I’ve spent more than twenty years working across festival direction, community development and health promotion, designing events and place‑based initiatives that bring people together in meaningful ways. I’ve lived in Castlemaine for nearly twelve years, and my daughter was born here eleven years ago. This region is my home, my community, and the place where my professional and personal lives finally feel aligned.

After small beginnings in support roles at community festivals and maxi‑events like Splendour in the Grass and The Great Escape, my career expanded into major cultural roles. I’ve directed multi‑stage festivals for Darebin City Council and Brisbane City Council, and produced independent events across Queensland and Victoria. I’ve coordinated diverse artists and practitioners, managed complex stakeholder environments, and built festivals from the ground up.

I grew up attending Woodford Folk Festival, from its humble beginnings in Maleny through to its current form. I was lucky enough to walk the early Woodfordia site with founder Bill Hauritz, listening and learning as he conjured plans among the rolling hills. He taught me to dream big, trust collaboration, and always make space for laughter.

Alongside my practical experience, I hold a Masters in Community Cultural Development and have completed extensive training in cultural safety, LGBTQIA+ inclusion, youth participation, values‑based messaging, IAP2 engagement, and Deep Democracy facilitation. These frameworks guide how I design engagement, elevate lived experience, and build inclusive, ethical, community‑centred processes.

In recent years, my work has centred on collective impact, community development and health promotion across regional Victoria with Women’s Health Loddon Mallee, Western Victoria Primary Health Network, Go Goldfields, and Mount Alexander Shire Council. I specialise in designing engagement processes, theory‑of‑change models, strategic narratives, and place‑based solutions that strengthen community wellbeing.

I believe that while contemporary wellbeing practices funded by governments and major organisations are important, there is also space for the oldest practices in our daily lives. There are few stages to showcase them. Golden Wellness Festival is my way of creating a space where people can discover practices they never knew existed, try something new, see the change they make, and hear from speakers who can explain why they work.

My motivation is simple. If more of us can find accessible ways to build wellness in ourselves, perhaps more of us will be able to heal, act from grace rather than fear, and lessen the friction in this world together.

Let’s glow up to show up ~ in our relationships, our families, and our communities. I invite anyone who resonates with this message to join us, as a practitioner or as a guest in this one‑day community retreat.

And of course, I’m not doing this alone. I’m excited to soon introduce our event team and this year’s Festival Stewards, who will guide programming and shape this emerging regional gathering.