Fashion to Fillies - Lorilie Cunningham talks entrepreneurial journeys, philanthropy, horses and Dancing CEOs - Bubbles and Benevolence with Marisa Vecchio

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Bubbles and Benevolence, the podcast
where we pop the bubbles tosuccess and dive deep into the
benevolent hearts of those whohave achieved it.
In this podcast, we'll sit downwith successful business
leaders, philanthropists,nonprofit workers and more to
discuss their journeys, thelessons they've learned along
the way and how they're usingtheir success to make a positive

(00:20):
impact on the world.
So grab a glass of bubbles andjoin us as we explore the
intersection of business andbenevolence and discover what it
truly means to be successful.
Get ready for an exhilaratingepisode filled with boundless
energy and captivating tales aswe welcome the extraordinary

(00:44):
Lorely Cunningham to the show.
Lorely is a true force ofnature, embodying the rare
combination of a creative spiritand an analytical mind.
Her life's journey has takenher on an awe-inspiring
adventure spanning diversefields such as accounting,
fashion, design, physiotherapyand even horse breeding.
In today's riveting conversation, we delve into the remarkable

(01:06):
experiences that have shapedLorely's path, including the
formidable challenges she hasrecently faced.
Prepare to be inspired as shegenerously imparts her
invaluable wisdom on findingmentors and navigating the
intricacies of entrepreneurship.
But that's not all.
We'll also dive into Lorely'sdeep passion for horses, her
extraordinary efforts infundraising to re-home x-rays.

(01:29):
Horses to fight breast cancerwith research funding and
support families impacted bydomestic violence with Women's
Legal Service Queensland.
And just when you think thisconversation couldn't get any
more exciting, we have anexclusive and electrifying
announcement waiting for you atthe very end.
So saddle up, hold tight andjoin us for this enthralling

(01:49):
chat between Lorely and Marisa.
You won't want to miss a singlemoment of this captivating
episode.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
Well, I'm so excited today to have one of the most
buoyant and colourful people inthe whole of Brisbane or maybe
the world with us today, thequintessentially gorgeous Lorely
Cunningham.
Lorely, welcome to our podcast.

Speaker 3 (02:10):
Thank you, Marisa.
That's a beautiful, beautifulentree.
Not sure if I live up to it,but anyway, thank you.

Speaker 2 (02:16):
Well, your jacket does today, at the very least, i
didn't expect you to come in inblack or white.

Speaker 3 (02:21):
One day I'll shock you in web page.
I know I do not believe thatwill ever happen.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
But, lorely, it is truly such a pleasure to have
you, and we always start ourpodcast by asking you to talk
about your favourite bubbles andperhaps why it's become your
favourite.
So, through us with what yourfavourite bubbles is and why?

Speaker 3 (02:38):
So?
my favourite bubbles is LouisRotoran, and I say the two four
two, and I only say that becauseTony John's told me to say that
and he's, he's the absolute, ithink, the king of bubbles.
If Bernadette Shea is a queen,he's the king And he.
I have always loved Ferf, butyou know, and still love Ferf,

(03:01):
but just through meeting Tonyand a group of friends and we
always drink champagne whenwe're together I love that I'm
becoming educated by a friend ofmine over a beautiful glass of
bubbles.
So that's just a lovely thing.
And really my palette was notthat sophisticated.
I did a course with BernadetteShea and I think I failed

(03:23):
terribly And I was in awe of her, but really that's.
You know, i drink it and I loveit And I'm learning more and
more as I go along.
See, you never stop learningabout bubbles.
So it's a wonderful thing.

Speaker 2 (03:36):
And I think, lorely, thinking about the last few
years, particularly in your andmy life, it is.
We are definitely the peoplethat embody the drink in your
champagne when we're happy orsad or anything in between,
because it seems to be thatultimate pick me up and
celebrate to drink, but alsosomething you can actually drink
when you are a bit down.
So, and tell me about 242.
I haven't heard of the LouisRoto.

Speaker 3 (03:56):
Well, there's a 242 and a 243.
And from what I've learned fromTony, 242 is just just has
different tones to it.
If that's the right word,whatever, but you know it.
All I know is, when I drink it,i, the bubbles, dance my tongue
and it just is very easy,beautiful, easy champagne to

(04:20):
drink.
243 is probably not that muchdifferent, but anyway just a
digital piece of 242 something242.

Speaker 2 (04:27):
And for those of you that don't know, tony and Fran
Johns are the wonderfuldevelopers and owners of the
Emporium Hotel in Brisbane,which is one of the most
beautiful hotels in town Andit's sophisticated in every way,
isn't it?
Lorelie design to therestaurants, to the events that
we've held there I thinkindividually as well, and so he
should know what he's talkingabout.

Speaker 3 (04:47):
Absolutely, and they're amazing people because
they have, you know, theartistic design that they put
into the original hotel, theoriginal Emporium.
And then this one is quiteamazing And they're just such a
great team, fran and Tony, sothey work so well together And
they have difference andcomplementary skills And, yeah,
it's wonderful.
It's wonderful getting to knowthem better and spending time.

(05:07):
I've known them for many years,but particularly the last
couple of years.
So it's tones my educator.
We all need an educator.

Speaker 2 (05:13):
I actually want to ask one question before we leave
the drinks issue, because Ithink I said in my first episode
of the podcast, i didn'tdiscover champagne till I was in
my 40s And, going up in anItalian family, that kind of
prioritized Asti, riccadona andSpamante and Prosecco.
Do you remember having yourfirst glass of champagne?

Speaker 3 (05:36):
I do And I don't know .
I think it probably was aroundthen.
I really had, as I said, nothaving, you know, a hugely
sophisticated palette, but insaying I still know what I like.
I remember my brother when Iwas quite young, maybe about 19.
And he's a few years older Andhe and his wife are very much

(05:57):
into good wines, And I know thathe conned me into being I was
going to say an escort.
That sounds terrible.

Speaker 2 (06:07):
I'm not an escort.
I had a very, very career.
I didn't have that on my list.

Speaker 3 (06:11):
Take the escort bit back.
I know I was.
They had some tasting.
I was like Miss BYU, marumbaNow Marumba was some.
I think it was probably adirect full.
I shouldn't have a, you know, amaquisant sort of round, but I
remember it was a veryinexpensive wine drink.
So I sort of thought, oh, geton to this.
And then, you know, i used todrink shinsano dreadful things,

(06:34):
and really I then stoppeddrinking anything but white wine
And then that led me intodrinking.
It wasn't champagne, it wassparkling wine, which is pretty
dreadful because it was verysweet, and so I stopped drinking
that.
And it wasn't until I probably,you know, came to a time in my

(06:55):
life where I could afford to buygood champagne.
That I did, and I actuallycan't remember the first glass,
but I would have been, i think,probably my 40s, and I remember
thinking this is so beautifulAnd, you know, loving it ever
since.
But strangely we can talk aboutthis later, once we talk about

(07:16):
my health journey.
But I have loved it more sinceI've had breast cancer and my
taste buds changed, and sosilver lining, lovely silver
lining, of that We'll talk abouta couple of silver linings that
you will talk about later.

Speaker 2 (07:30):
Well, let's cheers, louis Roderwe, and thank you for
sharing with us the story ofyour journey with LR, and cheers
to a wonderful podcast.
Wonderful Thanks, Marisa Tellme about when we first met.

Speaker 3 (07:46):
Marisa, i remember knowing of you and reading about
you and wanting to get to knowyou And we met at a mutual
friends house And you.
What I was struck by when I metyou was your beautiful and warm
, friendly nature And I'm alwaysdrawn to warm, friendly people.

(08:06):
Sometimes, if they're not warmand friendly, it's a little bit
of a you know, provides achallenge.
So I might as well share thechallenge.
So I might, might chase thosepeople just to get them.
Just to get them, you know, getthem right into my sort of area
of let's have a good chat.
But you were amazingly warm andbeautiful And I remember we

(08:27):
spoke.
I was really in awe of what youwere doing with Hanwayth House.
It was after the Hanwayth Houseburnt down but prior to you
getting breast cancer.
Okay, so that was probably abouteight years ago maybe Yeah, And
I was just I delighted tofinally meet you, because you're

(08:47):
always this person who I was inawe of for your, your beautiful
spirit, the way that you gotthings done, And you know, and I
at that time I knew you didwonderful events And I was
always, again, very respectfuland in awe of people who, who

(09:08):
did things and made thingshappen, and especially in
philanthropic areas.
So I was very, very happy thatday to have you on the veranda
to myself, for I think we spokefor about 20 minutes.
Oh, that wouldn't down like us,would it 20 minutes.

Speaker 2 (09:23):
I probably had a couple of Champagne's by then
That's right.

Speaker 3 (09:26):
I think you and I, you know, had about three
breaths because we had a lot toexchange.
But I knew from that time thatI met you, Marissa, that you
would be in my life.

Speaker 2 (09:35):
And we have been in each other's life ever since, so
I'm very grateful conversely,and we've had some wonderful
adventures together, so I'd loveto explore some of those today.
But thank you for those lovelywords.
I really appreciate them anddefinitely appreciate you being
a part of my orbit these days.
But one thing I don't knowabout you is where you grew up.

(09:55):
You know how you grew up, whatyou did at school, what did you
do afterwards?
Because I think it's been, iwould assume, a very, very
trajectory to where you aretoday, so I'd love you to tell
me a bit about that.

Speaker 3 (10:08):
Well, i will.
It's quite funny that we'veknown each other.
We really have never spokenabout this.
So I grew up in Camp Hill.
I was actually born at the RedBrick Hotel down south of
Brisbane.
My father was a publican And Iwas the youngest of five.
And my father died when I was18 months old and had been ill

(10:31):
for some time with a brain tumorAnd my mum was managing the pub
and managing five children Andhe was very ill and passed away.
So my mother then moved to CampHill and bought a house there
And really didn't have any moneybecause in those days the death

(10:51):
duties had taken away anythingshe had.
So mum was, you know, reallystruck me.
She was a young mother of youknow late 30s with five children
.
So we moved to Camp Hill.
She sent the boys, my oldbrothers, to Villanova And she
met their schoolteacher, peterRoley, and she then married

(11:15):
Peter Roley about 18 monthslater.
So scandalous, is he?
a scandalous school?
Scandalous Because he was abachelor, he'd never been
married.
He, you know, came into.
He was at their teachers too,so they had to keep it for a
quiet.
I mean, the boys would.
I can remember one time Michaeltelling me that he got into
trouble from him at school, fornot because he forgot his

(11:35):
homework, but but Dad had beento our place the night before
and saw it, but he had to treatMichael's scandals.
Michael never forgave him forit, didn't he say, but didn't
you see it last night when youwere at our house?
Well, that was spawned assecrecy, anyway, when it, when
the truth came out that thewidow of five and because she
also was a publican's wife, itwas all a bit scandalous Anyway.

(11:57):
So, yeah, they got married and Ibeing the youngest of five, my
older four siblings all lefthome quite early.
For one was the Navy, one wentto Melbourne, diane had it, got
married, had baby, and my otherbrother moved somewhere else And
they all sit, they all leftwithin a period of 12 months.
So I was, i really grew up asan only child.

(12:18):
I had four siblings, but youknow they, as I was in in my,
you know my years at primaryschool and leading at high
school.
I was really an only child AndI adored my, my stepdad.
He was the most beautiful man.
So I had a lovely life with mymum sporting me census and him
sporting me.
We decided he used to take meto.

(12:39):
You know great adventures.
And he was a lovely man.
So I went to school at Loretto,confident Couparou, and then I
finished year 12 and I decided,bizarrely, to study accounting.
And I, to this day, i have noidea why the universe led me

(13:03):
there.
Well, to be honest, i did startoff studying journalism because
I thought that might be someway to lead me into public
relations or somethinginteresting, and the course just
all fell apart.
So I decided that I would studyaccounting.
So I did a Bachelor of Commerce, hated every second of it, but
it's probably one of the bestthings I've ever done.

(13:25):
The first term of year, when Iwas at university, i met my
husband, gary, so we startdating then.
So I was very young, i was 17.
And I met him and so Igraduated from university and
worked.
I worked as an accountant for10 years And Gary and I got
married and started havingbabies and kept working there.

(13:48):
And then he went to, he got ajob in Melbourne.
So I went down to Melbourne andI decided I was having a little
break from accounting And Istarted a fashion label just
because I was fiddling around,made myself something, painted
it, and those days it was likeyou know all that hand painting
and embellishment Did that,popped the outfit on, went into
Melbourne and Melbourne shopping.

(14:09):
This lady said to me, where didyou get that amazing outfit from
?
And I said, oh, i made myself.
She said, well, can you providethe store?
I said, of course I can.
At that stage I really knew noone at Melbourne So I still to
this day don't know how I madethat happen, but I did So.
That was the start of myfashion label called Bows and
Hearts Designs.
When we moved back to Brisbane afew years later I opened a

(14:31):
store at Rosalie.
Again, we'll see.
There we go, all comes around.
That was the development thatTony Johns did down Rosalie.
So I opened a store down there.
And then we moved to Nashville,tennessee, to start a business
over there.
So I closed the store, moved toNashville So my accounting hat
was back on over there.

(14:52):
So it was a very complex, youknow, being in the healthcare
system over there with all thedifferent healthcare companies.
So my accounting hat was backon And I loved that experience
over there Country music,amazingly beautiful, warm people
And just it was such achallenging but incredible,

(15:14):
incredibly rewarding time.
So, yeah, we did that for a fewyears And then I came back and
opened up Happiest Place.
So I want to go back to theother side of my brain again.
So I flipped from accounting tofashion, then accounting again
and then back to somethingbeautiful and creative, and so
that was all around beautifulinteriors.

(15:34):
And I did that with my daughter, stephanie, who'd been living
in the UK, so she sort ofbrought all her ideas from the
UK, mine from the US, and wejust created this beautiful
place called Happiness Place.

Speaker 2 (15:45):
It was a beautiful place.
I remember I must have gonethere before I met you
officially And I the beautifulpurple teapot and cups at
Hanworth come from my friendFleur who bought them after
seeing Happiness Place.
But I've got quite a lot oflovely things from that store.
But I'm thinking, how did youflick that mind from accounting

(16:08):
to fashion design?
I mean, we all have thisstereotypical view of an
accountant, right?
You know, the person that wouldhave walked in here wearing
beige this morning would havebeen an accountant morally.
But it really is so diverse.
I mean, were you artistic as achild?

Speaker 3 (16:23):
No, not at all, not at all.
My I think my extent of beingartistic was to, you know,
decorate my bedroom.
I remember it was.
I had purple bedspread withorange embroidery through it.

Speaker 2 (16:36):
They were my favourite two colours too, as a
child purple and orange And weare so in these days.

Speaker 3 (16:41):
I know, i know And but no, i never thought of
myself as artistic.
I always thought that I wantedto please my parents and I
wanted to go to university and Iwanted to get a degree.
So I guess doing that firstyear of journalism which didn't
work out was, again, it was meflipping.

(17:03):
It was going from a creativedegree to something like
accounting which is, you know so, on the other end of the
spectrum.
So my whole life I flippedbetween the two And I do one for
a while and I flipped the otherand then you know, it goes back
.
But now you know it's.
I look back over all of thosetimes And when I was involved in

(17:26):
a creative, in a creative partof my life the accounting and
the commerce background that Ihad helped so much And I talk to
, you know, qut fashion studentsnow and say to them you know,
one of the most important thingsyou can do is school yourself

(17:48):
in business, because so manycreative people fail because
they're so incredibly talentedbut they forget that they're
running a business too And thecreative mind doesn't allow them
to focus on those, those sortof issues.
So I'm very fortunate I'm aleft brain, right brain, brain
flipper.

Speaker 2 (18:09):
That's amazing.
I just never knew that therewas so much happening in your
life to between the twouniverses.
So I just desperately want tohear more.
One thing before I leave thisgrowing up and the world of
business.
You said you went to Nashville,but there must have been a
motivating force to go toNashville.

(18:30):
I mean what was a very bigdecision and a very big interest
again.

Speaker 3 (18:35):
That was probably one time in my life that I left it
all in my.
It was something my husbandwanted, my husband, gary, wanted
to do And he had been thinkingabout for a long time and we had
come across a couple when welived in Melbourne and he, his

(18:56):
wife, was an Australianphysiotherapist and he was
American and he wanted to set up.
They went back to Chicago andhe wanted to set up a business
over there in Australian stylephysiotherapy.
So Gary went over there and setit all up for him And after he
did that he, gary, said to melook, i really think that we

(19:17):
could do this in partnershipwith them, but expand it.
So we went to Nashville,tennessee, and mainly because of
Tracy Corkins, who you wouldknow, who was an amazing Olympic
swimmer, so she came fromNashville, so they joined the
business.
So we changed our mind fromsetting up in Chicago to setting

(19:41):
up in Nashville And I'm forevergrateful for that decision
because I always have alwayswill love country music.
So I was in heaven going toNashville And in those days it
was 1996, it was a very big, asmall, big country town, if that
makes any sense.

(20:02):
It was similar to Brisbane insize, but it was.
It felt like it was about 20years behind Brisbane And you
know, there was no, all therestaurants were chain
restaurants.
There was no excuse me nodecent coffee.
The bread was sweet andhorrible.
Basically, everything was justsort of very small town, but the
music was everything.

(20:23):
The music just made me.
You know, i didn't really careif I was drinking terrible
coffee, eating terrible bread,if I had music, and music has
always been very important in mylife And it was just incredible
over there because you'd go tothe littlest bars and there'd be
someone amazing playing thereor there'd be someone you've

(20:45):
never heard of before who wascompletely amazing And you
couldn't understand why thereweren't some you know, garth
Brooks or some amazing star.
So we built the business overthere over a period of about 20,
25 years And we lived there, wecame.
We then came back to Brisbanefor the kids to be in school And
we went back and forth.

(21:06):
Gary and I traveled back andforth And it was just incredible
.
They're just such warm,beautiful people over there.
So we we took all Australiansover there to start the business
And what we knew was thatAustralian physiotherapists were
trained better and did a betterjob of rehabilitating people

(21:27):
than what the US trainedphysiotherapists were Back then.
The US therapists did a lot ofexercise prescriptions, so a lot
of their clinics looked likegyms there's lots of bikes,
things and they weren't reallytrained in manual techniques.
So we took the Australians overthere, set up these you know,

(21:48):
outpatient physiotherapy clinicswith Australians who were so
well trained.
And we said to the doctors andit was all, all the patients had
to come through doctor medicalreferral.
There's no direct access.
So we went to the doctors andsaid, look, we would like you to
send us your hardest patients,your most difficult patients,

(22:08):
and we will get them better foryou.
And we did So.
That's how we started And bythe time we saw the business
there were we had, oh goodness,hundreds and hundreds of clinics
in 10 different states.
And we you know it was it wasquite a challenge getting the
message through without stormingand saying we are better than

(22:30):
you.
But you know, the southern,southern American people are so
embracing, there is no tallpoppy syndrome at all.
They are beautiful people Andthey wanted us to to achieve and
to, you know, to be successfulover there, and so they're very
supportive And, yeah, so we wevery proud of what we did over

(22:51):
there, because we we did greatthings.
We prevented many, many peoplefrom surgeries and and yeah, so
it's still operating over thereAnd we're very proud of it.

Speaker 2 (23:00):
Amazing.
So how long did you spend inthe states?
So we were there.

Speaker 3 (23:06):
Oh gosh, we were there for five years permanently
And then we came back with thechildren and go in our commuter.
So one of us would go there Onewas saying Brisbane with the
kids, the other one would go toNashville to work And then we'd
come home to each other for aweek and then swap back over.
That went on for quite a fewyears And then when the older
three children finished schooloh, i forgot to mention the

(23:28):
first time we came back I foundI was pregnant at 42.
So that was that was sort ofgoing to help the, the traveling
back and forth a bit.

Speaker 2 (23:37):
That was the consequence of Gary being away
for so long.

Speaker 3 (23:39):
It was you being away for so long and having to
really catch up when you cameback I always say to save his
mortification that he was mycountry music love child And
when I say love I get love andhe hates that.
Sorry, dave.

Speaker 2 (23:51):
Sorry, Dave Sorry.

Speaker 3 (23:54):
Can't imagine he's now 22 just dying at the thought
anyway.
And my 16 year old daughteralso died at the thought that
mom and dad were still doing it.

Speaker 2 (24:02):
And so 42.
And so you know how did youreact to that I mean, i was just
happy.

Speaker 3 (24:10):
Look, to be honest, we'd always wanted to have
another baby, but we were sobusy in Nashville building this
business that I knew I couldn'ttake any time off work.
So I had said to Gary, whenyou're coming back?
I said, you know, darling, youknow if you want to have that
other baby.
And they said, well, yeah,great.
And I said we'll see.
We're going back to, you know,brisbane next year.

(24:30):
That's probably going to be agood time.
But I said you know, i'mgetting that age where things
are starting to get a little bitdifficult.
And, yeah, it just happened.
It was almost like a manifestthat we knew.
So I come back to Brisbane.
And I got back here and no, ifound that just before we moved
back And so I had to come backand tell all my friends and
everyone.
And they were like, are youserious?

(24:51):
So it was a planned, it wasn't,it wasn't a shock, but it was.
It was always one of thosethings that happened.
It happened, it didn't, itdidn't.
But yeah, then we've got thisbeautiful, beautiful young man
now who you know I loved beingbeing part of his life going

(25:12):
back to school, because hestarted school the year after my
youngest of the other three hadfinished.
So I'm starting off in gradeone with a grade one when all my
friends are out of.
You know all the kids havegraduated, So it was, but it's
been the most amazing experienceI've made beautiful friends
through through him and andcertainly does it does keep you

(25:33):
young.

Speaker 2 (25:34):
How incredible In terms of.
you had a comment a littlewhile ago about I just flick
between.
you know accounting and thencreative and accounting.
One thing you haven't flickedbetween is your husband's.
That's right.
So it's very lovely to see thatGary has been the stable
influence in your life, despiteyour career taking many
directions, but Gary seems to bealways this incredibly

(25:54):
supportive rock.

Speaker 3 (25:56):
He is, he's amazing, he's so calm He's.
He and I are so different.
You couldn't find two peoplewho are more different.
But it works because of that, ithink, and he is calm, he
nothing phases.
Gary, you can be faced with the, the biggest issue to deal with

(26:20):
, and he is calm, unless itincludes children, that he, he.
That rattles him more thananything.
But anything on a business oranything on, you know, health
levels, any, any problem you mayhave, gary is just very gentle,
calming influence in my lifeAnd it allows me to do

(26:42):
everything I do.
I think.

Speaker 2 (26:43):
Well, it's lovely to see you together.
I'm glad that he had a littlespot now podcast discussion as
well, because I think that'sincredibly important.
You've been very interested instartups.
Obviously you're American.
One was happiness place was.
Tell me what you think about.
I think your personality is onethat lends itself to something
new and exciting.

(27:04):
You see the challenge and theopportunity and something that's
new, But I know a lot of thepeople that listen to the
podcast are starting out intheir careers and have a great
idea.
What do you think are theperhaps the two biggest
challenges to starting out a newbusiness?
I think you mentioned one ofthem before about making sure
that if it is something creative, that you have a bit of a sound
financial, that's from now.

(27:25):
It's about it as possibly oneof the things.
What other things do you thinkpeople should think about before
they embark on something new?

Speaker 3 (27:34):
I think one of the things that people need to to do
and understand before theystart this startup is do a lot
of research first and ask a lotof questions.
You may get door slam in yourface from people who won't share
the knowledge, but there are somany incredible people in this

(27:55):
world who want to help you andwho want to mentor you and who
want to share their invaluableexperiences and learning about
what you are wanting to start up, and so it may be an idea that
someone else has never tried.
Even if that is the case, therewill be people who've done

(28:17):
something similar in those youknow, in that severity that you
are thinking of starting out in.
So I would say, you know, it'sjust so important to talk to
people and find maybe find justone mentor to whom will keep you
going after you start thebusiness, someone you can phone

(28:38):
and just ask a quick question of.
I just think that's so, soimportant.
And I think the second thingthat is really important, too,
is to going back to what I saidbefore is understand how a cash
flow works and understand howyour revenue cycles work, and

(29:01):
it's something that you shouldknow once you've been in your
business, for, you know, 12months to use you should have a
really good grasp on.
You could take a snapshot ofyour business and you know
exactly where it is and what'shappening with it And you know
if there's a problem with it,whether your revenues are, you

(29:21):
know, decreasing in line withyour expenses or whatever is
happening there.
But you really do need to havesomeone to help you with that.
So, if you don't have thatskill, choose someone who can
work with you on that or, again,educate yourself so that you
know, and that, for me, i feel,is the greatest gift that I had.

(29:43):
Was that, anything we did, ihad that solid financial account
, a play base that gave me theconfidence and the knowledge
which, whatever business westarted, i could find myself
with my nose in the books and Iknew what.
I could understand, what wasgoing on.

Speaker 2 (30:06):
And you stress the importance of a mentor.
Can you articulate, or, lookingback at your, what you've
established in terms of a mentorrelationship?
What is the number onecharacteristic that you think is
the most importantcharacteristic of someone
looking for a mentor?
If I'm going to start abusiness and I'm looking for

(30:28):
someone to mentor me in some way, what do you think the number
one thing is that I should belooking for in that person?

Speaker 3 (30:37):
I think you should look for someone who
communicates well with you, thatyou can communicate directly
with that person.
They can communicate with you,meaning that they're honest with
you, that they're not going topretty up a situation to make
you feel good about things.
That they will be honest withyou when you say what do you

(31:00):
think about this.
So someone you can freely andhonestly communicate with, I
think is the most important,absolutely the most important
thing.

Speaker 2 (31:10):
And you've probably, conversely, been asked to be a
mentor.
And as a mentor, what do youthink is the number two things
that you should be able to giveback before you decide to
actually take someone on?
What process do you go throughto determine if you're a
suitable mentor for someone who?
because you must get asked tobe a mentor for many people and

(31:33):
you can't be everything toeveryone, right.
So what kind of litmus testwould you use to determine
someone who you think you'd be agood fit for as a mentor?

Speaker 3 (31:41):
Well, i always say I always ask these individuals
what they're, what supportthey're looking for, and I talk
about what experience they'vehad first.
So I get to know them a littlebit, find out what support they
need, and the first thing I doas a mentor is tell them what my

(32:03):
strengths are and what myweaknesses are.
So if my weaknesses aresomething that they are going to
rely on, that they need in thatbusiness, i would sell not the
right person for you, but Ithink I quite often then try and
suggest someone else, mainlyusually my husband.

(32:23):
Because my son is talking to youhis relationship.

Speaker 2 (32:25):
That's right.

Speaker 3 (32:27):
I direct them to him.
But yeah, there's been, youknow, there's been businesses
that we have invested in AndGary is a very strong mentor for
a lot of, has been for a lot ofstartups And there are things
that you know.
He sometimes refers to me, butI will, because he has such a

(32:49):
strong base on so many differentareas.
He is a very, very good mentor.
But there are things increative lines for you know,
where we know in, say, you know,within the arts and in fashion
and different areas like that,where Gary will will pass most
of those to me and say you needto speak to Lorylie about this

(33:12):
area, she, i have no idea, andso he passes it over and I do
the same thing with him.
So sometimes we act as jointmentors, which works really well
, depending on what the businessis.
Sometimes I just know exactlyit's, it's his, his forte, and
sometimes you know it's my forte.

Speaker 2 (33:30):
I think so.
So great relationship,partnership in life and
partnership in business, whichis sometimes challenging, i
would think in many respects aswell.
But I want to then go and talkto you about it sounds to me
that you're often an accidentalparticipant in business.
It just comes or your whimcomes your way and you decide to
take it, which is veryambitious And and throwing

(33:52):
caution to the wind a lot of thetime with a general feeling
about risk management.
But I want to perhaps, justafter we take a little break and
talk about how you came and toindulge your love of horses
perhaps, and then I willdefinitely want to participate
in a lovely discussion aroundphilanthropy Beautiful.

Speaker 1 (34:12):
What an incredible chat so far.
Now, while we take a quickbreak, i want you to imagine
this You're standing in front ofyour closet.
It's overflowing with stunningdesigner clothing.
What if those beautiful piecescould do more than just take up
space?
Now is the time to make apositive impact while cleaning
out your closets and turn yourunworn designer pieces into a

(34:34):
powerful force for good.
Simply spring clean early anddonate your items to labels on
the lawn.
Coming this October, the premierpre-loved fashion event of the
year, with all proceedsbenefiting women's legal service
Queensland and their mission toprovide free legal support to
women impacted by domesticviolence.
You can drop your designerclothing to any of our retail

(34:56):
partners Jolie Boutique andAscot, sfh Designs, a New Farm,
the Love Me Again Markets atStafford and Milton, styling
Station in Milton and, of course, hanworth House in East
Brisbane.
The Hanworth House team will beat the Love Me Again Markets at
Milton on Sunday, june 18th,from 8am to 12pm with a pop-up
boutique and will be acceptingdesigner clothing donations

(35:20):
during that time.
So make some room in yourcloset and come and visit us.
Check out the episodedescription for more details
about our drop-off partners.
Now let's get back to thisenthralling chat with Marisa and
Lorely.

Speaker 2 (35:32):
So I want to hear about how you stumbled into
horses.

Speaker 3 (35:35):
Well, we literally did.
We stumbled into Magic Millionsin 2017.
My husband, my son and myselfand we have a place at the Gold
Coast And I knew that Gary lovedracing And he had.
I remember when we first metall those years ago, speaking
about racing and over the timewe probably had been to the

(35:57):
races I don't know count lessthan 10 times but always loved
it.
But it really was never part ofour life because we were busy.
We were busy buildingbusinesses, having children, and
we were overseas a lot, sohorses just weren't really
anything.
That was a big part of ourlives Until this day.
And I said to him darling, theauctions for Magic Millions are

(36:19):
on.
It's just down the road, let'sgo.
And he said, oh, okay, but thiswasn't the first time I said
this.
He had said no And a few timesI said to him look, if you don't
want to buy racers, we don'thave to, but I thought you did.
Later on I found out that itwas because he knew when we
bought one it would lead to 100very quickly And I thought it
was going to be one.
So all my encouragement was Idon't know if I would have been

(36:43):
that encouraging knowing itwould be so many.
But looking back now, it's thebest thing we ever did, though.
We stumbled into the sales,looked around, i thought there'd
be a few horses there, there'sjust thousands.
And so we marched up to theinformation booth and I said to
the girl excuse me, we wouldlike to buy a horse but we don't

(37:06):
really know how to.
She said, right, we'll getsomeone Outlawed, beautiful
Clint Donovan, who was so, who'snow become a great friend of
ours And he's a wonderfullocksheeter at the Gold Coast.
He came out and sat down andsaid I'll tell you how to buy a
horse.
You need to identify a trainer.

(37:27):
We need this, we need.
That was sort of horse.
And all of a sudden Gary startedspeaking with this horsey link
And I thought, gary, how did youlearn this horsey link?
And he was the one to stay, andthis one.
So, anyway, i just sat thereand quieted the new state.
Anyway, we we missed out on thefirst couple of horses, and on
the last day we bought thisbeautiful Philly, who we named

(37:51):
light at the room.
Well, gary named, which is verysweet of him, he named it after
me.
So that was a very lovely,lovely thing to do.

Speaker 2 (37:57):
So he named Is that what Laurie means?

Speaker 3 (37:59):
No, he just called it light at the room because he
thinks I like the room.

Speaker 2 (38:02):
Light at the room.
I thought perhaps Laurie meantlight at the room, which you do
every time you walk into theroom.

Speaker 3 (38:07):
So no, laurie is actually a very nasty mermaid on
the Rhine River.
So he said to me OK, and again,not realizing that that we're
going by a lot of horses goingforward.
So he said to me look, i'llname the horse and you design
the silks.
I thought that I could, thatthat was just the silks for

(38:31):
light up the room, and that Icould, if we did buy other
horses, that I could dodifferent silks every time.
So I just did very quickly Andthen when we bought the second
horse about two weeks later, isaid, oh goodie, now I'll just
get my little pencil satin onsome other little silks.
And he said, no, laurie is verydirect way.

(38:52):
He said, no, those silks aregoing to be for all of our
horses.
And I said that can't be.
I said that cannot be That wasmy didn't put enough effort into
those.

Speaker 1 (39:00):
I don't really like them anyway.
That was my trial.

Speaker 3 (39:03):
So we bought about 20 horses and they wore those
silks.
And then a couple of yearslater, my son, mitchell, who was
a Cathay pilot and was wantingto be at home with his little
family.
So we, gary, then decided beingthe business brand that is and
knowing that racing is a funthing to do.

(39:25):
But Gary wanted to make abusiness out of it.
So Gary decided we should startbreeding.
So he said to Mitchell whydon't you stop flying and come
home and start our breedingcompany, which he did?
So I said to Mitchell firstthing.
I said to Mitchell you canchange those silks, even I don't
like them.
And he said right, so we nowhave beautiful blue and gold

(39:48):
silks.
So it's been the most amazingthing for our family.
It's after selling our businessin the US.
I was a bit concerned about whatGary would do.
I knew I was fine.
I had other interests in otherbusinesses and I was I would be
fine, but I was very concernedfor him.
It's been the most magnificentthing for our family.

(40:10):
He works every day with his twosons.
So Mitchell runs a breedingcompany.
Xavier worked at our breedingfarm down the Hunter Valley for
18 months.
He's just back home now for hislaw degree.
He will go on to work He's gota dual degree business in law
but he will work in the racingor breeding industry, probably

(40:33):
go overseas for the next coupleof years and work all around the
world, but it gives Gary theopportunity to work with two of
his boys, and our other twochildren are very much involved
too, on different levels.
So it's just wonderful Andwe've met the most magnificent
people in racing.
People come from all walks oflife And that's what I love And

(40:55):
it's most.
I mean, you know they're justbeautiful people, we who are
very passionate about theirhorses, and they're just
interesting, interesting people.
And you know we're doinginteresting things And at our
stage in life it's justwonderful to be able to work
with your children and worktowards something that we hope

(41:17):
will be a multi generationalbusiness for our family.

Speaker 2 (41:22):
But literally I'm perplexed.
So you walked into this saleyard and said we want to buy a
horse, and think this Gary knewthe lingo.
Did you just go and choose themost fabulous looking horse you
could?
I mean or are you kind ofgiving us the kind of very PR
version of what happened thatday, Because all these horses to
choose from, I mean I'mguessing there has to be a

(41:43):
science as to which one youmight invest in.

Speaker 3 (41:46):
There's an amazing amount of science, but the
science isn't good enough to towork out who's going to win a
race every time, otherwise it'dbe, you know, no way to drink.
Anyway, what what Gary did washe wanted to stay out because
Australia loves sprinters,whereas horses in overseas, in

(42:08):
European countries, people overthere love stay.
So stay is you know someone whoruns more than two miles.
Melbourne Cup is a staying race, which is why most horses come
in from overseas for theMelbourne Cup, because there's
not so many stays in Australia.
So Gary knew he wanted to stay.
He loves he certain horses thathe just knew.

(42:33):
But, as I said on that day, heblew me away with what he
actually knew.
So we were given a short listof six.
So he gave the trainer that wasnominated by Clint who had his
stock stockbroke agent there.
He said these people want ahorse, that is we didn't care

(42:53):
what was a cult, ruffially, wejust so Gary gave him the list
of him want to stay.
You know a few other sort ofspecifications.
So we got a short list of six.
So we went around, had lookedat six and I thought they're all
beautiful.
I think every horse is beautiful, but so am I more beautiful

(43:14):
than the other and others?
But Mitchell and I loved andlight up the room was the last
horse that we saw And she was afilly and she was just and they
look they.
She is beautiful She.
They named her Megan Gale inthe stable because she was very
tall, statuesque and beautifulAnd she has since had two babies

(43:35):
and pregnant with a third andthe babies are just starting.
So she was a very beautifulhorse to look at, but I don't.
I'm not because I love that.
You know, i look at the horse'seyes, so when you see the
overall picture of the horse,you can see that some just have
a beautiful.
You know, mitchell's educatedme on a lot of things and what

(43:56):
to look for, but honestly, onthat day back in 2017, i was
just loving the more and I thinkit was universe working for us
to choose or and to get itauction, because it's very
competitive to buy these horsesa lot of time, and I think it
was the universe directing us toher because she was a

(44:17):
successful racehorse on thetrack And she's now.
We sold her first, her firstcolt at Magic Miners this year,
so we're now selling sellinghorses as much as buying them.
So that first day I will always, always remember, it being such
a magical day of us going andthey're not really knowing Gary

(44:39):
using the bit of education hehad, and us coming up this
beautiful horse who is nowliving on a farm in the Hunter
Valley breeding for us.

Speaker 2 (44:47):
So it's beautiful, it's amazing the way you and I
have this lovely conversationsabout the universe directing us
to do things.
And I think that's something inlife that you can't put a price
on, isn't it?
But not only are you buying andbreeding, and you're also
really concerned about whathappens to the horses next?
Absolutely.

Speaker 3 (45:05):
So it's about well groomed Yes.
So I formed back in 2021.
I formed a group called WellGroomed Racing, which is a group
of women who are new,passionate about the horses.
And there'd been that you know,dreadful ABC report on what
happened to a lot of horses postracing And I knew that that

(45:26):
wasn't the case with the hugemajority of X-ray horses.
I knew firsthand that a lot ofthe horses went on to become
show jumpers and equestrian, youknow, involved in equestrian
activities and smaller onescould become polo horses few of

(45:47):
those because of their size.
I also knew that of people whohad farms just so that their
horses could go to onto theirfarm after that.
But at the same time, therewere still unaccounted horses
that we didn't know where theywent to, what happened.
So we decided that we wouldform the script to raise funds

(46:08):
for for rehoming of horses and,of course, being thoroughbreds,
they are born to race, they'rebred to race, they're born to
race, they love racing, so youhave to retrain them after they
leave the track to become a showjumper or you know equine

(46:28):
therapy and really they had thisperiod of retraining.
So our trainer's wife, janeGollin, had a foundation called
Transition Thourobreeds So shewould retrain these horses to go
onto their afterlife and I sayafter, after racing life.
So we raised money for her.

(46:50):
So that's how it all started.
And then, of course, i couldn'tdo anything last year because I
was not well.
But this year we're doing itagain and I went to an equine
therapy farm last week who we'regoing to raise money for, and
they help women suffering who'vecome out of trauma mainly
domestic violence situations.

(47:11):
Also, children risk, childrenwho are various problems and
won't go to school.
They provide they have theseamazing horses out there.
It's out in Western WestBrisbane.
It's beautiful property andthey use these beautiful x-ray
horses to help these women and Ispoke with the woman last week

(47:32):
and it just made me feel soproud of what these beautiful
animals can do.
And so you know, they'rebeautiful, they're majestic,
they're intelligent, they'reintuitive.
They can do so much to helppeople with mental health
conditions or people who'vesuffered trauma.
So there's so much they can do.
Post-racing.
It's just getting them, leadingthem into the right hands and

(47:56):
and Racing Queen.
So now we pay a percentage ofour prize money to Racing Queen.
So they've got.
They've got money there too andthey've been trying to work out
how to get it through to thebest avenues, which they're now
doing, thank goodness.
So a lot of the therapy farmsare getting grants from from
Racing Queensland, and so it's avery good thing.

(48:16):
So you know, in some ways thatdirect, full, awful report has
done a lot of good because,whilst it painted a picture that
wasn't typical, it also made alot of people sit up and think
we need to do better here.
And yeah, so it's been.
It's great and I'm so happythat we that I can do that and

(48:40):
make a difference.
And so having a big fundraiserin September at Eagle Farm Race
Track and want to raise a lot ofmoney for the equine therapy
farm and also one otherorganization I'm raising money
for which is Kickup, which is anamazing girl for Vicki Leonard.
She has created thisorganization to help people give

(49:01):
again, give a positive voice toracing.
So when you go to the track andthere's protesters outside
screaming, you're telling youthat you're a direct, full
person because you're going tothe track or you own a racehorse
.
She is educating people on thefacts and figures so that we can
argue the cause and say this isnot the typical case.
So Vicki's been amazing indoing that.

(49:26):
And the other lovely thing thathappened to me last year is her
racing.
Apart from all the magnificentwomen I met because I am in
quite a lot of ladies only sinceit gets, gay Waterhouse called
me out of the blue one day.
I had there's an article inRacing Magazine about my
fundraising she called me.
We've become great friends.
She is one of the mostwonderful women in racing.

(49:48):
She does so much good, she isquirky, she's fun, she's
successful and she's just agreat person to be around.
She is so full of positiveenergy, gay, so I feel very
blessed.
I've got to know her too.

Speaker 2 (50:05):
It's wonderful.
This philanthropic heart ofyours is something we're going
to explore a little bit more inin a second, but before we go
there, there was a prettyspecial event last year that, um
, we're all kind of livingvicariously through you as you
were celebrating a wonderfulcourse win, would you?
do a deltas and tell us aboutanything there, what it was like

(50:25):
, and I don't even know how youwould have felt when it all
happened.

Speaker 3 (50:29):
So we went to Royal Ascot last year for the first
time.
We had booked to go there in2020 and that didn't happen due
to COVID.
So 2022.
We just finished treatment anddidn't know whether I'd be well
enough to go, but I was thankgoodness and we went over to
England and went to Royal Ascotand about maybe about six weeks,

(50:53):
we'd bought into this syndicatefor this beautiful horse called
State of Rest and because webreed, we typically buy you know
, if we do buy horses, wetypically buy fillies but we'd
bought into this Colt syndicatebecause he was just such a
successful racehorse.
And Mitchell said we need to beinvolved with this horse.

(51:15):
And it was with Newgate, whoare fantastic and amazing farm
and group of people.
So we, about six weeks or sobefore Royal Ascot, there was a
race in Paris that he won andGary said I think that's going
to get him to Royal Ascot.
And I said to Gary darling, youknow how?

(51:37):
you know, sometimes we don'tknow the horses running until
that week.
How can this be right?
and he said well, it's a littlebit different over there.
Anyway, i really didn't thinkthat much more of it.
And then, you know, newgate hada dinner to celebrate and I
thought, well, this is real,this horse is actually going to
go and run at Royal Ascot.
So you know, number one, justgoing there for the first time

(52:00):
was the biggest, such a thrillin my life.
Having a horse run in a racewas incredibly exhilarating,
exciting.
But I've never, ever, felt thethrill of seeing that horse run
across that finishing line first.
It was a joy like I cannotdescribe.

(52:22):
I know I was making inhumannoises as he was running and
going.
I say Mitchell, mitchell, ithink I was clinging to Mitchell
and going out and I said it'sgoing to win, it's going to win.
And you know just thecelebrations afterwards we
tailgated into the evening andthe beautiful people.
It was the fun being with otherpeople and you know, and going

(52:46):
into the winners' room at RoyalAscot it was like, oh my gosh,
should we just actually standingin the winners' room?
and you know Camilla andCharles, it was a Prince Charles
cup.
So Charles and Camillapresented the cup and I was
standing about, i don't know,two meters away from them
because only one person could goup and receive the cup and it
wasn't me, damn it.
But anyway, i was so close tothem and Princess Anne was

(53:10):
standing next to me and she'samazing because she was walking
around looking at our horse andI said to Mitchell I'm going to
cup until her.
But we owned that horse andMitchell said, mom, be digged in
front of the stand back.
I was like, damn it, i'm sureshe would have loved it a little
bit of a check, because sheknows she knows her horses so
well.
So when she looks at horses, sheknows what she's looking at
anyway.
So it was a massive thrill, amassive, massive thrill.

Speaker 2 (53:33):
Well, we were living vicariously, just seeing you at
Royal Ascot, and I was saying Idon't know who's she there?
the horse won, can you believethis?
and then there was the royal,the royals, and we said, oh,
this is just amazing, and wewere so proud of you and
everything you've achieved andyour family and and everybody
who was up there.
So we figure it couldn't havehappened to a nicer horse.
The horse was good too.
But, lorrie, it's not all Bedsof Roses.

(53:58):
I think you and I have sharedanother journey that we least of
us, neither of us, expected.
Correct, correct, yes.
So do you want to share a?

Speaker 1 (54:06):
little bit about that .

Speaker 3 (54:07):
Sure, well, you know, i ran off my screening
appointment for breast breastscreening appointment in
November of 21.
So I'd had, you know, a hugeyear that year with forming,
well groomed and dancing CEOsand lots was going on.
A lot, a lot was going on thatyear horses, everything you know
, and just raced off to myscreening appointment.

(54:29):
I had no symptoms, i had nolumps, it's nothing.
I was just doing what I didevery year and they discovered
that I had triple, triplenegative breast cancer and it
was quite aggressive and it wasjust a shock.
It hit me like a brick.

(54:50):
I thought this can't behappening, it's.
You know I this is why I comeevery year for a screening.
So you know they'll, they'llget it before it, it goes, it
does anything.
So, yeah, and it was just likeall of a sudden, in that very
moment, everything changes.
Your you know what?
what was part of the rest of myyear that I was planning was

(55:14):
full of events and full ofthings.
All of a sudden, nothingmattered, except when I could
get to see the, that doctor,when I was going to have my MRIs
and all that.
So, yeah, it all happened veryquickly.
So that was on Wednesday.
By the Friday I was seeing thebreast surgeon.
I had to have my gallbladderout the next week, which should
have been scheduled, so I had tohave that done.
And then I had a mastectomy theweek after and I had to wait

(55:40):
three weeks before I could startchemo.
So then chemo start in Januaryand that went on for four months
.
Two months after that I had myother breast removed, which I
decided to do just as a, youknow, prevention.
Just you know, they told methat the chances were only

(56:00):
marginally higher than anyoneelse to have to get breast
cancer in that press also.
But I was a personal decisionand I decided to have that press
removed and prior to that I hadalso decided that I really
needed to think about, you know,reconstruction and what that
looked like.
So I spoke to various doctorsand I went to an amazing plastic

(56:24):
surgeon so I decided on havingimplants.
The expanders were fitted whenI had the second mastectomy, so
the two doctors worked together.
So that was in the August andthen I just left that.
I went back to the doctor a fewweeks to have those pumped up to
.
I, you know, got to the sizethat I was prior to, prior to
breast cancer and the temptationis always there to go bigger

(56:46):
and better.
I want my old brass to fit andI want my old clothes to fit.
So I did that and so it's beenthis journey.
So it's, you know, sort ofaround I guess 21 months now.
So, and is that right?
Yes, it was, yeah, and it's now, you know.

(57:07):
So the other thing that I didn'trealize you could get done was
you could have 3D nipples made,so like I didn't know anything
about that.
So I had that done two weeksago And that was amazing.
That was so everything else,you know, i don't only have that
.
Oh sorry, let me just go backto 2021.
I also fell down and set stepsand cut off my legs six weeks

(57:28):
before dancing CEO.
So that was the first time I'dever had an anesthetic.
Ever in my life I'd neverbroken anything, cut anything
that wasn't your major color orhad an anesthetic.
So I had that.
So I had all these, you knowGA's all through that year and
then last year, and so when theoption of the 3D nipples came up
, i said to my plastic surgeonwell, i really don't want to

(57:49):
have another general anesthetic,because I thought this has got
to be building up in my body.
So he said no, it's a localpiece.
You know you have to go througha whole hospital admission
thing and you know you're in theoperating theater, but we can
do it under local, which wasincredible And it was just so
easy.
And now I have nipples.

Speaker 2 (58:11):
I think you said to me I'm just going to have this
operation, but I'll see you in acouple of days.
I'm thinking or something likethat.
you said or see you at the endof the week.
And I thought what's she havingnow?
I thought they're both gone.
The boobs were gone.
What's she having now?
Maybe she's having I love Garykind of tattooed on her nipples
or something like that.

Speaker 3 (58:27):
I was going to have my love guys on one.
I like that.
I'm not allowed to give meoptions, but not.

Speaker 2 (58:33):
Well it is.
We actually did have a littlelove this morning.
I mean, we both can empathizethat this journey is something
that only really affects theindividual.
I mean I don't think anyone canever really know what you go
through in that instant thatyour life forever changes.
It does.

Speaker 3 (58:47):
And it never is the same again.

Speaker 2 (58:49):
And there is so many women that we know and so many
women everywhere suffering frombreast cancer.

Speaker 3 (58:55):
There's so many women , Marisa.

Speaker 2 (58:56):
And in many respects it's good in a way that a lot of
it's early detected, which weknow.
There's a lot more successrates.
I mean, imagine years ago whenwe didn't have the sophisticated
technology to detect early,absolutely.
I mean, i was early detectionas well.
But you always live now withthe fear or the fact that it's
forever changed your life And itmakes you more grateful in

(59:19):
other ways as well.
But we were sharing in a lightmoment, some of the good things
about having breast cancer.
So you go first and I'm goingto follow, and we should at
least name two things from eachof us that were some of the
positive things about havingbreast cancer only in a very
comedic way, because not everymoment was dark.

Speaker 3 (59:40):
No, no, absolutely not.
Can I just say first, generally,i feel that there's been
specific silver linings, but theoverwhelming thing that I'm so
grateful for is that I feelhealthier and happier than I
ever have, and I feel likesometimes you well, i did.

(01:00:03):
Personally, even though I knewthat I wanted to get more sleep
and eat better and do moreexercise, i couldn't give myself
permission to do it because Iwas so busy And I felt like,
because I was so busy doingthings like fundraising, i
couldn't let people down.
So I had to make it, i had todo it well and I had to put a

(01:00:24):
lot of time into it.
And so the first thing thatalways happens when you're busy
is that you let the things golike going to your exercise
classes and getting them goingfor your walk, because you've
got to get onto things and getthem done.
So breast cancer gave me thepermission to focus on all those

(01:00:44):
things that I knew that I hadto do to get myself better, and
you can.
All the science in the world iswonderful, but you need to
change your life to doeverything you possibly can.
So, again, eat the right foods,exercise exercise is such a

(01:01:05):
major cause in prevention ofrecurrence, just yeah.
Anyway, that's being a bitserious, but.

Speaker 2 (01:01:11):
I just wanted to know .
No, no, no, I don't mean thatWe do have some happy outcomes
of breast cancer, is what Imeant, which?
that is one, Of course youalways understand.
From my perspective, it wasyour friends and your family
become the rocks upon which youbase your recovery.
I mean, there's just no denyingthat.
It's just like people sometimesdon't know how to react, but it

(01:01:33):
doesn't matter what they do.
My girlfriends formed theFocker Club, the free of cancer.

Speaker 3 (01:01:39):
Of course that stands for We all really know what it
stands for.

Speaker 2 (01:01:42):
But immediately Carla and Tracy formed hats and we
wore the Focker's hats and wedid the breast cancer walk which
you and I have done for thelast two years for the Mata and
used our experience as precursorfor our friends to join us and
hopefully give us money as well.
We've raised probably about$40,000, i guess, for the Mata,

(01:02:02):
chicks and things from thatenergy.
So your energy has never kindof waned, even though you're
focused on yourself.
Name another thing that wasprobably a positive If we had to
find a positive message wedon't want to wish this upon
anybody But if you had to find apositive from having breast
cancer, something that youlearned that you didn't know
before.
Name another one.

Speaker 3 (01:02:24):
Oh, my goodness, i feel like there's just so many
in my life, but I think one ofthe great things about growth
through something like that isthe change in almost everything
that touches your life.
So, for example, taste budsyour taste buds change, so you

(01:02:46):
get to enjoy different food,different drinks and different
all these things that you neverreally liked before.

Speaker 2 (01:02:52):
They're divine, they're gorgeous.
Tell me one thing that youdidn't like before, oh gosh.

Speaker 3 (01:02:57):
I couldn't Well red wine.
And again, i'm very carefulabout alcohol intake.
These days.
I feel like we've been talkingabout it a lot, but I'm very
careful about the amounts.
But nothing tastes a bit inthat little glass of red wine
for a night time with your milk.
I never drank red wine before.
It tasted awful.
I hated it.
But little things like that.

(01:03:17):
Just my food palette's changed.
I actually love healthy foodnow And I dislike anything that
I don't feel is good going intomy body.
So it doesn't mean that I don'teat well, incredibly well.
But it's just such a lovely,wonderful thing to be able to
discover all these new bits andpieces And just the.

(01:03:42):
As you said, my family havebeen my complete rock.
My friends have been too, and Ithink the clarity of good
friendship is so beautiful Andit's something that even though
I always knew about that and Ialways appreciate it my friends

(01:04:04):
I have such clarity now that Idon't waste time with people I
don't need to be with And I findthat very cleansing for many
reasons.
And it's beautiful to be ableto vote your time.
I used to say I don't have timeto vote to the people I really
love.
I don't know.

(01:04:25):
This person's really makingthings difficult for me.
I just don't let them anymore.
So that's been such a silverlining And I really don't think
I've not had breast cancer thatI would have ever have
discovered that.
I think I was too set, in a way, of thinking I've got a million
friends and I need to tenderthem all And it's there causing

(01:04:46):
me problems.
I just need to deal with that.
And now it's just such a lovely, really lovely feeling just to
know that every time all my timeis spent with really good
people And I love that.

Speaker 2 (01:05:02):
I love that message as well, and I'm a little bit of
a humorous, and I think one ofthe things I quite liked was not
spending any more money onwaxing or hairdressing for a
while.
Whilst you're under tour,chemotherapy and radiation.
I was petrified about losing myhair because I have a lumpy
head, so I knew that I wouldnever.
I used to say when I wasyounger I hope I never get
breast cancer because I'm notgoing to be able to be bald.

(01:05:24):
So I never showed my bald headever.
I remember you rocked your baldhead and you rocked a good
scarf.
But one test of that was that Ihad wigs in every length
basically.
And I remember going to NorthQueensland to visit my husband's
family once And in the morningI wore my little kind of, you
know, maxwell smarts agent.

(01:05:47):
So she's 99.
Yes, the really short blondehair cut.
And then in the evening I worea small, like my hair, which was
a longer shoulder length blondewig And we'd round the dinner
table and Philip's mother, mary,who's hilarious, just said you
know, through all this treatment, through chemo and radiation,
it's amazing you haven't lostyour hair.

(01:06:07):
Yes, i had these two differenthaircuts.
I mean most people didn't knowon social media I was going
through cancer.
I didn't share that journeywith very many people because I
tried to just live a normal life.
But I thought to myself, youknow what the one thing I was
worried about losing my hair wasthe one thing she had.

Speaker 1 (01:06:26):
No idea of.

Speaker 2 (01:06:27):
So she obviously I thought it would actually define
you.
You know, your hair woulddefine you.
But in that moment I knew thatyou know what?
the hair is just an accessoryAnd I said, actually I've been
wearing wigs all day, really.
She said to me She's like,that's gorgeous, and I did
actually whip it off in themiddle of dinner and that scared
everybody to Billy, oh, and Ithink they actually told me to

(01:06:47):
put the straight back on becausemy scalp was very bad.
But I think that's the otherthing.
On a more comic note, Yes.
No, no, no hairdressingappointments.
Despite my hairdresser being inmy life for 36 years, i did
start to visit him once a monthjust to say hello.
One thing I think we loveddoing was forming the badass
prestige in your honor, loretta,and I remember ringing you

(01:07:10):
because we weren't.
we wanted to do the Martyr Walk.
It was only a few months afteryou'd been diagnosed.
We wanted to do the walk andwanted to do in your honor, and
beautiful Sophia from our officeturned the word.
We were racking our brains forquite a while, weren't we Team
about forming something badassprestige was so you.
you know no one's more badassthan you, and I remember ringing

(01:07:31):
you to see if this wassomething that we could do,
because we weren't sure you'd beparticipating.
Were you the first to sign upand get?
yes, i desperately want to dothis.
And we were so excited by thefact that.
you know you could have justsat back.
and, of course, you ralliedyour troops and we made a
fortune.
Yeah, it was wonderful And wewere so proud of doing it for
you and with you, and I thinkthat was not the first time that

(01:07:54):
you and I have been engaged inphilanthropy in a big way.
And, of course, the dancingCEOs was one of the pinnacle
achievements of your life was.

Speaker 3 (01:08:02):
that was amazing.
That was amazing.
And again, it was a universe,because I had always thought,
having three teenage sons and adaughter just, and I'd seen,
with the difference in ages ofmy children, a very, it's just a
growth, a increase in mentalhealth for young boys, and I

(01:08:24):
really wanted to do somethingabout that.
And I was really.
it was on my mind, i was tryingto work out what I could do to
really make a difference Andthen God bless you, marissa you
put my name forward.
I know you did.
And I got a call from Women'sLegal Service and I said I
remember going to meet with themand I said, look, i really

(01:08:47):
would love to do this, but Ireally feel like I need to
devote my time to mental health.
And I went home and I startedthinking about it And I thought,
you know, i've always, alwaysthought that so much domestic
violence is caused by men withmental health issues.
And I thought, you know what Ican, i'll do this, i'll do it

(01:09:09):
for one, i'll do it once andI'll raise a whole lot of money
and then that will allow me togo to move on into fundraising
for mental health.
And all that didn't happen.
Of course, i got breast cancer,and so I feel like it's
something that I was meant to dobecause it and I still still

(01:09:32):
believe that and I still thinkof ways that I will move further
into doing work for mentalhealth and particularly
adolescent mental health.
But right now, every time I readof another woman dying at the
hands of a violent person, ifeel like my work's not done And

(01:09:57):
I want to keep, keep helpingand keep making sure that there
is an avenues there for thesewomen who are terrified of
leaving a volatile situation andthe security and the love and
the care that women's legalservice gives those women
through legal advice and socialwelfare and just general

(01:10:22):
humanity, is amazing.
So, yeah, it's going to be hardfor nothing, i'm just going to
do it.
I'll split my time betweenhorses, domestic violence and
mental health and make it allwork together somehow, and
breast cancer.
Sorry, you did a pinnacle, ask abusy woman, donnie, breast
cancer is always going to, youknow.
that sort of course is alwaysgoing to be close to my heart,

(01:10:43):
so yeah, No, and you made aspectacular.

Speaker 2 (01:10:47):
If anyone wants to check it out on YouTube Laurel E
Cunningham dancing CEOs you'llsee her unraveled in this sheet,
and it's just the mostspectacular because there's
choreography in the family, ofcourse.
So it was obviously never goingto be a dull and boring dance
performance at City Hall.
There was nothing, but you werethe highest fundraiser ever.
At that point in time, i thinkyou were the benchmark against

(01:11:09):
which others plot themselves.
So, and we are both very muchproud ambassadors now Absolutely
So, laurel E, now that we'veboth done dancing CEOs once,
would you consider doing itagain?

Speaker 3 (01:11:22):
Yes, yes, look, i think I would.
I always thought after thefirst time I wouldn't, because I
knew just what huge commitmentit is and I had promised my
family that I was going to afteryou know breast-cats, so that
was going to quieten down alittle bit, but I still would
love.
Yes, i think I absolutely woulddo it again.

(01:11:42):
So I have a thought.

Speaker 2 (01:11:44):
I mean next year marks 40 years since Women's
Legal Service Queensland startedon its operations, and you and
I couldn't even count the numberof women and children that have
benefited from that service.
That's right, and we've seenfirsthand what offering they
make.
And did you know that next yearit's 10 years since the Dancing
CEOs campaign formed?
Is it 10 years?

(01:12:04):
10 years.
There you go, 10 years, and Ithink we worked out there's over
$3 million that's been raisedfor Women's Legal Service from
wonderful people like yougetting up and dancing and
raising money, and so I've hearda rumor that they are doing an
All-Stars next year.
Really Goodness me Do you thinkyou might consider coming back
as an All-Star?
if I consider coming back as anAll-Star, Absolutely.

Speaker 3 (01:12:28):
That was some hard work.

Speaker 2 (01:12:30):
But I have to compete against you Unless.
But we can't do that, unless wedid it together, i'll stop it.

Speaker 3 (01:12:37):
But can you, would I have to do country?
Absolutely, that's okay.
That is the only prerecord I'vegot As long as you can do some
boot skit in country with me.

Speaker 2 (01:12:49):
Well, this may be a whole new educational experience
for me.

Speaker 3 (01:12:52):
But guess, why don't we?

Speaker 2 (01:12:52):
do it.
I mean All-Stars team.

Speaker 3 (01:12:54):
I think we can do this.
Yes, i think we can do it.
And what?
we have such amazing commonnetworks that if we pool both of
our resources together, can youimagine how much money we can
raise.

Speaker 2 (01:13:05):
Well, let's face it, they're not going to know who to
support.
We're going to have to havelowerly supporters, mostly
supporters, and Switzerlandsupporters in the middle,
exactly, and it's just tooconfusing.
Team Laurel Oh my goodness,team Laurel, team Marysa, and
with a sexy name.
We'll have to come up with.

Speaker 3 (01:13:19):
Oh, this is amazing.
I think this is the best IDyou've ever had.

Speaker 2 (01:13:23):
Watch out dancing CEOs.
We are on the dance floor.
We are getting the dance floor.
Laurel.
We've made a pledge.
Now everyone knows about it.
Okay, Obviously, on the podcast, we have to commit to it.
What's done?

Speaker 3 (01:13:34):
isn't it?
There you go.
Okay, high five, there we go,doing it.
How exciting.

Speaker 2 (01:13:40):
Oh my goodness, what am I getting myself into?

Speaker 3 (01:13:42):
A whole lot of work and a whole lot of fun, a whole
lot of fun.

Speaker 2 (01:13:46):
There's absolutely every guarantee they'll be fun.
Laurel, it's just been.
I've got two quick questions tofinish off this podcast.
Sure, something, and we alwaysask everybody My goodness, is my
team just taking that down?
We are doing this for 2024.
You better go home and breakthe news to your family.
I know I'll do it gently, verygently, and there's other
competitors out there and otherpeople you get your skates onto,

(01:14:07):
because I think next year couldbe the biggest year ever for
dancing CEOs and women's legalservice.
Laurel, what do you want to bewhen you grow up?

Speaker 3 (01:14:18):
Oh goodness, you know , i know this is a very odd
answer, but I actually feel likeI have grown up.
I feel like I'm going to startcrying now.
I really felt like I had breastcancer.
Oh goodness, i need to stop.
It made me grow up and I feelvery happy that I've become.
Oh goodness, i can really speak.

(01:14:39):
I feel like I've become theperson I always wanted to be, so
is that okay to say that?
I think it's very okay, McGeecry for you.

Speaker 2 (01:14:50):
I imagine you've always been this kind of person,
and perhaps it just gives uspermission to express it.
Yeah, i think that's probablythere's a lot of things that
people don't say, and I thinksometimes, when a pivotal moment
hits you do, you get permissionto say what you think.
So we've very privileged thatwe've shared that with you,
thank you.
Well then, i guess the nextquestion is a natural one about

(01:15:12):
what makes you happy.

Speaker 3 (01:15:15):
My children, my babies, my family, my husband,
children, babies.
I've got 10 littlegrandchildren and the joy and
the love that they give me andthey were there with me when I
was not well, and those littledarling angels, they're gentle.
They knew that they couldn'tjump on lolol because lolol had

(01:15:38):
just had surgery or lolol wasgoing through a chemo, but the
love at all, the different agesthat they, in their own way,
gave to me.
So my happens is them.
My happens is my children andmy husband.
I am so lucky and not a daygoes by that I'm not grateful.
So, that's what makes me happy.

(01:15:58):
Can I add my friends andbeautiful people like you too.

Speaker 2 (01:16:01):
No well, we would be privileged to be in your orbit,
and so thank you so much forjoining us today.
I hope you had such a good time.
I've learned so much about youthat I never knew, and I was
just thinking back.
to light up the room, yourfirst course.
is that right?
That's right, i think.
Lloralee, you light up theuniverse and it's just a
beautiful, and maybe that shouldbe the name of the next course.

(01:16:23):
Can you tell Gary that for me,or perhaps lighting up the
universe, at least lighting upthe dance floor, is definitely
on the agenda.
That's what we have to do.
It's been such a privilege tointerview you today.
Thank you for sharing our spacewith us, Lloralee, and I can't
wait for the next few months.

Speaker 3 (01:16:38):
Marisa, thank you for being in my life and thank you
for today.
You are amazing.
I just loved every secondtalking to you, thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:16:46):
What a conversation Laughter, tears and some
profound moments that touchedour hearts.
Now that the cat's out of thebag, Marisa and Lloralee teaming
up for Dancing CEOs All Starsin 2024.
You're probably wondering howcan I contribute to this
extraordinary venture.
Keep your eyes peeled forfundraising events coming up
this year at Hanworth House andothers hosted by Lloralee as

(01:17:08):
well.
You will see the usual eventsyou know and love each year,
including labels on the lawn, aswell as some brand new events
you won't want to miss.
Make sure you're on ourexclusive mailing list at
Hanworth House so you don't missa single update or invitation.
Trust us, you won't want tomiss out on these incredible
experiences, And here's yourchance to make a difference that

(01:17:31):
truly matters.
Consider making a donation toWomen's Legal Service Queensland
for the Dancing CEOs Campcampaign.
Not only will you be supportingan incredible cause, but you'll
also snag a tax deductiblereceipt before the end of
financial year.
It's a win-win.
Simply visit the link in theepisode description to make your
contribution.
Every little bit counts And, asusual, if you liked this

(01:17:54):
episode, please rate, review andsubscribe, And if you have any
questions, you can email themthrough to podcast at
hanworthhousecomau.
That's H-A-N-W-O-R-T-H.
Thanks for joining us again onBubbles and Benevolence, and
we'll be back soon with anotherspecial guest Cheers.

(01:18:15):
I'm H-A-N-W-O-R-T-H you.

All Episodes

Fashion to Fillies - Lorilie Cunningham talks entrepreneurial journeys, philanthropy, horses and Dancing CEOs

Episode Transcript

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

Dateline NBC

The Breakfast Club

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Fashion to Fillies - Lorilie Cunningham talks entrepreneurial journeys, philanthropy, horses and Dancing CEOs