I'm truly honoured to share the story of my business, Play Move Improve. It's a journey that's been full of unexpected turns, pivotal moments, and incredible people who've shaped my path.
To be honest, I never really saw myself as a businesswoman. I just knew that I couldn't find the allied health support my son needed, and I felt compelled to help other families in the same boat. That's how it all started - with a mum trying to support her child and realising there were so many others out there facing similar challenges.
Let me take you back to where it all began. There have been four really key, pivotal people in my life who've changed the trajectory of what I do in this world and have inspired my business for all different types of reasons.
The first one I'd like to share is a child I went to school with, Brian. Brian had muscular dystrophy, and we were in primary school together. The pivotal moment was in grade six when Brian's deterioration really started to take hold. He went from having trouble walking - his balance was quite poor - to then needing help with everything: handwriting, eating, opening and shutting doors. I took on that role, gently pushed into it by a teacher and an integration aide.
I believe I've always had that compassion, empathy, and real desire to help people. I also needed to feel purpose as I was going through a really yucky childhood, especially at that time. Brian gave me hope and perspective because while my home was so unsafe and chaotic, Brian could still smile even though his body was falling apart and his balance was feeling so unsafe and chaotic.
Brian could still smile even though doctors were telling him that he was barely going to meet his teenage years so if Brian could smile, then of course I could smile.
Brian's been really quite phenomenal in inspiring the work I've done in the disability sector. I started in disability way before early childhood, and I feel it's still a real strong passion to help children who have a disability, whether that be physical, intellectual, social, or emotional.
The next person in my life that really made a massive difference was my son. Hugh is now 12, and was born with a developmental delay called dyspraxia. When I was pregnant with my twins, I was working in aged care as a physio assistant. I always thought I'd be in aged care or in disability, but then my son was born, and I just knew that there wasn't support for people like me, unless you could afford to pay for a Speechie or an OT or an Exercise Physiologist privately, or only need 5 sessions from Medircare, the options weren't like they are now.
So, I developed my brand Play Move Improve. It was actually called Move 4 Health back then for kids in early childhood who were developmentally delayed and needed support with their motor skills.
Then when my kids were in grade one or two, I joined a school where I was coordinator for children with learning difficulties, and I met an amazing person called Briony.
Briony is my third person that's just absolutely changed my life. Her son Max is born with a rare genetic disorder. No one really knows what it is or how we can help him, but Max definitely teaches me that you can't complain of a headache or of having a crappy day when Max can light up any room with his contagious positive energy.Â
Briony, bless her, she nominated me for one of the most incredible awards. I was in the top 10 Young Business Women of the Year awards for Women's Weekly many years ago. I went to Sydney and met some incredible people, one of whom is the fourth person in my career journey: Michelle Bridges.
I did a little bit of work with Michelle Bridges, did some magazine articles, and was going to run a program with her. We had the photos ready, the program was ready, they started to do the media around it but Michelle and her team needed me to focus more on the target audience for her brand and this was different to what my goal was, which is helping children with delays. I wanted to really promote children to do more physical activity, to be more coordinated, to have less screen time, and bridge the gaps for children's current delays. And understandably that didn't suit Michelle's brand. So I had to make a really tricky decision. I was in tears to Michelle, bless her. She was amazing to deal with when I had to make this big decision: Do I go with someone who could really elevate me and my business down her path? I knew that she would - she's a wonderful woman who's extremely supportive. Or could I be honest with her? She actually was really beautiful about it. She gave me an out where I could have no loss from my decision, and she was fantastic.
I said I'm out. I couldn't get this far being known for being a Women's Weekly Businesswoman of the Year nominee developing sensory spaces for kids with disability, and then stop creating spaces for children with disability to go down her path. It was tricky, especially when 2020 hit. 2020 absolutely smashed my business. I remember March 3rd, I was just scratching out all of my upcoming workshops that I'd worked my butt off to get - all of them were gone. I went back to nothing.
I remember thinking, "Why didn't I go along with Michelle? And then my hubby, bless him (I probably should make him number five inspirational person), he said, "You've got to go with your gut." And my gut said in 2020, I've got two options: I can let it all consume me and say this is too much and I've absolutely lost everything, or I could do quite the opposite.
I spent every single day when my kids had two hours of remote learning in my home office (bedroom), creating content. In my most depressed, anxious mood, I just kept pumping out podcast episodes, videos, handouts. And that was life changing. My business is now international. I've now branched off into a second business, so Play Move Improve will always be my baby, but I also have The Kindy Coach where I can focus on kindergarten teams.
It's been really, really exciting and overwhelming all at the same time.
I've been able to take those four pivotal moments, pivotal people (of course, Rob, my hubby, has been with me the entire way - my business wouldn't be possible without Rob), and that's where I've come to today.
I believe I've always just gone with my gut for what my next business idea is. My business decisions are based on making really quick decisions, but is that of sound quality all the time? Is it the best strategy? No, but I just keep going with my gut. I think what's worked for me is that if my gut is telling me this doesn't feel right, then I put a stop to things as quickly as I say yes to things.
Try not to let someone else's vision take over your own. Try to stay true to yourself and true to the children that you're trying to support. It has obviously changed over the many years. I started, as I said, working for children like my son with delays. As I went into kindergartens and ran therapy sessions, I had a natural passion for helping children from trauma because I am from trauma myself. It's not until you're amongst different types of people, doing different types of services, that you can feel where you fit and where you feel you're drawn towards.
Come lockdown 2020, that's when my socials really ramped up. I obviously had the time at home. I knew that children weren't getting the movement and the physical activity that their body and their development really needs. I knew in my gut that this, while we had to do what we had to do, wouldn't be great for children's development, especially for 2020-born babies.
So I've written programs since then, I've put information all around the world, and that's what's, I believe, been my real success. I took the opportunity - I could have sat in 2020 and felt really sorry for myself, but I really took it upon myself to ask: What am I going to do now? How am I going to pivot and how am I going to use the skill that I have and the passion that I have and use it for good?
That's when I became quite known for my craft, doing it all around the world. I still am really excited to be doing face-to-face workshops and sessions in Melbourne. I do a little bit of face-to-face interstate, and I do online in all different countries - India, Romania, Finland.
If I was to give advice to people, it's not to rush. This has been 10, if not more, years in the making. It's not to think that it all happens overnight, but it's just to think: What am I going to do tomorrow that's just that one extra step ahead?
So that's a little bit about me and my journey. Remember, success doesn't happen overnight. It's about persistence, staying true to your passion, and being ready to adapt when needed. Trust your gut, seek support when you need it, and never lose sight of why you started in the first place.
