How working at HPHH helped Leigh conquer her fears

Leigh was born and raised in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, before migrating to Australia when she was 8 years old with her parents and two brothers. She has been a Program Trainer at HPHH for 11 months. Before joining our ‘fur-bulous’ team, Leigh worked as an Animal Attendant at one of our location partners: RSPCA Wacol.

“Working alongside HPHH as an Animal Attendant at the RSPCA Wacol, I got to see the positive impact Happy Paws Happy Hearts has on the animals and people as well,” Leigh says.

“I thought this would be a great team to work with, where I could share my knowledge from a shelter point of view.”

Leigh has too many amazing memories of her time at HPHH to pick a favourite.

“[I love the] quirky jokes from participants, watching participants come out of their shell, watching some participants achieve their goals and become volunteers, not to mention when participants find their ‘fur-ever’ pets!” Leigh says.

Her favourite animals are elephants because they are ‘large, proud, smart and majestic’. But if she were to be an animal, it would be a cat so she can sleep “any time of day”. She also loves her pets, including former rescue dog turned pampered pup Astro.

Something you might not know about Leigh is that she is terrified of frogs and toads.

“I used to be scared of lizards, but I’ve conquered my fear through working at HPHH,” she says.

When she’s not working with our participants and rescue animals in session, you can find Leigh colouring in pages and spending time with her family and friends. She’s a very big Harry Potter fan – wishing to visit Hogwarts – and prefers tea over coffee.

Sharing one of the best pieces of advice she’s ever heard, Leigh says: “Don’t let the expectations and ideas of others limit who you are. If you let others tell you who you are, you’re living their reality – not yours.”

In her time at HPHH, Leigh has become an invaluable member of the HPHH Program Delivery Team. She’s on the front lines with our ‘paw-some’ participants, forming powerful bonds and leaving lasting impressions on many smiling faces.

You can immediately sense her beautiful light and nature from talking with Leigh’s participants and with Leigh herself. Her smile lights up the room, she is incredibly kind and patient, and many of our participants look up to her and relate to her experiences.

Leigh has represented HPHH at events and in media opportunities like our Westpac Wired feature. We are so grateful for having Leigh as a part of our HPHH pack, and we can’t wait to see what our future holds, together!