An accident in early 2003 left Deborah Morandin unable to walk. The six months of rehabilitation she required meant that she was not able to continue in her job. Times were tough for Deborah.
‘I was hit pretty hard, the cost of the accident wiped me out and I was left with nothing and I do mean nothing, my partner left and it was difficult trying to survive on Centrelink payments’, Deborah said.
Today, Deborah is a successful business owner and life coach who runs an award-winning motivational program, The Butterfly Experience, through her business Squiggly Training. Deborah set up her new business with the help of the New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS).
After signing on to the Scheme at the end of 2003, Deborah used the year of New Enterprise Incentive Scheme payments to meet essential living costs while setting up her business.
The basis for her business was the book The Butterfly Experience, which Deborah wrote during her recovery. It is a book written to help others transform their lives and her vision was to turn it into a motivational training program, based on her 15 years experience in training prior to her accident.
Four years on and Deborah’s business is going from strength to strength. Deborah said she has worked with over 5000 women and has an 80 per cent success rate in assisting women into work. She describes this as the most satisfying part of her work.
‘Being able to help so many women feel great about themselves and get them into work after long periods away, or never having worked, has been extremely gratifying', Deborah said.
Deborah has won several Awards for her business, including the Quest Business of the Year for Training Award in 2006 and 2005 and being nominated as Queenslander of the Year in 2006. Deborah encourages everyone to strive to achieve their work goals.
‘Look into your life interests and look for possible careers that use your skills, so you will enjoy going to work every day’, she said.
‘In setting up a business do your homework, lots of research . . . and networking, before getting started. If you get more and more excited about the idea and you have a true passion, then pursue your dreams’, she added.
‘I had always wanted to make a difference in training and this accident ended up being a blessing in disguise’, she said.
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