“I love that you have to be a woman of many talents; you must know a bit about everything”.
Meet Christiane Smith or Chrissy, Esperance women of many hats. As the Head of Communications for the Esperance Shire, Chrissy is arguably at the forefront of everything happening within the region. She is incredibly humble and works tirelessly in the agricultural and regional Esperance community to help make it thrive.
Chrissy is one of ten children and her busy childhood experience says a lot about who she is today. Not only did she grow up surrounded by a large family but she was also actively engaged in community from a young age thanks to her parents who started local business Esperance Care Services. “Being part of community was a fundamental part of my life”. From around the age of 11 Chrissy always helped with the family business. These early life lessons unknowingly paved a way forward for Chrissy to support the wider community later in life.
Chrissy’s youth followed no set career plans, except for one thing – becoming a firefighter. Chrissy is now a Lieutenant Volunteer Firefighter at her local brigade. As for her professional career, it always seemed to land on community engagement whether it be in communications and or media management roles. For instance, Chrissy worked for her local parliament member, where she learned about politics and communicating with constituents. “This taught me a great deal on how to communicate well and understand how community works”.
When Chrissy isn’t working her day job at the local shire, she volunteers as a firefighter, at the centre of her local arts for music events and for Meals on Wheels during her lunch break. She also is on the committee for Farmers Across Boarders as the Secretary.
Farmers Across Borders is a group of farmers and truckies from Western Australia aiming to help farmers affected by drought and other natural disasters. CBH has been a generous supporter over the last few years.
“I forget how big and widespread Farmers Across Borders is and how much of an impact we have…I am privileged to work alongside the other amazing people on the committee”.
Chrissy is clearly a role model within her community, she said “I get to work and serve in places that bring me so much joy….volunteering is vitally important, not just for the community but for your personal well-being”.
Chrissy believes that her time is so much more valuable than money and often will give her time to a non for profit or charity because giving is something Chrissy is always prepared to do. Chrissy is determined to show people that if she can do it, anyone can do it. “If I can inspire one person to do it, it is one of the reasons I volunteer”.
Balancing her roles and maintaining her life, family and day-to-day jobs, Chrissy says it comes down to being honest and admitting that you cannot do it all. “There will always be give and take in those areas”. At times she knows all too well that her efforts and energy must go to one area and that another will undoubtedly suffer but that is the reality of wearing many hats. “Sometimes it’s seasonal; firefighting is during the summer”. To maintain this important role during summertime she steps back from some of her other volunteer duties to focus on firefighting. “I need to conserve energy and time for when a potential fire arises”. A lesson she learnt after a particular busy summer firefighting period. “It was an ah-ha moment, that there can be seasons for giving your time”.
Having paved a rewarding career in Esperance, Chrissy feels very fortunate to work and live in the regions. “I love the sparsity of the regions, I love that you have to be a woman of many talents, you must know a bit about everything”. Although, she did stress that being resilient in all aspects – work, personal, volunteer and community was important because regional life as much as its beautiful can be a silent challenge. To make it work and to feel you’re getting somewhere in the regions, Chrissy thought it was critical to know a little bit of everything to accomplish anything. “To be able to understand the regional community, you have to be open to learning, listening and getting your hands dirty sometimes.”