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Former Wangaratta resident Heather Yelland will be out to inspire regional business leaders when she heads a workshop in Albury on 5 and 6 September.
An international and TEDX speaker with broad experience in empowering businesses and individuals, Heather will facilitate the two-day event along with former Carlton footballer and Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award winner Dennis Armfield.
Mr Armfield is a team member with The Elevation Company, which was founded by Heather to serve business owners, entrepreneurs and executive leaders keen to get to the heart of what drives and inspires them.
Heather, a former Wangaratta Technical School student now based in Euroa, is looking forward to sharing her knowledge and experience with business leaders in her native North East, in an event to be hosted at Albury's Commercial Club by local business Systa Solutions.
Jodi O'Connell, director of Systa Solutions, said it was important to bring world-class training to the region, as the cost of travelling to the city and paying for training could be prohibitive for local small to medium businesses.
"I am incredibly excited to have Heather and Dennis agree to offer this type of powerful leadership training to the local community," Jodi said.
Heather said she loved the chance to run events like this in regional centres, where small business was the backbone of the community, and she looked forward to partnering with Systa Solutions to "powerfully impact the leadership of local business owners and their teams".
"The opportunity for people in the region to travel 30 to 40 minutes to get access to training is fantastic," Heather said.
She said her heart was "invested in the North East", having being raised in the district before following a "twisting" career path.
"I went to university and studied an arts degree majoring in psychology, and I loved it, so I then did a parallel psychology degree," Heather said.
"I worked with Red Cross and the National Guide Dog and Mobility Centre, travelled overseas, then ended up working in community health, where I was involved in setting up consulting and support services at Ovens and King Community Health (now Gateway Health).
"After I went to a family therapy conference in New Zealand, I spent the next 14 years living and working in New Zealand in a large social services organisation.
"I came back to Australia, lived in Bendigo and worked in community health, then moved back to the North East, and 18 years ago decided that I work best when I have scope and freedom to create and innovate, so started The Elevation Company."
The business works in consulting - focusing on the elevation of people and building cultures of engagement - as well as providing support and mentorship to various groups; Heather has just returned from two weeks in Myanmar working with 1100 students and their teachers and families.
"We operate on the basis that we get in, find people to work with, then allow people to go ahead and sustain the change," she said.
The two-day Level Up in Leadership workshop aims to unlock leadership potential, providing participants with the tools to reconnect with their true self; transform their relationships; and lead with heart-based leadership.
It will be held in the Wattle Room at the Commercial Club from 9am to 5pm on Friday, 5 September, and 9am to 3pm on Saturday, 6 September.
A handful of places remain, and registration can be completed at https://events.humanitix.com/level-up-in-leadership
* A free ticket to Level UP is available to one lucky reader of the Wangaratta Chronicle. Simply fill out the contact form at https://theelevationcompany.com/get-in-touch/ with the subject line of LEVEL UP FREE TICKET, and send your full name, email address and mobile number, to go into the running for the free pass. Winner will be drawn at 5pm Monday, 1 September.





