Sam 2007

I was born in the UK 43 years ago and emigrated (with my parents) as a toddler, to Western Australia in early 1967. The first, of my 3, younger sisters arrived shortly afterwards and we spent the first couple of years in our new country in the amazing red dirt of ‘Gold Country’ - Kambalda/Kalgoorlie - 600kms north east of Perth and it was here perhaps that my love of WA’s more remote places began.

My husband and I (temporarily) live in ’suburbia’ to be close to where the youngest 2 (of our 5 children - aged 14to 21 years) attend high school.

My career path has meandered since the age of 15, when I left school for a year at business college, from various Reception & PA jobs in the real estate and mining industries, to working within my family’s business and the latter is what inspired me to start my own business.

In  2002 we commenced Black Gecko in a tiny office with a digital printer and lots of dreams.  We learnt about graphic design and printing as we went along, doing work for people we knew to start with but, as our confidence grew, gained corporate clients.  In late 2005 we bought out one of our clients - LOTE Teaching Aids (a business that develops and manufactures language resources) and our little partnership (with a boutique 100 clients) grew overnight into a business that has thousands of customers and is responsible for employing others.

Skiing 2007, Coronet Peak Queenstown NZ

In my spare time I enjoy spending time with my husband, reading, taking photos, the beach, native gardens and camping (particularly in the quiet, more remote areas of WA).  In the past 8 years I have also discovered a love of cycling and recently bought a hybrid bike for the ‘city’ to join the mountain bike that I use for off-road riding.

I also love animals and over the years have had many - a cow, goat, sheep, budgies & galahs, alpacas and, even lived on a red deer farm for a few years.  Nowadays, we have narrowed the menagerie down to a couple of guinea pigs, fish, a ’share-dog” Mahli (a JR shared with our daughter) and the newest member to the family “Shimi”, a beautiful Golden Retriever.

And so has begun the next phase of my life - things I want to do and personally achieve before I’m too old to enjoy it!