A Shoalhaven Woman of Influence

Shoalhaven business Chamber President Jemma Tribe - an advocate for women's rights who ignites the ambitions of female entrepreneurs.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I heartshoal Haven. I just kept thinking, someone needs to
do this, someone needs to do this, and I think
in the morning I realized that somebody is probably going
to have to be me.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Good ay, I'm Pete Andrea. Great to have you on
board for another episode of iHeart shal Haven. Jemma Tribe
is well known to anyone. His business is to know
about business in the shoal Haven. She's the president of
the shoal Haven Business Chamber. A slight departure from her
UNI days chasing a journalism degree and then a gig
as a newsreader. She's been a mover and shaker too

(00:33):
as a political media advisor, and then had a stint
as an elected councilor before taking on the demanding role
heading up the chamber. And while she's got all the
credentials to meet the definition of a woman of influence,
Jemma says her professional life has been shaped by men,
in particular her former news boss and a former shoal

(00:53):
Haven mayor who enjoyed a liquid lunch. But more about
that later. As you'll hear, Jemma is passionate about community.
Some describe her as an inspiring change maker and as
head of the shoal Haven Women in Business Group. She
just loves fanning the flames of ambition for many local
female entrepreneurs.

Speaker 1 (01:12):
You know, looking at the different styles of leadership, and
I think historically people have had a certain view about
what that looks like, and it's evolved, and a style
now is around influence and being able to inspire people,
cast a vision and encourage people to follow that. And really,

(01:38):
I guess rather than tell people what to do, it's
taking people on a journey, listening to what's important to them,
understanding the needs of the community, and being responsive to that.
And I think that sums up my leadership style and
is one that I think gets the most done.

Speaker 2 (01:57):
We have here in the shoal Haven a unique sit
situation really where our federal member, our state member, our
Lord mayor, and our business chamber lead are all women.
What's in the water in the shoal Haven.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
I think it says a lot about the shoal Haven
and the leadership style we prefer. You know, we don't
like bs, if I can say that, we don't want
people puffed up in suits who say certain things in
a robotic way that they think they're supposed to say
they want real people. They want real community minded people

(02:34):
who are down to earth, who are you know, walking
the talk. And I think that sums up why there
seems to be a preference for women in leadership, because
they have a heart for the community, They know how
to get things done, and the community is responsive to that.

Speaker 2 (02:58):
The business chamber, you've walked among the world of a
lot of male business leaders and you've taken the top job.
Did you have to do things differently to gain their
respect and to gain their confidence, which is I suppose
the big important thing being the chamber president?

Speaker 1 (03:19):
Yeah. Absolutely. I think as much as people want someone
who is compassionate and someone who listens and has good
communication skills and all of those things, at the end
of the day, they still want competence, and they still
want a strong voice, and they still want experience, and
none of those things go out the window. You need
to have the whole package, and you need to show

(03:41):
people that you have the whole package and be willing
to step up and showcase your skills. And I think
if I'd probably waited for someone to say, hey, you
should do this, but it probably wouldn't have happened. I
really had to step up and say I know I
can do this, this is what I bring to the table,
let me show you, And eventually I think people get
on board with that. But I think it's really important

(04:03):
that when we know we've got something in us, that
we actually need to step out and show people what
we're capable of.

Speaker 2 (04:08):
And did you know that this is the course you wanted?
Or did that evolve from I know you've got a
journalistic background. I know you've done a lot of things
in the past. Did one day you think to yourself,
I'm capable of this and this is what the shoal
Haven business community needs.

Speaker 1 (04:27):
It definitely evolved, And I think one of the reasons
I loved journalism and the reason I got into it
was being able to speak for people who can't speak
for themselves and being able to tell people's story and
make a difference and get things happening from that, because,
as you know, when you share things publicly and you
get that people power on board, you can really make

(04:48):
real change. And then I think after a while, when
I was comfy in it, I got frustrated watching some
of the Polley's on TV, and I'd find myself throwing
paper at this green, just being frustrated at what I
was seeing and thinking is this the best we've got?
You know? And I had an incredible mentor a time,

(05:09):
our news director Rob Gooder at Waiver FM. It was
a very influential person on my career. And I remember,
you know, talking over our plan for the day and
he said there was a particular mayor that I had
to interview. At the time, this was a long time ago,
so no one current, but he said, oh, just a

(05:31):
little tip, don't call that person after lunch because they
would have had a liquid lunch and they're not going
to be giving you the best possible grab. And I
remember thinking, wow, how is that okay? How is that okay?
That the leaders of our city this is just what
we expect from them? And so I think that that

(05:52):
began to stir in me that our community deserves better.
And I became quite pad about leadership in all different forums.
And I did work for a federal member, and I
did a stint in local government as well and had
that real hands on experience. And when the Business Chamber

(06:14):
role came up, when they were having an AGM and
electing a president, I knew that I could be a
strong voice for business. I knew how government worked, I
knew how the media worked, I knew how the local
business community worked, having been a business owner, and I
knew I could affect real change. So I did put
my hand up, and in some ways I really enjoy

(06:36):
the pace of it, because in government, you know you're
quite limited in what you can do, and it sometimes
it feels like changes at a snail's pace, whereas in
the private sector or in this particular role, you can
make a decision about something and be quite agile and
see things happen quickly.

Speaker 2 (06:53):
You talk about affecting change. There was a really much
needed service that was facing enclosure in the shoul Haven
and you saw that and stepped up. The community food
store is now one of your babies.

Speaker 1 (07:08):
Yeah. It's funny how things come around, isn't it. I
initially went in to just help them get the word out.
I knew it was closing, and I wanted to maybe
put a post on our business Chamber Facebook page to say, hey,
this incredible service is closing. Can anyone, any local charities
step up and save it and keep it going? But

(07:29):
I didn't expect what I felt when I walked in
and the emotion of it really hit me, and seeing
just how desperate people were who were shopping there. They
were clearly struggling, and I knew that if this service
didn't exist, they would have nowhere to go on a
Monday to Friday basis. And all night I was thinking.

(07:51):
I don't think I slept much. I just kept thinking,
someone needs to do this, someone needs to do this,
and I think in the morning I realized that somebody
is probably going to have to be me. But funnily enough,
one of my passions has always been social enterprise and
using commercial principles for a social purpose and to be
able to be more sustainable and be around for the

(08:13):
long haul to help people, and I thought this is
a great opportunity to put some of that theory into practice.
And it took I would say two years to really
implement a really sound structure around volunteer management, policies and procedures, marketing,
all of those things. But now we have this really
exciting model that is actually getting national attention and I've

(08:36):
been funded to write a blueprint of what we do
at the store. Essentially, anyone in Australia who's thinking about
starting a food relief service or scaling one up, can
pick it up and run with it and have everything
how to guide basically on how to do it.

Speaker 2 (08:49):
You must be proud of that.

Speaker 1 (08:51):
I am actually really excited about that because not only
social enterprise works and we know we've got a great
example of it in our own backyard now of how
that how that does, but also because I really I
like to use my superpowers for good. So being able
to actively make a difference in what I'm doing it
just gives me the motivation I need to keep going.

Speaker 2 (09:14):
And in the background, you've got another business that you run.

Speaker 1 (09:17):
Yeah, my paid business that pays the bills, which probably
needs more attention at times when I've got my two
unpaid jobs at the business chamber and the food store,
and then my personal business in MCing, speaking, marketing, writing
a book and doing these other projects like the Blueprint

(09:37):
as well. So and working for some clients who I
think really are making a difference as well.

Speaker 2 (09:43):
There will be young ladies listening to this podcast and
weighing up what am I going to do? Am I
good enough? Do you like to take those young people
under your wi?

Speaker 1 (09:55):
Absolutely? My two big spark things in life is one
inspiring and developing women and secondly empowering not for profits.
So when I have women come up to me at
our women in business meetings and say I want to
be you in ten years, that just gives me such
a kick that they see me doing something and they think, yeah,

(10:16):
I can do that. I aspire to work towards that.
I probably drive them a bit crazy because then I'll
take once I know that, I'll take everything as a
learning opportunity for them. And by the way, you know
you should come to this and learn this. And by
the way, just in case you're ever in this situation,
let me just tell you a bit how I've handled it,
or you know, what you might want to think about,

(10:36):
and just I guess start slowly preparing them and empowering them.
But I think just seeing women in positions lets other
people know that you can do that. It's okay to
work towards that. And I would just say to any
women out there thinking about it, just take those opportunities
that you're capable of a lot more than you realize.

Speaker 2 (10:57):
Something that's really interesting in the conversation so far, we
haven't referred to male domination. Male dominance. It's not something
that you obviously think about. It's about getting out there
and doing it yourself, and that's what you're fostering among
other women.

Speaker 1 (11:14):
Absolutely, when I think it reflects back on my own experiences,
Like I've said, a lot of my mentors have been men,
and I probably wouldn't be where I am today without
a lot of them. But I think, yeah, I do
tend to not see things in gender, and it's more
based on people's attitude and whether they're willing to, you know,

(11:36):
once they get to a position, throw down the rope
and help somebody else up, or whether they want to
cut it off and be the only ones up there.
I think that's men and women have potential to do either.
But generally I'd say I more take a glass half
full approach and inspire people with ways to overcome things

(11:57):
rather than focus on the challenges.

Speaker 2 (12:00):
Marketing back to the community food store, do you find
that it's a lot of the women that are there,
and do you see the socioeconomic battles that they faced
and domestically sometimes violence sometimes what seems like insurmountable situations
that they're overcoming.

Speaker 1 (12:19):
Oh, definitely, And that's a generational thing too as well.
Isn't it. We are seeing a lot more women over
fifty who have traditionally depended on their husbands, and they've
gotten to a point where perhaps there's separational divorce and
other factors, and they don't have superannuation and they don't
have financial support to lean on. And yes, we do
see a large cohort in the store of that demographic,

(12:40):
and women living in their cars or in caravan parks
and all that sort of thing. So that is typically
what we see. I guess the starts are interesting as well.
Coming out of UNIS at the moment, sixty percent of
graduates are women, forty percent men. I think the shift
has been happening in the workforce and it will continue
to happen. But yeah, there obviously are still older women

(13:02):
who didn't necessarily have a lifelong career and have a
good financial backing behind them to support them. Some of
those women come and shop in our store or seek
support from other local services. It's definitely something I think
we need to be mindful of as a community.

Speaker 2 (13:18):
Gemma Tribe, a shoal Haven woman of influence. Always a
pleasure to speak with you.

Speaker 1 (13:23):
Thank you, Pete, and thanks for the opportunity I think
what you're doing here is incredible.

Speaker 2 (13:27):
Gemmatribe another of the shoal Haven's women of influence, a
real advocate for women's rights, inspiring us to make the
world a little kinder and easier for those who need it.
You can find out more about this inspiring woman via
her website Jemmatribe dot com dot au. That's another episode
of I heartshoal Haven for now proudly funded by the

(13:49):
new South Wales government. I'm Pete Andrea. Catch you next time.

Speaker 1 (13:54):
I heeartshoal Haven