Carli started her mental health education and training consultancy business in 2019 with the help of ABS through the NEIS program. She is passionate about mental health education and training and throughout her career, many people have encouraged her to follow this vocation.
“I wanted to create a new career path and income stream for myself while being my own boss as a lived experience mental health educator. This built on my skills in administration, community engagement, projects, event coordination and consultancy. I enjoy the flexible working hours and creative freedom to choose who I work with and, ultimately, the opportunity to provide a good life for my family.” said Carli
Carli submitted her NEIS application with us and we made contact with her proceed with her NEIS application.
“The key to my success was accessing NEIS as a volunteer and securing the ABS Institute as my NEIS Provider. The ABS Institute provided training to help me develop business and financial plans. Mentoring with someone who is highly experienced has helped me achieve my business goals and objectives and I gained a Certificate III in Micro-Business Operations.” said Carli
Carli submitted a fantastic business plan and financials and commenced onto the NEIS mentoring phase shortly after. When asked how NEIS has helped change her life she said “After wrapping up some project work as an employee in 2019, I was finding it difficult to secure a new job even though I had great skills, qualifications and an excellent work history with referees who were willing to support me. The constant rejection from job applications was taking a toll of my confidence and wellbeing, and I knew that I needed to look at alternative ways to enhance my economic position and provide income for my family.
Self-employment was the solution to my problem. The support from the ABS Institute has been fantastic, especially when my business cash flow was affected by COVID and is now starting to recover. The ongoing mentoring support has helped me to keep on track with my business and financial plans, and learn new ways to market and build my customer base whilst leveraging my extensive network within the Australian mental health sector. As a leader, I am pleased to report that my business is gaining momentum and the WA Mental Health Commission has recently appointed me as WA Consumer Representative on the National Mental Health Consumer and Carer Forum. I am making a difference as a leader and feel fulfilled as an entrepreneur.”
Carli continues to go from strength to strength and her hard work and determination is evident with the success she has achieved. We look forward to following her story.
