I grew up in country Victoria on beautiful acreage in the Australian bush. My love for nature and Australian animals runs deep and I entwine this love through my theatre show. I truly believe my connection to nature and the hours I spent playing in our backyard, shaped who I am today and I hope through my stories I can not only share my love and passion for nature and Australia but also inspire children to connect with nature.

My character Bobbi carries the essence of my childhood and is an expression of my inner child. She is the young girl in me who spent endless hours playing with my teddies and dolls, creating imaginary worlds and imaginary families. They were all so very real to me. My Mum fondly reflects on listening to me play in my own world, speaking aloud all the voices of my friends, and marvelled at my imagination and the way I would express it all aloud.

I started writing stories as soon as I could write, and then type, and as I got a bit older poetry came along too.

But it was only when I became a teenager and the world began to show me that playing with dolls wasn’t what you did anymore, that I should grow up and let them go, did I finally stop delving into my imaginary world.

Yet my love and attachment to my friends never left me and when I packed up my childhood belongings a great number of friends went into storage. It was only in 2021 that I finally gave many away to new families and children, but my most precious friends remained.

Even though a great many years were spent without my teddies and dolls, my love for caring for children bloomed. As a 12 year old I went to work with my Aunty who was a nanny and excitedly fed a bottle to the baby she cared for. At 17 I wanted to travel to the USA after I graduated and become an au pair, I had no idea that this inner desire would birth a career in caring for hundreds of children, and working with countless families in varying capacities.

To be continued….