Josephine Thomson
Josephine Thomson was born in Melbourne in 1967, the eldest of three children to first-generation Italian immigrants. Her childhood was spent in the back of her grandparents’ fruit shop and at the Melbourne Cricket Ground barracking for her favourite football team. She defines her childhood as a time when, ‘There may not have been a lot of money around, but there was always family, plenty of good food, and a lot of love’. It was here that she learnt the value of a humble and hardworking life.
While completing her tertiary studies in business at night school, she worked for a bank and then a multinational blue-chip company. She was on track to achieving everything she set out to achieve, when at the age of 24 she was diagnosed with cancer. Told she would live for only six months, Josephine was forced to re-evaluate her life. Her vow to survive, and her passion for living a healthy and spiritual life saw her beat the disease, continue on to have the children that doctors said she would never have, and head down a new path committed to sharing her beliefs with others.
In 2000, Josephine left the human resources industry and pursued a career in life coaching. Within a few short years she became one of the most successful practitioners in the industry, receiving the Results Coach of the Year award for three consecutive years. In 2005, she was a state finalist in the Telstra Business Woman of the Year and capped off a year of personal and professional success by becoming one of only ten Master Certified Coaches in Australia, the highest level of certification with the International Coach Federation. As an executive coach and motivational speaker she now uses those talents to help individuals and organisations find fulfilment by unleashing their full potential or by reaching the pinnacle of their industries.