I’ve had a few different lives.
I’ve coached gymnastics, taught in schools, travelled the world, worked in aviation and technology, built a pole studio, competed on the world stage, created events and coached business owners.
I’ve won world titles, built businesses, made mistakes and started over more than once. Looking back, my life has rarely followed a straight line, but there’s always been a common thread: I’ve never been particularly good at accepting that something isn’t possible without finding out for myself.
I’m curious about what we’re capable of when we back ourselves, try something new and remain open to what might come next.
I haven’t always had it figured out. Far from it. But every chapter has given me more perspective, a better understanding of what matters and a little more confidence in my own judgement.
And I’m still learning.
The years that shaped me
I was born in Holland and moved to Australia with my family when I was six. Growing up, gymnastics and ballet were a big part of my life, and I was willing to put in the work. I often travelled up to an hour and a half each way to train after school.
Those years taught me discipline, patience and the value of showing up consistently.
I learned that progress takes time, and that loving something makes you willing to work for it.
After university, I explored a range of careers, from teaching high school and working in London to becoming an aerobics coordinator in Lebanon and working for Qantas in aviation and technology.
Each experience taught me something about adapting, solving problems and finding my feet in unfamiliar territory. I didn’t realise it then, but I was building a collection of skills that would serve me in ways I couldn’t have anticipated.
My path into pole was another unexpected turn. What began as a new passion eventually became a huge part of my life, my career and the community I would help build.
Once again, I found myself chasing a challenge and discovering there was more ahead than I’d imagined.
Independence has always mattered to me
For me, it’s never been just about money. It’s about having the confidence, resources and self-belief to make decisions about your own life.
One of the earliest lessons that shaped me came at age 25 from watching my mum struggle after my dad passed away. Seeing how difficult it could be to navigate life when so much had been organised around someone else had a profound effect on me.
I made myself a promise: I wanted to be able to look after myself, have choices and know I could stand on my own two feet.
While working as a teacher, I saved hard and bought my first home at 24. By 2004, I owned three properties. I was proud of what I’d built because it represented more than financial success. It represented security, independence and the freedom to make my own decisions.
Life didn’t always go to plan, and there were later chapters in which I lost much of what I’d worked so hard to build. But my belief in independence never disappeared.
It’s something I continue to value deeply, and something I hope other women feel empowered to pursue for themselves.
The chapters that changed me
It’s possible to become stronger without becoming harder.
Not every chapter of my life has been easy, and I don’t think there’s much value in pretending otherwise.
I’ve stayed in situations longer than I should have, found the courage to walk away from a toxic marriage that was slowly destroying me, navigated a dangerous trafficking situation overseas, lost both my parents and faced uncertainty I couldn’t have anticipated.
Some experiences changed the direction of my life. Others changed how I saw myself. At times, I had to rebuild from places I never expected to find myself, making difficult decisions without having all the answers.
I don’t believe hardship automatically makes us stronger, or that everything happens for a reason. Sometimes difficult things are simply difficult things.
But we can learn from what we experience. We can become clearer about what matters, what we will and won’t accept, and what we want the next chapter to look like.
One of the things I’m proudest of is that, through everything, I’ve remained someone who cares deeply about other people. I believe it’s possible to become stronger without becoming harder, and to find your way through life’s challenges without losing the parts of yourself that matter.
Sometimes, moving forward isn’t about returning to who you were. It’s about discovering who you are now.
Sometimes the biggest wins come later
Pole gave me a new arena in which to challenge myself, and some of the most extraordinary experiences of my life have come through it.
I became Australian Pole Champion at 40, won world titles in 2015 and 2018, and continued competing well beyond the age when many people assume an athlete’s best years are behind them.
In 2024, at 50, I won the NSW Pole Championships. Went on to compete at the Australian Pole Championships & won the Best Musical Interpretation award.
That one still makes me smile. It’s a reminder of how easily we absorb other people’s assumptions about what’s realistic at different stages of life.
It’s tempting to think certain opportunities have an expiry date, or that if you haven’t achieved something by a particular age, you’ve missed your chance.
My own life has given me plenty of reasons to question that thinking.
Some of my proudest achievements came later than expected. Some of my best opportunities appeared after I changed direction. And some of the things I thought had set me back became the starting point for something new.
Experience counts. The lessons we gather through years of trying, failing, adapting and beginning again don’t disappear as we get older.
Sometimes, they make us better equipped for what’s next than we’ve ever been before.
The conversation that changed my perspective
As I approached 50, I found myself reflecting on where I’d thought I would be at that age compared with where I actually was.
I’d achieved things I once thought were out of reach, navigated changes I couldn’t have imagined and begun questioning what success really meant. Somewhere along the way, I’d started to wonder whether the best 25 years of my life were behind me.
Then, on a trip through Egypt, I shared a room with a 75-year-old woman who shifted my perspective.
She was financially independent, comfortable in who she was and clear about what mattered to her. She’d made mistakes, learned from them and built a life that reflected her own choices.
Seeing this stage of life through her eyes was incredibly freeing. I began to see the years ahead not as a gradual winding down, but as an opportunity for more confidence, freedom and clarity.
What if the next 25 years could be even better than the last?
That question has stayed with me.
We can’t control everything that happens, but we can continue to grow, change direction and make choices that bring us closer to the life we want.
We don’t have to have everything worked out by 30, 40 or 50. We don’t have to keep pursuing a version of success that no longer fits, or let our age determine what’s possible.
There is so much freedom in realising our lives are still unfolding.
Today, my work brings together many of the things I’ve loved throughout my life: coaching, building, creating, problem-solving and helping people see what they might be capable of.
I’ve been running Achieve, my pole studio, since 2012. Through competing, coaching and running workshops, I’ve built relationships across the international pole community and contributed to an industry I love.
I’ve also created events and experiences that bring people together, celebrate pole’s history and give dancers opportunities to learn, connect and be inspired.
Through coaching pole studio owners, I share the practical knowledge I’ve gained from running a business myself, including the mistakes, lessons and strategies that have helped me keep moving forward.
But increasingly, I’m interested in conversations that extend beyond any one industry: how we define success, trust ourselves, navigate change and build lives that genuinely feel like our own.
I’m particularly interested in women who’ve spent years looking after everyone else, putting their own ambitions aside or wondering whether it’s too late to do something different.
I want more women to recognise that they’re allowed to change their minds, want more, start again and build something that reflects who they are now.
I don’t have a formula for doing that. I’m still figuring things out myself. But I know how powerful it can be when someone believes in your potential, asks a different question or helps you see a way forward you hadn’t considered.
It’s something I’ve experienced myself, and something I try to offer others.
A few things I believe
Trust your gut.
You won’t always be able to explain why something doesn’t feel right, but I’ve learned not to ignore that feeling simply because I can’t yet put it into words.
Independence creates options.
The more capable and confident you become in looking after yourself, the more freedom you have to make decisions that are right for you.
It’s never too late to begin again.
Your age, your past decisions and the things that haven’t worked out don’t get to dictate everything that comes next.
Success is personal.
It’s easy to measure yourself against other people’s achievements and assume you’re falling behind. But someone else’s definition of success doesn’t have to become yours.
You can be strong and kind.
Life can be challenging without requiring you to become cynical or closed off. You can find your way through while holding on to the parts of yourself that matter.
Keep showing up for what matters to you.
Progress isn’t always dramatic, and it rarely happens overnight. But consistent effort, a willingness to learn and the courage to keep going can take you further than you think.
These aren’t lessons I’ve mastered once and for all. They’re reminders I return to, and ideas that continue to shape the way I live and work.
I’m still figuring things out
I don’t see myself as someone who has life neatly worked out. I’m still curious, ambitious, creating things and discovering new directions I want to explore.
There are still ideas I want to bring to life, people I want to learn from, places I want to go and challenges I’d love to take on.
If there’s one thing my life has taught me, it’s that the next chapter doesn’t have to look like the last. You can take what you’ve learned, leave behind what no longer fits and create something different.
You don’t have to know exactly where you’re going to take the first step.
Sometimes, you just have to be willing to see what’s possible.