Written by the wonderful Isabel Blundell, one of our 2018 Leadership Competition winners, sponsored by AgriFutures Australia.
Winning the Country to Canberra Power Trip was life changing for me.
My name is Isabel Blundell, and I am from Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. More specifically, I live in a small community called Nhulunbuy, where the rich ochre soil and scorched paper bark trees meet a coast so white you have to squint your eyes to see it in all its untouched glory.
If you told me at the beginning of 2018 that I was going to have the life-changing opportunity to travel to Canberra to receive leadership training and network with powerful women, I would look at you with utter disbelief.
Yet here I am, 3 months later, feeling as equipped and empowered as ever.
When I signed up, I considered my chances of winning slim. I believed that opportunities like this couldn’t possibly be received by people like me – a girl living remote. But someone believed in me.
Over the couple days that I was in Canberra, my whole self-image flipped. Inspiring women repeatedly reassured me, along with the other girls on the trip that we can achieve great things beyond the boundaries of our rural or remote communities.
They taught us how to engage an audience, to speak confidently and boldly, and, arguably most importantly, how to address the ‘inner critic’ and view ourselves as capable young women. We were shown how to harness our mistakes to learn and use our strengths to add value to other people’s lives. We were taught how to believe in ourselves and bring out the best in others.
It was in this environment where the phrase ‘lift as you climb’ was introduced to me. In a competitive society, this quote allowed me to view others around me, specifically other women, not as a threat, but rather, capable individuals who deserve to be encouraged and provided with opportunities to showcase their brilliant abilities.
The trip provided me with wonderful opportunities to step completely out of my comfort zone. I was able to make wonderful, talented new friends, speak to a room of full of politicians and powerful leaders, and even ask the Prime Minister and other politicians questions that I would have once been too afraid to ask.
All this would not have been possible if I did not sign up for Country to Canberra, so I encourage you, women, to try. To simply give things a go, whether it be in the form of signing up for Country to Canberra or doing something outside of your comfort zone. Trust me, you never know what opportunities will arise!