Cups of tea and conversation are having a bigger impact on people than structured, formal approaches to starting or helping businesses.

It’s hardly the hard-sell approach you’d expect from a dynamic guest speaker and civil engineer who at 25 managed engineering projects in Sydney’s CBD, who later moved onto and off a farm near Walgett in whoopwhoop-New South Wales, then studied at Stanford University, California.

Three days out from starting work at the White House itself, Jillian Kilby had visa issues and was forced to leave the US.

“That hurt,” she told the 130-strong crowd last Thursday night.

The point, mind you, was that she has had highs and suffered lows.

However, went on to carve herself a career that has resulted in creating a space in her home town of Dubbo where business people come together and work collaboratively.

“We have to be so resilient when we don’t get to where we want to go,” Ms Kilby, who aims to approach life with humour and gratitude, said.

“Change is the only way to own your future.

“The only thing more painful than change is an unsatisfying status quo – you can’t settle for the status quo.”

She also suggested there needed to be a mindset shift with regards to business failures. “You’re not as backable, you aren’t viewed as sturdy, unless you’ve had a few failures,” she pointed out.

“Fear often stops achievements.”

Connecting business people with mentors and business partners is another way she helps people, particularly through her work with The Exchange in Dubbo.

“Partnerships come from interesting places.

“If you don’t change direction you will end up where you’re headed.”

Ms Kilby ran a workshop for school leavers, spoke at the gala dinner and then had breakfast with more business people the next morning.

There was tea and there was conversation – and there were connections made.

“You need to step out of the vortex and look at it from above, below and the side,” she told one person.

Yet another, she suggested, could offer smaller business free rent and a collaborative space to work rather than finding money for sponsorships.

She also changed talking about problems to solutions.

“You need to ask yourself questions like what if you had unlimited money – what would do differently? What if you had no money? What if this was 20 years in the future and what if this was 20 years in the past?

“When you’re thinking of problems, you need to reframe your question to ‘what opportunity is here’?”

IMAGE: East Gippsland Shire mayor, Cr Natalie O’Connell, property valuer, Ellie Caldwell, guest speaker, Jillian Kilby, Adam Bloem, of Elders Real Estate, and East Gippsland Marketing board member, and TAFE Gippsland partnership broker, Joe Rettino. K894-255