Chelsea Harvey
Snapshot:
Industry / Sector: Child Care, Education
Career Type: Business Owner
Education Pathway: Self Taught
Mid Coast Connection: Born & Raised on the Mid Coast
The Blurb:
Chelsea Harvey, founder of Holiday Hub Taree, shares her journey from academic tutoring to running a childcare service. After starting as a student tutor in high school, Chelsea built Homework Hub at Taree Universities Campus before transitioning to Holiday Hub, which provides before‑ and after‑school care and vacation programs at Mid Coast Christian College.
She reflects on the skills that helped her succeed: confidence, the courage to jump in, and the patience to accept that business timelines rarely match expectations. Chelsea also discusses the values that drive her work: a family‑rooted commitment to education, the importance of creating safe spaces for children to learn and grow, and the belief that learning happens throughout life.
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Current Role – Owner of Holiday Hub Taree, providing before‑ and after‑school care and vacation care programs at Mid Coast Christian College.
Career Path – Started tutoring in Year 11–12 after being asked by teachers to help students; founded Homework Hub at Taree Universities Campus; sold that business in January and transitioned to Holiday Hub to reach a wider audience of children.
Key Skills – Confidence and outgoing communication; courage to jump in despite nerves; grounding oneself in what you're doing; patience when facing setbacks.
Challenges Shared – Overcoming initial nervousness when contacting schools and answering inquiry calls; accepting that business timelines often stretch far beyond initial expectations (what seemed like 3–4 months became 9–10 months); navigating red tape and obstacles that push progress backward.
What She Loves – Working with children and their curiosity; providing a safe space where kids can have fun, learn, and start and end their day well; seeing children's confidence grow over time; empowering kids to share what they've learned with others.
Advice to Younger Self – "Patience. It's OK to be patient. It's OK to have setbacks." Recognise that progress often feels like "one step forward, three steps back," and that having more time to develop ideas can be a blessing for your passion and business.
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"Providing a safe space for them, knowing that they can come in and have fun and learn and then start their day well, as well as end their day well after school is just, it's a blessing really."
"It's OK to be patient. It's OK to have setbacks."
“Being confident and outgoing and very grounded in what you're doing was definitely a skill that helped me."
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[0:00] Intro
Today we are joined by Chelsea Harvey from the Holiday Hub. Chelsea will share some stories about her journey and the skills that she has used to get to where she is today.
[0:27] Can you tell us a little bit about what your job or your professional life looks like at the moment?
I’m an educator, so I own Holiday Hub Taree, which is a childcare centre at a local school – the Mid Coast Christian College. We do OOSH, before and after school care and then vacation care as well.
[00:48] Can you share with us a little bit of information about your pathway to get where you are today?
Yeah, for sure. So I think a lot of it stemmed off the previous business that I had and sold in January, which would have been Homework Hub, which was based here at Taree Universities (Campus). So yeah, that was a tutoring business, also an educator there, but definitely more on the academic side. And I think the passion of working with children really stemmed from there.
Education was always something that I wanted to pursue, but I didn’t realize I wanted to meet a wider audience until I started doing Homework Hub. So I found out what I could do during the holidays and that’s when the vacation care sort of popped up. And eventually I just found that I could reach a wider audience and support more kids doing that than I did with the tutoring. So I just moved on and I’m really loving that now.
[01:38] You went to school in the local area - can you talk us through how you started your own business?
I went to MVAC: Manning Valley Anglican College. It was a fantastic school. I actually went there from kindergarten and then all the way through to Year 12. I was very academic myself. I loved teaching. I loved helping other people. In about Year 11 and 12, I was asked by a couple of the teachers to help their kids after school. So that’s when the whole tutoring business kind of stemmed. It was just for a bit of cash money after school. I think I was doing 3 afternoons a week.
And then after that I was like, “OK, well, I’m sure there’s other kids in the area that also need help”. So I started a Facebook page and it kind of snowballed from there. Then I started getting reached out to by Taree Universities (Campus) and we did a bit of a joint venture. And it was fantastic. But school definitely was the start of the business journey for me.
[02:32] And can you tell us about a skill that you’ve needed in your life to get to where you are today?
I don’t know if I’d class it as a skill, but I think being confident and outgoing is definitely something that I’ve had to learn. I think when I was starting Holiday Hub, I kind of just had to jump in and then I emailed a bunch of different schools and had interviews with them and saw which school would benefit from the service that I was having.
I think having to jump straight in and start a business page or answering my first couple of phone calls about inquiries were very nerve‑wracking. So I think being confident and outgoing and very grounded in what you’re doing was definitely a skill that helped me.
[03:24] And what do you love? So you run your Holiday Hub now. What’s your favorite thing? What do you love about that job?
I love the kids. They’re so beautiful. They come in every morning. I think providing a safe space for them, knowing that they can come in and have fun and learn and then start their day well, as well as end their day well after school is just, it’s a blessing really. I love working with all the kids. I love their curiosity with things.
The other day we were talking about tectonic plates, and one of the little boys just thought it was the coolest thing he’d ever heard of, just these little plates under the ground, which was awesome. And I think being able to share that with younger kids that then take it home and then they tell other kids what they’ve learned is really, really empowering.
[04:09] What do you think that says about your personal values? Do you think there’s something that maybe you grew up with that has led to where you are today?
Back to the whole education and the academic side of it. As much as I hated it, my dad would sit me down every afternoon after school and we’d do the homework. So I think having a family that was so driven by education and not just not just academically, but learning things: learning things about our world, learning things about our community. It’s a big value for me.
Having a lot of worldly knowledge and knowing how to make friends and knowing how to start interests with each other, I think that’s really important. And sharing that with the kids, I’ve just seen so much confidence growth from when they started with me six months ago to where they are now.
[05:00] If you could go back to yourself when you’re in Year 9, what’s one piece of advice you would give to your Year 9 self?
Patience. Yeah. I’m a very impatient person, especially when it comes to starting things. So it’s OK to be patient. It’s OK to have setbacks. I found that in Year 9, throughout school and starting the Homework Hub, but also with Holiday Hub later on, what I thought was going to be 3 months to 4 months to start this business turned into 9 to 10 months.
Especially with business, and I think anyone will find, it’s kind of like one step forward, three steps back. Sometimes. That’s how you’re going to feel because there’s so much red tape and every time you move a little bit, you’re also pushed back a little bit by different obstacles that you have to overcome. Now that I’m established, I appreciate the longer amount of time that I had to think about and to work on the ideas that I had with the business. So definitely patience, be patient. It’s often a blessing, having more time to be able to put into your passion and into what you’re trying to start.
Please note: All content is correct at the time of recording.
