Luma

When Luma arrived in Australia from Brazil in 2023, she brought with her a love for cookery and not much else. At 28, she wasn’t studying, didn’t have a job, and wasn’t part of any community or professional network. The transition to life in a new country felt isolating. “I didn’t know where to start,” she recalls. “I didn’t even know how to write a resume.”

Without prior work experience in Australia and unsure of how to navigate job applications, Luma found herself lacking the confidence to move forward. “Everything was different—the language, the culture, the expectations. I felt like I didn’t fit in anywhere,” she says.

That changed when she discovered SisterWorks.

Luma joined our Hospitality Training Program in early 2023 and graduated in September. For her, it wasn’t just about gaining qualifications like her Food Safety Certificate and RSA, it was about rediscovering her belief in herself. “SisterWorks gave me structure and confidence. Having those certificates on my resume made people take me seriously. But more importantly, it made me take myself seriously.”

With support from SisterWorks, Luma landed her first job as a kitchen assistant in a production kitchen. That experience gave her the skills and courage to apply for more roles on her own. In the months that followed, she secured two more jobs in hospitality and began studying cookery full-time to pursue her passion professionally.

Today, she works in a pastry kitchen while balancing studies and personal goals, including rebuilding her photography portfolio and repaying her student loans. It’s been nearly two years since her training with SisterWorks, but she still reflects on that period with warmth and gratitude.

“I cherish that experience,” Luma says. “It was a turning point. That course wasn’t just a certificate, it was a reminder that I can start over. I can build something for myself here.”

For anyone who feels lost in a new country, Luma has simple advice:

“Go to SisterWorks”. Especially all the girls out there who feel like they don’t know where to begin. “This is the place that helped me find my way”.