Nicole and her two children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m not sure if it\u2019s a good or a bad thing, but I\u2019ve found I often like to pursue new things all at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Big life changes have always been a part of my life, from starting my own practice, Western Kids Health<\/a> while navigating motherhood for the first time, to adapting my business to a precarious COVID-19 reality from my hospital bed while waiting to give birth to my second child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If there\u2019s anything I\u2019ve learnt when it comes to navigating these challenges, it\u2019s the power of self-reflection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s so important to take a step back and acknowledge the big changes in life and the different emotions you will go through.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The reality is that sometimes the change is completely out of your control. In these situations, understanding that fear and anxiety are not bad emotions and can be helpful in certain circumstances is paramount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the leader of an organisation my team is always observing how I react to challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve found being honest and transparent with them and letting them know I care is essential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s often in these crucial conversations where I realise that fear of the unknown can be a fantastic opportunity for growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With change comes opportunity. Take a moment to drill down into your core values and ask yourself, what drives you and how might this change affect that.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n When COVID-19 hit in March 2020, and all of us were becoming more and more isolated, I decided if I wanted my team to move forward, we needed to work together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The pandemic forced us to really take stock, go back to our values and determine how we could fit into this new online world while staying true to our mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In today\u2019s fast-paced society, when a major obstacle arises there\u2019s often an expectation to have \u2018the answer\u2019 immediately, and if we do, we receive more recognition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, I think it\u2019s important to realise that with any significant life change, it\u2019s ok to not have the answer right away. Give yourself permission to take the time to reflect and re-evaluate, no one should feel pressured to make a quick decision out of fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before motherhood, I was a little bit ignorant to the personal struggles people have and how that could affect their capacity at work.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Since becoming a parent, I\u2019m more aware that everyone we interact with each day has a personal life that ebbs and flows. As a leader, it\u2019s made me more conscious of prioritising time to check in on my team regularly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Motherhood has taught me how language can help make us more open to change.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Different words evoke different emotional and psychological responses for everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In my role as a paediatric physiotherapist and parent, language is influential. For example, the way I speak to my kids about COVID-19 is very different to how it\u2019s discussed in the workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think as a leader, we have a responsibility to use language that inspires those around us to be curious about change. By creating safe spaces for employees to ask questions and communicate their feelings around these challenges helps to build a self-aware and resilient team who are more open to change both professionally and personally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Written by<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Nicole Pates<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, Managing Director of <\/strong><\/em>Western Kids Health<\/strong><\/em><\/a> & Founder of the <\/strong><\/em>Baby & Toddler Play Academies<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Graduating from Curtin with a Bachelor of Science in Physiotherapy in 2010, as a paediatric physiotherapist Nicole has since excelled in her career as the founder and Managing Director of Western Kids Health and the Baby & Toddler Play Academies which has helped over 1000 families. In 2020, she was named a 40Under40 winner and was Physiotherapist of the Year at the 2022 Allied Health Awards.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Curtin graduate Nicole Pates has weathered life\u2019s storms, from starting her own business to navigating motherhood during a global pandemic. She shares her experiences and insights on overcoming challenges and embracing change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":162,"featured_media":22476,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"_oasis_task_priority":"","wds_primary_category":710,"footnotes":""},"categories":[710],"tags":[724,709],"class_list":["post-22475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-after-curtin","tag-life-advice","tag-linkedin"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/162"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22475"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22475\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24918,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22475\/revisions\/24918"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22476"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.curtin.edu.au\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}