I moved to Docklands about two years ago with my family but have spent my life full-time since 2010 at O'Brien Icehouse as an elite figure skater and figure skating coach.

I’ve always loved the performing arts and grew up as a dancer from the age of 3.

Then, when I was 5, my Father took me to see Disney on Ice for the first time. I was instantly smitten. I was doing musical theatre then, but I couldn't sing and remember walking out afterwards and telling Dad that I wanted to learn how to ice skate. He pointed out that we’re in Australia, we have a warm climate and there are no rinks locally, but he took me to see Disney on Ice every single year after that.

It wasn't until O’Brien Icehouse opened in 2010 that I could really follow that passion.

When I started skating, I was 11, and was still spending a lot of time in a dance studio. The schedule for skating was much heavier than for dancing through, and after a couple of years of trying to juggle both I found it was too much. I had to commit to one, so I transitioned to figure skating training full-time.

In 2016 I was one of the youngest people in Australia to receive my level 0, which is the base level of coaching accreditation, and helped coach the Skate School program. Then about two years ago, I began private coaching a couple of years ago.

I'm studying as well, so with coaching and training myself my days are very full.

Many people don’t realise this, but off-ice training, going to the gym and practising all the rotations outside the rink, is just as if not more important than as the training you do on the ice. There is a lot of work building strength and muscle memory to execute routines safely and precisely before you even put a pair of skates on.

As far as competing and performing goes, I've been working towards getting into shows for a really long time. Obviously, Disney on Ice was first, and I actually had the chance to audition for it live at Rod Laver in 2023, which was amazing.

That’s been my dream, my driving passion, since I was a little girl.

I want to be able to give to the lower-level skaters all the positives that I got from my coaches when I was growing up. You always take something from every coach and finding one that you really bond with, and trust, is the most important thing. Having that relationship with my own skaters, seeing how much they thrive off that and how happy they are, I used to be like when I first started. Being able to experience that joy of your first few years on the ice, when it's all new and exciting, is what drives me to coach.

I wanted to be closer to work, and my parents were looking to downsize, so living in Docklands suits all of us. I don’t drive, so before moving here my parents would drive me in from Williamstown at 4.30 in the morning for my 5.30 training sessions. We were all looking for convenience, but didn’t want to live in the city. It's just too busy.

Docklands was the perfect blend of all the things we were looking for. You’re close to everything, you have with beautiful views, amazing restaurants, great local businesses, but it's also still quite quiet.

My parents were divers, and we grew up as beach kids, so moving away from all that was hard at first. When I used to come to Docklands from Williamstown I would just head straight into the rink, train, and return home. There wasn't a whole lot of exploring and I didn’t have a lot of opportunity to explore the area. Since moving here, though, we've had a lot of opportunity to explore been able to experience a lot more of the harbour and all the businesses around here. COVID put a hold on a lot of things so It was quiet at first it was quiet at first, coming out of COVID, but activity is definitely building up, which is amazing for the area.

Definitely the community feel that you get here. I walk my dog every day and everyone is just so friendly. People stop and say hi and chat so often, so much more often than in Williamstown. You walk past anyone, and they say hi in restaurants and, you just kind of get to know them. We go to the same restaurants all the time too, so you start to get to know the staff, which is really nice.

It's more family based here as well. In Williamstown, where we were from, everyone was sort of family-based when we were kids, but then we all kind of grew up so everyone moved out of the area. it just wasn't the same place as it was when we were young.

The District is super handy. From the big retailers like H&M and your Uniqlo, to the smaller businesses. All of them are really are really good. The cafes and restaurants around here are fantastic as well, there’s so much to choose from.

The Library at the Dock is incredibly good. I love to go down there and pick books out to read, or just sit with my own thoughts. That whole side of the harbour is really pretty. I love to go down to the Library at the Dock and pick books out to read, or just sit with my own thoughts. That whole side of the harbour is really pretty.

I love Daybreak Cafe. The food there at Daybreak Cafe is great, and the staff are lovely. We can see it from where we live and it's. Just always, always busy. Cocobei is another is another really good local cafe, and we spend a lot of time at Berth and Cargo. The outdoor areas they have are beautiful. The events space upstairs at Berth is fantastic and really well catered.

Definitely how community-based it is, but also, I don’t think that people realise how up and coming the area is, especially with all the work that has been done over the past 5 or so years. People who might not have been here for ages don't see how put-together it is. You know, you’ve got pretty much everything you need just in this small area, plus you've got all these beautiful walks. You can walk along the harbour and along the Yarra into the city or down to AAMI Park. It's so easy to get everywhere and it's such a nice area that is just outside of the city, but still so close to everything.