Camberwell Catchup 3 – Personal Development Theme
After hosting monthly events for people who live, work or network in Camberwell under the brand name Camberwell Network from 2012 – 2022, I have re-started monthly Camberwell Catchups on the 1st Wednesday of the Month from 7:30am – 8:30am at My Other Brother, Rear of 586 Burke Road, Camberwell, Melbourne, Victoria 3124.
Our third event was held on Wednesday 1 July 2026 and our theme was ‘Personal Development.’
The fabulous guests who joined us provided the following personal development tips:
Gerard Torpy – Adaptability, courage, persistence, courage. It is possible to grow through bereavement. Trauma, transitions, transformation. Don’t let the child in you die. A young person has curiosity and drive and it is often squashed as they grow older. Need to be consciously curious. I shared fun and constructive text messages with my four daughters after my wife died and they were pleased that Dad was ‘coping’ with bereavement. It was a deliberate and enlightened activity. Also spoke at my family’s reunion. Have observed that young males when they realise they have done something wrong look for someone to blame. Beware of ignorant people. The opposite of curious is ignorant.
Maria Di Pietro – Wisdom is collected over time and when you have done personal development, you become comfortable about speaking about it. Everyone has difficulties and when you expose that, you receive confirmation that everyone has it. As a psychologist, constantly learning about what’s going on internally and when things are not working. Many people do not look within. Traditionally, males are fixers and women are listeners. Believe in manifesting divine potential. We need to understand that most of our parents do not have the skills to teach us about our inner drive.
Clare Cotter – Have been working on myself since my early 20’s and have sought professional help to get through difficult times and still do. Listen to YouTube. It is important to communicate and learn with staff as we never stop learning and changing. It takes a lot of courage and I admire my friends.
Harin De Soysa – It is good to pursue personal development and use Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to help with self esteem and to go inwards on your journey. There are workarounds to go to the ‘source’ better. Curiosity drives me. When I went to school, we were not shown how to choose a career so I have had to gather my own self knowledge and understand my own balance sheet through more learning.
Di Gillies – Many people don’t realise their untapped potential on their journey. As a child, how can we ‘find our passion’ when our focus is what we would like to do on the weekend. It is not a realistic way to approach life. We need to develop ourselves along the way and have a mind that is open to growing and adapting our path along the way as we can’t stay on the one path all the way. My community service is ongoing. Life lessons include integrity, honesty, watching what I say and how I say it, treating others as I would like to be treated. How other people react to you is based on their perspective and perception and it can be hard to be on the receiving end and not take it personally.
Philip Derham – As a market researcher, I am fortunate that I can be curious and ask people questions. Through schooling, I was able to learn much more than other students by reading books. When I started working, I met people who seemed to know much more than me but then I realised they just had three more years experience in the role. I am constantly surprised by the lies that people tell. There is a lot of stuff that is hidden in the community. For example, when I was working in the Australian Bureau of Statistics, we had to investigate the ‘real reasons’ for a person’s death, which may have been different to what the coroner declared depending on whether you lived in the city or in a rural community.
Yvonne Junor – As someone who has had the support of a highly qualified psychiatrist for 25 years, I realise it is my superpower. I believe in staying curious, keep looking for adventures and keep going. Richard Scolyer shared that he believes we should ‘have a crack’ at doing things, follow our passions, be curious, humble and do things with love. Grit, grace, growth and gratitude.
Sue Ellson – I have a mantra that I would share with my children before they went away on school and scout camps, ‘do the difficult but not the dangerous‘ to encourage them to go outside their comfort zone. Marcus Aurelius also talks about being tolerant with others but strict with yourself and I believe this is important to make sure that you keep growing and developing.
See all of the Camberwell Catchup post event blog posts here.
The photo above does not include Clare Cotter or Di Gillies as they had to leave early…
Feedback
1. What was most helpful to you?
Engaging conversation
2. What will you do next?
All good
3. What would you like to learn next?
Not sure
4. Any other helpful comments or advice?
Curious / Poetry
More feedback welcome via the Workshop Evaluation online questionnaire
Review
Thanks for organising the Camberwell catch up this morning. It resonated with me as we need to preserve the face to face human connections alongside the digital environment. Di Gillies
Join me at
Tuesday 14 July 2026 LinkedIn for CEO’s Online Webinar at 1pm – 1:30pm
Saturday 25 July 2026 LinkedIn for me and my career or business Workshop at Melbourne City Library 11am – 1pm (includes digital and paperback book, cafe drink and social catchup)
Wednesday 5 August 2026 Camberwell Catchup at MOB Camberwell 7:30am – 8:30am
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