After recently joining us as Faculty General Manager from University of Melbourne, we thought it was time we got to know more about Rebecca. You’ll spot her a mile off,  walking the halls in bright colours and matching lipstick.

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Tell us about a personal passion or hobby – what is it and why do you enjoy it?

Drawing and other creative arts (my first degree is a Bachelor of Fine Art in Printmaking and Computer-Aided Art & Design and I ran my own graphic design business as one of my first jobs).  I enjoy it because I am able to focus 100% on it (when I can), observe, and express myself in a different way to how I normally might.  A picture also tells a thousand words!

What led you to be interested in this? When did your interest first develop?

I can’t remember how I first became interested, my grandmother said she started submitting my work to shows / fairs when I was three years old.

Can you share a particularly special memory relating to this passion/interest?

I suffered from chronic asthma as a child and spent many weeks and months in hospital over many years. When I was about five or six, I was terribly bored in hospital and there wasn’t a lot that I could do.  I wanted desperately to run around in the park like other kids were doing but I couldn’t run around or walk as I had a drip in my arm.

I was incredibly bored.  I couldn’t play with toys in the toy room in the hospital or do anything but stare out the window and look at others playing, walking or going about whatever business they were doing.

I remember complaining to my Dad when he visited that I was bored, and the very next day he came with paper and pens and told me to write and illustrate a story.

When he came back the next afternoon, I hadn’t done anything but wallow in my own boredom, sad that I could not do as others were doing.  He patted the paper and said, I want to see a story tomorrow.  I didn’t want to disappoint so, the next day I wrote and illustrated a story, an adventure story that kept me engrossed all day. I was pretty proud to finish it before my Dad came.

When he saw what I had done, he smiled and sat down and read it with me and I realised that there is always something that you can do, even when you think there is nothing that you can do.

How does your passion/interest positively impact your life/wellbeing? How do you find time for it with your work commitments?

Drawing, journaling or doing something creative takes me away from the day-to-day.  While I don’t get to draw each day, I do try to draw each week and I spent a lot of time drawing during the holidays – it is how I truly relax and have time for myself.

How does this interest influence or inform the work you do at Macquarie?

I bring my creativity to work in many ways, in developing strategy, identifying and taking up opportunities and solving problems.  I am hoping to find more direct ways in the future!