The Balance & The Belief

What if you don’t need to have everything perfectly balanced or completely believe in yourself before taking the next step?

That was the conversation underneath The Balance & The Belief, a live In Her Season event presented alongside La Trobe University Mildura.

The evening brought 138 people together for an honest conversation about returning to study, changing direction and beginning again when life already feels full.

The evening began with a Welcome to Country delivered by Valda Gwen Doolan, who welcomed us to Country and opened the event.

Why we created this conversation

For many women, the thought of returning to study doesn’t begin with choosing a course or submitting an application.

It begins with quieter questions.

Do I have the time?
What if I’m too old?
How will I manage everything else?
What if I’m not capable anymore?
Do I need to believe in myself before I begin?

These are the questions women often carry privately. They can sit beneath all the practical considerations and quietly stop us from taking the next step.

The Balance & The Belief was created to give those questions the space they deserve.

Not by pretending there is a perfect way to balance everything, but by hearing from women who have navigated study, work, family, uncertainty and change in their own ways.

The Balance and The Belief

Our keynote speakers, Belinda Bailey and Michelle Oates, generously shared their knowledge, experiences and honesty with the room.

Belinda helped us understand how our past experiences can shape what we believe about ourselves and what we think we are capable of.

Michelle invited us to rethink what balance can look like when life already feels full and we are trying to make room for something that matters.

Together, their insights reminded us that we don’t need to feel completely ready or have every part of life perfectly balanced before we begin.

Honest stories from women who have lived it

Our panellists, Gemma, Gabby and Dani, brought different stories and perspectives to the conversation.

Gemma spoke about leaving school at 14, returning to education through TAFE and senior college, and later completing a Social Work degree after becoming a mum.

Gabby shared her experience of returning to university to study Nursing after spending several years at home raising her three girls. During her degree, she also supported her youngest daughter through heart treatment and major surgery.

Dani shared her journey from beauty therapy into teaching while navigating motherhood, studying through COVID and being diagnosed with breast cancer.

Their stories were different, but each woman took the first step before knowing exactly how everything would work out.

They spoke openly about the achievements people could see from the outside, as well as the uncertainty, difficult decisions and self doubt that existed alongside them.

Their stories reminded us that belief doesn’t always arrive before we begin.

Sometimes we take one uncertain step, and belief begins to grow afterwards.

More than an information evening

There was practical information about pathways into university and the support available, but the evening was about more than explaining how to enrol.

Ash Ryan, Student Recruitment Advisor at La Trobe University Mildura, joined the conversation to explain what students can study, the different pathways into university and the support available to students studying locally or online.

Ash is often one of the first people a woman speaks to when university is still just an idea. She helped remind us that taking the first step doesn’t have to mean submitting an application. Sometimes it simply begins with asking a question and finding out what might be possible.

The evening was about helping women imagine that another direction could be possible for them.

It was about hearing someone else describe the fear you haven’t said out loud.

It was about seeing that there isn’t one correct age, pathway or timeline for learning, changing or beginning again.

And it was about recognising that you don’t need to have the entire journey mapped out before taking the first step.

Taking In Her Season beyond the podcast

As the owner and host of In Her Season, I felt incredibly proud to bring this conversation to our community alongside La Trobe University Mildura, with Alana Linklater joining me as guest co host for the evening.

In Her Season began as a podcast, but conversations like this show what it can become beyond the microphone.

A room filled with people. Real stories. Trusted professional insight. Difficult questions. Laughter. Recognition. And moments that make someone think, “Maybe I’m not the only one wondering this.”

That is what In Her Season Live is about. Creating space for conversations women are already having quietly and allowing those conversations to become something we can share.

What stayed with us

What stayed with me most wasn’t one perfect answer about balance or belief.

It was the honesty in the room.

It was women admitting that they hadn’t always felt ready. That they had doubted themselves. That life hadn’t suddenly become less complicated before they decided to begin.

And still, they took the next step.

Perhaps we don’t need to wait until everything feels balanced. Perhaps we don’t need complete confidence before beginning.

Perhaps belief is something we build along the way.

Thank you

Thank you to Valda Gwen Doolan for welcoming us to Country and opening the evening.

Thank you to Alana Linklater for joining me as guest co host for the evening.

Thank you to our keynote speakers, Belinda Bailey and Michelle Oates, and our panellists, Gemma, Gabby and Dani, for sharing their knowledge, stories and experiences so openly.

Thank you to Ash, Molly, Sandy and the wider La Trobe University Mildura team for everything they did to bring the event to life.

Thank you to The Province, Mildura Living Magazine, Flourish Homeopathy, Tilley’s Furniture, Alchemy by Maddie, Navana Life, Radiant Sol Yoga , Blume by Colin Straub and Balloon & Arch for being part of such a special evening.

And thank you to every person who joined us. You helped make the room what it was.

In Her Season. For the seasons that don’t come with instructions.

Photographs from The Balance & The Belief will be added to the event gallery soon.

The conversation will also be shared as a special In Her Season podcast episode. Listen Here