Angela Derks

29/08/2025

Boundaries are essential for wellbeing.This is an interesting perspective from Parks Victoria. Have you reviewed your boundaries recently? Could you tweak them to better support wellbeing - of self and/or those around you?

Even trees can understand boundaries 🤷‍♀️

Crown shyness is a phenomenon where trees 'sense' their neighbours and avoid touching.

We aren't quite sure why it happens, but it's likely to help them share resources (like light) to stay healthy.

Trees might release chemical signals or detect mechanical stimuli from neighbouring branches and inhibit growth in those directions.

How cool is nature?

📷: IG/.bolton.photo

📍 Great Otway National Park is part of an Aboriginal cultural landscape that includes traditional Country of the Eastern Maar and Wadawurrung Peoples.

29/08/2025

📚 Wellbeing + Leadership Book Reflections #1

I once watched my friend, a senior operations director, step off an early evening flight and rush straight to the supermarket because her kids needed lunches by morning—while her male colleague on the same flight simply texted his “wife” to say he’d be home soon to a warm dinner.

That invisible split is at the heart of Annabel Crabb’s The Wife Drought. This book peels back the polite silence around who really keeps families—and careers—afloat.

Crabb’s first lesson is piercing: having a “wife”—someone who shoulders the domestic load—is often the hidden advantage behind uninterrupted careers. For generations, many men have quietly depended on unpaid, unacknowledged labour at home: someone to remember birthdays, manage sick days, organise holidays, and carry the daily mental load. When women step into high-powered jobs, they rarely inherit this same support structure.

This isn’t about blaming men or fuelling a gender war. It’s about understanding history, so we can do better—at home, in our communities, and in our workplaces.

As leaders, we need to ask:
✨ How can we better support capacity and capabilities in our teams?
✨ How can we create workplaces where invisible labour is acknowledged, balanced, and not a barrier to wellbeing or leadership opportunities?

I recommend this book to all team leaders—it’s a powerful lens on equity, wellbeing, and the structures that shape how we work and live.

💭 Have you read this one? What’s your biggest takeaway?

26/08/2025

Support for Men 🌿

You don’t have to keep it all inside. Talking can help more than you think.

MensLine provides free, confidential support for men any time, day or night.

Call 1300 78 99 78 or visit MensLine.org.au

26/08/2025

Restoration is a critical component for sustainable wellness.

22/08/2025

Being present and supportive matters.
Whether you’re a leader, colleague, volunteer, family member or friend, we can all play a role in supporting mental health and wellbeing.

From this resource I’m sharing on the inaugural Mental Health First Aid Day, my 3 favourite reminders are:
✨ Offer practical help
✨ Follow up
✨ Respect their choices

Thank you to Betty Kitchener and all the incredible MHFAiders who continue to make a difference every day. Mental health is one of the 8 dimensions of holistic wellbeing—and this resource is a great prompt to check in with yourself and others.

🔗 Link is in the comments.
Please share or tag someone who may find this useful.

Australasian Sustainable Wellness Academy - Developing capabilities in workplace mental health and wellbeing.

18/08/2025

🟠 SES Week 2025 🟠
A huge thank you to all my fellow SES volunteers for the commitment, skills, heart and courage you bring to our teams to collectively help our communities. 🙌

14/08/2025

🌱 Planting Seeds for Culture Change

Being a Wellness Leader means playing the long game.
You bring evidence-based strategy, you talk about culture, and you aim for measurable outcomes…
…and sometimes you’re met with:
🙄 “We’ve tried that before.”
😏 “Sounds nice, but we have KPIs.”
😶 Crickets.

Here’s the thing: culture doesn’t shift overnight. Strategy takes time.
Every conversation you start, every healthy behaviour you model, every small process you tweak—it’s all planting seeds.

You may not see the results right away, but those seeds grow quietly until the conditions are right. That’s when you’ll see your measurable outcomes: a safer, healthier, sustainable high-performing workplace.

💡 Keep going. Your influence is more powerful than you think.
Even the strongest workplace cultures started as ideas someone refused to give up on.

And remember: the mighty oak? Still just a nut that stood its ground. 😉


Australasian Sustainable Wellness Academy

10/08/2025

🟠SES VOLUNTEER TIP OF THE MONTH – FROM ANGELA 🟠
Helping you and your family stay safe, prepared and resilient.

One of the most helpful tools I’ve learned about through my SES training (and now use regularly with my own family) is an app that could literally save your life or someone else’s.

📍 App Spotlight: What3Words

What3Words is a free app that gives every 3m x 3m square on Earth a unique combination of three words. It’s how SES and other emergency services can locate people quickly and precisely — even in parks, remote areas, or unfamiliar neighbourhoods.

Think:
🟧 Not just “Burleigh Heads beach”…
🟧 But exactly which part of the beach. And which exact cabana on the beach.

🧡 Real-life family use:
We use it when heading to sporting events or festivals — like which footy oval or cricket pitch our team is on. No more walking in circles trying to find the right field!

Especially in an emergency (like a storm or bushwalk gone wrong), it’s also far more accurate than trying to describe “near the third tree past the car park.”

✅ How to use it:

1. Download the free What3Words app.
2. Open it, and it will show your exact 3-word address.
3. Share those 3 words with emergency services or your contacts.

For example, your driveway might be something like:
///golf.wisely.fence
And 5 metres away could be ///grapes.tools.laptop.

📲 Get it now so it’s ready when you need it.
(Available on App Store or Google Play)

If you want help setting it up, message me — I’m always happy to support others in being prepared, safe and well.

Stay safe,
Angela x

03/08/2025

Today, and every day, we aim to help individuals and organisations increase their collective awareness and understanding of mental health and wellbeing.

What will you do this week to show you care without judgement?

03/08/2025

🟠 SES VOLUNTEER TIP OF THE MONTH – FROM ANGELA 🟠
Helping you and your family stay safe, prepared and resilient.

As a Qld SES volunteer, I’ve learnt so much about how we can all prepare better for the unexpected. Whether it’s a summer storm, flash flooding, or fallen trees, the more we’re ready before the emergency, the better we can recover after it.

So, each month I’ll share a quick safety or preparedness tip, a helpful app or tool, and something I’m learning that could make a real difference for you, your family, and your loved ones.

🧡 This month’s reminder: Clean. Your. Gutters.

It sounds simple, right? But clogged gutters can lead to serious stormwater damage – especially during heavy rain or storms. Overflowing gutters can cause water to enter your roof cavity or damage the foundations of your home. We’ve seen this too often during storm season when we need to climb up on, and put tarps over holes in people's roofs.

⏳ Tip: Set a reminder to clean your gutters every season (or hire a professional). Bonus: check downpipes and drains while you’re at it!

📱 App Spotlight: QLD SES Assistance App

Did you know there’s a free app to quickly request SES help during a storm or emergency?

The SES Assistance QLD app lets you:

*Quickly log requests for help (e.g. roof tarping, fallen trees, temporary repairs)
*Track the status of your request
*Access storm safety info and alerts

✅ Download it before you need it. In an emergency, it saves time and stress.
📲 Just search “SES Assistance QLD” on the App Store or Google Play.

Let me know if you’ve used it before or have questions — I’m happy to share what I’ve learned in training!

Together, we can prepare our families and communities — not just to survive, but to stay strong and well through life’s curveballs.
Angela x

31/07/2025

Managers. Colleagues. Parents. Partners. Teachers. Practitioners. Leaders. Neighbours.

Mental Health First Aid is for everyone who cares.
This is what I'm training today. Because when people know what to do, they act sooner—and kinder.
We all deserve that kind of support.

Join one of my upcoming public courses or book a private course for your work or community group at www.aswa.net.au

28/07/2025

Some moments speak louder than words.

This powerful scene of Alex de Minaur sitting beside and having a cnversation with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina after a heartbreaking loss, (Fokina had only 3 championship points to win his first title), is much more than just good sportsmanship—it’s an example of healthy masculinity in action.

In a world where boys are often taught to be tough, stoic, and emotionally guarded, gestures like this model something far more important: empathy, respect, and connection.

These are the moments that open doors for meaningful conversations with the boys and young people in our lives—about how to show up, especially when emotions run high.

To grow into men who contribute positively to relationships, families, teams, and communities, they need to see what that looks like.
They need to see strength and softness, competition and compassion.

This moment brought to mind a quote by Desmond Tutu:

"My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.”

Thank you, Alex and Alejandro, for reminding us that character isn’t just built on the scoreboard—it’s built in how we treat one another when it matters most.

Let’s keep showing our boys how to be great humans, not just great players.