Women of Wynnum Manly

Talking to Francine was like chatting with an old friend. Before the podcast interview, all I knew about Francine was she has a fun and energetic daughter, Maryanne. Maryanne chats to anyone; everyone at Wynnum parkrun knows her. I also knew Francine was a former teacher.  In discussing how she got to the Bayside I heard such an interesting story. Francine talked about living off the grid in Moret...

Dannika is a seriously delightful human; the type of person who you immediately feel like you have known for years in the first minute of meeting her.  Dannika is the coordinator of the Cedar and Pine bookclub that meets monthly at the bar.  She is also a children's book author, who leads workshops for children to encourage them to tap into  the creative imagination we all have within us.  Da...

Kitty Hamilton is in her 70s and is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. She is probably the longest resident of the Bayside I have interviewed for the podcast, moving here when she was just a young child. Talking to Kitty I learnt all sorts of historical things about the area, and she is still as much in love with it today as she was when she was a child. Kitty has had her own share of...

Estelle Corr is a friend of mine, and has journeyed all the way from Ireland to be part of the amazing Bayside community.   Estelle is a physiotherapist who has a special interest in neurophysiotherapy. It has always fascinated me as to why someone chooses this particular path of physiotherapy.  It was great to be able to chat about this, and about all things Estelle - including learning more abou...

What a delightful human Lynda Kendrick is. I knew  of Lynda through parkrun, and knew that she is involved in the community with her volunteering roles. Little did I know that she has been volunteering in various roles for over five decades!   I know people who are inspired by Lynda, who in her 70s acknowledges she is fortunate to have good health and the means to live the life that she does. She...

Kate Gough was wonderful to chat with. She is easy company, clearly very intelligent and when she talks about Oakley, her three year old with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), you can feel her heart holding on tight to every moment spent with her.  I wondered how I would feel after talking to a mother who has had a child diagnosed as terminal at a very young age. To be honest, I actually felt uplifte...

Laura Lewis was one of the women of the Bayside that I had on my list to interview for the podcast for a long time.  It was also a conversation that may easily have been in two parts, as we could have continued on. Laura is a business owner, mother, artist and a fierce advocate for people with disability. It was an interesting discussion and Laura was really open about her adult diagnosis of autis...

It was interesting hearing about Alex's journey to the Bayside, all the way from WA!  She has since been a long term local with an extended connection to the Moreton Bay Boys school, firstly as a teacher. The conversation taught me a  lot about the history of the school. Alex also talked about why she nominated as a candidate as Councillor for Wynnum Manly Ward.  This chat took us all over th...

I connected with Kylie a while ago, but got to know her a little more when one of our special local women passed away unexpectedly a little while ago.  Kylie worked her butt off at this time, while continuing to manage her own business but doing what she does so well - supporting others.   Chatting to Kylie for the podcast reinforced for me why so many think highly of her as an appreciated member...

Mandy was just lovely to chat with.  I heard that she  has been a Family Day Care provider for 25 years and was really intrigued to find out what it was she enjoyed about this important role, to still being doing it after all this time.  Spoiler alert, Mandy still loves it, although she has seen a lot of changes to the industry over the past two decades. I really enjoyed getting to know Mandy, out...

I have seen Bel Elis's name mentioned in a number of different contexts over the past 7 years. She is truly part of the community, and talking to Bel, I discovered that she built a community around her with the different roles she has taken on.   Bel owns Little Gnome in Charlotte Street in Wynnum, and I discovered she is also "DJ Bel".  It was great chatting with her, reminding me...

A few people have asked me if I could be interviewed for the podcast. A couple of people have offered to lead the interview. I chose my good friend Kate to be on the other side of the microphone for this one, as she has been involved in supporting the podcast from the very first time I had an idea about interviewing women in the Bayside.  She is my unofficial volunteer Business Manager and it was...

For those who head down to the waterfront on weekends, you may have seen some people in orange tshirts and Sit N Chat banners.  One of those people is Clair.  Clair donates her time to listen to others who may be lonely and need a chat.   I had a really nice chat with Clair, getting to understand the background behind her idea that is an original concept but valuable to many.   You can follow Sit...

Sara Whitmee became the councillor for Wynnum Manly in May 2023, and has been connected to the Bayside all of her life.  Since I first saw Sara was our new councillor I was intrigued about her, and what experience she had to take on the role.   I had a lovely chat getting to know Sara, and she was really open with me about how she thought it over for a very long time before making a decision to be...

Ida reached out to me about being a podcast guest, as she facilitates a breast cancer support group at Manly.  Ida also has a story to tell. A year ago, as a mum with a baby and another small child, she was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. She is quite the remarkable woman and her mindset in relation to living with cancer, her treatment and life is incredible.  I was reminded when talking to...

One of the reasons I love doing this podcast is that I am genuinely interested in people and hearing their stories.  Tess was an extraordinary woman to chat to and I walked away feeling like there was so much more to hear. The journey from leaving school at 15 to working in child protection and expanding her love of writing into some incredible resources for children was inspiring to hear.  Tess&a...

Deb only joined the Bayside community early in 2023, but wow what a journey it was for her to get here - all the way from France!  She is only a young woman but has packed a heap of adventure in her life and is enjoying the Wynnum Manly community, and grateful for how supportive it is of her Balinese massage business.   I love hearing stories of women who leave everything and everyone they know to...

Jade has a fascinating story and the part where she went from selling alcohol in Abu Dhabi to being a buyer's agent in Wynnum Manly is only part of it.  She has a passion for living that is very contagious. I am grateful to Jade for educating me on Ramadan, as I had little understanding of what is involved for those who practice it each year. I learnt a lot and am glad Jade was happy to share...

Alex is a young woman who has the kind of quiet drive I admire.  Only a couple of years ago she opened her own physiotherapy practice (evoxiaphysio.com) in Edith St, Wynnum.   In our conversation Alex shared with me how she had in informal apprenticeship to being able to own and run the business side of a physio practice, and the changes and challenges faced in the industry in 2023. I see a lot of...

For over 20 years, Kylie Eastham has been a qualified signwriter.  You don't have to go far in the Bayside to see her work on banners, on walls and on boats and cars.   I always made an assumption that Kylie was born and raised in Wynnum and was surprised by her response to the question about how she got to the Bayside.  Kylie is kind, unassuming and easy to be around. She is also generous. A...

Lauren is the Programs Services Manager of Embrace, located at Silky Oaks in Manly.  She started the program three years ago and it has grown to become a successful service for Bayside families.   In addition to the great work at Embrace, Lauren has also very recently established her own fashion label (elqstore.com) which has a focus on sustainability and ethical clothing. This chat really did go...

Getting through a book a week, you could say that I love to read.  So, it was fascinating to sit down and chat with Rachel Sweasey, who has just written her first novel.  Rachel was really open to talking about the process of writing for her, and how the storyline of her book came to be.  I enjoyed listening to all the different life experiences and jobs she has had gave her the skills and confide...

Amy was another fabulous recommendation and was a joy to chat with. We had a very easy conversation and I was fascinated by her story and her business Amy Jackson - Nurturing Confidence . Amy has a lovely warm and open presence, and I can see why she is so successful in what she does in building the confidence of others. I really treasured her openness and reflections of her own way of living and...

Andrea Parker is an equestrian, dietician and intuitive eating counsellor. She has quite the bio, and it was fascinating finding out more about all of the different elements of her life.  She has cleverly combined all of those elements into her professional life, enabling her to work doing what she loves and believes in.  I don't know much about the sport of equestrian, but I understand it mo...

Kirsty reached out to me after I had published a few episodes of the podcast.  She had a heap of recommendations she thought would be perfect for future episodes, and she provided names and contact details for each one. She didn't stop there, without even knowing me, Kirsty offered suggested designs for the podcast image, as she loved the concept and wanted to help out.  I kept waiting for th...