Sue Ellson About Me

Yes, I know that is a little bit of an existentialist question, but I would like to think that one of the missions I have for my time on earth is to help people connect with one another and this has been a common theme throughout all of my endeavours.

I am the eldest of four children and 27 grandchildren. I remember ‘co-parenting’ my younger siblings and after marrying at 20, taking on full adult responsibility very early on in life. I spent my 20’s reading copious books on personal development and when my children arrived at 29 and 32, switched over to attending courses, events and workshops every week. I haven’t stopped since.

I started my professional career at Westpac Banking Corporation in Adelaide six days after my last year 12 secondary school exam, I worked full time and studied part time after business hours – a Business Certificate in Banking through TAFE SA that I stopped after eight subjects. I continued learning via a garment and pattern construction course before I realised I would be better off studying business subjects. I later found a Bachelor of Business in Administrative Management course through the University of South Australia that I started studying part time by correspondence.

When my husband was offered a job in Melbourne, I had to leave my diverse career at Westpac in Adelaide and I secured a job in  a recruitment agency in Melbourne. Unfortunately, I was sacked whilst I was pregnant and then I couldn’t find work. It took me six and a half years to stop being angry about that (I actually read a book on Radical Forgiveness and wrote them a letter describing how I felt and asked them to respond by letting me know they had read the letter and when I received their reply, I wasn’t angry any more).

Meanwhile, as soon as our daughter was born, I was back in demand. I thought that was crazy – in demand as a 29 year old breast feeding mother studying part time but probably out of demand by the time I reached 40. I decided I would remain employable forever and I would do that by continuously learning information that could secure work. I continued studying part time, parenting and picking up various gigs here and there. However, I found the transition to life in Melbourne difficult. It was hard to make new friends, even though I spoke English and am a Caucasian fourth generation Australian (hard to believe I know).

The last subject of my degree was a research project. With the permission of UniSA, I surveyed 96 people who had moved to Melbourne in the last five years and found out that they would like either a telephone advice service (tried previously and failed) or a website – so in 2001, I launched my first social enterprise, NewcomersNetwork.com and ran free monthly events for people who are new to Melbourne for 20 years (and coordinated many others in states around Australia). I surveyed 541 people worldwide with a follow up survey in 2004.

In 2005 at the age of 39, on the advice of my counsellor, my 19 year marriage ended. I look back now and realise that we were actually never compatible, so in some respects, I can reflect on it as an exercise in loyalty and commitment, despite the many challenges I faced. I found being a single parent very difficult. It was hard to reconcile being a mother for four days a week and then not a mother for three days a week. However, I did commit to continuously moving forward and I have developed some excellent long standing platonic friendships with a variety of different people and we enjoy catching up regularly. I have dated infrequently because I find the process frustrating and difficult.

After a short stint in the real estate industry in 2011, I set up my second social enterprise, CamberwellNetwork.com in 2012 for people who live, work or network in Camberwell, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. After working from a home base for so many years, it was great to meet other local people every month until the end of 2022 when I decided to stop the network and focus on other projects.

In 2016, my 50th year on this planet, I wrote and published three 80,000 word books in nine months! What a whirlwind!! I used up all of my savings, but the process was cathartic. I cleared out my accumulated professional knowledge in three separate books. I decided that my future focus would be as a writer and author as it is an ageless profession, but that I would need to write at least 10 books before I could consider myself to be an author. I am half way there.

For now, I am still consulting, training and writing and I love helping individuals and enterprises achieve their goals. I regularly try new activities – most recently I have been surfing, riding a quad bike, painting and doing some vocal training for the first time in my life. I also walk, occasionally ride my bike (not a cyclist) and dance (5 Rhythms or free form at home)

My next two books will be ‘Poems for lovers to read to each other’ and ‘Poems for me to truly be.’ The first poetry book is designed to get two adults of any gender reading to one another (we read to children but forget to read to each other as adults) and away from screens or ear phones. My hope is that it starts conversations, playful fun and reading of other texts as well. The second poetry book is for all people to reflect on their life and discover ways that they can truly ‘be’ in the world. My maternal grandmother used to always say ‘really and truly’ and how I wish we could all be more real and true on a daily basis.

Like many single women of a certain age with two independent adult children, I do not qualify for a home loan and as a former banker, I see this as age discrimination. Whilst I know that I will never stop working (by choice, not just because of my housing situation), I will always keep living modestly (for personal, environmental and sustainability reasons), saving for a rainy day and contributing to society. I have always completed pro bono and general voluntary work and that won’t stop either. This allows me to live according to my own service values and greater good choices and gives me the freedom and variety I need to live a meaningful and purposeful life of contribution.