Association CEO Index 2024 - Flipbook - Page 17
Association CEO Index 2024
17
Business feature
Rachel Chambers
CEO, QFVG
Cultivating a legacy
Spend an hour with Rachel Chambers and you’ll hear
the phrase “problem-solver” fairly often. Whether as
a recurring thought in your own head as you listen;
or spoken out loud by the woman herself when asked
to articulate what motivates her decisions, actions
and behaviours.
And while problem-solving is clearly a defining trait of
the Queensland Fruit and Vegetable Growers (QFVG)
CEO, to stop there would be to tell only half of the
Rachel Chambers story.
In her hands, problems find the type of solutions that not
only fix things, but also leave a legacy.
Legacies are greatest when they are championed by a
true believer, delivering lasting impact on others. And
the groups of others – let’s call them communities – who
have benefited from legacies that Rachel has either
catalysed or contributed to are as diverse as the
tangents in her career path.
Mayor. Teacher. Nursing student. Economic
development officer. Small business owner. Board
member. QFVG CEO since June 2022.
Growing up in Logan City as a self-confessed latch-key
kid of two parents working full-time, Rachel was shaped
by that uniquely Gen-X nature-nurture combo to be
resourceful, independent, thorough and direct. Someone
you suspect is familiar with the saying ‘doing a job right
the first time gets the job done.’
Like many girls her age, Rachel was steered towards
fairly limited career options by the high school guidance
counsellor: nursing or teaching. At around the same time
she had received a nurse’s fob watch for her 16th
birthday from her great aunt, somewhat of a destiny
moment given her aunt had passed away years prior and
had no knowledge of her intending career choice.
In typical Rachel Chambers style, she took on board the
advice and accepted fate, but kicked in a healthy dose
of spirit and determination.
“When I was given that fob, I thought well, there must be
something in me that says nursing,” Rachel says. “I did
love people and science, so it was a natural fit but
straight away I said that I wanted to be a director of
nursing at a major Brisbane hospital. I would love to go
back now and ask my young self why I felt the need to
lead at such a young age.
“Fast forward 13 years and life took me down a different
path. I wasn’t practising nursing, instead I had owned
small businesses. I was in my second marriage with a
second round of children. I was restless, and one day I
decided I should teach.
“So, the two professions I always said I would never do
as a woman, I ended up doing. Call me crazy but that
guidance councillor may have known what they were
doing all those years ago.”
Destructive flooding caused by Cyclone Oswald in
January 2013 triggered another pivotal direction-change
in Rachel’s life.
Decisively driving towards disaster when most would run
the other way, she’s matter of fact about why.
“It was my husband’s home town (Gayndah) and I knew I
could help. I was listening to the radio and from the calls
coming in I could understand that one of the issues was
that trucks had nowhere to park when bringing supplies
into town. It sounded like a logistical issue.
