Brielle Jones

“Yarra taught me resilience and perseverance.”

When Brielle Jones arrived at Yarra in Year 5 she threw herself into every subject and extra-curricular opportunity that came her way – debating, a French exchange, a role as Junior School House Captain, Saturday sports and even caring for the class pets.

“My Year 5 teacher, Mrs Butt, was amazing and some of my fondest school memories were in her class. She let us have class mice and we took turns taking them home. That was exciting but a lot of pressure — you didn’t want them to get injured or pass away on your watch!” says Brielle.

Mrs Butt continues to have an impact on Brielle now she has two young children of her own.

“She was very creative and always engaged kids in dialogue. Rather than saying ‘these are the rules’ if a child was having a difficult time in class she’d say, ‘I saw you were struggling with this rule, do you want to talk about it?’ I use that tactic with my own children now.”

Brielle studied French and took part in a French exchange for a year and she also enjoyed design and business management. Torn between the two fields, she pursued a career in the business world and held a series of senior sales and marketing roles, mostly with international travel companies.

For the past 12 years, she has lived in The Netherlands where she recently launched her own professional organising business.

“I recently quit my job with a tech company because now is my time to follow my instincts. My youngest child is 6 months old and having two young children has forced me to prioritise how I want to invest my energy. I loved my last job but it was taking a lot of my energy and I realised I wanted to create a job that I love doing and that gave me energy. I love organising, processes and interior design. So, I am going to see where being a professional organiser takes me,” she says.

Brielle says her time at Yarra taught her the importance of being resilient and persevering, even with subjects that you didn’t particularly enjoy but were necessary to take the next step forward.
“As you get older though, I’ve realised you don’t have to keep doing things you don’t enjoy anymore. There comes a point when you can consciously end it and put your energy somewhere else.”
Brielle’s view on what success looks like has also evolved since her days at Yarra – it’s no longer about awards and being chosen as a prefect but more about learning to be comfortable with everything in life not being perfect all the time.

“I’ve learned that you can do it all, but not at the same time, and that’s OK,” she says.

You can find Brielle's website here - www.thespacecoach.com