Kate Dunn
Snapshot:
Industry / Sector: Business / Corporate, Community Services, Not-For-Profit
Career Type: Employed
Education Pathway: Private College
Mid Coast Connection: Born & raised on the Mid Coast
The Blurb:
Kate Dunn, the Community Connector on the Mid Coast, shares her journey from a local school student in Old Bar to helping families and professionals settle into the region. After leaving school to travel and work on Hamilton Island, Kate studied media marketing and office administration in Newcastle before briefly commencing a communication degree at Griffith University. Though her degree remained unfinished due to life changes abroad, her foundational qualifications and innate communication skills paved the way for her current role assisting public and private organizations with employee relocation and retention.
She discusses the vital skills that define her work — empathy, active listening, and the ability to make strangers feel comfortable — and explains why she values treating others with kindness and understanding their unseen struggles. Kate also reflects on the ups and downs of life, likening it to chapters in a book, and advises to remain good to people through difficult times, trusting that positivity will eventually return.
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Current Role – Community Connector working with public and private organizations across the Mid Coast to assist new employees and their families with relocation, covering housing, partner employment, schooling, and social connections to ensure quick settlement and long-term retention.
Career Path – Grew up in the Old Bar area (attended Old Bar School, St Joseph's, St Claire's); took a gap year to travel and worked on Hamilton Island; studied media marketing and office administration at a private business college in Newcastle; commenced a communication degree at Griffith University (did not complete); moved overseas; returned to the Mid Coast to work in community connection and relocation support.
Key Skills – Communication, making people feel comfortable, empathy, understanding vulnerability, active listening, and navigating complex family needs (housing, schools, employment).
Challenges Shared – Navigating the emotional vulnerability of people moving to a new area (whether from overseas or interstate), managing the uncertainty of life's "difficult chapters," and balancing personal life changes with professional goals.
What She Loves – Discovering new local developments and businesses, meeting people with amazing stories from diverse backgrounds, and the variety inherent in connecting with different families and organizations.
Advice to Younger Self – Life goes up and down like chapters in a book; some are easy, some are difficult. Go through the hard times, but always be good to people along the way, and good things will eventually come to you in the workplace.
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"The whole thing is about having retention for the workplace so they get settled quickly and then they can focus on their jobs and hopefully love the area and stay long term."
"I can normally talk to anybody and hopefully make people feel comfortable when they're talking to me."
"There's things happening in the area that I didn't even know, like developments and new businesses and new ideas that are coming to the area that I get really excited when I realize that it's happening locally."
"You never know what is happening at home or what people's past situation is... So I work with a lot of people now who are feeling quite vulnerable."
"As long as you be good to people along the way, you hopefully good things will come to you in your workplace too."
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[00:00] Intro
Today we are joined by Kate Dunn. Kate will share with us a little bit about her journey and the pathways and skills she has used to get to where she is today.
[00:24] Kate, can we start off by telling us a little bit about what you do for work today? What does your work life look like?
So I work with public and private organisations across the whole Mid Coast with their new employees that are looking to relocate, whether that's from within Australia or internationally coming to the area. I look at the whole picture of the family. So I look at where they might want to live, partner employment, where the kids can potentially go to school, social connections. And the whole thing is about having retention for the workplace so they get settled quickly and then they can focus on their jobs and hopefully love the area and stay long term.
[01:03] Can you tell me a little bit about your pathway to get to where you are today? Did you grow up in the area?
Yes, I grew up in the area. I went to Old Bar School and then I went to St Joseph's and then St Claire's. After school I ended up taking a gap year and I travelled. I also worked on Hamilton Island for a period of time after school. And then I ended up going to a private business college in Newcastle where I did media marketing and a bit of office administration. And then I actually started a communication degree at Griffith University, which I didn't finish because I went overseas and found a husband overseas. And then that just became a bit difficult. So then, yeah, I wouldn't even say that I finished my degree, but I had my initial qualifications in media marketing.
[02:02] And what kind of skills do you think you've used that are important to you to get to where you are today?
I would say the main skill is probably my communication skills. I can normally talk to anybody and hopefully make people feel comfortable when they're talking to me. And I think that has helped me along in all my roles that I've had since leaving school.
[02:27] What is it that you love about your job being the community connector? What do you love about it?
There's so many different things happening. There's things happening in the area that I didn't even know, like developments and new businesses and new ideas that are coming to the area that I get really excited when I realize that it's happening locally. And there's lots of people that are moving here that have amazing stories from where they've come from before. So it's interesting to work with lots of different people of different backgrounds. And so the variety is there.
[03:02] What are your personal values? How do you feel like they're reflected in your job today?
A big one is obviously to treat people how you want to be treated. And that's a big thing for me. And I think, you never know what is happening at home or what people's past situation is. And you don't know what has contributed to their behaviour that day. So I work with a lot of people now who are feeling quite vulnerable coming in, whether they're moving from overseas or within Australia. It's a big thing for them to move. So I guess my role using that is to help people to just be calm about the situation.
[03:48] If you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?
The one piece of advice is, that life doesn't just go like this. It goes up and down. It's kind of also like different chapters in a book. Some chapters are really easy. Some chapters are really, really difficult. And you have to go through those difficult times. And as long as you are good to people along the way, hopefully good things will come to you, in your workplace too.
Please note: All content is correct at the time of recording.
