Melanie Macfarlane - Founder, MM Migration

What this episode covers

Visit https://go.a1connect.com.au/pod-mmm-e1 if you're a migrant or a business looking to support migrant workers.Melanie Macfarlane on Belonging, Migration, and KindnessMM Migration founder Melanie Macfarlane shares her story on the Migration Matters podcast, reflecting on being sent to a UK boarding school at age 10 and enduring bullying, which contrasted sharply with her earlier idyllic childhood in Sierra Leone and Vanuatu. A stop in Kathmandu exposed her to poverty and shaped her sense of justice, while the trauma left her searching for belonging, which she later found in language studies and communities in Russia, France, and Indonesia. Migrating to Australia in her early thirties felt like a spiritual home, leading her to become a licensed migration agent and, in 2007, to found MM Migration and Veta Education; she says the businesses have helped bring around 10,000 people to Australia through skilled migration, sponsorship, and student visas. She also discusses her mother’s injury, her father’s death, his legacy of equality and diplomacy, criticizes governments using immigration to divide, and concludes with her “happy people, happy world” belief in kindness.00:00 Why Migrants Matter00:09 Podcast Series Intro00:39 Boarding School Trauma01:51 Idyllic Island Childhood02:33 First Glimpse of Poverty03:34 Searching for Belonging04:00 Finding Home in Australia04:37 Becoming a Migration Agent05:25 Building a Migration Business06:06 Reframing Family and Gratitude06:36 Loss and Returning to Scotland08:25 Father’s Legacy and Values09:04 Politics and Immigration Fear10:18 Happy People Happy World11:04 Kindness as the Conclusion

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