A career shift with purpose: How Victoria is creating moments that matter at Hearing Australia

After 20 years in the retail industry, Victoria Renshaw decided to embark on a more meaningful path at Hearing Australia. As Centre Manager at our hearing centre in Perth, her role is all about teamwork and making a lasting impact. We talked to Victoria about how she works to build an inclusive team and how a small difference can have a lasting impact on a person’s life.

Finding purpose and passion

Victoria, a proud Perth local, began her career journey in her twenties when she set off for Ireland on a working holiday. For the next seven years, she travelled and lived in Ireland and the UK, before moving back home to be closer to her family.

“I come from a close-knit family unit,” Victoria says. “After living overseas for many years, the thing that brought me back was missing them.”

Victoria has a background spanning more than 20 years in the retail industry. She has managed large flagship stores and teams of over 220 staff. Yet, her yearning for a career with more purpose and impact led her down a new path of discovery. 

“I was browsing through SEEK one day, and a vacancy for centre manager at Hearing Australia came up on my recommended list. I thought, ‘Why not? Let’s give it a go.’ When I looked a bit more into the organisation, I discovered just how many services Hearing Australia deliver, not only in the paediatric space but also in remote communities across our vast country. What they do is make hearing services accessible to all Australians.

“The more I read about Hearing Australia, the more excited I became about the prospect of joining. If I had any doubts about changing industries and my capabilities, they were instantly put at ease. I felt really comfortable when I first walked in, and my manager who interviewed me was very positive and passionate about her work. I walked away from that interview thinking that this is a job I’d like to do for a very long time.”

Leading by example

Today, Victoria is the Centre Manager of our hearing centre in Perth. While paediatric care is a significant part of her role, it’s far from the whole story. She also oversees two rural hearing centres in Broome and Kalgoorlie, and extends support to nursing homes and care for elderly clients.

“My role is to make sure all these moving pieces are aligned and we’re all working well to achieve the best outcome for our clients. As a Manager, it’s important for me to always be present. I want to help and support the team around me by making sure they feel safe and valued in their workplace. For me, it’s all about teamwork - we all have to work together.”

No matter what industry Victoria has worked in, she’s always been a motivational force for others to grow both personally and professionally. That’s why she was a natural fit at Hearing Australia. By bringing others along for the ride, she builds an inclusive and collaborative environment where everyone thrives.

“Even on the hard days, I feel really lucky to be here with the team that I have. I work with a group of such compassionate and wonderful humans. Who wouldn’t want to surround themselves with that kind of energy? Absolutely, there can be a lot of challenges in this line of work, but every single person who works here, regardless of their role, understands they play an important role in making a difference in people’s lives.”

Everyday impact

A career at Hearing Australia means an opportunity to support and empower people through hearing health when and where they need it. For Victoria, this means enabling those around her to create positive change in countless people’s lives. She recounts a few small moments when these transformations have deeply touched her heart.

“I remember the first time I heard a child who had just put their hearing aids in laugh at the sound of their own voice. They recognised that noise as their laughter, and so they laughed more and then more. That was really special. Another moment was when a client in their sixties made a comment like, ‘I can hear the birds singing,’ or ‘I never realised how loud the wind blows through the trees.’ Those are the moments that make it all worthwhile.”

In Australia, over 1.3 million people* live with a hearing condition that could have been prevented. For Victoria, that’s what makes the work we do so important. Through offering the gift of hearing, she and her team have the possibility to make a profound impact on improving people's hearing health in our communities. 

“We’re working on closing that gap so children with hearing loss have the best opportunity to be successful in life. I never once thought about how hearing loss could really change the trajectory of a person’s life, and how access to services and early intervention can make a big difference. Now, it’s something I think about every single day.”

*Reference: Department of Health and Aged Care: https://www.health.gov.au/topics/ear-health/about

This content features real employees of Hearing Australia, sharing their own personal comments, views, opinions, and individual experiences of Hearing Australia.