I grew up in Melbourne during the ‘50s and ‘60s. Ours was the epitome of the Australian suburban lifestyle, complete with those iconic brands - Hills Hoist, Victa lawnmower and Silent Knight refrigerator. I attended a state school, Spring Road Central, until the end of Year 8 (although we called it "Second Form") then progressed to Methodist Ladies' College. It was at a careers night towards the end of Year 11 (Fifth Form) that I made up my mind to become a copywriter. It was that or journalism, but at that time female journalists were largely relegated to the social columns. That didn't sound like me!

In the sixties, it was easier to turn dreams into reality. We didn't have to contend with the relentless pressure for a high tertiary entrance score or the insistence on a degree as an entry-level qualification for business. My tertiary qualifications were completed part time -  a Bachelor of Arts degree at Melbourne University, with majors in History and English, and a Certificate of Advertising at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology. I didn't need them to land a job.

My introduction to Clemenger Melbourne came through a friend of the family. In 1969, after a short apprenticeship in a clerical position, I scored a spot as a junior copywriter. At first it was Kmart catalogues and radio commercials for Luna Park. However, I soon started to write ads for  legendary Australian brands like Peters Ice Cream, Allens confectionery and Gloweave Shirts.

After eight years of writing press, magazine, radio and television ads for ice-cream, lollies, paint, beer, gas cooking, cruises, dry cleaning and a multitude of other products, I took time out to pursue another passion - travel. Studying for three months in Perugia, Italy, I acquired a love of the country and a reasonable grasp of the language. This was followed by the classic seventies pilgrimage, an overland trip from Kathmandu to London. How fortunate I was.  Many of my favourite places - Kashmir, Kabul, Persepholis - are now off limits to all but the most intrepid travellers.

Returning to Australia I worked at Lintas Melbourne, where my most notable commercial was for another classic Australian product - Jaffas. The 70s cult band, Captain Matchbox, gave voice to my lament for the good old days at the Saturday matinee:

"I remember long ago, at my favourite picture show
How I used to roll me Jaffas down the aisle.
I can't do it any more, they've put carpet on the floor,
And the Jaffas get caught up in the shag pile!"

Shortly afterwards, I returned to Clemenger as a senior writer and was subsequently appointed as a creative director, responsible for the development of campaigns on a group of national accounts. During this time, I invented the Allens Anticol firebreather (‘Puts out the fire in your throat’), as well as  campaigns for National Mutual, Four ‘n’Twenty Pies, Wedgwood Pastries, Campbells Soups and many others. A number of these campaigns were recognised with industry awards.

Among my achievements was helping to make yogurt an every day part of the Australian diet. Prior to the launch of Yoplait, yogurt was a ‘fringe food’ in this country. The launch campaign put fruit yogurt on the average family’s shopping list for the first time and was acclaimed as ‘Product Launch of the Year’ by Retail World in 1982. The French positioning and the line “Yoplait - it’s French for yogurt” set the foundation for a campaign that lasted for nearly two decades.

Meanwhile, I had become the mother of two girls, giving me yet another perspective on life and work. When my daughters were aged 5 and 2, I took five months off and the family set out on a round-Australia road trip. We covered 32,000 kilometers and saw most of the edges and quite a lot of the middle of Australia.

Back in Melbourne, I became Deputy Creative Director at the successful ad agency, Mattingly, described by an industry sage of the time as "not an agency, but a new business machine". My "Get the picture, get The Sun" campaign won the Sun News Pictorial account for Mattingly and a press campaign for Arthur Andersen won a Clio award. A year later, I was appointed as Creative Director on the agency’s biggest account, Myer/Grace Brothers, an  account involving traditional media campaigns and a sophisticated catalogue operation.

In 1989, I began a third stint with Clemenger as a Creative Director. A key achievement was our successful submission for the Australian Dairy Corporation account. One outcome of this was the first campaign for dairy products to concentrate on the importance of calcium in the prevention of osteoporosis. I later moved to another division of the Clemenger group, Clemenger Harvie as Joint Creative Director, with responsibility for accounts including Mazda, the RACV, Triple M radio station and Village Roadshow.

When my partner joined Murdoch Magazines in Sydney, I took a deep breath, uprooted the family and followed. The ensuing year or so as a freelance creative consultant saw me work for a variety of agencies on mainstream and direct marketing projects. I also dabbled in feature writing and had a few articles accepted by Cleo magazine. Life changed again when I accepted the position of Creative Director at Grey Worldwide and we moved to Canberra.

At Grey, the writing continues, often at a furious pace. As well as advertising for local businesses, I’ve had the opportunity to work on national campaigns for organisations like St Johns Ambulance and Canberra Tourism, and Federal Government programs like Active Australia and the Quarantine Service.

For the first time, my work has actually won me a medal! The Centenary of Federation campaign, developed at Grey Canberra, involved television campaigns, publications, magazine and press advertisements, poster advertising, sponsorship kits, displays. It began with the commercial that taught Australians the name of their first Prime Minister, and ended with a 16-page souvenir booklet that was inserted in every metropolitan newspaper in Australia. Along with two other senior Grey people, my contribution to the Centenary earned me the Centenary medal, presented by the (then) Governor General in May 2003.

When Grey's two local partners decided to leave the business and the Canberra operation became a wholly-owned division of Grey Worldwide, I was named as a Director. It's a chance to help redefine the vision for an organisation that has been strongly stamped with the personality of two very active partners.

I always thought that Canberra was one of the few places where you could work in advertising and live in the country, without having to drive for three hours a day. And so it came to pass. In Bungendore, a mere 30 minutes from the office in peak hour (well, peak moment, really) we have rediscovered the taste of tomatoes, sweet corn and asparagus fresh from the garden. Despite the best efforts of the local rosellas and cockatoos, we manage to harvest enough quinces, peaches, nectarines, apples, pears, grapes and apricots to feel blessed.

My life is balanced between the city and the country. The city keeps me stimulated, the country keeps me sane. The city is work, concerts, dining out, cinema, singing in a local choir. The country is garden, dogs, open fires, grown-up children (who now arrive only to visit) and my own writing projects. To use a fine old Aussie expression: "You wouldn't be dead for quids."

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