I don't have a lifelong connection to The Smith Family. My connection is to what they stand for. I grew up with access to a good education, and I've always known not every child gets that same start.

It shouldn't come down to your postcode. In my work I help leaders and teams perform at their best, and I see it constantly: the child who learns to read today can become the leader who makes bold decisions tomorrow.

When I looked for an organisation that genuinely breaks the cycle of disadvantage through education, The Smith Family was the obvious choice.

That's the connection: a shared belief that every young Australian deserves a fair shot.

As a skydiver with 250 jumps, I decided to put that experience to good use. I set myself a challenge to raise funds for The Smith Family: 30 jumps and a goal to finally nail a tricky freefly move called the ballerina by the end of June 2026.

Alongside the jumps, I partnered with iFly at Surfers Paradise to run a charity fly day, where anyone (adults, kids, people of all abilities) could try indoor skydiving at the lowest rates iFly had ever offered, with every dollar going straight to the cause.

It started on the beach. I was walking on the Gold Coast, talking with a friend about giving back, and it hit me how much of a child's future comes down to whether they get access to education, something I'd always taken for granted.

Skydiving taught me something that stuck: growth is uncomfortable, progress is never linear, and you get through the hard parts because people are backing you. That's exactly what The Smith Family does for young Australians every single day.

They're the people backing kids through challenges far bigger than any jump I'll ever make. I wanted to put my body & mind on the line for a cause bigger than myself, and this was it.

Watching people fly for the first time at the iFly charity day. There's a moment when someone steps into that wind tunnel absolutely terrified, and then the fear turns into a grin they can't control.

Seeing kids and first-timers experience that, knowing every one of them was helping another young Australian get access to education, was the whole campaign in a single moment. I've done hundreds of jumps, but watching someone else discover what it feels like to fly never gets old.

Start before you feel ready. I wrote a whole book called Act Before You overThink, and fundraising is the ultimate proof of it.

You'll never have the perfect plan, the perfect timing, or all the answers, and if you wait for them, you'll never begin.

Pick a challenge that scares you a little, tie it to a cause you believe in, and take the first step. The momentum, the support and the confidence all show up after you jump, not before. Trust me, as a skydiver and author :-)