#ThisLittleGirlIsMe - A Spanish Skippy

Imagine… Being a young girl of 12 and you are escorted by the schoolmistress to your new classroom. The door opens wide, and all eyes are on you. You hear your name mentioned and suddenly you are bombarded by smiling faces and voices speaking at you, your brain struggles to decipher the sounds in an attempt to make sense of what they are saying. Yet nothing. Absolutely nothing makes any sense.

?That was me!

I was born in Barcelona, Spain in an era where my parents were legally discriminated against and persecuted for their religious beliefs. ?Spain was at the start of transitioning from decades of the dictatorship-military rule to democracy, and the cities were exploding with political unrest.

In May 1976?and with little prior warning, my courageous working-class parents packed up their four children, the little belongings they had, farewelled their family and everything they had ever known and emigrated to Australia, a country we barely knew anything about - except for kangaroos which we had learned about through the TV show named Skippy.

This sudden move to the other side of the world, was a selfless act of sacrifice by my parents with one key aim in mind, “to provide their children with a better life and greater opportunities” as my dad would often remind us.

My parents taught me to put our faith-beliefs first above all. ?To fight for what we believed in with respect, humility and integrity. To keep dreaming and to never, ever give up hope.

As the eldest of four siblings as soon as I had barely grasped the new language, I found myself sometimes needing to miss out on school to be my parent’s interpreter; negotiating a bank loan for what would be our family home; accompanying my dad to buy welding and boiler-making tools or going with him into enormous engineering factories during job interviews.

Being a shy, introverted young girl, you can probably guess, that was not easy, and I can still recall vividly being scared out of my skin – yet courage beyond my abilities seemed to accompany me through every encounter.

For years to come and with English being my second language, in my own head, my ‘accent’ became my biggest crutch which filled my head with self-talk such as;

• Am I good enough?
• Who am I to make a difference?
• There are people much better than me?
• What if I fail?

Yet, over the years opportunity after opportunity presented itself, requiring me to face a fear, a challenge, all calling me out of my comfort zone. Focussing on the sacrifice mum and dad had demonstrated in leaving everything behind for us, provided enough strength to courageously take chances.

I say courageously because the Merriam Webster dictionary describes courage as follows;

Courage is the ability to do something that you know is difficult or dangerous. To have the mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear or difficulty.

When I look back on the opportunities, the people, experiences, jobs, I have been exposed to throughout my career and personal life, those very things that scared me, yet I was able to conquer by facing them and being curious about, are the very things that fueled the courage to withstand the next adventure (adversity). They have provided me with knowledge, skills, insights and experiences that have helped develop and form whom I have become. It wasn't easy, I had to work hard, be prepared to fail and be committed to try and try again. And very important, I had to learn to embrace adversity.

Facing your fears and doubts with curiosity changes your mindset from, "it can't possibly be done!" to, " I wonder what is possible?".

I have learned that; who I am, who I was created to be, IS exactly who I am meant to be. It is exactly what makes me good at what I do. It is what makes me unique. It's what makes me valuable.

Decades later, older and wiser (yet still learning) I can share first of all that I am blessed to be a wife to an incredibly loving Aussie husband and I am a mum of two uniquely gifted and wonderful, sons.

Professionally this little girl has become a woman:

• ?I have been the recipient of cinematography and marketing awards.
• My career has exposed me to the opportunity to develop my strengths and gifts, to develop as a leader and to build an arsenal of experience which I now share with others.
• ?I am a public speaker - and was selected to speak at TENx-mini on the topic of ‘Embrace Adversity - the future of your organisation’s competitive edge.’
• I have faced life-threatening experiences and survived.
• Amidst the first year of a global pandemic, I became a published author of the best-seller “Make a Difference” – Inspiring Stories of Triumph Over Trials” sharing the book with 21 other influencers from India, Australia and Singapore with stories celebrating the human spirit, zeal and grit.
• I have been blessed to work in the private, public and not for profit sectors, each one equipping me to become a better me and a better leader to others.

If I can encourage you right now, remember that you are here for such a time as this. You have been chosen. Everything in your journey (every tear, pain, grief, challenge) is not wasted. Trust me, I get adversity, but I refuse to waste it. I encourage you to #embraceAdversity with courage and curiosity.

* About the photo:

#thislittlegirlismeI was 18 months, my brother was due to be born any minute now. I had refused to walk up to this point to mum and dad’s frustration. The family were camping and in desperation, my dad placed me in the middle of a paddock and with a watchful eye started to walk away and called my name. He captured this image as I burst through the long grass – with courage and curiosity taking my very first steps.

As I reflect on this photo, I can clearly see that ‘courage’ and ‘curiosity’ were character strengths that I had been gifted with from the very start. Courage and curiosity that was nurtured and modelled by my parents from a young age, but furthermore demonstrated,?developed and shaped by people in my career who mentored and coached me. But more importantly, they believed in me.

Thank you.