Meet the amazing leaders from THE SYDNEY community; small business, corporates and government
sponsored by SLF Lawyers

Angela Smith
She is a Partner at SLF Lawyers who has over 12 years of experience in commercial litigation during which time I have focused predominantly in practice areas of property, strata, debt recovery and insolvency. She is passionate about achieving results for her clients and willing to face the challenges of litigation head-on
Some of her time is spent teaching with the Australian National University in their post-graduate law courses where she enjoys enabling the next generation of lawyers. Being fluent in Italian has also enabled her to assist clients and mentees from a non-English speaking background in resolving their legal disputes and navigating their way through the legal system.

Deborah Fairfull
She is a passionate entrepreneur now on her third start-up, with two successful prior exits. As a former winner of the Australian Capital Territory Business Woman of the Year Award, the ACT Chief Minister’s Award for Innovation, and the founder of award-winning businesses Brave Design Group and Eatsmart Food, Deborah enjoys continued success as an industry spokesperson and business leader.
Deborah has a true passion for personal growth, combined with education, technology and the power of community. As a result, she founded Blisspot, the online experiential wellness and marketplace, transforming everyday lives through encouragement, sharing, education, inspiration, connection and tech products allowing people to experience the shifts needed to live their best life.
Deborah studied design at Charles Sturt University, human resources at the Australian College of Applied Psychology, counselling and psychotherapy at Jansen Newman Institute, and kinesiology at the College of Complementary Medicine.

Lisa Sweeney
She is CEO of Business in Heels, daily she works to fast-track women on their journey. She has 4 1/2 years of small business experience and well understands the transition from corporate to business owner. Her expertise includes strategic planning, marketing,
expansion through digital marketing, she is a strategic connector. Her background is 25 years of corporate buying experience with expertise in strategic planning, sourcing, online retail, negotiation and she well understands the hurley burley of a corporate career.
She is passionate about making a difference for women & on a daily basis works to find solutions to levelling up the playing field. This year having launched mentoring, access to new women’s professional indemnity & superannuation solutions.

Tanya Doyle
She is Managing Director for Kinnerton Confectionery Australia and is responsible for ensuring the business brings innovative, quality & affordable chocolate and sugar confectionery brands to Australian and New Zealand consumers whilst at the same time ensuring that the business remains profitable and continues growing.
With over 25 years of experience in Sales, Marketing & Business Development of Consumer Goods throughout the Pacific Region Tanya is true strategic marketer who has a passion for building brands with a strong focus on driving profitable growth for the benefit of all parties.
Her expertise is being able to identify market opportunities, create clear and measurable strategies to deliver against these opportunities, take them to market and then close the deal.
When she’s away from the office Tanya enjoys hanging out with her husband and two children, shopping, keeping fit and healthy and of course eating chocolate!

ALICIA BEACHLEY
She is the founder and CEO of leading independent brand activation and marketing agency, April5. Alicia has more than 20 years marketing experience – creating, executing and managing million-dollar promotional campaigns, product launches, retail and experiential events
for major brands including Unilever, Pepsi, George Weston Foods, Fosters, Cerebos, Starbucks and Philips. Alicia has since led April5 to exponential growth creating campaigns that change behaviour, drive consumer action and deliver measurable results for a strong stable of
clients for national and global brands like Microsoft, RAMS Home Loans, NBN Co., Nokia, H&R Block, P&O, Coty and Calvin Klein. A finalist for the Women in Media, Alicia’s expertise has been sought after and has since become an advisory member of the WeConnect Women Business Enterprise Council in Australia.
She has also judged local and international awards such as Marketing Agencies Association Worldwide (MAAW) Globes Awards, the Australian Effie Awards and currently the Shop! Australia & New Zealand Awards.

Jackie Ng
She bridges the gap of communication with specific communities, market and businesses and Medi bank services. With over 20 years in corporates in Malaysia, New Zealand and Australia, Jackie has extensive leadership experience in the insurance and banking industries managing a sizeable team. Her passion is to lead with purpose and growing team capabilities.
Her other passion is ensuring diversity and inclusion of all cultures that lives in Australia to get a chance to be a part of community. She led the strategy of migrant and multicultural and rural and regional across all retail whereby stores involve with local communities and universities. Jackie is a recipient of multiple awards such as Medi bank Shine Award and St George Bank Top 1% Best of the Best Awa rd.
Lastly, as a cancer survivor, Jackie believes in spreading the need to live better through wellness program as well as having the right cover when it comes to health insurance. She happily shares her experiences with other cancer patients through cancer forums and etc.

Leesa Tongoulidis
She is a people and culture expert and Founder, Human Art – Career and Leadership Coaching. Leesa has over 15 years in Human Resource and Organisational Development with a strong track record leading strategic business partnering, diversity and inclusion, and culture transformation projects in complex, challenging and ambiguous circumstances.
Her key strengths are helping leaders and organisations navigate change and uncertainty, connecting people, ideas and opportunity. Leesa has worked in multiple industry sectors including IT, government, private education, financial services, property, telecommunications, and managed services. Prior to working in HR, Leesa managed a number of key change projects and led high performing operational teams in sales and customer service.
Leesa is an IECL Level 2 Certified Executive Coach, and is also Certified in Career Coaching, Mental Health First Aid, Psychological Safety, DiSC and the Hogan Personality Inventory. Leesa set up her own consulting, career and leadership coaching business – Human Art, 6 years ago. Her coaching practice is heart centred and leverages the latest research in neuroscience, and future of work studies.
She loves working with forward thinking leaders, emerging talent and start up founders, helping them create and craft their own style of leadership and entrepreneurship. Leesa is passionate about enabling individuals and organisations to reimagine and create a more positive and productive relationship with work. Leesa also enjoys mentoring women, youth and refugees on a pro-bono basis. She is an accomplished speaker and facilitator.

Shilpa Bhale
Shilpa is an Executive Architect for Oracle’ Strategic Clients in APAC. She works with her clients as a trusted advisor to help them make the right choices for their business when partnering with Oracle across data, applications, platform, infrastructure and industry solutions.
She has over 20 years of global experience with large organizations in a variety of consulting, strategy and delivery roles. She has helped multiple clients shape their investments to achieve strategic business outcomes and realize sustainable long term value from their technology investments.
Shilpa is a thought leader with extensive experience in Financial Services & Banking. With a customer centric approach, she is passionate about solving complex problems for enterprises.
Shilpa holds a Bachelor’s in Finance and Master’s in Computers. She grew up in India and lived in the UK before moving to Sydney. She enjoys playing board games and travelling with family in her spare time. She is always ready for a good chat – work or otherwise.

Annie Milne
Annie commenced her career in Recruitment in 1994 and over the past 20 years prior to co-founding Sprout Recruitment Annie held Senior Management roles within some of the worlds largest recruitment organisations including Select, Manpower and People Infrastructure.
Annie has delivered successful business outcomes for organisations from small family businesses to global organisations across a diverse range of industries.
Holding formal qualifications in Communications, Psychology and business management Annie is Passionate about leadership, people and believes that communication is the key to both personal and business success.
When not working Annie enjoys time with her family and friends on the beautiful NSW Central Coast and has a keen interest in Horse Racing. Annie is passionate about PT by the waterfront and skiing in Winter to maintain balance in a hectic crazy world.

Simone Filetti
She has more than 25 years of professional experience in the ICT industry. Throughout her career, she has held significant and influential roles at some of the largest global technology companies and has proven herself to have extensive knowledge of the technology sales landscape time-and-time again.
Simone’s current role is the National Sales Leader for Partners and Growth segments including the Mid Market and SMB sector for Hewlett Packard Enterprise in. Simone is responsible for HPE’s partners nationally as well as customer segments in the Northern Territory, South Australia, Tasmanian and Western Australian sectors in Australia.
Simone leads a National team of Partner Account managers and Territory Managers who are responsible for working with our key industry technology partners with HPE’s market leading product and services portfolio, to help customers on their Data Centre modernization and Digital transformation journeys to create value for their internal stakeholders and customers.
Simone has worked with Lenovo for four years in leadership roles, most recently leading Global Accounts across Asia Pacific for emerging technologies. Previous roles include leading Global Accounts and Inside Sales for Australia. Prior to Lenovo, Simone worked at HP for more than 11 years following a number of sales roles in BCA iT, Alphawest and FishTech and Partners.
Simone Filetti is passionate about people, partnership and teams in the ICT industry. Simone has consistently brought her energy, skills and capabilities to her roles to effectively contribute to business operations and play an active part in fostering work cultures of inclusivity and empowerment. She strives in building high performance teams and driving customer value through innovation.
Simone also supports and encourages a balance of genders and generations, and different cultural, religious and educational backgrounds. Simone leads working groups across the business to highlight the importance of diverse teams which in turn enable outstanding results and creativity.
Simultaneously to this, Simone is active in her leadership and participation in HPE-partner events like Lean In Circles and Virtual Coffee Session, as well as community activities including volunteering at the Smith family, Our big Kitchen and Foodbank.
In addition to the above, Simone also makes herself available to coach and mentor young employees and early career hires through one-on-one sessions. Not only does she offer this opportunity to team members within the organisations where she has worked, but also broadly to anyone in the ICT industry, often at times connecting through social media or via word-of-mouth recommendations from her current and previous colleagues

Julie Hyam Elliott
She is a Company Director, entrepreneur and leading Business Growth Strategist. She holds numerous Board positions including Australian Invoice Finance and P & N Bank. Julie has previously held roles as the CEO of Bank of Sydney (only the second Woman to run a Bank in Australia) where she increased profits by 88% and numerous executive roles in major Australian Banks.
At the same time as developing her Corporate career, Julie was the first woman to Chair the Metropolitan Fire and Emergency Services Board (Melbourne) and State Trustees (Victoria).

Cathy Dimarchos
She is an award-winning Mentor, business advisor and coach, working Internationally, an indefatigable philanthropist, speaker and author who believes knowledge is only of value when shared.
Solutions2you was born from my passion to leave a lasting imprint that enables people to lead the lives that they deserve. As a professional advisor and motivational voice, I dedicate my time to sharing lived experiences and knowledge that combines people, business and situational skills to deliver tangible tools and skills to people across the globe. My values take centre stage and business becomes honest and expressive.
With over 3 decades in finance, setting up and scaling businesses, a counselling degree, and certification in psychological safety I support people to realise their unspoke ambition and to step outside their comfort zone that would normally hold them back. Through empathy and strategic positioning, I empower people to establish healthy professional boundaries, to think limitlessly and to challenge norms, whilst rediscovering a curiosity of knowledge and themselves.
My initial trip to East Africa in 2014 especially whilst living with the Maasai was without a doubt one of my greatest challenges but it has also proven to be the most rewarding time of my life.
My book “Same people, Different Vision” is about developing leaders so that they may reshape a better tomorrow. I believe in showing people a path and leading way so that they can transform, be it in business or life.
I believe, that as we rise, it is important to also lift those around us.

Rebecca Moroney
Rebecca Moroney brings over 20 years of ICT experience, having worked for some of the largest global brands and her own consultancy business, helping clients to develop transformation strategies within their own environment and initiatives those organizations can take to market.
Rebecca Moroney
Bek’s is currently ANZ Director, Strategic Pursuits Practice at VMware – leading a broad team of consultants, architects and commercial analysts to strategically pursue larger transformation engagements in VMware’s top 26 clients. Prior to that, Bek was State Government and Health Industry Leader at IBM, where she was responsible for the leadership of key pursuit initiatives and brand differentiation to Market. Prior to IBM, Bek was Northern Region Business director at HP,
Rebecca Moroney
where she was responsible for the strategy development and team build of the Managed Services business for End User Compute, leading the business to 200% growth YoY over 5 years and teams to acquire several >$100mil new logo business deals. Bek’s professional passions are engaging with and building successful teams, developing pursuit initiatives that are unique to each client and leading businesses to successful change.

Sharlie Raymond
As the Head of Alliances and Marketing of Outcomex in Australia, Sharlie Raymond works with technology vendors to best position their products within her company’s portfolio. Having completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and a Master’s Degree in IT Project Management, Sharlie leverages her decade of experience to develop new partnerships with key industry players, and to increase brand awareness, loyalty, and credibility. Alongside these responsibilities, she manages a team, distributed across three states, and encourages them to find innovative ways to promote the value of Outcomex’s solutions for customers.
Sharlie Raymond
In recognition for her contribution to the technology industry, Sharlie was awarded ARN’s Emerging Leaders Award: 30 under 30 in 2019, and was a finalist for the ARN Women in ICT: Rising Star award in 2017 and 2020.
Sharlie is dedicated to promoting the next generation of women and give them the confidence and guidance to achieve their own goals and realise their full potential.

Julie Jones
Julie Jones is the Visioning, Goal Setting and Flow Productivity Coach for the new wave of businesswomen who want to create results without the push & grind.
Hi, I’m Julie and I’m passionate about helping you to achieve your dreams and goals with ease and grace in both your business and personal life.
My Visioning, Goal Setting and Flow Productivity workshops and coaching programs create a fresh and easy treasure map to follow to generate an amazingly successful life and business.
Julie Jones
I help you to create a Flow mindset through practical hands-on courses and tool kits to release productivity and achievement blocks.
Why Ocean Flow? As a mad keen scuba diver and underwater photographer, I see so many lessons and insights from our connection to the ocean. So I created workshops, tool kits and programs inspired by the ocean, with concepts like Flow productivity (focus like a shark, hide like a cuttlefish) to help you in achieving your dreams, vision and goals… with Flow!

Celine Dickson
Celine Dickson is currently the National Manager of Allianz Financial Institutions Partnerships Division, leading a sales team of 25 people, 23 banking Partnerships and a business portfolio in excess of $286 Million.
Celine’s record of success has been achieved in driving growth for both direct, intermediated and partnership channels which has been underpinned by a diverse range of interpersonal, strategic and technical skills developed over 18 years.
In 2017, Celine was selected to lead a major Global Transformation project leading to the merger and acquisition of one of the US leading InsureTech companies which redefined customer experience and growth in the insurance industry.

Kris Abbey
Editor in Chief, Spa & Wellness | Founder Spa & Wellness Awards | Author & Speaker
Kris is a health and wellness advocate, as well as a passionate educator and digital marketing professional. She is Managing Director of Commotion Pty Ltd, a boutique communication agency specialising in creating quality health, wellness and travel content across all platforms, including print, online, TV & social. In addition, she works with various travel & lifestyle clients to grow their brand through digital marketing.
Aside from marketing services, Commotion owns the globally recognised brand, Spa & Wellness Australasia’s leading consumer information brand that focuses on the booming wellness & Wellness Tourism industry. (Spaandwellness.com.au)
Kris has also authored several books sold in the UK, US, South Africa and Australia. She is also called upon as a media influencer and content creator for global brands including Hilton Hotels, Alila Resorts, Lulu Lemon, JETT Black, SnapFish, FitBit, South Africa Tourism and Lenovo.
Most recently she has launched Spa & Wellness as a multimedia digital publication and the Spa & Wellness APAC Awards to celebrate the booming wellness industry. For more of Kris’s work, to join her blog, to try one of her programs or join one of her retreats visit krisabbey.com.au or follow @spagirlkris.

Margot Smith
Margot Smith
Currently the Chief Executive Officer of RSL & Services Clubs Association, Margot has worked in a range of membership, engagement, events, marketing and customer service roles for 25 years.
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She has enjoyed a long history giving back to professions at Chartered Accountants, Law Society of England and Wales, Finsia, Governance Institute and the Institute of Managers and Leaders (formerly the Australian Institute of Management).
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Interspersed throughout her roles in associations, Margot has also worked at Optus, Scholastic, Ausgrid, LexisNexis and Weight Watchers in a range of events, marketing and community engagement roles.
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Margot has extensive volunteer, fundraising and mentoring experience, and has a real passion for giving back. Margot holds a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology & Education),
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a Graduate Diploma in Business Administration (Management), an Advanced Diploma in Events, Certified Chief Happiness Officer certification, a Certificate IV in Training & Assessment, a Certificate in Governance and has undertaken the Company Directors Course.

Naomi Menahem
GAICD Program Communications LeadProgram Communications Lead University of Technology Sydney
I am senior business marketer with an agile and solutions-orientated approach and proven expertise in leading and delivering complex programs, events, and campaigns to effect change, build advocacy, enhance brand reputation, and generate strong ROI.
With more than 10 years’ experience in strategic communications, publishing, and brand experiences, I have a strong commercial orientation, and am adept at developing enduring and mutually rewarding relationships.

Moran Baillie
She is an experienced leadership coach, mentor, and facilitator who understands the barriers that hold leaders back from realizing their full potential. With over 25 years of experience in Senior Human Resources roles across multiple industries, she has firsthand experience with the challenges women face in the workplace.
Moran emphasizes the importance of equipping women with the right skills, tools, and resources they need to navigate complex workplace dynamics and achieve their professional and personal goals.
As a coach, trainer, and facilitator, Moran works with businesses to upskill and empower CEOs, executives, and emerging leaders to lead with clarity, courage, and confidence.
Moran is a thought leader who teaches and writes about the topics of Self Leadership and Self-Empowerment. She holds a Bachelor of Human Resources from the University of Haifa, Israel and an MBA from the University of Technology, Sydney. Moran is a Certified Woman-Centred Transformational Leader, Coach, and Facilitator.
She is passionate about helping businesses build a robust pipeline of well-equipped women leaders and closing the gender gap in leadership. Moran provides training, support, and mentorship to help women progress in their careers and reach their full potential.
Moran is a Certified Woman-Centred Transformational Leader, Coach, and Facilitator.
In her free time, Moran enjoys raising her two children, traveling, and mentoring high school girls on a volunteering basis.

Sharon Williams
Sharon Williams
Under Sharon’s leadership, Taurus is now recognised as one of Australia’s highest profile agencies, offering unparalleled levels of service to entrepreneurs and global corporations including Dicker Data and HCL Technologies.
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Sharon was instrumental in helping founding client KAZ Group go from media obscurity to one of Australia’s highest-profile and largest information communications technology companies. Public speaker, personal brand expert, blogger, CEO, media commentator, ‘no bull’ international marketer, entrepreneur, editorial contributor and Mother – Sharon’s experience and knowledge is an unbeatable combination.

Virge Nielsen
Senior Solutions Consultant | Adobe
As one of the founding directors of EACCI, Virge has dedicated her efforts to laying strong foundations for the organisation to ensure its future growth and success. Virge brings with her strong expertise in the areas of marketing, CRM, e-commerce and event organising.
Virge Nielsen
Virge came to Australia in 2000, having left behind a rapid career in Estonian logistics industry where she was part of setting up a local branch for large European transport company. Virge is a solutions oriented individual with talent for organising and drive to deliver results.

Katrin Stoecker
COO at Steadfast Underwriting Agencies Business Transformation
Katrin has more than 26 years of experience in the insurance industry working for many of the world’s leading insurers across various countries and cultures.
Katrin has been Chief Operations Officer at Steadfast Underwriting Agencies between April 2018 and April 2022, where she has led multiple performance enhancing projects, particularly within the technologies and robotics space.
Steadfast Underwriting Agencies is the largest insurance underwriting agency group in Australasia with 24 agencies and 100+ products.
Katrin is well recognised for her technical insurance knowledge, her ability to challenge the status quo and to drive new business enhancing solutions. She believes that technology should take away the ordinary tasks and enable people to do the extraordinary.
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Katrin has been recognised as one of the “Elite Women in Insurance 2021” in the 10.04 issue of the “Insurance Business Australia” magazine.
Katrin is also a strong advocate of the DiveIn festival, a global festival which supports diversity and inclusion in insurance.
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In addition, she was a committee member of Steadfast’s Reconciliation Action Plan, which aims to encourage a deeper understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Lastly, Katrin is an ambassador for the Children’s Cancer Institute, CEO Dare to Cure event. The number one priority of the Institute is to deliver the research that will lead to ZERO childhood cancer.

Pia Broadley
Pia is a business leader with a career built over 20+ years in the technology community. She has worked with global and local IT channel organisations to grow and expand their reach and yield to achieve financial and business goals. Pia has built high performing teams with outcomes focused mindsets; and has supported the career growth and personal development of many individuals throughout her career.
Pia has a passion for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and had led the creation of DEI councils and initiatives across the industry to drive a culture of openness, inclusion, and allyship within teams; and to empower individuals to bring their whole selves to work.
Pia’s career history and personal journey includes many transitions and challenges including a complete career and industry change; the decision to take time off to become the primary caregiver, re entering the workforce as a working mum (her kids are now teens – yikes!); transitioning from being an individual contributor, to team leader, back to individual contributor, to manager, to now business leader. Through these transitions Pia has approached the challenges and opportunities by cultivating a strong sense of self-belief.

Rema Lolas
Empowering women to be who they are, and do what they want, without the self-sacrifice that is engrained in many of us is a mission close to my heart. I am fulfilled when I can help facilitate someone to first understand and then breakthrough what has been holding them back.
I have led teams in global and regional senior leadership positions in the technology industry, I have developed many training and development programs and mentoring programs, and most recently in the middle of a pandemic, decided to throw it all in to follow my dreams of being a coach and running my own business. From imposter syndrome, perfectionism, self-judgment, our inner-critic, conditional self-esteem, our fear of “being seen”, caring what others think, the worry of being misunderstood, feeling unheard…. I’ve seen, and experienced it all.
Now as a coach, my unique approach promotes shifts in thinking and behavioural patterns getting at the heart of what has been getting in my clients way, and helping women to move from uncertain to unstoppable leadership by building the clarity, confidence, communication skills and capability needed for success.
I look forward to giving back through Mentor Mornings, and look forward to meeting you soon.

Dr Leanne Elich
Leanne Elich is an award winning Psychology driven Business Strategist and Sales Psychologist, Author of Solving the Sales Equation and creator of the ‘School of Mind’ Academy. She is one of Australasia’s most successful Technology Business Executives and leading expert in high performance sales teams with over 25 years’ global experience in both clinical and corporate environments.
A graduate of the University of Sydney, Harvard Business School and Harvard Medical School, Leanne is a sought after expert in bridging the gap between science and business.
Powered by her success, Leanne uses her established methodologies to teach businesses how to think differently, create value and set pathways for industry leadership.
For over 20 years, she has studied and observed the intersection of behavioural science, psychology and influence in business, sales, strategy, leadership and customer experience. Leanne regularly contributes to both local and national media outlets, including ABC radio and the Sydney Morning Herald. Leanne is also an Honorary Clinical Fellow at the Queensland University of Technology, Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, international Keynote speaker and Women in Leadership advisor

Therese Tarlinton
After partnering with Jeep, United Colors of Benetton, and Sesame Street, I built a global manufacturing company in my twenties. Collaborating locally to secure media coverage, distribution in David Jones, Target, and Big W plus a promotion with Huggies Nappies enabled me to turn over $1+million in my first year, before scaling to a global company.
After successfully selling my first company, I moved into ecommerce with $500m ASX listed company, Grays Commerce Group I led partnerships and social revenue before moving into a General Manager role in their jewellery division – selling over $7 million worth of precious diamonds and gems nationally.
I now work with the big brands collaborating with The Block, Selling Houses Australia, Three Birds Renovations, and identities like Shelley Craft to secure these high-profile brands a constant stream of content, build credibility, and grow sales.
I am an engaging, passionate speaker, mentor to women in small business, and ambassador for Inspiring Rare Birds. At home in Sydney, you’ll find me playing Rummy with my two teenage sons while my husband is in the garage restoring his vintage car or enjoying a cocktail by the harbour with my girlfriends.
