Having two great kids in our lives has been awesome and certainly changed me for the better but more recently a topic that has been top of mind for me and in our home is the mental load. I was, admittingly, oblivious to this in the earlier years of fatherhood. Whilst I certainly tried to be a great dad and partner, I didn’t fully understand the load that my wife carried below the surface in the chaos that is raising two young kids. Whilst workplace benefits and fairer legislation are critical, equally important (and a tangible step forward) is the role fathers in particular must and can do more in sharing that load.

Whilst this topic is not unique to parents in our industry, what is special is an organisation in The Village where we have a concerted effort to create space for our parents to discuss and create solutions that allow for our talented parents to support one another in equitable parental partnerships and ultimately feel they can not only remain but thrive in our great industry.

My journey into parenthood began with infertility. If you've faced challenges conceiving, you understand how emotionally and physically exhausting it can be to start a family. During this time, I leaned heavily on the support of friends, family, and key coworkers to help me navigate the monthly struggles and the subsequent journey through IVF. Undergoing IVF while managing work was incredibly challenging, especially when trying to keep the process private out of concern for potential subconscious bias. There were weeks filled with frequent blood tests, daily medications, numerous scans and self-administered injections. The situation was compounded by Covid, often requiring me to attend appointments alone, though I was fortunate to have the privacy of working from home. This period was, without a doubt, the hardest and loneliest time of my life. I have never cried as much or as hard. But, we consider ourselves one of the lucky couples who defied the odds and conceived successfully on our first round. Fast forward to today, we are blessed with a beautiful, vivacious daughter who is now almost three years old.

Growing up, I only knew one way — work hard, and then work harder. This mindset came from watching my dad, whose work ethic was deeply rooted in our ethnic family's values. He ran a very successful business, but unfortunately, he spent most of his time focused on that. I followed his example early on, balancing three jobs at once: Maccas after school, a local newsagent on weekends, and night shifts at Franklins supermarket (remember that place?)

I carried that same relentless intensity into my media career — late-night calls, working weekends, blurring the lines between work and home, and missing out on the moments that truly matter. But everything changed when my dad suddenly passed away from a heart attack out of nowhere! It hit me really hard and made me realise just how important it is to spend time with your family. Now that I'm a dad myself, I really cherish the daycare pickups, bath and bedtime stories, weekend sports activities and simply kicking a ball around with my three-year-old son.