Grand Central's customer service team are happy to help

Touch of Toowoomba brings you a scene from the lives of four Toowoomba people each week. Who are they? And what do they love about our great city?

(From left) Leisa Duley, Denise Corr, Mary Egan and Richelle Nash-Kennedy at Grand Central. Picture: Matthew Newton

Touch of Toowoomba brings you a scene from the lives of four Toowoomba people each week. Who are they? And what do they love about our great city?

When: 10am, Wednesday, August 8

Where: Grand Central Customer Service Desk

Mary Egan

I'VE been living in Toowoomba for about 13 years, on and off.

For about three and a half years I was living in the Middle East, working for Emirates as a flight attendant.

I've been back now for a couple of years. I've been working at the Grand Central management office for about 10 months now.

I went to school here in Toowoomba, and grew up in Vanuatu for my earlier years.

I've done a bit of travelling. It's been good, I've been to a lot of countries. And now I'm back in Toowoomba and recently bought a place.

What's one thing I love about Toowoomba? I think it's a good small town and it's a good family town as well. And also lately it's just becoming very trendy and I think it's getting a bit of a mini Melbourne vibe. It's growing into a pretty cool city.

Denise Corr

I'VE been in Toowoomba for four years. I've come from Perth, via Ireland. I was born and bred in Ireland. We emigrated in 1990, so I've spent most of my time in Perth... and we came to Toowoomba four years ago with my partner and my little boy for family reasons - his family were here.

And shortly after that I started at Grand Central. I started on reception, and it was about the time of the development.

I grew up in Dublin.

Growing up, the family always talked about moving to Australia.

And then the economy was really bad, it was before the Celtic Tiger, and mum and dad, they'd lost their jobs they'd had for years and they didn't see any future for us as kids.

They always said, let's do it, let's do it. And eventually when we were in our late teens, they applied, and we got accepted and we settled in Perth because we had some family there already.

So I was in Perth for about 25 years before we moved over here.

What do I love about Toowoomba? I love the people and the community - it's like a small town but it's not. The people still have that community spirit. People say hello to you and they smile and everyone's helpful and that's something I hadn't experienced in a very long time.

Richelle Nash-Kennedy

I USED to be a hairdresser for 30 years and then I decided on something different, so I started at Grand Central three years ago and have been with customer service since then.

Every day's different.

Yes, there's quite a bit crisis-solving as well. There are a lot of issues that pop up in the shopping centre on a daily basis that we certainly deal with. We are the first port of call - they generally call us, and we delegate.

After 30 years as a hairdresser - I just needed something different - I wasn't enjoying it any more.

So I've lived in Toowoomba my whole life except for seven years in Brisbane.

One thing I love about Toowoomba? Most of my family and friends are here and it's not too big, it's quite friendly and there're lots of eateries and it's not too small.

Leisa Duley

I MOVED to Toowoomba about four years ago with my husband and my son - it was for my son to start high school.

We moved from Glenore Grove, which is down between Toowoomba and Ipswich. Before that we were in Sydney. We wanted a decent high school for my son, so we moved up here and he goes to St Josephs.

I started with Grand Central not quite 12 months ago in customer service and before that I was a school officer at a Catholic primary school in Gatton. I love the fact there's so much to do in Toowoomba. The lifestyle is fantastic. There are plenty of things to do like restaurants, we can go to the movies, and I love the shopping.

It was a big culture shock when we first moved from Sydney. I remember driving into Gatton to go shopping on a Sunday and going: It's closed.

As for Toowoomba, I love the atmosphere and everybody is friendly. Working in customer service I find it's a great opportunity to help people and most people are so grateful.

Originally published as Grand Central's customer service team are happy to help