Celebrating our deadly Speech Pathologists! Meet Zoe King

Zoe King is a Bundjalung woman from Casino in the Northern Rivers Region in NSW. She grew up in Casino before moving to Meeanjin (Brisbane) to complete high school and a tertiary education.

Zoe was always congratulated on her ability to work with others, teach them, guide them and was encouraged to pursue a carer in education. At the end of her high school carer when faced with the question of what she would apply for at university, Zoe took all the advice on board and was accepted into a Bachelor of Primary Education. Zoe soon came to realise that while she had a passion for guiding people and helping them achieve, her interest was not in education. Having scoured university catalogues and taken countless profession quiz’s Zoe became fascinated with Speech Pathology as a profession.

Zoe reminisces over her time studying, saying that achievement never came easy to her. She overcame multiple obstacles; family death, injury and illness and supporting herself while studying, and the mentally trying content to finally gain her qualification. Zoe is grateful that her degree did not come easily to her, as it made her appreciate the journey and the personal growth that occurred on the way.

Zoe first became a passionate IAHA member in 2015 while in her second year of a Bachelor of Speech Pathology with Honours at the University of Queensland (UQ), through total divine intervention of picking up a flyer in the Indigenous study space at UQ. Zoe has since graduated from her speech pathology degree, and has worked in a variety of environments. She has found joy and purpose working in the area of language, literacy and assistive communication with a paediatric caseload. Zoe has worked for Education Queensland, private NDIS providers and disability specific services. She has remained connected to IUIH and other Indigenous speech pathologists.

Zoe believes that IAHA provided her some of the most vital, and rich learning during her time at HFTC’s and through their network. She feels that IAHA has provided her with amazing leadership opportunities that helped her grow into a confident young Indigenous healthcare professional.

Michelle Obama once said, “Success isn’t about how much money you make, it’s about the difference you make in people’s lives.” So when choosing your carer path think about what lights your soul on fire and use that to find a way to help your community.”