Carrie’s regional career builder story starts out in a similar way to many… She’d experienced firsthand the charm of country seaside village Tilba – visiting her retired parents and eventually it became harder and harder to return home to the city before making the move in 2018. What took her by surprise was just how much was waiting for her.
Carrie and her husband Greg purchased a 6-acre block nestled between Mount Gulaga and the ocean in the historic village of Tilba’s hinterland on the far south coast. While they bought it with the intention of offering accommodation onsite, the existing dwellings required a lot of work. They rolled up their sleeves and taught themselves to use tools they’d never used before to tackle the big task.
Carrie was also working at Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ) in Sydney CBD. She had approached her manager about the possibility of working remotely before it was commonplace to do so and was delighted to then take on a large-scale transformation project that allowed her to work from anywhere.
Despite the immense gratification of the success at that role, Carrie had begun to immerse herself in community life in Tilba and was eager to put her skills to use closer to home. Post bushfires and COVID, the tight knit community was grappling with big issues around recovery, resilience and preparedness for future disasters. Carrie played a pivotal role in developing a community-led strategic plan for the Tilba District, with the vision that this would provide a roadmap of priorities to ensure the villages continue to be safe to live in, work in, and visit well into the future. Today, this plan remains foundational for driving activities, projects, and funding opportunities.
Soon after, she saw an opportunity to utilise her leadership skills with ‘Narooma Rocks’ who deliver the annual Narooma Oyster Festival – the largest food and wine festival in Southern NSW.
What she loved about both roles is seeing the significant impact they have on the ground:
“The Oyster Festival is a huge economic driver for the region and has a positive trickledown effect for all businesses.”
“I love working with teams to drive positive change and in a regional community it’s very rewarding to be able to step back and look at the way you have directly contributed to the success of an initiative that benefits the whole community.”
6 years into their new regional life, Carrie and Greg have no regrets:
“We love the sense of community, beaches, bushwalking and getting out on the boat in the inlet, it’s a beautiful landscape and lifestyle here.”
“We have long chats with people who come and stay at our coastal retreat, who are surprised to learn just how much opportunity exists here for all skill sets.”
While Carrie and Greg continue to operate Tilba Coastal Retreat, Carrie is open to new opportunities in a senior leadership position, contributing to positive and meaningful impacts for regional NSW.
