Bold Moves

Chapter 2 Own your voice

The trouble is, you think you have more time.

Buddha

Do you own your voice?

If you had 20 seconds of ‘insane courage’ — a term coined by Benjamin Mee of We Bought a Zoo renown — what would you do?

What would you say? What’s holding you back?

If you want to be bold, you need to find your voice and figure out where you need to be heard so you can really make an impact and a difference.

When I first started working at Ella Baché there were so many moments where I didn’t feel I was being heard. I was misunderstood and I certainly didn’t get the traction I had expected (and had received in the past). In fact, I had no voice, I had no credibility and in those early years I faced countless barriers that prevented me from owning my voice and being heard. I had to stand up, pick my battles, play the long game and show up time and time again. It took insane courage.

Being unique

The most common question I get asked is ‘Did you always plan to work for Ella Baché?’ The answer is no!

Back in the 1990s my brother and I would spend days and weeks of our school holidays in the Ella Baché factory or manufacturing plant in Sydney. The wonderful part of this is that some of the people we used to work with back then are still there today. On a Monday morning we would turn up at around 8.30 am and most people had already been there for hours. I would sit on a stool in front of a big, long white bench and be tasked with folding cartons and putting jars into the cartons, ...