I always look forward to celebrating International Women’s Day – and not just because it also happens to be my birthday, although I admit to being rather chuffed to have a personal stake in such an important day! But rather because every year I’m lucky enough to attend a lunch with a unique group of wonderful women from our region, and every year they share such terrifically diverse stories, passions and ideas.
This year was no exception! I joined a group of over 60 Moora women for a delicious lunch at Jeanne D’Moore, a restaurant owned and run by my talented friend Marie Williamson – an innovative business women herself (check out Marie’s recipe below). While we enjoyed Marie’s decadent three course menu, three very different women shared their stories. All have faced huge challenges, both personal and professional, and all have succeeded in fields once regarded as men’s domains. And I know all of them are living the kind of lives the organisers of our first Australian International Women’s Day in 1928 could only have dreamed of!
Shire of Moora President Tracy Lefroy opened the conversations of the day with a personal account of her journey to finally reaching the status of a Moora ‘local’: beginning as a farmer in her own right – and a Nuffield scholar – to becoming a wife, mother and part of a family farm; to her business journey (which earned her Telstra Business Woman of the Year), and to her current role as the second female Shire of Moora President in its 100 year history.
Up next was Ashlee Topham, a brave young girl at the start of her career in agriculture. Ashlee’s story, in which she also shared the heart breaking loss of a friend in country road accident, was certainly testament to the strong new roles women are taking up on farms, in cattle work and throughout regional Australia. I can’t wait to see where Ashlee’s future takes her!
Lastly we heard from Badgy-bred Ali Whybrow, a qualified mechanic, truck driver and general awesome all-rounder who kept the crowd entertained with her hilarious yarns – including stories about breastfeeding babies while driving trucks, fighting fires in bikinis, and the triple road train backing incident which earned her a standing ovation from the blokes at the Muchea Saleyards (not many could claim such an accolade!).
The day, coordinated by Moora Westpac Bank Manager, Trish Deaker, more than filled the IWD brief of ‘An occasion to review how far women have come in their struggle for equality, peace and development, as well as an opportunity to unite, network and mobilise for meaningful change.’ And it was a lot of fun to boot!
Trish said, “It was such an honour to celebrate and learn from some of the incredible businesswomen in our region at our International Women’s Day Event in Moora. It was a special event full of laughs, inspiring stories and plenty to take away. Helping women create their better future is so important to me and Westpac, and it was a wonderful chance to introduce everyone to the tools and resources available online through Westpac’s Ruby Connection.
*The Ruby connection is an interactive community designed to connect, educate and inspire women and help them build their financial futures.”
Keep an eye out for the April Northern Valleys News to see more pics from this event and other IWD celebrations around the region!
