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A master of lethal weaponry and an aspiring yoga teacher. It may seem like an unlikely combination, but not for our new Training, Education and Learning Manager, Barb Brown!
We caught up with her for a Q&A about her colourful career and found out how her love of training puts her in the right place to take Rocky Bay into exciting new territory.
First of all, can you tell me about your role and what you hope to bring to Rocky Bay?
There’s a two-pronged approach to the role – keeping the internal capability going by developing career pathways and workforce development, but also providing the opportunity for the organisation to branch out.
We’ve got amazing trainers and training content. And the way that we deliver the training and the practical scenarios that we do is all really well branded. People want what we’ve got, so that’s what I’ve got to try and do – translate what we do internally into a marketable product that we can deliver externally to people who want to come to us.
So, for external purposes it’s a business product, for example inviting external people to take part in our Emerging Leaders Program?
Yes, there are people out there that are desperate for what we do. We also currently deliver a Cert III in Disability Services, which we can expand and deliver to other disability service and aged care providers.
What initially attracted you to the role at Rocky Bay?
Well, to be honest, someone sent me the job and told me about Rocky Bay, its purpose and its culture. I’m a service-orientated person. My whole career has been about service to the community, so it really pulled on my heartstrings. I also grew up with an uncle who had intellectual disabilities and saw how challenging life was for him, so it just connected with me.
Can you tell me a bit about your background?
My background is really unusual. I did 37 years with WA Police – 26 years as a sworn police officer working in traffic and general duties. I did seven years in the Kimberley back in the 80s – back in the days of the Wild Wild West! I was the first ever female to go to Wyndham (relieving).
I worked in Broome, Derby, and had jobs at Halls Creek, Fitzroy, Kununurra and Argyle.
That was all just general duties, but it was hard, because at one stage I was the only female in the whole Kimberley. So if there was anything to do with women or children, I was always on the road responding to those jobs – that was quite challenging and hard on my husband.
I transferred back to the city as I was pregnant with my son. When he was two, I split up with my husband, so I became a single mum with a young child. They didn’t have maternity leave back then, so I had to work full-time, and my mum lived with us. I needed a job that enabled me to get home, so I applied for a training role at the Police Academy and worked there as a police trainer for about seven years. I did professional development training and then I was asked to go to the weapons training unit. So, I became a weapons trainer, and I managed the weapons training area.
What kind of weapons?
Taser, Glock, OC spray, baton, all the use of force accoutrements that help keep police officers and the community safe.
In policing, they don’t like you to stay in areas very long because they think you’re more open to corruption, because you become too familiar with people. So, I managed to do two, three-year tenures. I did my sixth year and was rolling into my seventh when it was time to move on. I’d fallen in love with training and made the decision that I wanted to stay. So I applied for a position, still in the police, but as a public servant to manage their registered training organisation. I applied for that job, got it, and all I did was take my uniform off! I worked there for another 11 years. So, I did 20 years in total in the training environment for police.
My position was later abolished so I became a redeployee. A lovely assistant commissioner said she’d pick me up in regional WA as a project manager. I had project manager qualifications, but it wasn’t my passion – training was my passion. Anyway, I did that for a couple of years and project managed leavers – meaning ten and a half thousand school kids down in Busselton over COVID. I figured if I could do that, I could do anything!
But the culture in WA Police was losing its appeal for me. So, I applied for a role as a project manager at Royal Flying Doctors and worked in project management for about a year, then I was asked to take on the role of Head of Projects and Change. I did that for another three years, and now I’m here.
So, I’m a weirdo with an unusual history. But I think I’ve got really good transferable skills, and a lot of life experience!
Tell me about your team.
I’ve got a team of seven who are very diverse in every way, and they are really passionate about what they do. We’ve got clinical people, nurses, RTO people. They’re a wonderful group.
What are your key objectives for the role?
My objective is to stabilise the training team, then build a really strong Rocky Bay training brand. We want to sell a training academy where other organisations come to get their training.
What kinds of organisations would you see taking advantage of this?
Aside from other disability areas, other support areas. Definitely aged care, community care, and mental health. There’s a lot of opportunity.
How do you think you are perceived as a leader? What’s your leadership style?
I’m inclusive and authentic. What you see is what you get. I try to listen more than I talk and take on board other people’s expertise.
You know, I don’t think that any one person has all the answers, and I really believe – even though it sounds a bit soppy, that it is about the whole TEAM. Together Everyone Achieves More. We’ve all got individual strengths and weaknesses and we can all support each other and lean into each other’s strengths where we’re lacking.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve made a mistake. It doesn’t matter as long as we own that mistake, learn from that mistake and we fail forward.
I also want people to feel comfortable and trusted. I don’t like people to hide things that they’ve done because they’re too afraid. It’s about getting it out in the open, understanding what the impact is and working out how to fix it – working out what to do differently next time and learning from it.
What do you think we do well at Rocky Bay and what do you think the challenges are going to be to grow in this area?
What do we do well? Community support. Everybody that works in this space is just incredible. What I’ve seen so far is phenomenal. The challenge will be to grow in the right places, so we don’t dilute what we currently do so well. We don’t want to diversify too widely or too quickly and then lose that core strength that we’re currently known for.
What is your first impression of Rocky Bay?
Absolutely amazing. Everyone is just incredible. But I feel really sad that I was never a part of Mosman Park (our former Head Office), because I saw how sad people were to leave. But I’m also excited for what’s to come.
Tell me about you. What do you do outside of work?
I’m a yogi. So I practise yoga once or twice a day, morning and night. I’m single. My son’s 33, he’s a police officer. I’ve got one grandchild, little Teddy – he’s six months old. He was born completely deaf in his left ear. And I just live life – I work to live. I come to work and I love it, I give as much as I can. But then when I’m not here, I go and live my life. I love travel, and I do a yoga retreat every year.
What kind of yoga?
For the last 15 years, I’ve practised Ashtanga. My teacher has just changed her hours which do not fit in with my working life so I am now dabbling in vinyasa, hatha, yin, and restorative. So I’m doing a whole mixture of stuff now. And I want to become a yoga teacher. That’s a little goal that I’ve set myself.
We don’t doubt that this fearless leader will conquer the yoga world just as she has the training realm. Barb is an absolute force to be reckoned with, and we are privileged to have her skills and incredible experience on the team at Rocky Bay!