Yiradhu Marang ‘Good Day’, my name is Leticia Anne Forbes. I am a proud Wiradjuri Torres Strait Islander yinaa ‘woman’ currently living on Darkinjung Country, Central Coast of NSW. My mob are from Narrandera, NSW with connections to the Wedge and Carter family. I have grown up on Wiradjuri Country in Western NSW most of my life and acknowledge Dubbo being my ngarumbang ‘home’ Country where my spirit goes back to. I am a proud business owner, dancer, artist, advocate, storyteller, survivor, partner and a mother of a beautiful little boy.
I pride myself on creating connections that have shaped my life. I find the most authentic and insightful connections come from being open, honest and real with those around me. That’s why I find it important to share insight into who I am, a bit about my journey and what has inspired me to create my own business – Leticia Anne Designs.
CONNECT
MY JOURNEY - SHAPING MY OWN FUTURE
For people who have been a part of my journey for some time, you may have had the privilege of seeing my growth first-hand. For those new to my journey, I used to be known as ‘a kid in care’ who was doing amazing things and breaking a cycle. But that is only part of my story as I now take pride in being known as a resilient young entrepreneur who harnessed her own business at 23 years old. I built a future for myself after stepping away from career path in the community services sector in March 2020.
I have had experiences that have shaped my life – I am always healing and growing stronger. As we know complex childhood trauma and PTSD is something that never really goes away, but we get better at navigating life and moving through it. I have always used my lived experiences to hold a voice for change in the child protection system and inspire as a role model to showcase what “kids in care” are capable of with kicking the stigma in the butt!
Where do i come from?
I was born on beautiful Wiradjuri country in Leeton where most of my family come from. My Wiradjuri heritage stems from my maternal line from my ancestor Edward ‘Ned’ Wedge who passed at Warengesda Mission at Darlington Point and my 4th Great Grandmother Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Hall. My Torres Strait Islander heritage is from my paternal side, of which I learnt about in my early adulthood after re-connecting with my Aunty. During my childhood, I lived mostly on Wiradjuri Country however moved around often. When I was 12 years old, I went into Foster care with my younger siblings and lived with non-Indigenous carers. I was very fortunate that I had Elders, community members, cultural mentors and educational support support me in my cultural journey and with my identity to help keep my culture strong.
MY PASSION AND CAREER ASPIRATIONS
I always had my heart set on becoming a dance teacher since I was a little girl and it later evolved to my passion for wanting to work in the youth advocacy space due to life learnings. GUESS WHAT? I did both! In 2015 I completed my community services studies. At 19, I went straight into crisis driven work as a Youth homelessness caseworker – this was just the beginning of my journey as a youth worker. I doubled up with also being a dance instructor managing the local PCYC studio for 5 years (that was my creative side flowing through). But I couldn’t stand back and do just that; I also became a Youth Ambassador and consultant for AbSec (2015 to 2019), Department of Community and Justice UCCHange (2017 to 2022), Create Foundation (2015 to 2022) and also chaired the Dubbo City Youth Council (2014 to 2016). Talk about wearing many hats!
In late 2019, I decided to study my Diploma of Graphic Design at Billy Blue College of Design. This is where my life and career direction starting shifting. In March 2020, I started my business and was thankful for my local connections in Dubbo reaching out for design work.
When relocating to Newcastle to live on Wonnarua Country, I decided to trust in embracing being a sole-trader business owner full-time and stepped away from my full-time permanent youth work role. Within 6 months, I brought together a team of deadly creatives to help broaden my service offerings. I hired my first internal design team employee and First Nations Junior Cultural Designer, Lauren Henry in February 2022. I hired two more team members by February 2023 which led to transitioning to my company Burralgang Enterprise Pty Ltd. I was on maternity leave early 2023 when I realised I wanted to shift my now-established First Nations Creative Agency with a new brand identity and face – introducing Yirra Miya. Mind, I was also on maternity with my first child, my little boy Eli who is not walking around and running a muck whilst mum juggles work mum life.
Where am I now? I am now located on Darkinjung Country, Central Coast where my little gudha ‘baby’ was born and will be happily raised as a Saltwater boy like his dad. I have now brought Leticia Anne Designs & Co. back to its root to be my space to connect, yarn and voice! This is through creating cultural artwork, doing public speaking + MC events, community consultation work and yarns with young people to inspire and follow their aspirations. I am also introducing a new and exciting platform for other artists to share and grow through ‘& Co.’ which means & Collaborators.
I’m hoping that in reading a little about who I am as a person, my journey and my passions, you feel comfortable taking the step to reach out and connect. I look forward to getting to know you, hearing about your journey and how I can best help through my services offerings within Leticia Anne Designs & Co.
Yarn Soon,
Leticia Anne
4th April 2024
