March 29th, 2026Rose helping others navigate life

Rose Foulds may only be 19 but she is already wise beyond her years – and keen on helping others. She also realises there is more than one way to navigate life.

Rose Foulds may only be 19 but she is already wise beyond her years – and keen on helping others. She also realises there is more than one way to navigate life.
When she finished Year 12 at Daylesford College she applied for a Bachelor of Psychological Sciences at Deakin University in Geelong but it wasn’t quite what she wanted.
“I went home and reset and then I got a job at Cooked with Pathway Essentials in Daylesford in August last year. I had already been working at Brew Jays before that and that’s how I made the connection.
“I’m a hospitality staff member so I do the events like markets and help out in the van at the Masonic Hall during the week. I also help train and work with clients – and that’s why I am now doing a Diploma of Community Services so that then I can get the qualification to be able to do support work.”

Rose said she loves both the work and studying towards her certificate although it keeps her very busy.
“But I can see what I’m doing it all for and that there’s an end goal to it all because it’s a similar industry to what I wanted to go into to begin with, which is helping people. It’s just an alternative pathway.”
Rose said she had not always seen her career choice but during high school she had been through a few life experiences and lessons which “turned on a switch”.
“I know I will be fulfilled in a role where I can help others and pass on advice and lend a caring ear. Just so people have someone they can talk to who they know will listen. That’s a really positive thing.”
Rose said while her current role at Cooked, which helps train up clients towards meaningful employment, was more helping when and where she was asked, she was happy to teach clients how to make coffee and interacted with them every day.
“One of my managers said to me that is something I should get more involved in, if I want to, so that is why I am doing the two-year diploma course at Federation TAFE in Ballarat. It is quite a big workload, because I am working as well, but I have been able to manage everything so far and get the sleep I need. But I need to stay on top of that. I can see that it could become quite a lot.”
Rose said she encouraged other school leavers to look at the many different avenues they can use to find their way into their career choices.
“Some of my colleagues got into it through just supporting people that they actually knew in their life and that got them into the industry. Everyone gets into things differently and whatever kind of thing someone’s interested in there’s always alternative pathways that can be more suited to your lifestyle and how you are able to learn and adapt.”
Rose said while Cooked was a community for its clients, it was also a community for its employees.
“It’s a real community hub for the clients, the workers and the public, that’s full of supportive people who are inclusive and I’ve felt that myself and it’s been something that has been a steady thing in my life for a couple of years now – people I can turn to for advice.”
Rose said when she graduates she wants to keep working with Cooked and Pathway Essentials and then possibly go into case management and a role where she can make a real difference in the care industry.“There’s a lot of people who slip through the cracks and while you can’t help everybody you want to do your best and have the power to be able to help people who aren’t really heard as much.”