153. When Work Follows You To the Shops: Boundaries In Small Towns with Simone Pickering and Prina Shah

In this episode of Ways to Change the Workplace, Prina Shah is joined by Simone Pickering as part of the series Rethinking Regional Workplaces with Simone Pickering.In When Work Follows You to The Shops, they explore what boundaries really look like when you live and work in a regional community or small town – where colleagues are neighbours, clients are parents at the school gate, and confidentiality is constantly tested.This conversation moves beyond theory and into lived experience. It unpacks the emotional load of being “always on”, the complexity of dual relationships, and why boundary-setting in small towns is often misunderstood as being difficult rather than responsible.In this episode, we discuss:Why boundaries feel different in regional communitiesDual relationships and blurred personal-professional linesBeing approached about work everywhereConfidentiality and trust in small ecosystemsDigital and after-hours boundariesBoundary-setting as leadership behaviourReflection questionsWhere has work quietly followed you into your personal life?Which boundaries have become blurred because “that’s just how it is here”?What would change if boundaries were treated as leadership, not attitude?Simone Pickering is a Kalgoorlie local and the founder of The People & Culture Office, a consultancy she launched in 2018 to make HR easier for regional businesses. Her career began in local government before she spent almost a decade in the mining industry, later stepping into the not-for-profit sector where the human impact of good HR became impossible to ignore. Today, Simone partners with organisations across regional WA, helping leaders strengthen culture, lift capability and build workplaces people actually want to be part of. With deep experience, a human-centred approach and a clear lens on the reality of small-town workplaces, she brings insight, honesty and a steady hand to conversations about work in the regions.Her amazing The Real Work Magazines https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Vufxc-KkAAmYUIVOrxITSdUaZxrvZyVV?usp=share_linkSimone’s People and Culture Office https://thepeopleandcultureoffice.comSimone on LinkedIn https://au.linkedin.com/in/simone-pickering-mahri-a03954134 Send Prina a text to let her know how you'd change the workplace If you are seeking professional advice or would like to change your company culture through training, consulting, speaking and coaching, get in touch,  email me.Say hi!Sign up to my monthylish practical newsletter Get in touch with me, PrinaCheck  out my website⁠⁠⁠ - do a professional stalk...Follow me on LinkedInFind out what I am up to on Instagram⁠⁠⁠ Grab a copy of Make Work Meaningful and start creating your own legacy at work and leave me a review. Subscribe to the Ways to Change the Workplace Podcast for more actionable insights. Prina (Helping you find GREAT ways to change your workplace) Shah