March Madness

Last month we spoke about keeping the calm – but as we know, the beauty of life is that it goes in swings, roundabouts and rollercoasters! 

It was only a matter of time until we hit the accelerator, and March has been absolutely stacked! 

My speaking engagements and events have taken me to Adelaide, Port Douglas, Sydney, New Zealand and the Gold Coast, where I’m working this week with the Brisbane 2032 Organising Committee.

So it’s been a huge, mad month, but I’m doing what I love the most: meeting new people, motivating and inspiring people (and being inspired by them, too)! 

‘Inspiring’ doesn’t come close when I think of all the leaders and changemakers I was surrounded by during International Women’s Week. I heard an incredible keynote by Julie Bishop, who said that we, as women, need to believe in and back ourselves, and make our health and wellbeing a priority. Julie also spoke about ‘sponsoring’ women, not just mentoring: this means backing them, helping to open doors, and promoting their work.

Robyn Littlewood is leading change by getting Queenslanders moving in her role as Chief Executive Officer of Health and Wellbeing Queensland. It was AWEsome to have her join our group of female corporate leaders – Active Women Execs (AWE) – for networking over a game of tennis. I’m always happy when I can combine my two loves of sport and business, and this was a fantastic event! 

I’m also so proud to be involved with the Minerva Network, who uplift women in sport and connect them with the corporate sector. As a Minerva Legend, I get to contribute to both sides of the initiative - as an athlete, as well as a mentor. The first event for 2023 was a workshop on athlete values and sponsorship in sport, and it was fantastic to see the networking between elite athletes and Australia’s leading business women.

And, as you know, I love to talk about the Games coming to my home town, which is exactly what I got to do in New Zealand! I was so impressed with their enthusiasm, collaboration and preparedness – it really will be like a home Games for Oceania, so it’s exciting to see other countries in the region getting as excited as we are for our green and gold runway!

I made a guest appearance at the launch of Let’s Move for a Better World; a global initiative from Technogym that aims to create healthier, more connected communities, who move together. Not only is it an important campaign, it was very cool to experience their state-of-the-art technology at their headquarters in Sydney! I now have their Wellness HQ in Italy on my bucket list as that looks EPIC! 

And this week, we had the Brisbane 2032 Legacy Forum. Informed by 12,000 survey responses, 500 people from all different sectors then came together to discuss the impact and legacy of the 2032 Games, including Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner, and President of the Organising Committee Andrew Liveris. There were some key themes that kept coming up, and inclusivity was one of them; how do we make Queensland the most inclusive place to live in the world? How do we improve accessibility so that everyone can participate?

There were some key themes that kept coming up, and inclusivity was one of them; how do we make Queensland the most inclusive place to live in the world? How do we improve accessibility so that everyone can be part of the Games? 

We also heard about a new concept ‘natural capital’: how can Queensland be the gold standard for protection of natural resources?

And, of course, our green and gold athletes remain at the heart of everything we do – how can we make their journey more sustainable?

‘March madness’ has been a real shift in energy following a slow start to the year, but my lesson has been to make the most of each day and focus on what’s in front of me. It can be easy to let my wellbeing slip when I’m busy or traveling a lot, but I’m maintaining that equilibrium with my daily yoga, meditation and breathing practice, sleeping and eating well, drinking lots of water and moving my body. It really isn't rocket science… but these daily habits are so important and form the foundations for success.