Celebrating 20 years of Bounce

I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that Bounce is twenty!

If you’d told me back in ’06 when I was sitting in my lounge room feeling completely lost, “Don’t worry, Maria, you’re about to create business that will last 20 years”, there’s no way I would have believed you.

The old cliché ‘Time flies when you’re having fun’ couldn’t be more accurate.

The Bounce story is full of ups and downs, twists and turns, tears and belly laughs.

So grab a cuppa (or a box of popcorn), settle in and let me tell you a story…

Bounce wasn’t born in a boardroom.

And it definitely didn’t start with a clear strategy, a marketing plan, or even a decent logo (we’ll get to that later!).

It started with a moment. A nudge if you will…

The moment everything changed

When I moved to the USA as a teenager, I was chasing a completely different dream – I wanted to become an actor!

I had plenty of different jobs while trying to make my way in Hollywood, including sales, HR and training & development. It turns out, I was pretty good at this type of work, but the dream of being on the silver screen was still calling me.

One night, I was at a party in LA, and something in me shifted.

It was during a conversation with a celebrity who asked me a question: “Why are you here, Maria?”

I responded confidently with “I want to inspire people.”

His response stopped me in my tracks. And just like that, everything changed.

The truth is that my purpose has never changed. It was always about inspiring people and making a difference. I just thought it would be through movies and theatre!

This chance encounter and message encouraged me to change my path. So, I came home to Maryborough. My small hometown in country Victoria, to be closer to family and friends.

With new baby Lucas as my motivation and inspiration, I started with a vision and a whole lot of courage.

And that’s where the idea for Bounce began.

QUESTION…

Which Hollywood actor gave me the nudge to rethink my path?

George Clooney
Jim Carey
Tim Allen
Patrick Dempsey

2006: First steps

My launch into small business wasn’t glamorous. Knowing that the community I lived in had one of the highest unemployment rates in Victoria, and with my skills in training, NLP, and emotional intelligence, I thought I could help people find jobs locally.

I accessed funding through the National Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS) program to start Bounce Consulting Pty. Ltd.

My first program took place in Maryborough with a local employment provider. A small training room with sixteen participants. It was a moment of excitement and fear – it was all or nothing!

And that’s when The Bounce Program™ was born.

QUESTION…

Where did the idea for Bounce actually come from?

Acting classes
A conversation with a school friend
Jumping on a trampoline
A netball training drill

Growth (and saying yes before you’re ready)

That first program changed everything. The people in the program raved about it, and the employment provider said, “When can we book another one?”

Programs became a regular feature for local people around the Maryborough area, and I was so energised by watching their transformation. From long-term unemployment to positive employment outcomes, I could see the impact I could have on people!

Then came Nettie.

I first met her in one of my Bounce Programs. She wasn’t keen to be there. In fact, she hardly made eye contact with me in the first few days and told me the program was lame. But she turned up every day. And by the end of the six weeks, I could see a light had been ignited inside her.

When we finished the program, I said my goodbyes and wished them all luck with their job searches.

Shortly after, Nettie reached out to me.

She didn’t send me a letter or her resume. She just showed up at my door and said, “You told me in the program to chase my dreams. Well, my dream is to work for you.”

QUESTION…

What was Nettie’s first “official” task at Bounce?

Website design
Filing paperwork
Social media
Landscaping the yard

I wasn’t really looking to employ anyone, but how could I say no? Nettie had shown initiative and tenacity – two traits I highly value. So, despite her consultant’s doubts about her suitability, I gave her a chance, and we’ve never looked back!

From those early days, Nettie has gone on to build websites, shape systems, and become a core part of how Bounce operates today. I could see her potential from the beginning, and to this day, she knows just as much about Bounce as I do.

2008: Meeting the demand

By 2008, the demand for the Bounce Program™ was so high that I couldn’t keep up with the bookings. Knowing I couldn’t clone myself, I decided to try the next best thing – train people to deliver on my behalf.

The Bounce Train-the-Trainer program evolved through trial and error, but it wasn’t long before employment providers across Victoria were booking Bounce Programs, and I was sending trainers all over to deliver the content.

It was also clear I needed more support to run the ‘business’ side of things, so adding more people to the team was on the cards.

2013: Invited to the White House

The Bounce Program™ was going from strength to strength, and we were now working with Community Colleges and RTO’s to meet the requirements for program funding.

I had a contact in the USA who was keen to explore opportunities to bring the Bounce Program™ into career centres and community colleges. In 2013, an invitation from the Obama Administration to visit the White House and discuss the Bounce Program™ arrived. I met with Todd Park, US Chief Technology Officer of Science and Technology Policy, and we discussed how the program could be trialled.

In 2014, a pilot program was launched to train a team of trainers to deliver the Bounce Program™ to 100 young people aged 17 to 25.

The program was a huge success, and as a result, the Worcester Career Centre, in Boston, MA, licensed the Bounce Program™ and continues to deliver it to this day.

After this early success, licences expanded into other organisations, including Quinsigamond Community College and Volunteers of America.

QUESTION…

When Kelly and I travelled to the USA, which “staff member” went with us… in a slightly unconventional way?

Matt
Nettie
Lachy
Leanne

2014: Bold ideas (and a few experiments)

Meanwhile, back in Australia, the team was growing rapidly, and new opportunities to branch out with even greater impact were on the table.

Kelly Mason had been working at Tracy the Placement People, and I knew her well as a site manager (they booked lots of Bounce Programs). As the business was expanding, I was looking for someone to help lead business growth, and Kelly seemed like a great fit! She agreed with gusto, and 12 years later, she’s transitioned into the role of CEO, running Bounce as if it were her own business! She’s my right hand in every way, and I’m so grateful she took a leap of faith and joined the team.

While the Bounce Program was spreading rapidly, I was motivated to expand it to support women looking to return to work or pivot in their careers. We set to work on building an online version of the Bounce Program for women, with tailored content and activities to help them explore their employment options.

QUESTION…

What was the name of that program?

Destination Career
Your Career is Calling
Career Change Happens
The Career Reset

In 2016, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of Bounce. While most small businesses in Australia survive only 4-5 years, here we were celebrating 10 incredible years and growing our business in Maryborough. We moved to our new premises on Sutton Road, and the move proved so valuable for the team.

At the same time, a man had just finished the Bounce Program™ in the north-east suburbs of Melbourne. Chris Young was a single dad and struggling to find work. His experience with Trainer Jacqui was quite literally transformative. Chris loved the Bounce Program™ so much that he applied for a position as a new business developer. Chris has just celebrated 10 years with Bounce, and we are so grateful to have him on the team!

Not long after, I received a call from a lady in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand. Jodie Hamilton ran a social enterprise called LIFT and was looking for a program to help young people in the area feel more confident about finding work. The Bounce Program™ was a perfect fit! I headed across to the North Island not long after to train their trainers, and LIFT continues to license the Bounce Program™ to this day!

2018: Proving it works

After almost 12 years of creating opportunities for change for people facing long-term unemployment, something big happened. We were asked to prove it.

An Australian Government research trial put the Bounce Program™ under the microscope with qualitative and quantitative evaluation to be undertaken over 18 months. It was the opportunity we’d waited for – to have the program’s success validated by science.

And the results?

Crystal clear. The program was found to improve job seekers’ psychological work-readiness by enhancing self-esteem, resilience, and life satisfaction. Not that we needed proof to believe in it. But it felt incredible to have the evidence all the same!

With all this new momentum and the need to shout the trial results from the rooftops, I suggested to Kelly that we look to expand the team and find a marketing person. Donna Wardlaw was a Director of the Community Bank Board that I was Chair of at the time, and she ran her own marketing consultancy. We asked her if she’d work a couple of days a week, and she didn’t hesitate! Seven years later, Donna is a key part of Bounce’s storytelling, and we love her tenacity and ‘can-do’ attitude.

2020: The pivot (you knew this part was coming)

When COVID hit in March 2020, everything stopped. All our programs were cancelled. The office was deserted. And the plans we had to trial a new program for job coaches went right out the window.

We had to pivot hard and fast!

The only option we had was to take The Bounce Program™ online. We’d created some online training content in the past (with CCH), so we had a pretty good idea of what was needed. With the help of a film editor, I recorded all our training content on audio, and we built the entire program into an online learning platform.

What initially felt like a massive, life-altering disruption suddenly turned into an opportunity.

We weren’t limited by location. We could reach anyone. Anywhere. Anytime…and the possibilities became endless!

FUN FACT CHECK…

How many versions of the Bounce logo have there been?

Four
Six
Seven
Eight

Let’s just say… we’ve evolved 😄

If COVID taught us anything, it was that agility and flexibility are Bounce’s superpowers. We leaned in when it got hard, and we didn’t shy away from hard conversations and difficult decisions.

In fact, it strengthened us in ways we didn’t anticipate as a team. Following the Bounce Program’s move online, we went on to create Job Coach Certification, Coaching Skills for Leaders, Prepare2Coach and Inspiring Resilience.

All these online programs have helped us scale and expand our reach across the globe. With so many new training programs underway and my travel schedule fully recovered from lockdowns, it was clear we needed some help! My long-time friend, Lisa Stone, joined the team in 2023 as our Executive Assistant, and she runs an incredibly organised ship (just what I need!)

We released a white paper in 2024 following the completion of my Master’s of Applied Positive Psychology, and this year I applied the learnings from my research to write a new book, Building Resilient Pathways: A Guide for Job Coaches.

2026: 20 years in

Here’s what that journey looks like:

5,000+ programs delivered
30,000+ people impacted
98% recommendation rate
75-star average ratings across all our programs

Not bad for something that started in a small training room in Maryborough, Victoria!

We welcomed our newest team member, Jimmy Black, in February this year, bringing the full team complement to seven. I love working with this incredible group of people. They are more than my colleagues, they are part of my family, and I have immense love and gratitude for them!

Final bonus question…

How many books have I written over the years?