Kelly Janssen was selected as one of the Alice Springs Branch candidates for the 2022 intake of the Georgina Pastoral Future NTCA program. The following article was written by Kelly detailing her experiences in the program.
My name is Kelly Janssen, I’m a 28 year old and living on Umbearra Station. Umbearra Station is a family owned beef station and located 320km south of Alice, not far from the SA border.
Four years ago I came to Australia from the Netherlands and was looking to experience living and working on a station. I found an advertisement through social media and applied for the job. Within a few days, I was on my way to the middle of Australia to work on Umbearra Station. I started off working at the homestead as a nanny/allrounder, after 18 months I rolled into the Station hand position.
Through the drought we were working with a small crew, it was the manager and me. After a year we hired another employee, I was partly going to be responsible for training her. The first day I met her, I knew we would get along on a friend level. I wasn’t sure how to be a teacher or a leader. The opportunity came up to apply for the Georgina Pastoral Future Leader program with the NTCA. It was very last minute but I got myself an interview and a few days later I found out I was going to be part of the program.
The first week as a Georgina Pastoral Future Leader
After having a search on social media to see who the other future leaders were, it was finally time to meet them in person. Monday morning we came together at North Australian Development Offices for the introduction, business edge course and a leadership course with Tammy Kruckow. Before the courses started we got a chance to introduce ourselves and get to know each other. The courses were very interesting and it was good to learn about some other sides of cattle station business. Tammy Kruckow taught us about our DISC profiles, a great tool to learn about yourself and improve your communication style. On Wednesday we helped getting ready for the NTCA conference and the YLEN fundraiser, Crocs and Frocks. What an amazing night it was. The NTCA conference days flew by, so many interesting speakers and topics were covered. The week ended with the gala dinner on Friday night. Everyone looked stunning and it was a night to remember. This week had been so eventful, exciting, informative and gave us the chance to network with many new people.
Induction week with the Georgina Pastoral Future leaders
The second week together with the Georgina Pastoral Future leaders started off with a day in the classroom with Tammy Kruckow, Leadership within the Pastoral industry. We had a group conversation and we got a few assignments as well. It is amazing how helpful the training is as a person and as a leader. The next day we went on a trip to Tipperary Station and got a tour around from NTCA president David Connolly. I was pretty impressed by the size of the station homestead and arena. This was the first time I made a visit to a station in the north of the Northern Territory. We learned about the cotton crop, drove around on the station and had time to ask questions and speak with some of the girls that work at Tipperary. The following day we had media training and got a few presentations from program sponsors. On the last day of this week, we had another excursion. We started the day at the Berrimah Research Farm and were taught about biosecurity and looked closer into Foot and Mouth Disease and Lumpy Skin Disease. It is really important to learn about the symptoms. Afterwards we had a tour through the research centre. We looked through microscopes and other equipment. After morning tea we went towards the export yards where we had a tour and an overview of the export supply chain. Following, a visit to the last stop for the livestock, Port of Darwin. We had a presentation with a little bit of history and the different parts of the port. Back in the bus, we went on a tour around the port and we saw where the livestock were loaded on the boats. We were very lucky to have Chloe from the NTCA as she took us to the port a few days beforehand to see the trucks driving in, unloading the cattle into the boats. This week has been absolutely amazing, we went through the whole export supply chain from station, export yards and onto the boats. We spoke to so many different people that all play big and small rolls in the industry and we spoke about threats and opportunities. Beside the live export chain we learned about ourselves, the companies that make this course possible and we did media and leadership training which will be helpful in the future. It was a great week again.
LIVEX change week with the Georgina Pastoral future leaders
The last week we have planned with all the Georgina Pastoral future leaders in Darwin was the week of LiveX. Monday morning we walked to Adina on the waterfront with a stop to get some breakfast. Together with the young livestock exporters network we had a leadership training with a DISC profile and media training. Our group was mixed with future leaders from Australia but there were some participants from Indonesia as well. An introduction and a presentation to start off with, afterwards the group went two ways. One group started with the DISC profile while the other group started with Media training. Even though we did a DISC profile before, everyone has changed over time and was interesting to see how the profiles had changed. The media training was a bit intense. We started with some tips and tricks, how to respond to interviewers and what the best way is to prepare for an interview. After a little break to prepare ourselves, we did an interview. Most of us did a really good job and the training really prepared for a real interview. After finishing the training, the afternoon was spent trying out Salty Games: Pastures. We have been asked, as young leaders i agriculture, to review the game. At the same time we got the opportunity to have a follow up call with Tammy. We finished the day off with Western on Waves, a sunset cruise. The next two days were the conference, such good speakers and I really enjoyed listening to all the information and panels. Again a week to never forget.
Thank you NTCA for this opportunity, I’ve learned a lot about the industry and about myself. And a big thank you to all the other Georgina Pastoral future leaders, all of you made this experience even better.
APPLY NOW for the 2023 Georgina Pastoral Future NTCA Program.
Important dates:
Monday, 9 January 2023 – Applications open
Tuesday, 31 January 2023 – Applications close
Wednesday, 1 February 2023 – Interview period commences
Friday, 10 February 2023 – Interview period concludes
Monday, 27 February 2023 – Successful candiates announced
