43. Building Doors of Dignity: Empowering Women with "Share The Dignity" founder Rochelle Courtenay

Building Doors with Lauren Karan

Rochelle is the Founder and Managing Director of Share the Dignity, a national charity founded in 2015 with the mission to ensure that everyone is afforded the dignity in life that so many of us take for granted.

Share the Dignity brings dignity to those who menstruate who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness, domestic violence, or poverty through the distribution of period products and #ItsintheBag donations filled with essential items. The charity is powered by volunteers, and through Rochelle’s contagious spirit over 6,000 volunteers have jumped on board to make a difference.

Share the Dignity has collected and distributed over 4 million period products through multiple initiatives across Australia. As well as holding national collections, Rochelle is passionate about advocating for change and creating long-term solutions.

Rochelle has received accolades for her work including Finalist Australian of the Year, Cosmopolitan Humanitarian of the Year and Pride of Australia.

In this episode we explore building doors of dignity for women and how a purpose-led cause can drive huge impact and potential for change in communities.

We delve deep into the journey of founding a charity and gain lessons we can all apply to building a life of purpose for ourselves including:

How our own empathy can bring a powerful calling for change: Rochelle shares with us the immense power that empathy for another person's struggle can bring. She gives insight into her own personal journey with endometriosis and how that led to her putting herself out there for a greater purpose.
Using our power to give a voice to the tough issues: We talk about domestic violence and how we can no longer ignore one of our countries greatest failings to protect women and their families.
Why finding the right tribe is key to build new foundations in business: We talk about Rochelle's journey transitioning industries and how building a powerful tribe around you with the skills you don't have is key to founding a growing a successful business.

Balancing Busy Lives and Self-Care: Rochelle shares the challenges of constant busyness and exhaustion in pursuing goals, while also stressing the importance of taking time for ourselves and prioritizing our own health.

Creating Safe Spaces and Building Solutions: Rochelle advocates for creating safe environments for teams to take risks and fail, while also encouraging us to not ignore societies problems and that we can build solutions through collective action and taking personal responsibility.

Rochelle reminds us that with the right mindset and purpose- anything is possible and if truly we want change, we must be the ones to take the personal responsibility of making it happen.
You can learn more about Rochelle and her charity "Share The Dignity" below as well as find ways to get involved.

Instagram Handle:

sharethedignityaustralia

Individual Website and/or Company Website:

Share the Dignity – In particular we are heavily promoting the Bloody Big Survey, which can be located here: Bloody Big Survey 2024 | Share the Dignity. (Please note only if posted before 31 May, as the survey ends at the end of this month.)

About your host:

Lauren Karan, Director, and Founder of Karan & Co.

With over a decade of experience as a recruiter and development coach, Lauren Karan found that her priorities rapidly changed after the birth of her two children. In 2022 she founded Karan & Co flipping the out-dated recruitment model with a focus on retention through career coaching and development.

Lauren believes that If opportunity doesn’t knock, you have to build a door – and it’s this same philosophy that inspired her to create the Building Doors podcast.
The Building Doors podcast is for anyone undergoing a transformation in their life. Regardless of whether you feel stuck in your current role, need some inspiration on what steps to take next, want to learn how to level up as a business owner or simply want to listen to the experiences of successful entrepreneurs and industry professionals, the Building Doors podcast is all about unlocking your potential.

Help someone else Build Doors in their career.

💕 Subscribe and leave a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts

🙏 Subscribe and leave a 5-star rating on Spotify

Get more help to Build Doors in your own life

🎬 Follow us on LinkedIn

📝 Building Doors newsletter: subscribe to that

Want to support the show?

1. Hit ‘Follow’.

2. Leave a 5-star rating.

3. Share this episode with a friend (this will help the podcast get discovered by more people so they can Build Doors in their lives too).

Thank you for your support! It truly means a lot. 💕

Time to stop waiting and start building…

In case you missed it:

You can listen to our previous episode #buildingdoorspodcast

👋 To say hello, provide feedback, or express interest in a guest appearance on The Building Doors Podcast get in touch with us at [e-mail].