Lisa Donath Just BU Interview

Lisa Donath Just BU Interview

Just BU is a proactive program that provides young people with access to real role models with real stories.

Our panelists within the fields of business, entertainment and sports share their personal experiences of growing up and their lives today.

Just BU panels are informal and conversational and encourage young people to develop skills such as personal belief, goal setting and risk taking


Question: What is Just BU?

Lisa Donath: Just BU is a proactive program that brings together year 10 to year 12 teenagers with real role-models with real stories.


Question: What inspired you to start Just BU?

Lisa Donath: When I was at school I really wish that I had someone to tell me that all of the stress and pressure that I was feeling, especially in my final years at school, were actually "normal". Like many teens, I argued with my parents, I really wasn't sure what career path I wanted to follow when I finished school and to be honest at that time I was more interested in my social life than studying. Things have definately changed for me since school- I studied Primary Teaching which I loved, travelled and worked overseas and then returned to Melbourne. A chance introduction ( see, my social life came in handy!) led me to a job offer as an Event Manager and now I'm combining the skills that I learnt from both career paths, together with my passion to inspire teens, into my "perfect" job- Just BU! Ultimately, I think that if I'd had an opportunity to hear from role models the message that "It's OK to Just BU" I may have felt more confident in the knowledge that my life and who I am wasn't determined just by school but that there was a world out there for me to explore and enjoy. So really my inspiration was very simple but also personal.


Question: Where do you hope Just BU will lead?

Lisa Donath: The plan is to take Just BU national and then international. I think that people's stories are the similar throughout the world and everybody has an interesting story. I am always on the lookout for good role-models who are happy to share their story and their journey and not just all the good stuff but the bad things too.

Just BU is about believing in yourself and more importantly being happy to take responsibility for the choices that you make, whether that ends up being a positive choice or it has a negative response. It is important to back yourself and feel confident in your decisions. Before you make decisions it's important to ask people, research and find out as much as possible (especially for big decisions). Hopefully the decision you make will be a good one at the time.


Question: Can you talk about how you run Just BU events?

Lisa Donath: Just BU is an in school program. We go into the schools, which is comfortable for the students and teachers, in a relaxed learning environment and I organise three people on a panel from a variety of backgrounds including; entertainment, business, from the local community or even a sports person. I try and match the panelists with the needs of the school and I talk to the career counsellors at the schools, before the event, to find out about the kind of issues that feel are appropriate for panelists to talk about including; career advice, self belief, bullying and many other topics. The conversation is quite chatty and casual; no-one stands up and gives a presentation as such.

The students get to ask questions at the end and the event runs for about an hour and a half. For the first hour I ask the panelists a series of questions to draw out their story & journey, including the importance of finding someone to talk too and to share how you're feeling. Just BU knows it is important to tell the students that we understand that sometimes finding the strength and courage to say to someone "I'm not feeling all that great about how things are going" is very normal and we all go through situations like that. We talk about how important it is to find that one person you can trust and certainly it's good to also be the listener and a good friend. Other important messages include 'Take your friends seriously' if they come to you with large or small problems ( like "I'm having a bad hair day"), sometimes it's just that they need someone to listen a be a good friend.

We also talk about how to believe in yourself and where students can find the guidance to work out who you are and where you want to go. Thinking that it is okay to just be you is the bottom line of Just BU events. Hopefully when the students hear the stories from the panelists that will act as a catalyst for the students to sit there and think 'Oh wow, I relate to that' or to go home and say "We had a Just BU panel that came to our school today and they were speaking about this" and then parents can use somebody else's story as a catalyst to talk about topics that might be a little bit difficult.


Question: Could you share some of the feedback you have received from students and the schools you have attended?

Lisa Donath: The feedback has been really great and positive. We have already had schools who have booked for next year, and for me that is the best feedback; we certainly welcome more schools to join the Just BU program next year.

A lot of the students really love the opportunity to get up close and personal with celebrities and people in businesses that they aspire to. Just BU offers student's question time, at the end, this allows students to connect and speak with panelists for individual advice, which is something that is quite unique about the Just BU panels. Every time we go into a school the panelists are different, this way we can cater to the varying interests of students, we can do single sexed schools or mixed, and will cater the panelists to suit.


Question: How can people get involved with Just BU?

Lisa Donath: They can either have a look at our website which is www.justbu.com.au or the Facebook, Twitter or even our blog.

I post a lot of Top 10 tips for parents and teenagers on the blog, including different topics and issues that are happening. The website also has downloadable resources for parents, students and teachers.


Question: Who has joined the Just BU panel?

Lisa Donath: We have had the 7pm Project's host Charlie Pickering, Helen Kapalos who reads the Channel 10 News, fantastic comedian Dave Thornton and aerial skier Jacqui Cooper who was fantastic and very inspirational.

Every panel member is inspirational and interesting in their own way and I think what is interesting is that most of the panelists are not doing what they thought they would be doing at school; the message that 'things change' and 'life happens' is great for teenagers. Most people want to do three things or they want to travel or they're not even sure what they want to do; for us we are saying "Look into everything and do as much work experience as you can because volunteering is great." We also recommend utilising your networks of people around you, let people know that during the school holidays you're happy to work and let your parents tell all their friends.
It doesn't matter what you're doing, it is about getting your foot in the door and through that experience you will find out if this is and area for you. While some careers may look glamorous, the honest truth is that it takes a long time to reach a 'glamour' job and there are very little short cuts there. I don't think there is anyone that I know that didn't start off learning how to make a cup of coffee or tea or asking "what can I do?"

Again, the Just BU panel is there to be real and to say "welcome to the real world" because what you see now, on TV, with reality shows isn't the real world and you have to get back to basics. The most important thing is that you're happy and you might be happy doing one thing for the first year and through that opportunity that may lead to becoming more of a risk taker. Back yourself but make sure that the choices that you make come from a good place and a good intention.


Question: How does the panel go about motivating students to set achievable goals?

Lisa Donath: I think that the only person that can motivate you is YOU, and that happens for different people at different times. Certainly we are not all about telling students to have a ten year goal, I think it's great to have a 10 day, 10 week or even 10 month goal - I encourage students to do it in small sections so they feel good about what they're achieving. I encourage you to do what you can and then set yourself one extra little goal that you wouldn't normally think you would achieve and give that a try. Don't be hard on yourself if you can't achieve it, set another goal & try again.


Question: What schools have you attended?

Lisa Donath: We've been to ten schools in four months, which has been great. We have been to Mentone Girls Secondary College, Mc Kinnon Secondary College, De La Salle, St Kevin's College, Brighton Secondary College and Glen Eira Secondary College. It's been a great mix of government and private schools as well as co-ed and male and female schools.


Question: Who has supported the Just BU program?

Lisa Donath: We have been very lucky to have great corporate and community sponsors including TRY Australia which means we have access to the not-for-profit status and when it comes to schools booking it is all tax deductable. We have had MOR Cosmetics gift all of our panelists and Supa Secrets provided great health bars for teenagers; IBM have been involved which has been great because we've had some of their senior executives on the panels. All of the founders or the CEO's of the corporate groups that have sponsored Just BU have all been on the panels, which means they have been able to see what Just BU is about by getting involved.

I am looking at putting together a group of ambassadors; a team of panelists who have come from different areas who can be the Just BU go to team.


Question: Can you talk about what lead you to Just BU?

Lisa Donath: I had been working in a good corporate role and earning good money, I was happy, but not 'really happy'. I decided to put my money where my mouth is, took a risk and backed myself in supporting teens. I think I am on the right track because other people share my philosophy.

"It's OK 2 Just BU!"

Get your school involved in the Just BU program www.justbu.com.au.