Some time ago, I made the decision to step away from a role I had held for seven years, and could have continued in for many more.
Not because the work wasn’t important. It was.
But I knew that if I stayed, I would keep circling the same question I had been carrying for most of my career:
How do we ensure people in regional communities have equitable access to what they need?
I had worked on this from many angles, through planning, service delivery, education and leadership.
And still, it felt like we were talking more than we were moving.
At some point, that becomes a choice.
There’s a moment where talk stops being enough
In 2022, I attended the Social Enterprise World Forum in Brisbane.
What stayed with me wasn’t just the content. It was the experience of being in a room with people who were doing the work.
It reminded me how important it is to be surrounded by people who are actually trying to make something happen.
On the way out, I had a very clear thought:
If this matters, I need to create something that brings people together in regional communities.
And just as quickly, I knew I would have to follow through.
Action has a cost
I committed to producing the first Social Impact in the Regions conference and underwriting it personally.
If it didn’t work, I would carry the cost.
That decision did something important.
It moved the idea out of the realm of something worth exploring into something that had to happen.
Before long, others stepped in. An advisory group formed. The work began to take shape.
Things move when people come together
The first event didn’t succeed because everything was perfect.
It worked because people showed up, contributed, and built something together.
That’s what had been missing in all the earlier conversations.
Not more ideas. Not more plans.
A way for people to come together and move.
This is the difference
We spend a lot of time talking about the challenges in our communities.
And those conversations matter.
But at some point, the question shifts:
What am I prepared to do about it?
That doesn’t always mean starting something large.
But it does mean:
- making a decision
- taking a step
- creating something others can step into
Because this is what I’ve learned
Talking is not the problem.
Staying in talk is.