I’ve done many things in my lifetime. I’m a basketballer, a scout leader, a craft enthusiast, an administration officer, a wife and a mother, and I’ve been at Therapy Focus since the very beginning. I’m also a carer to my 31-year-old daughter Lisa and my 87-year-old mother...

One of my favourite sayings is ‘when one door closes another one opens. But we’re often looking so longingly at the door that has closed that we don’t actually see the new door that’s opened’. I believe you need to explore every opportunity that comes your way because you never know where it’s going to lead. Being the inaugural CEO of Therapy Focus was fantastic...

Pete's favourite part of the day is that moment just before he sets out onto the water on his kayak. It’s usually quite early, and it’s like he has the world to himself. There’s something about being all alone with the water... He first got into kayaking when he was eleven, and from that point on he just couldn’t think of anything else...

Life is chaotic. We try to make sense of that and design models to try and simplify life. We design bureaucracies to try and manage the complexities of life, but it isn’t that simple. That’s why I love the complexity of working with people. But as people, and the bureaucracies we design, we have a belligerence - we always have done. There is so much we can achieve in the world, and there is just as much red tape that stops us from doing so...

Christopher’s passion is cars. I remember walking through carparks holding my four year-old son’s hand and he would be saying ‘that’s a Toyota Camry, that’s a Nissan Navara, that’s a Holden Gemini’. He was always right too, even at such a young age. I was blown away. Cars just sunk in. He absorbed all the information he could – and still does today...

When I was little I used to see a speech pathologist who helped me with articulation. I had an interdental lisp that resolved itself later in primary school, but I still needed speech therapy at the time. I remember being confused about why I was there. I couldn’t hear the difference between the sounds, which is why I was making the errors...

I got to a point in my career where I realised there had to be more to business than just making money. There was so much more I wanted to do and so much more I had to give. I joined the Therapy Focus Board of Directors in 2009 and I’m currently the longest serving board member. I have more than 20 years’ experience in commercial printing and my strengths lie in business and numbers...

I like to enjoy life. I like to travel, I like to shop, and I like sport. I used to swim competitively through wheelchair sports and travelled around Australia competing nationally. I made a lot of friends through swimming and when we weren’t competing we’d run amok and have a lot of fun. But unfortunately I had to give it up because it became too hard on my body...

Around the same time my grandsons Jack and Seb came to live with us, my husband Bryan was diagnosed with bowel cancer. He battled bravely for almost three years but died at home in October 2017 with his family around him. So in terms of being a carer I’ve had a fairly diverse experience. In those three years I was caring for two teenage boys with autism, a sick husband and a daughter with mental health issues...

19 years ago, while I was working with Disability Services Commission, I was approached to work for Therapy Focus. It was an amazing opportunity to further my career and build on my passion for working in disability. There were only about 10 people employed with Therapy Focus when I started, and I was the only full-time physiotherapist. For us to start on such a small scale with so few people, and grow to have more than 300 staff today, it’s an incredible achievement...

After a life changing decision to help someone who had hurt me greatly, I realised where my heart was aligned. It’s these very painful and personal experiences that define you as a person, and I feel that if I had not made the decision I did, it would have changed the course of my life. It helped me grow as a person and really defined who I am and where I am today...

Every Friday is sparring day at the gym. I also pick my two daughters up from school on Fridays, so they come here to the gym. All my fighters put on their head gear, mouth guards, their sixteen ounce gloves and everyone beats each other up. The music’s pumping and very often you’ll hear my eldest daughter Mia yell out a big ‘Yay!’ while clapping and cheering everyone on. She loves the interaction and the atmosphere...

I made the move from private practice to Therapy Focus 17 years ago primarily because I had young children and the work hours were far more family-friendly and flexible. I never thought I’d stay as long as I have, but I’ve loved working in the team environment and the fact that you can approach your work far more holistically. It’s something I’m really passionate about...

Who are we really at the end of the day? I feel like its constantly evolving and changing. Yes, we’ve got our fundamental values and you try to search for things that align with you and what you can offer to the world, but that’s a challenge in many, many ways. I like to think that I’m a grass roots kind of person. I try to keep my feet on the ground, touch base with people and understand their realities...

Growing up I wanted to be a superhero, an astronaut and an actor. Then as I got older I developed a love for all things art and science related. Looking at different career options, I discovered that by working as an occupational therapist I could make a career out of each one of my passions. Being an OT is a nice blend of art, science, creativity, design and acting...

My interest in art began when I was about seven years old. I started doing art and craft lessons and, a year later, I began drawing. I would draw mainly sea creatures but I was also very attracted to Egyptian art. I was 11 years old when I held my first solo exhibition and sold all my work. Art is very empowering and inspiring for me. I can discover new things and learn about myself...

When I was a little girl, I loved to dance. I loved seeing dancers who were so physically fit and trained hard to create something so beautiful. It just so happened that my dance teacher was also a soft tissue occupational therapist and after seeing her put a patella back into place, I knew I wanted to work in the field...

My favourite quote right now is ‘beauty begins the moment you start to believe in yourself’. I really like make-up. I wear it every day and taught myself how to do it by watching videos. I’m not good at art, but I guess it’s my way of being creative...

Right now, the thing I’m most proud of is the fact my wife and I are pregnant. Getting married was also a really happy and profound moment in my life. For me it was making that choice to be with someone, and it was a choice I was very confident in. Before I met my wife I didn’t believe in the fairy tales or love stories you see in the movies. So I was surprised when I experienced that feeling of just knowing...