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I don’t think you’ll find a woman with the same strength and determination as Keelen Mailman.

As the first indigenous woman to manage a cattle station in Australia, Keelen has had her fair share of highs and lows.

SheSociety had the honour to chat to her and find out more about what motivates her to achieve what was once thought of as an impossible feat.

After suffering through a childhood of poverty, abuse and racism in her hometown of Augathella, 800km northeast of Brisbane, Keelen moved down into the city wanting to give her children a better chance at an education.

But after twelve and a half years, Keelen had a spiritual calling to go back to Augathella, drawn to the traditional Bidjara country.

‘When I did get back out there, I wondered if I needed my head read, because I was coming back to a town where I wasn’t even going to be able to get a job,’ Keelen said.

But she did find a job, after elder leader, Ray Robertson got her one managing the Mt Tabor station. She stuck to the role despite the many insults and people’s predictions that she wouldn’t last six months.

Through hard work and continued grit, Keelen established herself in the community and is still at Mt Tabor 20 years later.

The station accommodates up to 1600 to 2000 head of cattle with Keelen herself pumping boars and putting out supplements, she also has a 84 year old helper, Dave Hagger.

‘He’s like a father figure to me, he’s non-indigenous and without his help I’d be buggered. His bush knowledge is worth more than gold,’ she said.

Keelen’s motivation comes down to her children, her grandchildren, her family and her ancestors, whom she says keep her safe on a day-to-day basis.

Family is everything to Keelen, as she also fought a court battle to gain custody of her four nieces and a nephew to get them out of a bad situation. She represented herself before the judge, in spite of leaving school halfway through year eight.

‘A lot of times when I’ve felt like I was in a dark place, it was just the love of my kids that gave me the strength to keep on going, along with the spiritual connection to the country and my culture and being here on the property,’ she said.

Keelen also shares her knowledge about the Bidjara culture at local schools, taking children out into the country and speaking about the significance of preserving and protecting the land.

‘I let them know that you can be anything you want to be if you work hard and set yourself a goal, making the point that you’re accountable for your own destiny,’ she said.

Keelen also wrote the Power of Bones, a memoir that details her heartbreaking childhood, through to her rise to become the first Aboriginal woman to run a cattle station as a single mother at the age of 30.

An interesting fact that Keelen shared was that her cousin is Australian actress Deborah Mailman, known for her roles in TV series Offspring and the movie The Sapphires.

Deborah and another Sapphires actress Shari Sebbens came out onto the property before Christmas, discussing plans to adapt Keelen’s book, The Power of Bones into a movie.

Last month Keelen celebrated 20 years of running the Mt Tabor station, which is an amazing feat for someone who was only predicted to last six months.

Along with being a Queensland Australian of the Year finalist back in 2007 she was the first ever Aboriginal woman to win Barnado’s Australian Mother of the Year award in 2016.

‘I always joked that I wanted to go down in history,’ she said.

Published on April 11, 2018 on She Society

Laura Gangemi has designing in her blood, growing up around her grandmothers who were seamstresses, they used to create pieces together to go to family functions.

But just last year the Brisbane based designer launched Rudi Miro, a collection that contains pieces that will hope to transcend time and survive amongst throwaway fashion and short lived trends.

Laura came up with the idea after travelling, ‘I was finding that I was using a lot of the same things and it made me realise that I had to declutter my life, and I needed key timeless pieces in my wardrobe that could take me through different seasons.

It was just really crucial for me to stay minimalist, I then started realising that there were other women similar to me and so then decided to create the collection,’ Laura said.

With fast fashion becoming a prominent issue that’s being continuously debated about, Laura believes that through education and support there can be a change.

‘We need to address the fact that less is sometimes more and quality is better than quantity,’ Laura said.

‘I’m not saying that you’re not allowed to buy trend pieces or anything, but there’s nothing better than having all those timeless styles to go back to, and you’ll find that they’ll end up being your faithfuls, they’ll never let you down.’

In starting her business, Laura said that the biggest lesson that she’s learned is to always remain positive.

‘There are days where it feels like everything is all too hard, and I’ve really learned to remind myself that failures are only lessons and that you can only get better each and every day. It’s definitely been an emotional rollercoaster but you have to keep reminding yourself that you can do it,’ Laura said.

Laura’s proudest moment comes down to actually taking the leap and starting Rudi Miro.

‘It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do and there were many years where I was afraid, in all my years of working I’ve had this underlying feeling of wanting to start my own label and then timing struck right. It took a lot of guts to actually quit my job and actually give it a go.’

Laura believes in the forever wardrobe and that Rudi Miro is the perfect start in creating a timeless wardrobe.

‘In a fast fashion world, I think it’s crucial to come back to the roots of fashion and that timeless style, I’ve just always loved it. Growing up around my mother’s clothes, I realised how something can have so much longevity.

From wearing clothes as a teenager which my mum had worn in the 70’s, all those things were adding up to me and it made me realise that there is such a thing as a forever wardrobe.’

Laura describes Rudi Miro as timeless, chic and effortless. While still constantly designing, she is also trying to target the overseas market, especially considering her clothes are trans seasonal.

‘More brand growth, exposure and educating women on the style of dressing,’ Laura said.

Published on May 1, 2018 on She Society

Self-care has become a major talking point, with the issue of making ourselves a priority an important aspect to our overall wellbeing. Self-care is extremely valuable to help avoid burnout and the feeling of being constantly overwhelmed. The best part is that little things can help and what’s even better is that they don’t have to cost a fortune. But in the end regardless of what you choose to do, just make sure that you want to do it and it makes you feel good in the long run.

Take a Bath

The best way to relax and to truly soak in the free time that you have. Adding in bath bombs or salts to spruce up your experience, take some wine in with you and read a book and just make the most of it. Even if it’s just for 20 minutes or until your kids start banging on the door, just close your eyes and relax. An extra tip is to add Epsom Salt into your bath which is perfect after the gym to help reduce muscle soreness.

Unplug and Switch Off

Either you’ve clocked off for the day and it’s time to fully focus on your home life or you’re stuck in an endless social media hole, it’s always a good idea to turn off your phone for a while. Not only does it help you hone in on the current moment it also allows you to avoid the constant negatives that social media brings, for example comparison, envy and disappointment. It doesn’t have to be for long but just make sure that you lose the habit of obsessively checking your phone.

Walk

While some of us may find this to be a chore, it really doesn’t have to be. There are plenty of ways to make it more enjoyable, take your dog for a walk, find a friend who lives nearby and go on a hike, travel to your favourite beach spot and go for a walk or take a trip into your local city centre and take a stroll. You’ll see a whole new perspective on where you live as you pretend to be a tourist for a short while and it will make you appreciate where you live even more than usual.

Journal

Journalling has become a major craze lately, with the emergence of different techniques, for example by bullet journalling, free writing or timed writing. Journalling is said to help with processing complicated thoughts and to help people with decisions, it also allows people to have that creative outlet that they may be missing throughout their daily lives. If something is bothering you, write it down, then throw it away or even burn it as a cathartic way of releasing the pain.

Make Time for Your Hobby

Whether that be watching your favourite TV shows or movies, reading or gardening, make sure you are doing something that brings you joy. Regardless of whether people see it as truly fulfilling or not it doesn’t matter, as long as it’s something that you want to do, then go do it. Don’t be ashamed and don’t be waylaid into doing something your just not interested in. But it’s probably for the best if you keep your Netflix binging to one or two episodes, while you definitely need self-care you also need to be self-aware.

Published on April 26, 2018 on She Society

The service Bookchoice has been called the ‘Netflix of Books’ and has just become available, with book lovers rejoicing over the new service.

Bookchoice is a membership based service that allows you to download bestselling and cult books as ebooks or audiobooks each month.

Membership is only $4.99, which allows you to access 8 new audiobooks and 8 new ebooks each month that have been handpicked by experts to ensure a breath of new and much-loved titles.

The May releases included prize-winning titles such as Resurrection Bay by Emma Viskic and Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, with June’s list featuring this year’s breakout hit The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris.

But there is a downside because if you’re on the hunt for a particular title or specific genre, you will be disappointed as Bookchoice chooses your reading list for you.

The service is unique in that once you download the ebook or audiobook, it’s yours to keep; being on your smartphone, tablet, ereader or computer forever.

Bookchoice Chief Commercial and Content Officer, Nathan Hull says, “we work hard to create a streamlined selection of some of the best ebooks and audiobooks around. We love all genres equally – we just want to help people fall back in love with reading.

“There’s no reason people can’t be clicking on a book just as easily as they’d click on Netflix or Facebook.”

Published on May 17, 2018 on She Society

We all know how dangerous it can be walking home after dark as a woman and being by yourself. It’s unfortunate that we are living in a time where we have to be on our guard just because of other people’s despicable behaviour. But even now regardless of whether it’s day or night harassment is still happening. To make walking home that little bit safer, we’ve found two apps that help women to suss out the area they are walking in and to allow them to get safely from point A to point B.

The Free To Be App is one such example, being rolled out across five cities, it’s an interactive map that enables women and girls to pinpoint ‘danger spots.’ The app allows women to put a pin on an area that makes them feel safe and a pin on the spots where they feel uncomfortable.

The company behind the app, Plan International Australia’s head of advocacy Hayley Cull says it’s hard to say whether street harassment is getting worse for young women in Australia, it certainly isn’t getting any better.

“One of the impacts of how prevalent it is, girls are feeling desensitised to what’s happening, they are starting to feel as though this is just normal and there is no point in reporting it,” Ms Cull told AAP.

More than 90 per cent of women surveyed felt unsafe taking public transport at night, and nearly half said they also felt uncomfortable taking public transport alone during the day.

“We expected to hear about instances of street harassment in seedy lane ways at night when it’s dark and they’re alone,” Ms Cull said.

“What has been surprising is how common it is in broad daylight and areas where girls are just trying to get home from school or getting the train to work in the morning and are facing things like being groped or being leered at or being shouted at.”

Another groundbreaking app is the Companion app, where you can notify your loved ones of your journey home, such as where you started and the app automatically sends an update when your journey has ended. The app also includes live location tracking, letting your loved ones watch you while you travel to your destination.

Published on April 23 on She Society

They say it’s never too late to pick up a new sport or hobby, but what about if you’re aiming for Commonwealth or Olympic success or even just at competition level and you’re well past your prime?

These incredible athletes who found their sports later in life, prove that age is only a number.

Cliff Young

Definition of a true Aussie legend, Cliff Young was known for his unexpected win of the Sydney to Melbourne Ultramarathon in 1983 at 61 years of age. The potato farmer rocked up in overalls and work boots determined to win. He ran at a slow pace, trailing behind the pack at the end of the first day. But while the other competitors stopped to sleep, Cliff kept on running for 5 days straight eventually winning the race.

Katrin Garfoot

Katrin won a gold medal on Tuesday in the individual time trial for road cycling after being introduced to the sport a little late into the game. Her husband suggested she give racing a crack and in October 2011 she bought a three-day racing licence and decided to try it. At 30 years old, she said that she had no idea what the future would hold.

Priscilla Welch

Priscilla had the most unlikely career in international athletics as she was known to smoke a pack a day until she began running at 35. Coached by her husband she ran a range of marathons over the years including the London and Glasgow marathons winning several and also competing in the Olympic Games in 1984.

Edith Masai

The Kenyan long distance runner didn’t start running seriously until the age of 32 where she went on to win three World Cross Country 4km gold medals. Edith said that, “I appreciate whatever I get. If I win I celebrate, if I lose, I appreciate my performance.”

Fauja Singh

This is hard to believe but says it all about determination and persistence. Fauja was a British Sikh centenarian marathon runner, who broke a number of world records in various age brackets. He retired from running in 2013 and is still alive at 107 years old.

Published on April 12, 2018 on She Society