Julie Adams OAM: Dad’s legacy brightens future for cancer patients

Women on Boards: Leader, directors & subject matter experts in conversation with Claire Braund

Warning: This podcast discusses suicide A curious child who grew up with an older brother, Julie Adams OAM started challenging gender stereotypes at an early age. “I felt empowered to speak up if I thought I was being treated differently because I was a girl,” said Julie. It was this curiosity, she says, that led to her success as an entrepreneur as the co-founder of Chemo@home - which offers cancer patients the convenience and flexibility of receiving treatment in the comfort of their own home - and in 2024 being awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to pharmaceutical oncology. Julie was working as a Cancer Services Pharmacist in1994 when she recognised the need for home-based chemotherapy while her Dad was dying from emphysema. After being shown how to administer antibiotics for her father’s chest infections, Julie’s Dad was able to spend his last Christmas at home. Over the next 6 years July researched ways to treat cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy at home, and in 2013 took a calculated gamble to co-found Chemo@home with business partner Lorna Cook. Despite being told their business would “never survive without a male company figurehead” Lorna and Julie grew their operation to become a multi-award winning health service, employing more than 80 people across the country. The company has since been widely recognised, winning nine business awards, including Julie being named the 2016 Telstra WA Business Women’s of the Year. Then in 2022 Julie’s world was rocked when her 22-year-old daughter Molly died by suicide related to intimate partner abuse. In this podcast Julie shares her personal story of losing Molly, and how she hopes to expand her purpose beyond home health care and put her “out-of-the-box thinking”, entrepreneurship - and now OAM - to good use, to improve outcomes and provide support services for other women in abusive situations. “I still very much feel passionate about my business, and there's still a lot of work to be done. But I feel that all of my knowledge has now come together, and I can use it in a different area to improve outcomes for women, and also to for men who choose violence.”

Podcast Host: Claire Braund OAM, Women on Boards Executive Director and co-founder.

Content warning: This podcast discusses suicide. If you or anyone you know needs help:

• 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732
• Lifeline on 13 11 14
• Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467
• BeyondBlue on 1300 22 46 36
• Headspace on 1800 650 890

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