Speakers

Louise is a heavy vehicle mechanic turned life coach. After hearing a million times that women had to have thick skin to be in the trades and applying that mentality to her challenges she felt like she was a walking callus. Louise wanted to create a better way, to create solutions for the problems that tradeswomen faced and that is when she decided to become a life coach, to support herself and other tradeswomen to solve the issues that they faced instead of just putting up with them.

Michael Shave is an experienced executive-level consultant with more than 25 years’ combined experience across local government finance, strategy, and operations. He works closely with councils across Australia to strengthen financial sustainability, optimise service delivery, and support data-driven decision-making.

Michael’s expertise spans all core corporate service functions — including finance, governance, risk, ICT, and procurement — and he is known for his ability to distil complex financial and organisational issues into clear, practical strategies that support sound decision-making.

Renowned for his analytical precision and pragmatic leadership style, Michael is a trusted adviser to executive teams, councillors, and audit committees. He is the Immediate Past President of Local Government Finance Professionals Queensland, the peak body supporting finance professionals within the local government sector.

Born and raised in Cessnock, NSW, Sean Carter began his career in the automotive industry as an apprentice light vehicle mechanic at Kloster Ford in 2003. After qualifying, he managed several dealership workshops before moving into service management roles at Kloster Volkswagen (2011) and Newcastle BMW (2015), where he was appointed Fixed Operations Manager in 2018.

Alongside his career, Sean completed a Bachelor of Business at the University of New England and a Diploma of Project Management with Monarch Institute. In early 2022, he joined Port Stephens Council as Fleet Supervisor, where he oversees more than 550 assets and plays a key role in delivering the Council’s Emissions Reduction Action Plan. Sean also holds the IPWEA Fleet Management Certificate and continues to combine his technical and business expertise to drive continuous improvement in fleet operations.