Bombala local Zoe Joseph spreads her 'S.H.E Change' message

“My passion is supporting rural people,” says Zoe Joseph, who grew up in Bombala and has returned to her hometown to live, albeit with frequent travel to reach other rural communities through her business S.H.E Change.

Zoe will be presenting in Bega on Monday (December 16), with an evening for women to stop, take stock and self-assess to find out how they can be more present and feel more peaceful.

“If you feel frustrated, guilty, fatigued or overwhelmed every day, you are certainly not alone, this is something I hear from women all the time!” shares Zoe “we’re all in it, I call it The Busy Plague and what I want to ask you is – what are you running towards?”

Zoe developed S.H.E Change and the Peace Point Plan out of her own frustrations.

“I was always living in the future,” she says “I knew my potential but I kept procrastinating. I knew what I had to do but I wasn’t doing it because I was a perfectionist – I could only see the end result so I ended up being all or nothing in many areas of my life.”

“I’d either have a sparkling clean house or an absolute pigsty or be relentlessly chasing a new business plan or feeling guilty on the couch, there was no in-between and no peace.”

Zoe realised it wasn’t just her when she began talking to other women who told her that they wake up guilty because they yelled at their kids and go to work and feel guilty because they are not with their kids.

“I have people tell me, “I thought I was crazy – or lazy because I couldn’t do it all,” Zoe says.

“The Peace Point Plan helps you become more present, so when you’re at work, you’re working and when you’re with family, you’re just with your family. It interrupts that loop cycle of emotional reactions so you can feel more peace. And it makes us more productive.”

One of the things Zoe encourages is to change our ‘have-to’s’ to ‘choose-to’s.

“So instead of saying – I have to make the school lunches or I have to go to this meeting, say – I choose to. Phrasing it differently makes it clear that we have a choice and gives the power back to you.”

Zoe acknowledges that in rural areas, seeking help for anxiety, addiction or even to sharpen your goals with a life coach can be hard because no-one is anonymous in a small town.

The group setting of S.H.E Change events breaks down the isolation that rural people often feel and makes it clear that we all struggle sometimes and that for many women, the struggles are similar, Zoe says.

“The historical context is that it’s only been in the last 50-100 years that women have been doing both the work of child-raising and housekeeping as well as earning money,” she explains “so we need to work on setting realistic expectations of what we can achieve without it affecting our nervous systems.”

The feedback Zoe receives most frequently from women who attend her seminar is that it like a decluttering for the mind.

“You know that feeling when you have a big clean out of your house?” Zoe says, “all of a sudden, you have clarity, you can be productive and complete things. That’s what we’re going for, clarity and confidence.”

Zoe’s Club Bega event is Monday, December 16 from 6 pm – 9:30 pm, tickets are $35 and can be purchased HERE.