Live life large - Interview with Denise McGrath

Denise McGrath is struggling to decide what her greatest success is.

As CEO of the Kids of MacArthur health foundation, member of several boards and committees of local businesses, and proud mum to twelve-year-old Jackson, it’s not surprising it’s a difficult choice.

After a long think, Denise decides it’s her balance between work and home that she’s most proud of.

“I put a lot of time and effort in to being a mother and wife, and my work, and I think it’s a success to be able to balance them.”

Denise McGrath is a large woman, with a big fruity laugh and grand ambitions. She’sperpetually busy, thriving on bigprojects in both her business and family. She is equally happy event-managing a magnificent charity ball or renovating her stylish home.

Denise says there’s no such thing as a typical day at Kids of MacArthur.

“I think every single day is different. We come up with new projects all the time and it’s very seasonal. We have a calendar of events, and we work towards each one. They’re all very different, and that makes our day-to-day work very different.”

Kids of MacArthur fundraises for pediatric equipment for Campbelltown and Camden hospitals, as well as community health centers across Macarthur. It’s a charity firmly grounded in the local community, working in partnership with local businesses and the nearby University of Western Sydney.

Denise’s latest project is the launch of the Kids of MacArthur Women’s Trust, where women get to be front and centre of the charity work.

“Statistics show us that most of [Kids of MacAthur’s] money comes from business men,” says Denise, “when women should be the heart and soul of a community. So we’re putting together a ladies only club to get the women more involved!”

Big ideas at work aren’t enough for Denise, who likes to tackle DIY jobs at home, too. Denise and husband Peter began renovating their home in their early thirties.

“I wanted a big project that I could spend a lot of time and energy getting involved in. So we bought a big ol’ house,” Denise says.

Like all good renovations, Denise and Peter’s home had its share of setbacks. Denise fell ill shortly after buying the house, and later discovered she was pregnant with Jackson.

“And money’s always a question,” Denise adds.

So what’s your best DIY tip?

“Don’t let Peter do anything,” Denise quips, without missing a beat.

She continues, “It is really rewarding when you work really hard at a particular room or part of the house and it’s renovated.”

Denise is particularly proud of her ensuite bathroom, saying it “started off as an internal waterfall downstairs, so see how far we’ve come?”

But she says it’s hard to pick a favourite room, exclaiming, “You didn’t see the house to start off with! I’m fairly proud of every room.”

With so many big plans on the boil, Denise’s down time is precious. She savours her free moments over a glass of wine with family and friends, or curling up with a thrilling action book. She says she’s enjoying the Matthew Riley series at the moment.

“He tells a really good adventure story. The star of the book is death-defying – they do lots of things in a day, and we do lots of things in a day here!” she jokes.

There is one project, however, that Denise never seems to get right. “My weight loss attempts never work,” she laughs richly, her big frame shaking.

“My new year’s resolution was to lose weight, it’s that every year!” she says. “It’s always hard because I’m always away over the new year, when you relax and eat and drink more than any other time of the year – and you make a resolution that from day one is very hard to keep!”

Nevertheless, she’s sticking to her life formula – always having a go.

“Make big plans and have a go at achieving them,” she says with enthusiasm. “We do that at all levels; plan big holidays, have grand expectations for everybody, and also at work.”

And what would she tell herself 15 years ago?

“Oh! Don’t eat so much!” she says.

Prettying-up Peace

The chic, modern offices at St Leonard’s look like they could belong to a trendy graphic-design firm. The airy glass offices are complete with a water cooler and glossy conference table.

Convinced I must be in the wrong building, I hesitantly stop a heeled and suited lady passing. “Excuse me,” I mumble, “I’m looking for Camilla Schippa.”

I’m surprised to find that I am in the right building after all, and these flashy offices are the home of Vision of Humanity – a not for profit organisation working towards world peace.

Where are the daisy-chain hippies, I wonder? Where are the ‘free love’ posters?

“We’re actually very professional,” Camilla says when I mention it to her. “I spend a lot of time working with businesses, telling them a peaceful nation will buy more computers than a country at war.”

Camilla Schippa is the Senior Vice President of Vision of Humanity, having joined the organisation after a ten-year stint with the United Nations.

“I often say I was running around the office,” Camilla laughs, describing her job with the UN. “I was running the office, but mostly running around the office.”

Imagining Camilla flustered in the office is no easy feat – she is perfectly calm, dressed in classic corporate wear, but with a string of brightly coloured woolen beads draped around her neck.

Despite being cool and collected, Camilla is passionate about her work for peace. To Camilla, peace is the pre-requisite for survival.

“If we are not friends, and we don’t seriously start working together, we can’t solve all our huge challenges – of climate change, and overpopulation, and everything else.

“I’ve learned from my many years at the UN, that unless countries are friendly and willing to collaborate, nothing’s going to work.”

Camilla Schippa’s latest project involves a partnership with tween social networking site, Bebo, to launch a design competition for a new peace logo. The winning design will be unveiled at the Global Symposium of Peaceful Nations in Washington, DC.

It’s not a typical project for a peace organization, but one that Camilla sees as tremendously important.

“We want to reach out to the youth of the world, to think about what peace means to them, and how important peace is to their futures.

“The challenges of sustainability are going to affect our youth much more than they’re going to affect at least my parents, and most likely me as well.”

Camilla became involved with the peace movement after visiting Africa in her teens. Having been raised in a fairly privileged home in Italy, Camilla’s trip to Africa was a turning point.

“I was pretty shocked by what I saw in Africa,” Camilla emphasises. “I was pretty impressed also by the beauty and the joy that I saw in Africa, together with the poverty and the desperation.

“From that day on, I said, ‘I will not spend my life making somebody else richer. I will spend my life trying to make the world a better place.’

“At the end of each day, I can go home, and I can be tired, but I know I’ve made a difference.”

And what do her kids think of her work?

“My son tells other people, ‘My Mummy works for peace’,” Camilla says with a laugh. Camilla has a five-year-old son and seven-year-old daughter.

“I think they’re fortunate enough not to really understand yet what the issues are,” she says. “If I’m talking to my five-year-old, peace is what they have right now. It’s the ability to live their life in such a privileged way.”

Camilla recalls a seven-year-old girl she met last month in the slums of Nairobi. The girl cleaned clothes for work. It’s a powerful comparison.

“Peace to her would be different,” Camilla says. “To her, peace would be to be able not to work, and to live in a safe environment.”

Camilla’s peace logo project is part of a push to bring the peace movement out of the sixties, and pass the baton to a generation of digitally connected, technology-savvy teens.

It’s an extension of Camilla’s belief that the peace message can be delivered professionally to any audience.

The offices may be trendy and modern, but don't be surprised – Peace is getting a 21st Century makeover.

http://www.soldiersofpeacemovie.com/

virgin spa

The card is printed with beautiful, curly letters. It reads, “Please feel free to wear your bathrobe to the spa.” Standing in my hotel room and holding the card in my hand, I am faced with a dilemma.

I’ve booked in to have a massage and facial at one of the most sought-after spa treatment facilities in New South Wales. I’m at Lillianfels Hotel and Resort, in the heart of the Blue Mountains and only a stone’s throw away from the iconic Three Sisters. The spa at Lillianfels is one of the resort’s most enticing attractions, along with award winning restaurant Darleys.

A gold standard in beauty treatments, it’s a luxury that few would want to miss. And lucky for me, it’s my first ever spa treatment.

The problem though, is on the card. I understand that I should wear the complimentary hotel bathrobe to the spa, but what do I wear underneath? Should I play it safe and go fully clothed, with the bathrobe like a coat over the top? Should I opt for the casual poolside look, and wear swimmers under the robe? Or just my bra and knickers? Is the card suggesting that I wear nothing at all?

Struggling into the vastly oversized one-size-fits-all bathrobe, I quickly dismiss the starkers option. I’m having trouble keeping the robe tied around my waist, let alone worrying about it constantly slipping off my shoulders.

I step into my smalls and wrap the giant robe around me like a beach towel, and I’m off to the hotel spa.

I’m shown into a comfy oriental style sitting room, with a bowl of real fruit on the table and little Chinese cups of herbal tea. A birdsong CD is playing quietly from somewhere indistinguishable.

My smiling masseur and beautician, Jade, greets me warmly. She tells me to hang up my bathrobe and lie down on the cushioned bench. For a panicked moment I don’t know what to do with my hands.

“I’m just going to fold your knickers under, so they don’t get in the way,” Jade says pleasantly, and, “Now I’m going to unhook your bra so I can get to your back.”

It’s far less uncomfortable than I thought it would be, as Jade neatly tucks my undies into itself.

Today I’m getting a hot rock treatment, where heated smooth stones are used to massage my back and neck. The warmth from the stones is delectable, like first stepping into a hot shower or swallowing a steaming hot chocolate.

When I’m ready for my facial, Jade holds up a big towel as a screen and asks me to flip over. She wraps a warm, damp towel around my head and leaves a tiny hole for me to breathe. Next, her practiced fingers smooth a pot of ointment over my cheeks.

“That feels like it’s burning,” I mumble.

“It’s supposed to tingle,” Jade replies.

I get the customary cucumber slices placed over my eyelids, and for a while I’m left to marinate. The cucumber does feel cool and refreshing on my skin, and once I get used to the “tingling” the lotion feels quite nice too.

Jade removes it all by wrapping my head with warm towels a few more times, and then lets me get dressed again in privacy.

I’m too relaxed to even remember what I was worried about before. My back and shoulders feel warm and tender and my face feels like silk.

I stroll out of the spa with an enormous robe slipping off my shoulder, perfectly content.

www.lilianfels.com.au

Convergence Reflection

My first impression of convergent journalism wasn’t a good one. For starters, the class was held in a lab of mac computers – always a bad omen. Mac’s make me feel as though I have a disability. To me, a mac makes everything take twice as much brain power.

There were so many things to learn. Struggling with hardcore industry software was one thing, but there was also the problem of finding a story that was interesting aurally or visually. So many ideas that would work on paper just sounded boring as a radio piece, like someone was lecturing. I think I made that mistake in my first audio project – my interviewee just droned on a bit about internet service provider filtering. Not exactly compelling stuff.

That first interview was a nightmare. I was trying to pretend I was all professional, and confident, but really tripping over my words and asking the same questions twice. Also, I was horrified when I listened back to the audio. It was full of me making ‘agreement noises’, in between his sentences, like ‘yeah’, and ‘uh huh’. I couldn’t find the delete button fast enough.

So I learned the hard way not to make a single noise when someone is answering my questions, and instead giving them big smiles and nodding to show that I’m listening. I even try not to laugh at their jokes.

When the photography component came around, I thought things might get better. How hard can it be to take a photograph? I’ve got loads of happy snaps on my camera phone which I’m pretty proud of. But before I could get really comfortable, I had obscure terms like aperture being thrown at me and was being asked to compose shots with framing, depth, light, and motion all mastered. No surprises that I struggled.

My first idea for a photo essay was multiple shots of my boyfriend eating. I love watching my boyfriend eat. Luckily, my classmates finally got me to realise that few other people would find such a photo essay as charming as I would, so I abandoned the idea.

My project ended up being a snapshot of a night at the local square. To be honest I was mildly concerned for my safety, which made me feel like a hard-hitting fear-nothing journalist. With a giant camera slung round my neck and a digital recorder that looks like a taser gun, I didn’t exactly look very approachable. It was also really uncomfortable sticking a camera in someone’s face, especially when they were just out for a night of shopping. But I got some good quotes and even some arty photos, and was pretty pleased with my project.

Once that hurdle was jumped, I felt like I was getting a pretty good grip on convergence. I actually felt quite confident, instead of just pretending. And the next interview I did, at a local restaurant, went comparatively well (although this could have been because the bloke was so nice). This time, I actually had my questions planned out and even had a vague direction for the story.

I’ve learned that things don’t always go to plan. My interviewee was a really robust and colourful guy, and from the start was talking in full flow about his restaurant. We were there for a couple of hours, he was having a cigarette and we were both having coffees. The audio I got out of that interview was loads better than what I would have got if I stuck to my ten questions.

It’s been a roller coaster. At the beginning, I was sure that the tasks were way out of my league – projects that were completely beyond my abilities. And while it’s been difficult, I feel really accomplished, and I actually have projects to show for all my hard work. I’m really proud of my final project, and the chef has even asked to use some of my work on his website. And while I haven’t gotten over my disagreement with mac computers, I have really enjoyed discovering all the things I didn’t know I could do. (",)

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