Aboriginal social worker, AMHSW, and MAICD board director Yaleela Torrens joins Anton Guinea to explore how influence, culture, parenting, and leadership intersect in Gladstone, Queensland. She shares her journey from growing up extremely poor and watching her grandmother attend university as a mature-age student to building a social work practice grounded in Aboriginal identity, responsibility, and respect. Yaleela explains why helping professions face burnout and staffing challenges, how giving birth in Country and naming her daughter Ginaby (black swan) express cultural continuity, and why she believes leadership starts at home. She unpacks her decision to step down from two boards to prioritize parenting, the role of deep work in making better decisions, the impact of joining the Australian Institute of Company Directors (MAICD) on her governance and network, and her leadership mantra: “The standard you walk past is the standard you accept.