Some of the information on this site is written in the third person, because it is written, at least in part, by a member of our team.  This bio is not!  I figure you are here because you want to know more about me, so I would love to take this opportunity to tell you in the first person.  This is my story and it is my pleasure to share it with you.  It is not your typical “About X” story that rolls out the extensive qualifications, the impressive employer organizations, and the great international successes.  These are certainly part of my story, with qualifications in Arts, Psychology, Family Therapy and Business, but what we do at Yelland Enterprises is informed by the essence of who I am, so I want to share some of that with you too.

My mission is to create world peace….one heart at a time! So let me tell you why.

It would be fair to say I have always been a speaker.  My parents will attest to the number of times I bailed up a member of the family, including pets, to tell them something terribly important or share a great story about some unique perspective I had on life.  This is a skill I inherited from my father, who is and remains, an accomplished and much travelled speaker.  His interest is in growing cattle, whilst mine is in growing people.

As the only girl in a family of four siblings, I discovered early that in order to have company, I had to do what the boys were doing, so my football, cricket and wrestling skills were well developed at an early age.  But it was here I began my education in understanding boys and men, and there seemed an endless parade of men coming and going from our cattle stud in provincial Victoria, where they did business with my parents.

Of course, like most rural women, my mother worked the property too, but it was always referred to as my father’s business.  This intrigued me and I guess was the birth place of my curiosity about how social structures influence the “story” we have about the way things are and was the breeding ground of my tendency to question everything.

I was not particularly scholarly, despite having gone on to study Arts, Psychology, Family Therapy, and eventually Business over an 18 year period.  I have a thirst for knowledge and am indeed living proof that you can be incredibly successful at university without having a particularly solid grip on the academic side of life.  My true interest each time I studied was campus life and the interactions that took place between people.  It was as if what went on outside the lecture theatres better prepared me for the journey I would take than did the academia.

Having had hard working farming parents and brothers who all played football at a very high level of competition, I was often drawn into providing massage treatments just to keep them upright.  It seemed I had a natural ability to create healing when doing these rather rudimentary rubs, so when the opportunity to study massage came about, I leapt at it.  This took me on a journey over several years, and yes, more study, to explore the fundamentals of the physical body and to create the ideal conditions for healing and wellbeing.  This part of my journey brought me to fascinating insights about the workings of the human body and its relationship to the mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of the person’s life.  My ability to “read” people is now a feature of my work and an integral part of the framework for personal growth which I teach.

My family has a script of longevity and I have seen 3 of my grandparents live to well beyond 90 years of age, thus I grew up surrounded by older adults who had time to both tell and listen to tales.  This created a very rich tapestry of experience with storytelling and fuelled my passion and natural ability to tell a great story and engage people in an emotional journey through the telling.  This capacity seems to have its own mesmerizing power and allows me to reach and touch the lives of large and small audiences alike.  In our modern, fast-paced life, the power and value of story is often overlooked and I am grateful for this skill and the depth it creates when I run events and speak form stage.

I was gathered into the bosom of extended family life and here got to experience firsthand the impact and influence of learning that is handed from one generation to the next, often without any conscious awareness on the part of either teacher or learner.  This was further demonstrated when I met my partner and took on co-parenting 6 step children.  The great many gifts our children have given me over the years are a blessing, but perhaps the one that stands out is the true value of connection, belonging and love.  Whilst I never doubted the power of these things, I saw it demonstrated again and again as our children grew to become happy and successful young adults.  This expereince also fuelled my desire to assist young people and help them truly achieve their very best, no matter what challenges they may face.

I began my career working with people with disabilities, where I found things to be more restricted by the limiting attitudes of those who ran the facilities than I ever did by those who carried the label of “disabled”.  So, I moved rather quickly into the world of therapy and family therapy in particular.  I have strong beliefs about the importance of providing safe and loving places for children to grow.  My career path saw me rise quickly to senior management in a number of social service organizations in Australia and New Zealand.  This gave me unique opportunities to create great systems and processes to support staff and ensure the highest possible standard of service was delivered to clients and customers.  My capacity to develop strong and effective relationships was a key to my success and the growth of the organizations for which I worked.  Again, it was all about strong relationships, loving places for children to belong and come to understand themselves and generally “growing” people to be their best.

I then got into consultancy work, offering change management and team development services in Australia and New Zealand.  Again, it was all about quality relationship!  Working with large organizations such as Presbyterian Support Services, The Office of The Commissioner For Health and Disability, Prisoners Aide and Rehabilitation Services, Barnardo’s and Women’s Health, as well as Corporate enterprises such as Effem Foods (the Mars Company in New Zealand), gave me unique opportunities to impact larger numbers of people and create positive change more quickly.

As a full time speaker, I now run events all over Australia, sharing the framework for relationship and personal growth I have developed over a 20 year period.  I believe we can only truly experience peace in the outer world when we have created it in the inner world and so my entire focus is set on supporting people, as individuals, couples and groups, to develop strong, deep and open-hearted connection with themselves and each other.  After all, the greatest success we can experience in this life is to love and be loved and to be known and loved for who we truly are.  For me, the most humbling blessing is to see people discover more of the truth of who they are and share their unique gifts with those they love…and the world.

I am also fortunate to have been invited to share the stages of some incredible speakers and business people who appreciate my open-hearted, transparent and engaging style.  I spent much of last year speaking throughout America and Australia, with Inspired Living Entertainment, makers of The Difference™ film.  This year I was invitation to join Dr Joanna Martin and the Shift Speaker Training team, offering events throughout Australia and the UK.  As a speaker, it is indeed a great honour to be invited to speak for someone who actually teaches people to speak from stage.

I was also invited to speak at the StepUp Foundation Youth Summit in Melbourne and the Magic Moments Foundation of Australia Youth Leadership Summit. I regularly speak at other people’s events, where my unique approach to relationship and personal development adds value to their audience; be they in youth services, property development, small business success, or even menopause management!  Whether speaking from stage, sharing with a small group or just one coaching client, I am blessed to be making the difference I am here to make – opening hearts and sharing love!

Certainly the most exciting development for me personally, as well as for our team, is the development of the Project KidsConnect services we offer, focussing on responding to the unique needs of young people throughout Australia and New Zealand.  This work allows me to go back to the true reason I believe I am here and that is to support young people to discover and express the truth of who they are.  Discovering the strength, beauty and talent in each young person and assiting them to connect with and believe in themselves, is a gift.  Seeing anyone grow and prosper is a wonderful experience, but seeing that happen for a young person makes my heart sing.