
A deep, personal loss has been one of the driving factors behind a local's passion for helping others achieve their goals.
Uni Hub Port Pirie campus coordinator Kim Gregory has worked all over South Australia in her efforts to help other people.
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From her time in law in the city to working with remote Aboriginal communities, Ms Gregory has always done her best for other people.
But when her daughter, Hayley, passed away in 2011, just shy of her 13th birthday, Ms Gregory's drive to help people doubled.
"Everything I do is around honouring Hayley," she said.
"Now I'm a bit of a crusader for the underdog, which has probably been a theme in my career, but since Hayley, it has been a bit different."
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Ms Gregory said, even though it was home, she found it too hard to stay in Port Broughton and moved to Ceduna for a work opportunity.
There she ran a school attendance program for remote Aboriginal communities and found it surprisingly helpful.
"Working in remote Aboriginal communities was good because I really struggled to be around kids," Ms Gregory said.
"That was necessary for me to be happy around kids again, that was huge."
So when the chance came to help pioneer a new role at Uni Hub Port Pirie, Ms Gregory was ready to take the leap and moved back home to Broughton.
She said it was the kind of developing role she was suited for, and it went perfectly with her love of helping others succeed.
"It started off as that campus coordinator role for Pirie, but it evolved more into nearly being the leader of student support," Ms Gregory said.
"If you have a student who is in bit of a crisis and needs a bit of support, we can contact the head of the course and speak to them.
"But generally they send the student to me and we'll deal with it.
"Up until now, I've probably been involved in most of the new students that have come across all the campuses."
To Ms Gregory, being able to support so many people, whether they are students or the families behind them, has kept her coming back for more.
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"You can make a difference in the lives of students - sometimes that goes a bit broader and it's about families because they don't lose their kids to the city, but you give people an option," she said.
"Whether it be positive or negative, you can provide something that people haven't thought of before and then support them along the way.
"You can be part of a journey, that's the big thing for me and that's the story of my career."
Ms Gregory is also studying a Bachelor of Business while she works with the goal of moving up the Uni Hub chain to better help others through her work.
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