Category: People

People by Mylan Vu
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PEOPLE: How Yemi Penn bent her own reality

As well as being an engineer, gym owner and author, Yemi Penn is a business coach and is passionate about helping others become their authentic self. In this interview, she shares why she is passionate about empowering and supporting others who are focusing on what they ‘should’ do, and how she is setting out to change the stat that one in three people are unhappy with where they are in life. She also shares her views on diversity and inclusion, and how her experiences as a woman of colour have impacted her approach to business today.

People by Mylan Vu
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PEOPLE: From loathing chemistry to completing a PhD in environmental geochemistry – Silvana Santomartino

Women account for less than 30% of global researcher roles and, despite an increased need in scientists’ expertise during the pandemic, female scientists have been quoted significantly less often than male scientists. In this interview, Founding Director or PSK Environmental, Silvana Santomartino, shares how she became interested in environmental science and established her own business.

People by Mylan Vu
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PEOPLE: Learning from and celebrating landscapes with regenerative farming

Regenerative agriculture addresses the urgent need to regenerate the health and resilience of soils and landscapes to reverse the decline of bio-systems throughout Australia and better survive the impact of climatic extremes, including helping Australian farmers bounce back from bushfires and drought. In this interview, Juanita Breen outlines how she turned a crazy dream of running a regenerative farm into a reality with Echo Valley Farms. Together with her husband and kids, Juanita operates Echo Valley Farms under what they call the “4 Goods” – good for the animals, good for the environment, good for the farmer, good for you.

People by Mylan Vu
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PEOPLE: “I wanted everyone to see that people with disabilities were beautiful too.” – Madeline Stuart

Madeline Stuart is a game changer. After deciding she wanted a career on the catwalk, her first photo shoot went viral, and she has never looked back. With the support of her mother, Rosanne Stuart, Madeline has embarked on an incredible career in the spotlight, and has used her very public platform to advocate for diversity and empower the disability community. In this interview, Madeline shares her career journey so far, and how she sees the representation of people with disabilities evolving.

People by Mylan Vu
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PEOPLE: Lunden De’Leon’s transition from broke to blessed

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, Lunden De’Leon has seen first-hand the great lengths the film industry has had to go through to keep moving. This includes keeping a six-foot safety distance, wearing masks on set, actors bringing their own costumes and outfits, and using alternate camera angles to enable greater distances between actors. Filming of her latest job has completely halted. In this interview, Lunden shares how she started a career in acting, and how this has evolved over the years.

People by Mylan Vu
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PEOPLE: Why Sharon daVanport built a support network for autistic women and nonbinary people

In 2010, Sharon daVanport founded the Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network (AWN) to build a supportive community where autistic women, girls, nonbinary people and people of all marginalised genders could share their experience in an understanding, diverse and inclusive environment. In this interview, Sharon shares how gender stereotypes can lead to a misdiagnosis, how they are maintaining and building the AWN, and their views on disability justice.

People by Mylan Vu
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PEOPLE: Solai’s journey as an angel investor

In Australia, the majority of VC funds are founded and led by men, and globally, only 2% of investment dollars go to women. Yet, there are more women joining the investor community each year, including angel investor, Solai Valliappan. In this interview, Solai shares experiences with unconscious bias which she regularly experiences from other investors, while highlighting that some sectors demonstrate this more strongly than others. She’s also on the look-out for female-led companies and is always encouraging women to follow their gut and venture out on their own.

People by Mylan Vu
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PEOPLE: “Education is a privilege and a STEM career is a huge step towards empowerment and equality” – Muneera Bano

Muneera Bano is a passionate advocate for women in STEM and is an active role model for the next generation via the various accolades and positions she holds, including a ‘Superstar of STEM’ for Science and Technology Australia, and the Go Girl, Go For IT 2020 Ambassador. In this interview, Muneera shares her views on driving diversity and inclusion in STEM fields.