I do love it when someone shares more than one story with me!  Welcome back Lisa. 

Lisa told me about moving from home (and familiarity) to Australia (a country she had never even visited!). 

“Nearly 7 years ago, we packed up our family and moved to a country we had never even visited – Australia!  I had travelled many times overseas but never here – my husband and daughters had never even travelled internationally before.” 

And why would Lisa and her family take such a huge leap?  “We knew that living in our country of birth was becoming untenable and that we had to seek an opportunity to give our daughters a better life.  We knew that it would take every last cent that we had to re-establish ourselves in a new country and it was like starting all over again.” 

It wasn’t all smooth sailing with the initial plan falling through “After a great deal of investigation and work, we managed to travel here on a 457 visa through my husband being sponsored to work here.   We were originally going to Perth, and after that offer fell through, we made a last attempt to leave.  I always say that Melbourne chose us – we didn’t choose it.  When the offer came through we grabbed it.  We closed our eyes and jumped!” 

It was a tough decision for many reasons, “We were leaving behind many family members, long standing and deep friendships, very well-established and successful careers and uprooting our daughter in the middle of a school year and fairly close to the completion of her schooling journey.  We didn’t know whether financially we would make it as the exchange rate was 10/1, so we could just see our savings disappearing so quickly.” 

Even once in Melbourne there were doubts, but one special conversation laid those fears to rest: “I questioned very deeply what we had done – I missed my home, my family and friends.  The verification that we had done the right thing was when one day, on an adventure out, my daughter and I were walking through the beautiful botanical gardens.  She said to me “You know what’s so nice, Mum?”  I asked her what – she replied “That we can just walk together like this and enjoy the beauty instead of worrying about whether someone is going to jump out from behind the bush and attack us.”  It shocked me to the core – that any child would have to grow up with thoughts like that…..and in that same moment, I felt a great sense of peace knowing that we had made the right decision.” 

Would Lisa step out of her comfort zone again?  “Yes – it’s an adventure after all.  New places to see, new people to meet – I do love Melbourne and the life we’ve created here.  I think if there was a great opportunity for us to experience something different, yes I would.  The caveat to that is that I would always want to return home……to Melbourne.  And we have been extremely blessed that our new country has embraced us and allowed us to become citizens.  As a very dear friend said to me “Roots in Africa….thriving in Australia” – you can truly thrive anywhere you plant yourself if you have a positive attitude. 

“You learn about yourself – the good the bad and the ugly!  You realise that the baggage you have you take with you…..you can’t just leave it behind and pretend that it never happened….it’s part of you and you have the power to re-invent yourself over and over again.  You meet new wonderful people and create awesome memories.  You also may need to give yourself the time and the space to mourn what you’ve left behind, be grateful that you’ve experienced what you have and be positive about what new things you’re learning.” 

Thank you Lisa! 

About Lisa: 

Started as a leadership business partner on the transformation journey and ended up running the entire program.
Have worked in manufacturing, financial, consulting and telco industries for the past 25 years.
Seeing people learn and grow through their journey is absolute fuel for me.
I have been privileged to work with leaders from all walks of life and continue to be surprised and delighted