Brenden Wrightson loves his job. Whether it's playgrounds, roads, bridges or pools, Brenden loves being able to deliver work that improves the lives of the people living in Lake Mac.Craig Hamilton sits down with the Lake Mac local to talk about his challenges growing up, and how nothing has held him back, as well as his family, friends and what it means manage people.

Maddie Malone works in our Waste Services team and has lived many lives.Craig Hamilton sits down with her to talk about her passions around female empowerment at Council, the adversity she has faced in past relationships, and how it is living as an 'old soul' in a very busy world.

Director for Organisational Services Melissa Rowe is nothing short of ambitious in every challenge she takes on.Craig Hamilton chats with Mel about her beginnings in HR, balancing life while climbing the leadership ladder and where she sees herself next.

You can’t stop at every obstacle to get where you want to be, and Legal Counsel Melanie Smith lives out these words of wisdom.From embracing introversion to guilty pleasures, Craig Hamilton chats with Mel about how she came to be a lawyer and the challenges faced in her personal and professional life.

Ahead of NAIDOC Week, 3-10 July, The Lake Mac Way host Craig Hamilton sits down with City Works Front End Loader Operator Doug Archibald.A proud Gumbaynggirr man, Doug is an accomplished artist and founding member of the Aboriginal Reference Group at the Museum of Art and Culture.This chat spans from Doug’s childhood on Billy Goat Hill at Teralba, his 40-year career with Council, and his role in promoting Aboriginal art and culture across Lake Macquarie and beyond.

In Episode One, Season Two of our Lake Mac Way podcast, Craig Hamilton talks to CEO Morven Cameron about her local government journey. In this insightful chat, Craig and Morven explore her beginnings in Scotland and her approach to leadership.

There's no time like the present for Biodiversity Projects Officer Lisa Redmond. From choosing to juggle parenting with university studies to starting triathlon training in her mid 40s; expectations have never held Lisa back!

From Cardiff to The Gambia via Solomon Islands. Internal Auditor Sue Morrison may, on first glance, seem like your run-of-the-mill public servant, but she’s lived a life full of action and adventure fighting corruption aboard.Sue’s passion for equity and justice shines through in this chat with Craig Hamilton in episode four of the Lake Mac Way podcast.

Capital Works Program Manager Joelle Brockman is known around Council for her bright and bubbly personality, but her life hasn’t been without its darker days.In this frank and revealing interview with local broadcaster Craig Hamilton, Joelle talks about her childhood in New Zealand and how she overcame mental and physical challenges that saw her learning to walk again not once but twice!Craig Hamilton joins us as the host of the Lake Mac Way in 2022.

Imagine a routine task you do every day at work.You can nearly do it blindfolded.We all have one.For Jared Hamilton, a Senior Vegetation Maintenance Officer with Lake Mac City Works, it was removing a tarp from a truck.And even when it surprisingly went wrong and he twisted his ankle, he could not possibly have foreseen that it would be a life changing event.It was – and we all have something to learn from Jared’s journey.

What do Vancouver, Boolaroo, New York, Speers Point and Lusaka, Zambia have in common?They have all, at some point, had the Pippa Budge touch.Our Curator and Operations Coordinator at the Multi-Arts Pavilion (MAP) mima in Speers Point Park, Pippa has already lived a remarkable life – and she is only just getting started.In this episode of The Lake Mac Way, she shares the lifetime of learning that comes from serving coffee in Africa to wandering the corridors of the world’s most famous art spaces, and choosing Lake Macquarie as the place to express yourself.

At the age of 20, Glenn Bunny climbed into bed after getting the phone call he’d been dreaming of and working tirelessly for.He was going to tour Argentina as a professional rugby player.Winning selection for legendary Super Rugby Club the Canterbury Crusaders was a major leap forward in his professional rugby career.The start of something really big.He’d been training under New Zealand’s best and there were whispers that, with more hard work and a dash of good fortune, he may even be mentioned at the All Blacks selection table.It must’ve been hard to sleep that night.It must’ve been even harder to sleep the next night.Glenn blew his knee out in a club game the following day, quit university to devote nine months to intensive rehabilitation in a desperate bid make it back onto the pitch and rekindle his hopes.He would last only minutes in his comeback match, only to look down and see a broken ankle and his All Black dreams shattered.Glenn Bunny is now Lake Macquarie City Council’s Director of Development, Planning and Regulation, overseeing 150 staff and close to 1.5 billion dollars of development applications every year.He sits down with Aaron Kearney in this illuminating and inspiring first episode of the Lake Mac Way.