Managing a portfolio career and leading the charge in Adelaide - with Wendy Teasdale Smith

Women on Boards: Leader, directors & subject matter experts in conversation with Claire Braund

Wendy Teasdale Smith is a woman full of surprises. As well as being the owner of possibly one of the largest collections of hairclips for anyone over 40, WOB’s quirky and energetic South Australian representative also recently won a Toastmasters humorous speaking award with her speech on having an RBF (resting bitch face), which she presented over Zoom during COVID.

Born and brought up in Elizabeth, South Australia (the inspiration for Jimmy Barnes’ song Working Class Man) she is also in a book called Elizabeth Champions celebrating people from the region.

As she tells Claire in this podcast, growing up in the working class suburbs, Wendy was a teenager when she discovered the power of hard work. “While I had a challenging childhood, one of the things that was really good about it was a strong belief from my father in education, and that it could change your life. And it certainly changed mine.”

Wendy went on to pursue a productive career in education, as a CEO, school principal, college director, as well as serving on ministerial committees and lecturing before biting the bullet and heading out into the business world.

“I enjoyed my time [in education] but wanted to be brave enough to leave and try something else.”

It was after Googling ‘women organisations’ that Wendy found WOB, and met Claire at a conference in Sydney.

Now a pioneering state rep who has led the charge for WOB in Adelaide for many years, Wendy manages a portfolio career focused on non-profit and government board and is also an experienced public speaking and presence coach, and says never underestimate the power of a strong woman. “Like Eleanor Roosevelt said: A woman is like a teabag - you can't tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.”

LinkedIn: Wendy Teasdale-Smith Claire Braund (host)

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