Dr Ariella Heffernan-Marks
Founder: Ovum App, Women's Health
Lilly Stairs
Founder: Chronic Boss & Patient Authentic
Hannah Vanderheide
Journalist, Advocate, Speaker
Briony Cullin
Global Digital Marketing Consultant
Kelly Barnes
Victorian State Chair - AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award
Wellness Coach
Erika Siegrist
Health Care & Clinical Trials Consultant
A series of panel conversations about professional life while living with chronic illness.
All our guests will speak candidly about confidence when identity feels wobbly, capacity when it shifts day to day, and sustainable ambition in a world built for hustle.
The conversations hold both the emotional and practical realities of working, leading, stepping back, and reshaping professional life while managing chronic illness or hidden disability. This includes boundaries at work, decisions about progression, time away for health, alternative career paths, and the realities of entrepreneurship.
The series also reveals the unseen $125B Chronic Economy, already operating across every industry sector through innovation, personal agency, market differentiation, and career opportunity.
Chronic Career Panel Events
Chronic Career Leadership
Erika Siegrist (Health Executive)
Briony Cullin (Global Digital Marketing)
Kelly Barnes (Victorian State Chair, AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award)
A real conversation about leadership, credibility, and career progression grounded in sustainable approaches.
Chronic Entrepreneurs
Lilly Stairs, Founder Chronic Boss & Patient Authentic
Michelle Irving, Founder Chronic Illness At Work & Career and Chronic
Getting things up, running and profitable in ways that work for you and your body.
The Chronic Economy
Dr Ariella Heffernan-Marks, Founder Ovum AI
Hannah Vanderheide, Journalist & Advocate
Michelle Irving, Founder Chronic Illness At Work & Career and Chronic
A conversation about the scale, opportunity, and economic reality of the Chronic Economy.
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Created Just For You
The Chronic Career Leadership Series is curated for professionals navigating work, career, and leadership while living with chronic illness or disability, and for those who lead, manage, and support them.
This series is for you if you are:
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At a career crossroads and thinking carefully about how health, values, and ambition sit together
- Leading by pushing through and trying to outrun the crash and collapse cycle
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A professional living with chronic illness or disability, navigating work, career, or leadership decisions
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Returning to work after a period of illness and reassessing how you want to work going forward
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Working in a high-performance environment and managing boundaries, energy, and long-term sustainability
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Navigating conversations about workplace adjustments, flexible work, or career progression
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Building your own business and needing it to be sustainable for your energy, credibility and income
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Interested in the Chronic Economy as an economic and career reality
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A leader or people manager seeking deeper understanding of how chronic illness shows up in working lives and teams
Meet Michelle Irving
Your Chronic Career Leadership Host
Michelle Irving is the founder of Chronic Illness at Work and Career & Chronic.
Her work sits at the intersection of career, leadership, and chronic illness, with a focus on sustainable ambition, professional identity, and the Chronic Economy.
Drawing on lived experience and formal training, Michelle convenes conversations that address how work, leadership, and careers are navigated when chronic illness or disability is present.
