Hello, who are you and where are you from? Tell us some amazing fact about your home town! I am Julee Kennedy and I was born in Kitchener, a little town outside of Cessnock. I moved around a fair bit as a child - Cessnock to Glen Innes, Glen Innes to Bathurst and Bathurst to various places in the Hunter. I have now settled back in Cessnock. An amazing fact about Cessnock? There is copious amounts of wine!
Tell us what you do then! I am a Trainer within the Learning and Development Team. My portfolio is the Diploma of Community Services and I oversee the design, development and facilitation of this Diploma while also supporting our staff to achieve this qualification.
How did you end up here? Before starting at Allambi Care, eight years ago, I worked in retail. The customer services skills you learn in retail are easily transferable into the human services sector. Before seeing the position advertised on SEEK, I was working at Time Zone, which was pretty awesome; yes, I did get to ‘test’ the games ALL day!
I entered into Allambi Care as a support worker and worked across both the ITC and Lifemaps Programs. I settled into a group placement for four years in the Lifemaps Program and absolutely loved it! I loved how I got to spend my days with the most amazing people, be there for some of their greatest achievements and support them through some of their toughest days. I loved that no one day was the same and I never knew what to expect. I came off the floor when I was pregnant and entered into a completely different role than what I was used to. I worked within our systems department supporting management with the administration side of things and started to fall in love with compliance. It was completely different from the excitement of support work and it was completely unexpected. The opportunity presented itself to join the Learning and Development Team and I took that opportunity and ran with it and have not looked back. I completed my Diploma whilst I was on the frontline so I completely understand the journey our staff go through to achieve their qualification.
What makes you hop out of bed each morning, with a smile on your face, knowing you are coming to work? Our team! We are a diverse group of people, who brings together all different life and work experiences and uses that to create some well-rounded programs. Despite our differences we all have very similar senses of humour and that creates such a fun and creative work environment. My favourite thing about overseeing the Diploma is the development of compliant training that meets the needs of our clients and staff, (I am a total nerd for assessments), workbooks and PowerPoints. Seeing all that work come together in a workshop is awesome. Most of all, supporting our staff to reach their educational and career goals. Seeing that light bulb moment where it all clicks; the connection between the skills our staff already have and the knowledge they require.
What has been your Covid-19 guilty pleasure? Late 90s to 00s TV drama. I am talking Buffy, Dawson’s Creek, 7th Heaven, Charmed, One Tree Hill, The OC, McLeod’s Daughters.
When our Covid world calms down, where would you like to travel and why? Paris, France. My daughter and I have talked about going to Paris since she was 4 and I always said that I would take her to see the Eiffel Tower when she was 10. She is now 10! It just means we will have some more spending money when the time eventually comes.
Which piece of advice given to you have you managed to stick to in life? If in doubt, add another clove of garlic. You can never have too much garlic.
How can we contact you? If you have any questions regarding the Allambi Care Diploma of Community Services you can contact me on 0466 646 901 or at julee.kennedy@allambicare.org.au
Hello, who are you and where are you from? Tell us some amazing fact about your home town! Hi everyone, I am Melinda, I have two gorgeous but crazy dachshunds and I live in the Lake Macquarie area. I am originally from the Western Suburbs of Sydney (Penrith) where I was born and lived until nine years ago. A fun fact about Penrith – The Nepean River which flows through Penrith supplies water to Sydney's five million inhabitants.
Tell us what you do then! My main role is to support in all areas related to the Learning and Development Team, mainly the Diploma of Community Services Training Program, providing administration support to the training team and all our staff throughout their entire diploma journey.
How did you end up here? Prior to coming to Allambi, I worked at TAFE NSW for over 14 years, in the Learning and Development Team. Having such an extensive history working in the VET sector has allowed me to implement my experience, skills and knowledge into the Diploma of Community Services Training Program.
What makes you hop out of bed each morning, with a smile on your face, knowing you are coming to work? Being lucky enough to have a job to come to everyday, believing in and loving the work I do. I could not be more grateful or feel prouder to be a part of the ‘Allambi Family’ which makes such a positive difference to the lives of so many. Working with a team that has such extensive knowledge, years of experience and large range of skills is incredible and learning from them is a privilege. Their enthusiasm for what they do and their desire to make a difference and help our staff gain the skills and knowledge they require is so inspiring and contagious.
Also coming to work knowing that Julee is probably going to tell me about the latest true crime podcast she has just finished listening to, puts a smile on my face but I have to admit that Julee’s very detailed and often terrifying descriptions of these podcasts often make me think that sitting in an office with my back to Julee may not be the best idea . . .
What has been your Covid-19 guilty pleasure? I LOVE retro gaming and I have very much enjoyed spending more time playing my pinball machines and arcade games. I am also a collector of LEGO minifigures and I have finally been able to display them in frames and hang them on the wall in my study.
When our Covid world calms down, where would you like to travel and why? Thailand! Prior to Covid I purchased a holiday package to Thailand as my fiancée and I have always wanted to experience this beautiful place but Covid had other ideas. Hopefully in the not-too-distant future we can continue planning this holiday.
Which piece of advice given to you have you managed to stick to in life?My Dad instilled in my brother and I, from a very young age, when going through difficult times in life (and we all do), to always remember there are a lot of things to be grateful for. I have always lived by this and I believe it has helped me become the strong, positive, appreciative and always ‘glass half full’ person I am today.
How can we contact you? If you have any questions regarding the Allambi Care Diploma of Community Services you can contact me on 0411 778 215 or at melinda.norman@allambicare.org.au
