Mackay’s rising stars under 30 revealed
VOTE NOW: Which young gun under 30 is having the biggest influence in Mackay? See the list and take the poll.
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From footballers and musicians to lawyers and business owners – Mackay’s youngest guns are leaving their mark on the region thanks to a combination of hunger for more, ability to innovate and willingness to take the plunge.
The Daily Mercury has compiled a list of 30 of some of the most impressive community members under 30 years who are wielding their influence on our region.
It comes after the masthead last year revealed 50 of the most powerful people of all ages.
Find out who they are and scroll to the bottom of the list to tell us who do you believe is having the biggest influence on the region despite – or maybe because of – their young age.
And feel free to tell us who we missed that you think should have been on this list.
Here are our contenders in no particular order:
Sean Gibbs
Sean Gibbs was accustomed to representing his state in hockey during his teenage years and has since taken quickly to representing clients in the courtroom.
After only three years since he was admitted, the young defence solicitor is quickly proving himself in the region’s courts as an articulate and composed lawyer.
The former St Patricks College OP2 student formed an interest in criminal law while studying a Bachelor of Laws at the Queensland University of Technology.
The born and bred Mackay local finished his degree in 2018 and began work as a legal clerk at first-tier criminal defence firm Fisher Dore’s Mackay branch.
Mr Gibbs was admitted as a solicitor in 2019 and is now a regular face at Mackay’s Magistrates, District and Supreme Court, even travelling to Moranbah to represent his clients.
During his younger years, his accolades included: sports committee chairman, student representative council hockey team, Pierre de Coubertin Award, Caltex All Rounder Academic Effort and Excellence, Subject Award for Physical Education.
Georgia Knoll
At just 29, Georgia Knoll has been a model, actor, dancer and most recently, Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food ambassador.
Ms Knoll had her first taste of influence in Mackay District Special School where she served her peers as vice-captain, but launched to fame in 2016 after photobombing a TV segment at Caneland Central.
In the segment of 7 Local News Mackay’s ‘Street Talk’ with Scott Linden, an excited Georgia Knoll walked past the camera before turning back to stand behind Mr Linden.
She waved and smiled at the camera before patting down her hair and smoothing her eyebrows.
7 Local News Mackay posted the footage on its Facebook page and within 24 hours the video had been viewed more than 800,000 times and shared more than 8000 times.
National media picked it up the next day.
In the same year, Georgia was invited, as a special guest model, to the Multicap’s FashionAble event in Brisbane — a runway event celebrating ability and diversity.
The social media star has wasted no time in using her fame for good, regularly promoting, participating and attending Mackay’s Crossroad Arts Inc events.
Most recently the 29 year old has taken on the role Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food ambassador in a bid to inspire the world to take charge of their health, both physical and mental.
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Emmett Withers
At just five years of age, Emmett Withers already knew his calling.
Emmett began collecting pet food to ensure Mackay’s fostered animals wouldn’t go hungry, an endeavour he turned into a non-for-profit charity when he was only 11 years old.
In the following seven years, Emmett4Animals has donated tonnes of food supplies to animal foster carers along with other necessities such as bedding and medicine.
The teenager was recognised for his efforts in 2021, receiving Mackay’s Young Citizen of the Year award and a Secondary Schools Citizenship Award from The Order of Australia Association’s Queensland Branch.
But throughout his organisation’s success, Mr Withers has remained ever humble, thanking his family, team and supporters at every opportunity.
The teenager was last heard wanting to pursue a career in law where he could better protect both animals, the environment and others in the community.
Ellie Davis
A lot of people will spend their whole lives trying to figure out who they are, but nine-year-old Ellie Davis has already found and fought for her rightful place she deserves in the world.
Simply by being herself, Ellie is inspiring her regional community of Mackay to be a more accepting place.
Young Ellie’s birth certificate was marked with an M, but as she grew she proved to her family and friends what made her happy and in peace were more than just barbies and pink dresses.
She began transitioning in December 2020 with the support of her mother Sacha Davis.
The pair are a beloved duo in the region’s LGBTQI+ community and beyond.
Alana Gee
Alana Gee shoulders more than just her player responsibilities on the oval.
She unknowingly – and unofficially – bears the responsibility of growing AFL in rugby heartland, and is an inspirational role model for all young girls beyond the code.
The Gold Coast Suns recognised more than Gee’s playing ability, and in 2022 used its first round selection to secure the 18 year old in the yellow and red.
Graduating school in 2021 and currently studying secondary teaching, Gee moved south from Mackay to the Glitter Strip and has found a new home.
She grew up playing soccer, switched to football when she was 14 and has never looked back.
And it is no mean feat. Mackay, regarded as one of the best rugby league nurseries for the dominant Queensland code, has slowly but warmly embraced the AFL and AFLW.
Gee was named Queensland’s MVP at the 2022 NAB AFLW Under-18 Championships, and she gives as much of her time to the game as she does to promoting career pathways for young girls across all sports – but perhaps with a bias towards her code.
There was much hype about the top 2022 draft pick playing at Harrup Park this month when the Gold Coast Suns play the Saints in the AFLW but she has now been placed on the inactive list for the upcoming season as she recovers from a stress reaction in her back.
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Shaniah Power
If you have your own Wikipedia page then you know you’re onto a good thing.
And Shaniah Power’s own page is littered with her successes in rugby league.
Born in Bowen into a rugby league-mad family, the 25 year old second rower signed with the NRLW’s newest franchise the Gold Coast Titans after a one-year stint with the New Zealand Warriors.
In the 2021 NRLW season, her blistering run to the try line to score just outside the posts earned her the Dally M try of the year.
An incredible feat on its own and a testament to the foundations she enjoyed playing across the Whitsundays as a youngster before entering the big leagues, including NRLW State of Origin.
Channelling the passion her family has for the sport, Power has been a big supporter of the women’s league and has exposed player pathways for the region’s youngsters.
Power lined up for the Indigenous women’s side in 2022, alongside Titans teammate Jasmine Peters.
Jasmine Peters
From Gold Stars to the Gold Coast Suns, very little can stop Jasmine Peters.
In fact, nothing has so far. The 20 year old has earned her fair share of monikers and descriptors in her short but promising playing career.
Making her debut with the newly minted Gold Coast Titans Womens in 2022, Peters’ good form and passion for the game is balanced by her skill with the ball – four tries from five appearances chief among the records.
Peters debuted for the Indigenous women’s side in 2021 and backed it up this year, a match she says is close to her heart as it represents her mother’s culture of the Budu Islands.
Growing up in a footy-mad house – her father Marco Peters a man synonymous with football across Mackay and North Queensland – Peters is an admirable role model for emerging players and is helping to build the NRLW profile across Australia.
Tom Dearden
Anyone who says they don’t know who Tom Dearden is by now needs to hire an excavator to get out from under the rock.
The Cowboys halfback has had a blistering year in Townsville but his prowess under immense pressure in the Origin decider has cemented his name in any under-30 players to watch list.
The 21 year old was rewarded for his breakout season when he won the Players’ Player of the Year award and the Cowboys’ Way Award.
He scored eight tries this campaign and set up a further 15 tries. He also earned a debut for the Maroons, starring in the Game Three decider as Queensland defeated New South Wales at Suncorp Stadium.
Dearden demonstrated his toughness, playing for 60 minutes of the game against the Warriors in round 24 with a ruptured testicle. He returned to play after missing just a week following surgery.
The proud Mackay product who played with Brothers made his NRL debut with the Broncos in 2019.
He was a Cowboys’ Mackay Academy member as a teen and a Cutters’ Under-16 starter in 2016.
The then 15-year-old was also chosen in the Australian Schoolboys Under-15 team after impressing at the Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League Under-15 Championships.
He later moved to the Gold Coast and has soared since, but has remained loyal to his regional roots, giving back to his club when his playing schedule allows.
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Madeleine Connors
A passionate businesswoman who is now drawing on her expertise to help shape and drive the Mackay commerce sector, Madeleine Connors is someone who might just have the answers you need.
The 29 year old sits on the Mackay Region Chamber of Commerce committee where her business acumen really comes to the fore.
Having grown up in Mackay, Mrs Connors has an enviable social and business network that weaves through the city, and the qualifications to back up her drive and ambition.
Her Bachelor of Accounting has been put to good use in her various professional roles including five years with Flor-Hanly and then Launch Accounting, but most recently in what has become the family business at NE Foods as the commercial manager.
Its better known brands include The Dispensary and Byrnes but also encompasses the company’s other catering and hospitality enterprises.
Her chamber profile says Mrs Connors has been involved in acquisitions, purchases and sales, and the day-to-day operations on whatever is needed.
Reuben Cotter
Move over Wendell Sailor, there’s another Croc chomping at your heels putting Sarina on the map.
Reuben Cotter is a young man who will never admit or concede defeat. Not geography, and certainly not injury setbacks.
The former Sarina Crocs star has signed a three-year extension to his NQ Cowboys contract that will keep him there until the end of 2025 where his determination will get him off the sidelines and back on the ball.
His debut for Queensland in Origin 2022 ended after the first game but he left his mark, one of a handful of former Mackay region players to edge the maroons over to the win.
Less than a week later, he announced the birth of his first child — daughter Sunny James — another achievement to add to the list.
Well-regarded and loyal to his roots, Cotter regularly gives back to his junior club, signing for young fans and supporting the Crocs at its home games when his schedule allows.
And it’s not just his talent but all-round persona that is inspiring the little leagues.
Crocs president Rick Goode says Cotter has “never forgotten where he came from” and the 23 year old returned home for the club’s presentation night and made a point of meeting Sarina kids in Townsville when they played in the north.
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Rainee Shepperson
Rainee Shepperson is the poster child for a small-town girl done good, but sticking local.
Her Sarina roots are a source of pride for the emerging industry leader, and she never hesitates to let anyone know where she came from.
While anything but humble about her hometown, Ms Shepperson is more conservative about her own successes, which are swiftly adding up to an impressive list.
She was Dux of Sarina State High School before completing her dual degree at CQ University in Mackay.
She took up journalism with the Daily Mercury before joining Mackay Tourism and dramatically overhauling its social media and marketing potential.
She made another shift to the private sector to Field Mining Services where she was recently on stage at the Resource Industry Network Awards speaking after the company won the 2022 Champion Culture Award.
As the marketing and communications coordinator, based in Paget, she oversees the marketing and communications efforts for the group in Central Queensland, Western Australia and Papua New Guinea.
In 2022, she joined the Community Bank Sarina Board of Directors and began studying an MBA through Australian Institute of Business.
She also began her own company, Rainee Day Creatives while in her early 20s.
A big advocate for her region, Ms Shepperson is a rising leader in the region’s business community.
William Deeley
An all-rounder with achievements in sport, music and public speaking, William Deeley already possesses an exceptional track-record of community service.
His personal qualities of devotion and dedication to all he pursues, his fun-loving nature and zest for life, make him an inspiration to young and old alike.
William’s academic and community service achievements are even more remarkable given the extra responsibilities he has taken on in response to long-term chronic illness in his immediate family.
In his final year of schooling at Whitsunday Anglican, Mr Deeley was school captain and the third highest ATAR graduate for 2021.
Before receiving his final ATAR score, Mr Deeley had already secured a scholarship to be resident at Cromwell College at the University of Queensland this year and was chosen as the Whitsunday Anglican School nominee for the T J Ryan scholarship of the Education Department of the State Government of Queensland.
He has made considerable achievements in community service, including the coaching of junior soccer teams in 2016-2021, a volunteer for Cricket4Every1 to provide sport for students at Mackay District Special School, Lions Youth of the Year Overall and Public Speaking Winner – Mackay Region (Q2 Zone 10) and Lions Youth of the Year Public Speaking Winner – North Queensland (Q2 District), and as a volunteer for Mackay SONY Children’s Holiday Camp.
Mr Deeley was named the Mackay Young Citizen of the Year at the 2022 Australia Day gala dinner.
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Nicole Pillhofer
Nicole Pillhofer’s voice has rung out from many a stage, domestically and abroad.
The Soprano singer has extensive performance experience in her own backyard of the Mackay region, but at just 25, has toured New Zealand and the US.
As Covid began to hit the world, Ms Pillhofer was forced to cancel her first professional performance in Malaysia in 2020 but she has not sat idly by.
As an emerging artist, Ms Pillhofer has focused her repertoire of the Baroque, Classical and Romantic periods and extended that range into contemporary classical art song, specialising in Australian composition.
Now in the final stages of completing her degree in Classical Voice at the Central Queensland Conservatorium of Music, she hopes to move to Italy later this year and reschedule her international performances cancelled because of Covid.
Ms Pillhofer has earned her ilk in recent years competing – where possible – in vocal competitions and receiving several awards including the 2022 North Queensland Operatic Aria Content and was also awarded the Most Pleasing Classical Voice.
She was the soprano soloist for Vivaldi’s Gloria with the Mackay Choral Society in 2019, played the lead in MCS’s 2021 production of Trial By Jury, and in 2022 was the featured soloist with Camerata – Queensland’s Chamber Orchestra.
She has also worked with The Culture Exchange on its production in Mackay in 2022.
Tori Day
Tori Day embodies the modern Aussie ethos backing others and doing it the best they can.
From a foundation business she began at just 17, Tori has developed a culture that fosters commerce, collaboration and community.
The Bohemian Elyse enterprise is multifaceted. All from the shop on Sydney St in Mackay, it is more than the unique gift store and cafe but a retailer and base for multiple small local businesses.
And it takes it further, holding markets and inviting stallholders to sell their wares and support small business.
Tori, recently married, says her late grandmother who owned a shop in Gladstone inspired her and it appears she has taken on some life lessons.
The now 24 year old started her first business – making candles – in 2015 and has grown it into an employer and supporter of other retailers.
In 2021, through the Back to Work support program, she was able to hire two employees to help build the business.
The store celebrated its grand reopening in June.
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Aaron Kleier
It’s the bulls, the blood, the dust and the mud. And it’s Aaron Kleier that is drawing the roar of the Saturday night crowd.
When rodeo rolls in, Kleier is never far behind it – and it doesn’t matter what arena it is.
The professional bull rider, who spends his days working the family property west of Clermont, made history with four back-to-back Australian PBR Champion titles – 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021.
The 24 year old chased his dream overseas but when Covid hit in 2020, he was forced to come back to Australia but he hasn’t let his grip fade.
By July 15, he sat 55th in the PBR Australia world rankings with a 90-point ride in Mount Isa in June earning him a pretty $2800 prize and first place.
He had earned $261,000 in his career that includes 190 rides and two 90-point rides.
The four-time Australian champion inched closer to his unprecedented fifth consecutive national title last month after winning the Touring Pro Division’s PBR Bull Pit Bull Bash at Bloomsbury to further his stronghold on the No. 1 rank in the nation.
Isaac Regional Council Mayor Anne Baker, in awarding Kleier the Young Citizen of the Year award in 2022, said he was a worthy recipient.
Declan Coull
Most kids fall in love with a sport or a hobby at a young age, and it is that obsession that forges a dream for a career path.
For Declan Coull, tinkering with go-karts and buzzing around tracks at eight years old fired the engine for a passion for motorsports.
The 18 year old from the Whitsunday region is now a Formula 3 driver, competing around Australia and trying to impress international racing teams.
But the success Coull has experienced on the track falls short of his success off it, with the racer this week awarded the Whitsundays Young Citizen of the Year in 2022 for his service to the community.
Coull said his work as a defensive driving instructor with Safe Drive Training was some of the most rewarding in his career to date.
“It’s amazing to be able to represent the Whitsunday region and Central Queensland on the national stage, but also highlighting how important road safety is,” he said.
When he is not racing across Australia, Coull spends his time between Brisbane and Bowen, teaching young drivers how to cope with the dangers on the roads.
He said he was able to increase his work in the community after the Australian F3 season was cancelled in 2021.
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Bella Mackenzie
Self taught and onto some of Australian country music’s biggest stages for emerging artists, Bella Mackenzie is on her way to the top.
The Year 12 student based in Mackay but who claims Moranbah as her hometown has the full kit for an artist: singing, songwriting, and an incredible ability to learn music.
The 17 year old is lauded in the industry as a name to watch.
She taught herself to play guitar via YouTube videos having grown up watching live music at the hotel her parents ran in Moranbah, and has deftly turned her skills towards making it a career.
She performed on stage with Kasey Chambers when she pulled her from the crowd after seeing the teen cover her hit The Captain.
Fast-forward a few years and Mackenzie is striking a chord as a contemporary country-pop artist, winning the KIX-Start competition in 2021 and opening for Groundwater festival headliners including Troy Cassar-Daley, Sara Storer and Graeme Connors.
Bella is also a brand ambassador for Wrangler, Bullzeye, Pure Western, Thomas Cook, and Twisted X, and ZALA Hair Extensions.
18. Charli Bliss
Charli Bliss is a 16-year-old Torres Strait Islander, born and bred in Mackay, who is extremely proud of her heritage, culture and community.
This year she was awarded the Art and Culture Award at Mackay’s Australia Day Awards.
With a strength drawing and painting on canvas, she has completed Indigenous artwork for several community-controlled organisations, sporting organisations and school/s on a voluntary basis to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures are acknowledged and recognised.
Having recently completed Year 10 at Mercy College Mackay, Charli creates painting or digital art in her spare time after school and sporting commitments.
One of her most recent achievements includes contributing towards the newly designed Queensland Hockey Representative Playing uniform endorsed by Hockey Queensland.
She was in the Under-13 girls state representative team in 2018.
That same year, her painting was immortalised on the Cutters special Indigenous round jersey.
Charli is also currently working on a painting for McDonalds Mackay to auction at the next Ronald McDonald House Charity to raise funds for the Mackay RHM.
Through her generosity and dedication in giving back to her local community, she is proud to be able to share Indigenous culture to a diverse range of organisations within Mackay.
To gain a better appreciation and understanding of another culture, Charli reflects upon her own culture and what it means to be an individual from the Mackay community.
With this level of self-awareness, it is appropriate that she explores the traditions, history, and challenges of another culture, embraces them and shares them through her artwork so others are also educated and encouraged to embrace the Aboriginal and Torres Strait landscape that exists within the Mackay Community.
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Karla Grobler
Karla Grobler is an all-star athlete, achieving goals on and off the netball court.
Not only does she play netball at a school, club and representative level, but she also volunteers extensive time coaching an U14s team and umpires almost every week, all while achieving great results in her schoolwork.
Karla is well-respected within her teams and shows great determination in everything she does.
In 2021 she played in Division 1 Seniors and was a Development Player in the Premier League.
She was named junior female athlete of the year at Magpies awards night that same year.
Karla was also a member of the winning Northern Netball League’s U17s team which competed against other regional teams. She was selected in the Mendi Rays U16s Southern team as a result and travelled to the State Titles competition in Brisbane in late September.
When she’s not playing netball, Karla is umpiring netball. In 2021, she achieved her National C Badge in umpiring and travelled with Mackay Netball Association to carnivals in her umpiring role.
Last year Karla was also able to finesse her coaching skills after achieving a Foundation Coaching Accreditation at the start of the season.
She took on the role of coach of the Magpies 14A team, where she helped develop her team members’ skills.
This year she received the Young Sports Award in Mackay’s Australia Day awards.
All this success is delivered by someone only two years older than the girls she coached.
Happenings Co: Deekan Durbridge, Jordan Mules, Sam Riley, Sam Larsen, Jai Muscat and Cameron Holmes
These are the party boys, and given the tsunami they made in January, they’re well on their way to riding big waves.
Deekan Durbridge and Jordan Mules are the two founding members of Happenings Co, an enterprising start up that looked outside the box to give Mackay a good time.
Theirs was a controversial start to 2022 – a bush doof in Mirani that drew hundreds of young revellers to a paddock for a night of live DJ music, miles from the CBD.
And some of those city traders were not impressed but the 350 people out in the proverbial sticks proved the lads were onto something.
Since then, and as Covid has eased, Mr Durbridge and Mr Miles – along with Sam Riley, Sam Larsen, Jai Muscat and Cameron Holmes – have set about building their party businesses.
“Watch Happenings crew restore night-life in Mackay one set at a time,” was their February call to arms to young revellers.
And since then it has been an amped-up techno ride.
These lads – still in their teens – bill themselves as party planners and event organisers, and if the 380 people in a random paddock is any indication, they’re onto something.
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Ben Colvin
Ben Colvin, 29, has been instrumental in diversifying Prochem Group’s service offering, building a leading heavy and light mechanical service division at their Paget workshop.
Prochem Group of Companies is comprised of several business units that service the mining resources sector, transport needs, mechanical repair, hydraulic and pneumatic systems, auto electrical, local government and more.
Ben, who has worked his way up to general manager of his father John’s company, looked for opportunities to grow the business and diversify.
His father says his son’s love of trucks gave them an advantage over other businesses and helped drive their success.
Ben, who has been in the GM role for almost two years, was named a finalist in the Standing Out from the Crowd category at the 2022 Resource Industry Network awards.
In 2020, he was also elected onto the Queensland Trucking Association board.
Tom Stolberg
Tom Stolberg’s entrepreneurial drive began when he launched his first business Boaties Bait at age 12, upcycling two-and-a-half tonnes of seafood restaurant discards into fishing bait for local anglers.
By age 17, he had already been to Silicon Valley twice and he had started his own business Make it Now using recycled plastic for large scale 3D printing.
He has produced everything from guards to scale models for local and global companies like BHP and Glencore.
In 2018, he out-pitched older rivals to win Advance Queensland’s Young Starters’ Competition using the idea.
The same year he went to the Myriad Festival in the United States and was named in the Courier Mail’s top 20 up and coming entrepreneurs list.
His first commission was to create a rapid prototyping and hacking space at Mackay innovation hub Split Spaces.
He has printed a variety of parts for machinery ranging from race cars to underground mining through Make it Now.
In 2020, the medical industry approached him to make PPE face masks for Mackay region GPs, dentists and specialist.
Rapid Manufacturing has now superseded Make it Now – with this new iteration designed to enable rapid development of innovative ideas into real products cost-effectively.
Now 19, he has owned and operated three businesses, and is now at CQUniversity studying mechatronics, robotics and automation engineering until 2024.
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Skye Vaughan
Hard work and lots of training are two of the key ingredients behind the recent success of a talented young rising star in the Mackay sports scene who has her eye on the 2032 Olympics.
At just age 13, Skye Vaughan will compete at national championship events for both basketball and hockey.
Skye, who plays hockey for Norths Hockey Club, started playing the sport when she was five years old.
She also began playing basketball for Mackay Meteorettes in 2019.
After a strong season this year, the U14 Mackay Meteorettes finished second at the Basketball Queensland U14 Girls State Championships. The Meteorettes lost to Brisbane’s Southern Districts Spartans 45-70.
But the team qualified for the Basketball Australia U14 Club National Championships in Sydney from September 25–30.
Skye will also represent Queensland in the 2022 Hockey Australia U13 Carnival in Hobart from September 28 to October 4.
She will leave the basketball national championships early to make the national hockey event.
She also made her A Grade debut for Norths Hockey Club this year and was named in the top 10 senior hockey players for grade A3.
Brayden Foxley-Conolly
After eight years of hard labour, a rising para-athlete has been selected to represent Australia in Thailand in Under-23 wheelchair basketball.
Brayden Foxley-Conolly, who was struck with meningococcal disease when he was 22 months old, is one step closer to a larger dream to represent Australia as a Paralympian in Paris in 2024 and Brisbane in 2032.
The West Mackay 18-year-old will spend 18 days in Thailand, as part of a 12-person squad Basketball Australia has organised.
Brayden lost his right hand, left thumb, one or two joints from each left finger, his left leg at the knee and three toes from the right foot when he contracted meningococcal — he had to learn to walk again.
In the past six years of playing wheelchair basketball, he has won a silver medal in the Australian Junior Nationals in 2017, and has played in state championships twice.
But representing Australia will be his proudest achievement yet – for him and his mother Amanda.
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Brady Craig
A business and life coach, Brady Craig promotes personal growth and relationships among young professionals.
The Mackay mind architect works with business owners, aiming to help them bridge the gap between where they are and where they want to be.
He has worked with a large variety of clients ranging from teens, athletes, parents and business owners.
His influential work has helped bolster, grow and develop businesses across Mackay and beyond.
From personal to group coaching, Brady has also played a role in shaping some of the region’s emerging leaders.
His curiosity in well-being, psychology, performance and business began at a young age as he started studying the likes of Tony Robbins, Ray Dalio and Richard Branson.
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Krystopher Gakowski
Holy Spirit College Year 11 student Krystopher Gakowski was this year selected to represent Queensland’s Youth Parliament.
He has been a fierce advocator for regional Queensland, seeking to show his city counterparts the disparity outside south-east Queensland through his committee work with other youth parliamentarians.
They have been putting together a bill for the Justice and Legal Affairs portfolio.
Krys has also filled in for Mackay MP Julieanne Gilbert at events as he shows he will one day be an influential leader in this city.
The youngster, whose dad died in 2015 after a hard-fought battle with a rare stomach cancer, was named patron of the 2016 Relay for Life event at age 10 alongside his mother Suzanne, and twin brothers Matthew and Lukas, then nine.
In Year 7, Krys’s debating team at Holy Spirit College Mackay made the semi-finals in the Mackay Interschool Debating Competition.
Despite still finishing secondary school, he has already begun doing subjects for a law degree at Central Queensland University.
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Katie Duncan
A talented up and coming business lawyer at McKays Solicitors, Katie Duncan is already showing she is ready to ensure Mackay prospers.
The 26-year-old commercial solicitor — who grew up on acreage in the Pioneer Valley — works with a range of clients from industries such as rural, mining, retail and professional services.
Acutely aware of the challenges facing small to medium businesses in the region, especially with the ever-changing laws and Covid impacts, she has been able to use her skills for the greater good as a committee member for the Mackay Region Chamber of Commerce.
Katie is also active within Mackay’s Young Professionals networking group and is a member of the Queensland Law Society.
Kiara Watkin
Kiara Watkin has appeared in TV shows like Neighbours, The Doctor Blake Mysteries and represented Australia in London at Top Model Worldwide.
But the highlight so far for the Mackay 28 year old, who has more than 20 years of dance experience, has been performing at theme parks across Asia including Genting Skyworlds, Legoland Malaysia and working on Bollywood music videos and movies in India.
As a youngster she competed successfully in competitions around Australia and New Zealand after studying all genres of performing arts including classical ballet, tap, modern jazz, contemporary, hip hop, acrobatics, speech and drama, music theatre and voice.
Kiara has attained her Advanced Diploma in Dance and her Diploma in Music Theatre.
She has her Certificate IV in Pilates and Fitness and is a qualified personal trainer and reformer Pilates instructor.
Now a devoted Xtend Barre and Pilates instructor, she passes on her passion for health and fitness through her clients.
She is also a devoted dance adjudicator, judging eisteddfods all across Australia since 2018, as well as teaching and choreographing dance. She returned to Mackay during the coronavirus lockdowns and shared her worldly knowledge with younger students at her mother’s dance school — Leisa Payne School of Dance.
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Zoe McLellan
A new star is rising in the Mackay music scene, with Zoe McLellan’s self-titled debut record reaching number 1 on the iTunes country music charts just hours after release.
The 20-year-old singer-songwriter grew up in Mackay and had never recorded music before winning country musician Kasey Chambers’ The Rabbit Hole Recording Studio Songwriters Competition.
McLellan entered the competition on October 11, 2021, by posting a video of her singing an original song on Instagram and tagging the record studio.
The Rabbit Hole Recording Studio Instagram announced four winners on October 18 in 2021, with McLellan taking out first place.
After growing up in a household where country music was “played religiously”, she described finding out she would get to meet Kasey Chambers and then getting a congratulatory video from Australian music legend Keith Urban as “unbelievable”.
She gained 600 followers on Instagram and had multiple radio stations reach out.
Zoe, who works as a receptionist at Field Mining Services Group in Paget, travelled to the NSW Central Coast to attend Chambers’ songwriting camp in March and then to Tamworth in May to open for Chambers at her Town Hall show.
“After the festival we drove from Tamworth to Central Coast where we recorded the full EP in two days, then drove back to Mackay.”
The Tamworth Town Hall gig was special for several reasons, the first being that McLellan got to debut the five songs that became her record.
Kasey Chambers features on the fourth track, In The Railway, and came out to perform it in Tamworth.
It only took two hours after her EP was released for it to top the iTunes country music charts for the first day.
Days after the EP release, McLellan was able to take her debut live at NQ’s Rock’n Country music festival in Mackay.
There’s little doubt she’s a rising star in the Mackay music scene – she will be one to watch.
Clifford Baker
Joining his father’s business AccuVest in January 2012, Clifford Baker combined full-time employment with full-time tertiary study to attain a Bachelors Degree in Business (Finance).
He also attained other financial planning qualifications, specialist SMSF adviser accreditation and became a graduate member of the Institute of Company Directors.
In addition to financial planning, he shares joint responsibility in the quality assurance and compliance area as well as a special interest in securities and investing.
He soared to managing director of the Mackay company in his 20s taking over from his father Bob Baker a few years ago.
Clifford often flies under the radar but his company deals with big investors – not just in Mackay but many from out of town too.
He’s a quiet achiever but a rising star to watch.
The Daily Mercury will leave the poll open for two weeks and then select our best under 30 rising star who is having a big influence on Mackay based on your votes.
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