THE Swan Chamber of Commerce’s first 2025 Hour of Power networking event kicked off with a story of resilience and rediscovery by SLW Transport owners Shane and Leanne Willcox.

Mrs Willcox said she had come from a broken home in a small country town in New Zealand where she found it difficult to integrate at school.

“I hated school – I went to three different high schools from which each one I was asked to leave,” she said.

“The third one I went to I was 14 and that’s where I saw Shane, and I didn’t really know who he was, but I saw him around the school.

“But the day I turned 15, I was asked to leave, much to my mum’s disgust.

“My mum then got me a job as a cleaner at the hospital and that started my working career, then I transitioned in from there, and I started working as a nurse aide.

“And then at 16, I met Shane, and we’d started dating and had gone out for six weeks, and I just thought I’d share this story because this is how incredible my husband is.

“So, about six weeks later, he comes over to my house and he said, ‘Leanne, have you got something to tell me?’

Mrs Willcox said she revealed she was having a baby.

“So, we’d been going out for six weeks, and I was about to have a baby in two weeks,” she said.

“And I said to him, ‘hey, look, I fully understand if you don’t want to see me anymore’, and he turned around and said to me, ‘hey, I love you and I’ll raise this baby with you’.”

Mr Willcox shared his side of the story about also coming from a broken home but finding a sense of purpose in being a provider for his new family.

Mr Willcox wanted to come to Australia to drive trucks and when he moved, he walked to a transport yard to find a job and was able to land a role as a supervisor through volunteering to repair their pallets while unemployed.

He said his vision was to own his own transport company, and by learning the skills of finance, budgeting and management he was able to set the foundation before he bought his truck.

Though there were challenges where the business had seemed to begin falling apart, through mentorship and continuing to learn and letting go of ego, Mr Willcox said the two were able to survive the challenges that came their way.

Mr Willcox said the secret to being together for a long time in both life and business came down to accepting each other for who they were entirely.

“People often ask us what’s the secret to longevity?” he said.

“I am an imperfect husband, she is an imperfect wife and we do our very best to never give up on each other – that’s the secret.”

Mrs Willcox also shared a story about her first time attending the Swan Chamber of Commerce and feeling unsure about going inside, but then the life-changing outcome that moment of courage had for her.

When asked what the key driving Mrs Willcox’s change in self-confidence was, she said the answer was in embracing the uncomfortable.

“I’ve learned to be a confident woman, and I don’t think I was that for a very long time,” she said.

“But I’ve had to learn that’s not going to serve me, it’s not going to serve people and I’ve got to get out.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m still uncomfortable at times but when you’re uncomfortable, that’s where the magic happens.

“I still have to make phone calls, and I have to talk to myself like, ‘just pick up the phone and make the call’, and sometimes you make the call and then they don’t answer.

“But you’ve got to pluck up the courage again and again.”