Hi! I'm Laura. I live and practise on the unceded Country of the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people.

I can help you think clearly about careers, transitions, and the future.

Let's figure out how to make work work for you.

 

What do I offer?

I’m passionate about helping people lead a values-driven, balanced life. I see work as one aspect of your story. I believe work should be dignified, sustainable, and useful. I care about the why.

I’m strongly influenced by the Indigenous wellbeing model of Social and Emotional Wellbeing - I strive to help my clients regain equilibrium and a sense of place; to balance the ‘there’ and the ‘here’, as articulated in this article.

I work with reduced rates for First Nations clients, low-income clients, and disabled clients. I am proudly neurodiversity-affirming, and can customise my process to suit individual communication needs.

I'm not taking on new counselling clients for the time being. I am open to enquiries about professional development, workshops and speaking engagements. For further info on my professional development workshops for organisations and teams, please take a look here.

Who do I work with?

My work has always focused on people and their stories.

I work with organisations, teams and community groups. I design and facilitate programs that help people reconnect with the craft and purpose of their work, build stronger teams, and think more clearly about what their roles and impact can be. I've delivered professional development training to over 150 career practitioners, teachers, and support staff, and I've facilitated sold-out workshops through Laneway Learning on careers and meaning (including one about existentialism and one that was slightly less goth).

I also work as an independent Registered Career Development Practitioner, and I'm the Pathways Counsellor at a public high school in Melbourne's inner north, working alongside 1,200+ young people and their families each year.

I'm currently President of the Merri-bek Darebin Career Network Group, a professional community for career practitioners across Melbourne's inner north. I’m also a member of the Merri-bek City Council Inclusive and Sustainable Communities Working Group. Before all of this, I worked as a Communications Consultant and Editor, and spent six years as the Founding Director of Grit Theatre, a Green Room Award-winning ensemble.

Outside of work I love reading, cooking, listening to podcasts about philosophy and paranormal phenomena, belting cringe millenial indie rock, and painting with my daughter.

Qualifications

I hold a Graduate Certificate in Career Education and Development from RMIT, and a Diploma of Counselling Skills (PACFA Affiliated) from ACAP.

I'm also trained in Mental Health First Aid, and have completed the Introduction to Therapeutic Life Story Work by Berry Street and the Aboriginal Narrative Practice Course by The Dulwich Centre.

Professional accreditations

What do past clients say?

Testimonials Update Me

“I came to Laura mid-career, trying to pivot from a technical background into something more stable, and unsure how to make a decade of experience translate. She helped me see the transferable value in my resume, and built the bridge to get there, rebuilding my CV, cover letter and LinkedIn. She gave me the confidence I needed to make the move. She's warm, responsive, and generous with her time. Her guidance has been essential to my transition. I recommend her without hesitation.” - Ryan Bennett, project + program manager

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“Laura has been so helpful in both practical and emotional decisions for me regarding a current work transition. I love the way she is able to provide practical, realistic and up to date knowledge about the job market as well as hold wider philosophical conversations about working conditions and ethics under capitalism. When looking for support at this time, I found it rare to come across a careers counsellor with this unique skill set. Having worked in social work and the arts, I appreciated Laura's understanding of the specific experiences that come from working in both sectors through her breadth of experience. I would really recommend seeing Laura for work related advice and support!”

Sara Maiorino, photographer + media professional

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“Laura has provided this teacher-recovering-from-burnout with a wealth of support! She has helped me identify what I value most as a person, and within a career, and has been ready and willing to offer me advice at all stages of my journey outside of education. Her knowledge of how best to capitalise on platforms such as LinkedIn and SEEK, how to craft the right CV and cover letter, and how to advocate for yourself in the job market, is second to none. She has been a kind and consistent cheerleader who I have been blessed to be able to turn to during this time of transition and uncertainty, and I feel lucky to have the benefit of her vast knowledge and skill set.”

Simone Lipiarski, teacher

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“Before speaking to Laura I felt like I was wasting time in a career that didn't align with my interests and values. I knew I wanted change but I felt like the only way was to uproot all my experience and start again. However, she helped me understand where my aptitudes and interests overlap, including helping me see the multiple transferable skills I can carry over to my next move. This made the prospect of a career change far less daunting and more actionable.Thanks to Laura, I am now building the path ahead in a considered, meaningful way without taking on a scary amount of risk. I'm surprised by how much wisdom Laura was able to impart in 2 short sessions. The first was an intro call, then I completed the Morrisby profiling, followed by a debrief call of the results. So far the process has reinvigorated my confidence and importantly, has been really fun too.” 


Anushka Rajan, marketing specialist

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“My experience working with Laura was affirming, and I felt cared for and respected every step of the way. Laura helped me recontextualise career anxieties I was experiencing and provided useful resources that will help me as I move forward in my professional development. I sincerely appreciate Laura's attentiveness and compassion for others.”

Maddison Verduci, communications professional


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"Laura was excellent to work with and I recommend her highly, perhaps especially to anyone with a creative background, or who wants to think critically about what makes a career fulfilling with respect to questions of identity, social engagement, and work-life balance. Laura was highly attuned to who I am as a person, and this meant that her approach to career counselling felt connected to my own deeper personal questions about what makes work meaningful, and about how work can sit in harmony with the rest of life . I always felt Laura was putting thoughtful effort into how to assist me as an individual, and she was very helpful in providing additional information and resources following our meetings."

David Fenderson, communications + policy professional

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“For years I had struggled with finding a job. I think particularly because I'm neurodivergent I really struggle with selling myself, so I wasn't even able to get my foot in the door with resumes. Laura did an amazing job at identifying my strengths and tweaking my resume to better highlight my skills. It wasn't long afterwards that this resume got me a job interview for a job in my dream field, and I am currently loving this role. I also ended up having to turn down other job offers I'd applied for before getting accepted for the role I'm now in. She also really made her services accessible by providing them at an affordable price and with flexible payment options. I am so grateful for her help and would highly recommend her to anyone seeking help with their career."

Nay Newman, animal care specialist

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“I recently had the pleasure of working with Laura to find clarity and direction for my next career move. Laura's insights were incredibly valuable, offering actionable steps that made the transition process feel manageable and exciting. She also provided thoughtful edits to my resume, significantly enhancing its appeal. I highly recommend her services to anyone seeking career guidance.”

Clara Davis, sustainability + design expert

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“Laura was my son's careers counsellor. She was thoughtful, open-minded and knowledgeable and was able to quickly make a genuine connection with him. Later, I met with Laura to ask advice on a book I was researching on neurodivergent kids in the education system, and I was impressed by her passion and dedication to see beyond a student’s problematic behaviour to help them focus on their strengths and build their self-esteem. I highly recommend Laura as an empathetic and intuitive counsellor.”

Sally Rippin, author

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“Laura went above and beyond to completely make over my very outdated CV into a beautiful, professional, job-winning document - and matching cover letter! During a time when I was very unwell and finding the job search difficult and overwhelming, Laura came in and truly lifted the weight. She was so supportive, easy to communicate with, and quickly understood and delivered exactly what I needed.”

Millie Bayliss, writer, literary programmer & arts events

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“I find applying to jobs to be one of the most stressful and panic inducing things I can possibly do. Not only was Laura's skill at writing and editing a massive help, but I found her entire demeanour around the process to have a huge calming effect. Laura’s industry knowledge of the arts was also of huge help in phrasing transferrable skills from technical to administrative roles.”

Liam Drennan, arts admin

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How can we work together?

Thank you for your interest in working together. I'm not taking on new career counselling clients for the time being. I am open to enquiries about professional development, workshops and speaking engagements.

If you’re seeking careers support in Victoria, I'd suggest using a skills and jobs centre: the government has free skills and jobs centres with qualified career counsellors at most TAFE locations. You can access them any time and have multiple sessions. I'd encourage you to look into this option, they're great! I can personally vouch for Skyla and Bruno at the Melbourne Polytechnic centre.

Another option is using the CDAA 'Find a career practitioner' site to find an available counsellor.