PepTalks Melbourne, 27 June 2019

Jimmy has always had a strong connection to nature and animals, and after many years of petition signing, door knocking, protesting/rallying and teaching, he still felt it was not enough. Jimmy became fed up and decided to wear the issue on his face –  a permanent reminder of what has happened to the forests/rainforest and habitat for animals. Shaving half his beard off to represent the 50% loss of rainforest, Jimmy is going ‘halfcut‘ for one year as a fundraising movement with the sole purpose of buying up and protecting endangered rainforest globally. 100% of the money raised goes towards buying land through a special partnership formed with The Rainforest Trust.

A photographer, videographer and director, Claudia has directed music videos for some of Australia’s most exciting female musicians. Claudia recently teamed up with longtime friend and photographer Michelle Grace Hunder to shine a light on women in Australian music through their documentary Her Sound, Her Story.The initial concept came from observing the constant conversation about gender inequality and imbalance within the music industry and the arts in general. Believing in the power of art and its capacity to bring people together as well the importance of storytelling, the project was born. Michelle and Claudia’s passion and drive to document these women is not just to celebrate their achievements, but to inspire future generations of young women to achieve greatness themselves. Claudia also teaches dance classes (Booty and The Beats) where the heart of the class is about experiencing joy through movement and supporting people’s enthusiasm for dance.

After researching sanitary protection and finding out about the struggles women and girls around the world face during their periods, Melbourne-based Roz Campbell started Tsuno – a social enterprise selling sustainable bamboo sanitary pads and organic cotton tampons with 50% of profits being donated to charities that help empower women in the developing world. Over the past few years, Roz and her customers have also donated more than 20,000 pads and tampons to Share the Dignity, Essentials for Women SA and the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, providing much-needed supplies for women in Australia who are homeless, fleeing domestic violence and seeking asylum. Tsuno was created with the goal of giving back, because as Roz says: “Life feels better for me when I help, and this is how I’ve decided to do so.”

Stacey began Veggie Mama in 2010 when she was working on starting a family and wondering what to do with her journalism degree when she went back to work. Stacey figured she liked food and writing – why not start a food blog? It would serve as both a searchable database of her favourite vegetarian recipes, but also an online portfolio of her food writing to go alongside her old-school articles-in-plastic-sleeve-binder news portfolio. Veggie Mama is where Stacey writes about the things she loves – good food, travel, books, family, 90s pop culture, and stuff that makes her laugh (mostly all of those things combined). Stacey was selected as a Kidspot Top 50 Blogger in 2012 and also a Kidspot Hall of Fame Blogger in 2013, 2014, and 2015. She was the number-one Food Tweeter in 2012, nominated as a Mamamia Most Clickable Woman in 2013, and has been seen and heard on news.com.au, theaustralian.com.au, ABC Radio, 97.3 FM Brisbane, sunshinecoastdaily.com.au, Regional Foodie magazine, as well as being the cover girl of Peppermint’s Summer 2011 issue, where she has also contributed.