Building Resilience: Julie’s Journey to Find Her Voice

Whether it be a physical injury or a struggle of the mind, your physical and mental health play a vital role in your life; Julie dealt with both. Having a physical and mental illness often meant that the two impacted each other, which took an added toll on her wellbeing.

In the past, Julie struggled to speak out about her health in the workplace. With a painful back injury, she couldn’t complete specific tasks and lacked the confidence to say when she was experiencing pain.

“It was quite restricting, and I had to be careful with what I was doing. So I needed to find something that would be suitable and an employer that would accommodate it,” said Julie.

At the time, Julie had a lot on her plate. She had her back injury to worry about, and her husband who was unwell; both of which affected her anxiety and depression.

Coming to Jobedge for assistance, Julie met JobCoach Kelly and immediately, the two had a connection.

Kelly had Julie’s best interest at heart, as she showed her more positive ways of thinking and was committed to finding work that would suit Julie and her goals.

“I just feel like I can talk to her about anything, she’s like a friend,” described Julie.

The role of a JobCoach, is to help people get job-ready, however; at Jobedge, we’re committed to helping people in more ways than just crafting up resumes. With our encouragement, Julie went to see a physio so that she could have her back injury assessed by a professional. Jobedge was then able to purchase her a back brace from the physio to support her back injury.

With all this amazing progress, Julie still occasionally experienced moments where she felt defeated. As a mature-aged jobseeker, 57-year-old Julie felt that her age might have been a barrier to finding work. Thankfully, the resilience Julie had built with us, helped her push through any setbacks.

Those setbacks didn’t last long though, as Julie has since found work at a local Chicken and Seafood Shop by working with Jobedge.

At the beginning of her employment journey, Julie feared that her health would impact her chance of employment, as she wasn’t able to speak up.

Now, Julie has found work with a company who respects her boundaries in the workplace.

“The employer I’ve got now understands my back injury, and I feel more comfortable to say I can’t do something because my back hurts,” said Julie.

Having work she enjoys and the flexibility to work around her health has certainly helped Julie to feel better mentally and more in control of her future.

“I’ve got more confidence now, and I feel that my depression is not as bad. I just feel like I can stand up for myself.

“I feel like I’m in a good place, I feel a lot better,” explained Julie.

As a loving grandmother, Julie’s next step is to stay on this path and to continue living a happy life with her family. We are so proud to see Julie finding her voice and securing rewarding employment.

At Jobedge, we have a team of dedicated staff who care about finding people with physical and mental conditions fulfilling work. We pride ourselves on helping others believe in themselves, and we can assist you in overcoming your barriers to employment, whatever they may be.