Jess Fealy is a recent graduate of the NRWC E-Leaders Program.

Jess says “I’m a farmer, a mum of four kids and I work 2 days a week, time is scarce. I loved the E-Leaders [Program] because it gave me access to learning, networking and like-minded people and fitted in with my busy lifestyle.”

Lucy Bowler is a communications professional based in regional Victoria. With a strong rural background, she loves blue skies, open spaces and rain on a tin roof.

Whenever she meets people, it’s always 20 questions - she can’t help herself, she always likes to know more.

This insatiable curiosity means she likes to get the best from her clients when it comes to Business Storytelling. Lucy raises profiles, creates digital content, systematises communications and seek golden opportunities for revenue raising.

She works with small business, self-employed professionals and not-for-profits who want to take off to the next level.

Here are some tips from Lucy…

Sadly I know more people with cancer than the common cold. This scourge must be contained and eradicated. Can I count on you?

Kerry Vincent - National ambassador for Ovarian Cancer Australia and television host.

Lou Bull in her garden

I am sitting poised to put fingers to keyboard to share my story.  I am tempted to delay this story telling, maybe convince myself that there is a more pressing job I should do. However, it is the many women and families that I have worked in my various “jobs” that compel me to just do it! In a nut shell, I garden. Gardening and growing has been such a significant aspect of my life that I find it difficult to think of a time when it wasn’t there. 

NRWC E-Leader Danielle Doyle

Living on a station can be isolating. For Danielle Doyle a trip to town happens infrequently. Danielle lives on Mittiebah Station’, a 1.7 million acre NAPCO cattle breeding property on the Barkly Tableland, 270km north-west of Camooweal.

Blogger Karen Smith

Another year rolled around, and I took stock and realised, I really need to start doing stuff.  All the stuff I dreamed about doing in my life, with my family and with my career.  So I proclaim 2015 as the ‘Year of Doing’ even though I am a habitual observer!!  Rejoining the workforce after taking time off to have a family, I have come to realise that I had become a little too comfortable in my career, so I was determined to push myself well and truly out of my comfort zone.

Alwyn Friedersdorff with a bunch of 'happiness'.

Common sense tells us that flowers make us happy. But research has also shown that flowers provide us with a simple way to improve emotional health. It has been said that the presence of flowers triggers a strong sense of happiness, heightens feelings of life satisfaction and affects social behaviour in a positive manner far beyond what is normally believed.

Does this mean that I live in the happiest place on earth?!

A Man’s Best Friend
Always together right from the start
Man’s best friend
Lives in our heart

Bradley & Art Patricia Winter 2007

It was Sunday morning and we were sitting in a café in Balmain. We girls were enjoying the sun, chatting, catching up on the week that was, enjoying a latte and he was on the next table. The old line of “can I join you” seemed to work and before you knew it the whole table was alive with laughter.

Stacey's Favourite Picture -

John McQuillen ( Stacey’s Dad), Stacey, David Watson (husband) and Denny McQuillen (Mum)

Stacey Watson – Regional Manager Central Queensland, AustSafe Super; 2013 Queensland Rural Regional and Remote Women's Network (QRRRWN) Strong Women Leadership Award winner

In her blog Stacey shares with us how a letter from her husband helped her emerge from the grief which had taken over her life after she lost both her parents to cancer.  Stacey writes about how his words helped her develop her ‘recipe for life success’ and encourages us all to do the same.

Blog Author Louise Stock with the Hon Geoff Brock MP, South Australian Minister for Regional Development.

Louise Stock is a rural woman who is based in Lucindale in the Limestone Coast area of South Australia and is mother to 3 children, a partner in a grazing business and has her own consulting business, Focus Facilitation.  She was also a finalist in the 2015 South Australian RIRDC Rural Women’s Award. In her blog, Louise talks about her experiences as an entrant in the RIRDC Rural Women’s Award.

Blog Author and Rural Woman Jo Fulwood lives near sunny Cunderdin in Western Australia and is passionate about the Australian agricultural industry, improving the lot of women (and their families) in rural areas, her family and her roses.  In this reflective blog, she reflects on how a black silk dress and a threatening out-of-control fire helped her to determine what is really important to her.

Sue Armstrong is a 68 year old grandmother of six. She and her husband Brian farm cattle, sheep and crops in the Central West of NSW and in this blog, she shares her story of floods, fire and drought in rural Australia.

Sue has a background in media, having worked in radio for many years. She is a volunteer Lifeline Counsellor, secretary of her local CWA, secretary of the local Landcare group and Publicity Officer of her local Show Society.

Sue enjoys patchwork & sewing, reading, spinning, weaving, reading and writing.

Ross Romeo is the Queensland Coordinator for Community Response to Eliminating Suicide (CORES), a qualified counsellor and school chaplain.  He lives in the regional centre of Ayr, about an hour south of Townsville in North Queensland. Coming from a farming background, Ross has a unique insight into rural, regional and remote communities and this issues facing them.  In his blog, he shares with us his very personal story about coping with a mate’s suicide and how he became involved in the CORES program.

Reforming the Australian Federation has been put under the spotlight by our Federal Government. But what does “reforming” look like? To answer this, the Government has commissioned a White Paper on the Reform of Federation, which will examine and explore issues associated with getting all levels of government to work together better, across a number of key areas, one of which is health.

It’s hoped the White Paper will clarify the roles and responsibilities of our local, State and Territory governments and possibly identify areas where duplication of services and waste can be reduced, if not eliminated – all while acknowledging the sovereignty of the States and Territories.

Health, of course, is a significant talking point for the White Paper, and an issues paper titled ‘Roles and Responsibilities in Health’  was released in December last year,  providing some key areas for further consideration.

In her blog, long term rural health advocate and NRWC Director from Western Australia, Mrs Irene Mills AM shares her thoughts on some of these and what they might mean for people living in rural and remote Australia.

Are you a rural and remote woman who is passionate about making a difference and who knows what you want for you, your community or industry however are not sure what how your voice can be heard by the political decision makers that need to know?  In this blog post, the Program Manager for the National Rural Women’s Coalition, Karen Tully would like to share her top seven tips for personal contact advocacy that can really make a difference.