I started with Officeworks in February 2001, and I am currently working as a senior store business manager at the Coffs Harbour pop-up store.

When people ask me what I love about working at Officeworks I have to say I love the great team environment we have.

Across the 18 years I’ve worked with the business there have been so many great memories. Winning the Officeworks award for innovation for merchandising was a proud moment. Opening new stores is a rewarding experience, being able to build a new store and team from the ground up is amazing. It’s also been rewarding to see the Officeworks purpose of ‘Making Bigger Things Happen’ for our team and our local communities really come to life.

What’s changed over the years? What hasn’t changed! When I first started we were part of the Coles Myer group, where we had a high-low pricing strategy, and then we were acquired by Wesfarmers, who changed our strategy to everyday low prices - that was one of the biggest changes I’ve noticed over the years.

For me Officeworks is about the people. My team is the biggest asset I have. The original Coffs Harbour store was impacted by a fire while I was on extended holidays overseas with my family. My store leadership team really engaged with the store team to keep them up to date with every aspect of the shutdown of the store, from removing all the stock and cleaning fixtures, to keeping us busy during the shutdown by working in school canteens, running Bunnings barbecues to raise much-needed funds for our local primary schools, working in The Smith Family shop sorting out and tagging items ready for sale in the back of house and running stalls for Canteen selling bandannas to raise money.

We then got the opportunity to open up a pop-up store, and my team worked tirelessly to set up the store including all racking benches, wiring, and stocking of shelves in nine days. This could not have been done without an engaged team wanting to make bigger things happen for their fellow team members and also for the wider Coffs Harbour community.