM:This charity who's made that request on behalf of that mother is phenomenal and I think it should stay on the list and I obviously have no authority. It stayed on the list Anyway. So she convinced me to trust and so I did, and two weeks later I got a message, email from the charity, from the mother, and she said thank you so much for allowing the boxing bag. I received it two weeks after she requested it, she has installed it and since it's been installed, the boys have been using it and they have not hit her once. So her boys were hitting her oh my.
Juliette Wright OAM:So at that point I lost all judgment, all of it. Honestly, every single item that goes onto the Give it website is an authentic need that a charity has gone out of their way to request, and it is awesome that I can tell you they have not 100% of the time given you the full story, because sometimes we don't want to know and we don't need to know. So now I just look at the give it items on the website and I say an MP3 player, an iPod for a young boy, and you go, yeah, that sounds like a luxury item. And then every time it's for a boy who's got schizophrenia, who hears voices in his head and requires that for his sanity, you know. So it's like, yeah, I've lost all judgment in terms of yeah, so some items.
Sarah Maxwell:really, that's a great thing to share, actually, because there is a lot of moral stuff that comes up. Please, moral, please. Yeah, you're so right about that. When I yeah, you, I really you know you and I went on there because my daughter wants to, um, do some stuff with the homeless and, um, I really appreciate what you're saying right now, because there's a lot of that as well, like, like you can even see, there's so much morality that that people have around homelessness and and, and my daughter's like genuinely curious that there's a famous homeless man in Brisbane Um, it's kind of funny to say, but he's on Wikipedia, so my daughter thinks that's quite amazing, um, and she keeps asking me, mom, why does he want to stay there?
Sarah Maxwell:You know. So, again, I think what you're doing really elevates the conversation, like really helps us to, because you can see in the request, like there's there's a little bit of information there, so it contextualizes who you're giving it to. But then you said something really important to me. You said it's really important that the money or the the donation get given from the charity because they're in relationship with them I really like that because when they get the item and give it to the recipient, there's a rapport there.
Juliette Wright OAM:One woman said to me that she had a mental health client and the lady wanted a sewing machine. But she very rarely rocked up to them and she wasn't taking her medication. And the social worker said to her if you come in, I'll request a sewing machine, I'll give it. And she did, and it took a few weeks. But the woman attended every meeting and took her medication and had the counselling and so she eventually got the sewing machine. But the rapport between the two of them was now unbreakable and the trust between the two of them was unbreakable. So it was very, very rewarding.
Sarah Maxwell:Yeah, that's a cool. Thank you for that story again, because the context behind we often, yeah, there's a disconnect between the giver and the receiver in that way. So I think again, what you've done is almost like highlight a thousand challenges that were there sitting there that no one was probably determined enough to see through like that. Yeah, tennis racket, the dart example so good, I love that visual visual because most people give up on that.
Juliette Wright OAM:Can I go back to one of those moments where you said do you feel proud? I heard a story where and this has got a huge amount of my values wrapped up in it is that one of my favourite things about Give it is that a charity requested underwear for a homeless service and then a yoga studio collected all these undies and then gave them to the women's homeless service. And then now that and you know the charity, you know open up and go, thank you so much for these new undies. And they said we're going to come back every week and give you new undies every week. And so there's now this connection that's off-givet, but these women in this yoga studio now feel deeply connected to this service and are deeply connected to their community. That's vulnerable and that only makes people feel better. So it's not just the connections that we've made with the person who needs the microwave and the microwave, and it's the actual donor and the community organization connection that I'm very proud of as well.
Sarah Maxwell:Yeah, and you should be, because I know that at different times when I've wanted to rally some, a group, to do some work, there's a lot of actual blocks. That that surprised me. That exist. They exist, for there are some good reasons behind it, but I think we miss out on the giver part of it. You know, like the giver has a spirit in which they want to do it. So it's really cool that you're making those, you're connecting those relationships, because, again, I think that's another problem that exists. And so, as we're talking about this like impact and being proud, as you should be and I know that's a hard one for you to talk about but what is the change like? Not being in Give it on the daily? And you know you've given so much of your life to that. How are you going? I don't know. Exit's not the right of your life to that. How are you going? I don't know. Exit's not the right word. That sounds so bland, but is it? There was?
Juliette Wright OAM:definitely an exit period, because I went on long service leave for nine months, okay and then I decided that I wanted to pass over the reins so that the whole organization wasn't in limbo and, to be honest with you, I was totally over, was totally over reporting and HR kept me up at night like I just was so concerned about always making sure that you know it was. You know, we've gone into 20 staff, 23 staff and every night going oh my god, I hope I can fund them in the new year you know, the people's lives, sleep, livelihoods really, you know, are on my shoulders and the government reporting was intense, so I was ready to step down as CEO.
Juliette Wright OAM:First thing that I didn't like is when I came back after long service leave and I was just working on a few particular projects and fundraising in the organisation is that I would ask the team to do something and I was way down the pecking order, like the CEO when I was CEO. You just get sucked out. You say hey, I need this and it's due at the end of the week. Boom With me. I'd get the pushback going. Really, is that important? Do we need you know like? So the power of a CEO is fun, responsibilities of a CEO not fun. No, I was well and truly over that role, but Not fun. No, I was well and truly over that role, but now I'm stepping back into CEO.
Sarah Maxwell:You are.
Juliette Wright OAM:Well, I'm CEO of my new project.
Sarah Maxwell:Oh, got it, got it. Sorry, I thought you meant GiveIt. Okay, yes, no, no, no, no.
Juliette Wright OAM:I have just re-recruited for the CEO of GiveIt and I just love working with him and it's just been an absolute joy so far.
Juliette Wright OAM:He's only been in the job a month and he's just doing really, really well, and so it's really lovely when you know that your baby your first business is in really good hands and the comms team are exceptional and the purchasing team are exceptional and everyone's just so wonderful and it just feels like a 100% joyful moment to enter back into that space. And also, I like not being their boss, where I can have these really frank conversations with everyone on the team and they don't think that I'm going to sack them or you know like because people do edit what they say to their CEO. Yeah, it's really, really. There's always something in the back of their mind that this is performance moment. This is a. Are they judging me? I think interesting. Yeah, I like having really authentic conversations with the give it team yeah, cool.
Sarah Maxwell:So tell me about the new endeavor. What, what could get? Get a new passion going in someone like you?
Juliette Wright OAM:Well, I was waiting 15 years for an international person like Jess Bezos or Gates to actually replicate the Give it model. Now the model has changed a little bit. In 2015, I realized even good donations can do great harm. So we've now got 100% in disasters. 100% of the money that we receive is spent locally on items. So I no longer want you to post your microwave to Airlie Beach after Cyclone Debbie. I want you to give us 50 bucks so we can buy it locally. And so the model now is making sure that the right people get the right things in the right way. Got it, and I was approached by international communities regularly to help them manage the chaos of donations post-crisis, and I have stories that could make your hair fall out. Like just revolting Cyclone that hit Fiji and vanuatu, people donated container loads of expired tinned food and so when they opened it up, they've got cans, millions of cans of of canned fish. By the way, they have a lot of fish there.
Juliette Wright OAM:They didn't need fish and um, then that stuff doesn't break down for 100 years oh my goodness and the containers blocked all the aid from coming in and out for weeks, if not months, cost them like 8 million us to get rid of oh my gosh, because people sent the containers and didn't want the containers back, didn't empty them, didn't have it.
Juliette Wright OAM:They just sent them to the port, said I don't care and I'm not paying for it to be returned, so it just sits there. Anyway, I was contacted by an old friend of mine who was in Kentucky and her whole community got devastated by a hurricane and she was sending me photographs and I said, yeah, this is what Give it Does, but we're an Australian charity. I can't support you. Literally would lose DGR status, which is tax deductible status for donations, and credibility. But I helped her write the press release. Thank you so much.
Juliette Wright OAM:Our community has been inundated by your generosity. We no longer have the resources or the volunteers that can actually cope with what we've got. What we do need is funds. Please donate to the church fund. And then I started noticing that this outpouring of generosity. No other communities had access to an online warehouse where I could pledge the item that I wanted to give to that community but where social workers on the ground can look at the need and go. I'll take that, that, that and that I'll take that, but I'll get the donor to hold it for two weeks because they haven't painted the house and the electrician hasn't been in yet, anyway. So I thought I'll create long story short. I thought I'll create a donation management platform, because everyone else on the planet's too lazy.
Sarah Maxwell:Good on you, so you're creating this platform.
Juliette Wright OAM:Yeah, I'm up to phase five and at the end of phase six I launch, basically, so, um, but I made a decision, sarah, because I wanted to do it all my life and then I wanted give it to be global actually, and then I realized I can't use the word give it and then I actually realized I don't want to. That's an Australian beautiful platform that's working really well. And I thought, no, I saw a new project and so I've called it recovery instead of ending with a y ends with an e and because, like give it, I can't spell g-i-v-i-t. And so I thought, okay, I'll invest a little bit of money and and just do a deep dive into all the differences that it would be from give it to do a global model. So, for example, the first thing that we needed to solve was someone in Ukraine, you know, affected by the war, needed a pram when they were in Kiev, but four days later they're in London. So these humanitarian you know, crises have humanitarian people movement.
Juliette Wright OAM:So I needed to solve that problem. What happens when a community like Tonga has no access to the internet? So how are they actually going to use the platform when they have no access to the internet? So we solved that problem. So I spent about a year researching that and working with IT people just going, is there a solution for that, is there a solution for that? And then I just decided one day, okay, I'm going to have to be in it or out of it. And I said, okay, I'll commit to it, but only if I do it with joy and that's easy because I'm happy person. But I had to do it with ease, okay, and that was the contract to myself.
Sarah Maxwell:And how do you know when it's easeful?
Juliette Wright OAM:I haven't lost one night's sleep. I've enjoyed every day.
Sarah Maxwell:I've had some logistical problems with IT people, so I actually had four or five IT firms that I was really committed to, even going all the way through to lawyers and terms and stuff, but in the end they all fell through because they were too expensive or dodgy and so, um, now I found, um, I'm building it myself with one of my best friends oh my gosh, I love that yeah, yeah, I mean I guess that that's so cool and that kind of helps me ask this last question, because it's like, after all that you've been through, when you're thinking of young women because you have daughters as well when you think of young women and how they you know, people ask them what are you going to be when you grow up and you're starting to think about career and choices and navigate and all that kind of stuff, what would you say to them, from everything that you've been through, from that like beginning phase to now to even building this platform with your best friend, what would you say to young women who are navigating the what do you want to be when you grow up?
Sarah Maxwell:Question.
Juliette Wright OAM:I don't think it's about that question ever. I think that should just be erased from the vocab. It could be something that you bring up. Barbecue, hey, have you thought about that? Like I'm curious about? You know where you want to go in life, but really the question is, what do you really want to do next, just next? So next I'm actually going to go through and have a look at all the free TAFE courses that are available to every Queenslander. How exciting is that? You know pottery? I don't know what I want to. You know, like, what do I want to do next? And don't be judgmental if it's fashion illustration, if it's. You know bovine. You know health. You know if it's equine health, don't don't like. Honestly, if you just keep curious and you love learning, you can be anything and you will be anything. Anyone in any organization that I've ever worked on who continuously keeps learning always goes all the way to the top, always. So, no matter what, that is good. Yeah, you just got to keep curious and keep learning that is a top advice right there.
Sarah Maxwell:Thank you for that. I just all of a sudden I started like layering that down to when I was very stressed on my way to university and if I had thought about what's next versus who am I going to be, and that was so overwhelming, oh so awful, because how do you know?
Juliette Wright OAM:you know, another thing is, uh, the kids that are probably listening, now I'm sorry your job's not created yet. And uh, the other thing is, you're probably going to create it, so I hope it's, hope you're doing something you like well said so good, it is so good and I think it'll really help people um doing less of what you should do.
Sarah Maxwell:You know, get rid of all the shoulds and doing what you love and giving your contribution to the world. And thank you for your contribution. I mean from a kid who also like your daughter and like you, it was very cause oriented. Your story is really inspiring. It really hits the mark. It shows that you can make a difference and and it's. But it wasn't always easy either.
Sarah Maxwell:You know like it took a lot of determination, a lot of those skills that you were honing early on, I think it makes me relax more as a mom, realizing that even rebellion is a sign of good things to come, and your whole story is really, really, really cool. So thank you for being willing to tell it, and I hope you keep telling it, because there's a lot of young women coming up that need to hear it. So thank you.
Juliette Wright OAM:You're welcome. I know it's. It's a fantastic chat. I wish I could go back and say to myself in that bathtub moment with the kids yeah, I'm going to 15 years later. I'm going to be telling people it's doing 8.5 million donations and 37,000 donations a month. I just wish that I. But you know, I don't know what would have happened. I probably would have been overwhelmed if I'd have known that too.
Sarah Maxwell:Good point you needed. That's another good point, actually that you needed to go through the step of doing what your husband said wasn't working. Like you know, microwave meets need connecting all the emails. Until then you maybe believe deep down that it could be done that way. So maybe we need to take that next step to keep growing. So I think that's part of the evolution and thank you so much.
Juliette Wright OAM:Thank you, Sarah.
Sarah Maxwell:Thank you for joining us on another episode of In the Game podcast. We hope we have inspired you with these real lived experiences of incredible women navigating their careers their way. We are all about sharing around here, so if you know someone who would benefit from listening to this podcast or this show in general, do it now and share the love. Pressing follow on the pod makes a massive difference. Taking two minutes to rate us for season seven means that more people will get to hear these stories, which will widen the impact. Join us next time for more captivating stories of female trailblazers who are leaving behind clues for that next generation of women and girls. You