Deborah Ahumada Paredes

31 Mar 2022

In Chile Deborah Ahumada Paredes had what many would consider a dream job, working with entrepreneurs immersed in a world of innovation, creativity and wonderful new ideas. As the Finance Director of an incubator at a time when the startup community was really beginning to take shape in her home country it was a very exciting place to be, but in the long run it wasn’t enough.

Deborah wanted to escape what she calls The Matrix – being stuck in the humdrum of every day working life where everything starts to feel robotic and you become part of the machine. For Deborah it was too black and white – there wasn’t enough colour in her life.

Three years ago Deborah decided to travel to the Gold Coast to learn English at Griffith College. When she arrived in Australia Deborah couldn’t speak a word of English, she had no friends here, and she had no family. She just jumped straight out of her comfort zone and into a bold new adventure.

Now working in the tourism sector while studying hospitality at Australian Pacific College, Deborah is proud of what she’s achieved and happier than she’s ever been before. She’s also started her own business as a life coach and business consultant drawing on her entrepreneurial work in Chile. Deborah says she wants to share her story because many times while working as a coach and consultant she’s realised that people need to hear positive stories as she reminds them of the power of persistence by never giving up.


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