Growing up, Ms Naividi always assumed she would need a lawyer rather than actually become one herself, having grown up in Sydney housing commissions surrounded by family violence, alcoholism and mental illness. But she said these experiences provided her with resilience, as well as a different point of view from many other lawyers.

“Because of my upbringing, I have this level of resilience, or I’m able to compartmentalise aspects of my life,” she said.

“I was able to, I guess, see and experience things that perhaps children shouldn’t see. And all of those things probably led me on a path where I might’ve actually found myself in trouble with the law.

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“I experienced a lot of family violence, and mental illness as well. My mother suffered from schizophrenia going down when I was a young child. Navigating all of that as a child, and now looking back with an adult perspective now that I’m a mother myself gives me a reason to pause and reflect on what adversity I did actually go through.”

Her upbringing taught Ms Naividi many lessons that have been useful throughout her career, particularly when she stepped outside of her comfort zone and opened up Coastal Lawyers.

“Despite all of that, it’s given me great skills and resilience, which I wouldn’t have otherwise had. So, while I would have preferred not to have had certain experiences, it certainly led me to where I am. And I think it’s given me the grit and determination that I’ve needed to get to where I am,” she said.

“I am an open book, whether that’s to my benefit or detriment. And I think that really, we all want to present our best selves in our picture-perfect story, but the reality is that while my life might look picture perfect now, I wouldn’t have gotten here or been where I am without that story.”

After moving from Sydney to the Central Coast to study law, Ms Naividi studied a diploma of law and worked in administration for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), which she said exposed her in a practical sense, even though it took her a little longer to finish her degree as she studied part-time.

“I always knew that I wanted to do something with people, I think because of what I’d seen and been through one of the parts of the job I just love is hearing people’s story, and actually making people feel heard and listened to. And I think I can empathise greatly with the people’s journeys,” she said.

“I knew I was never going to be a corporate lawyer or anything like that. And then working with the DPP early on in my career, I just was fascinated by the criminal law, and all of the stories that came with that.”

However, working for the DPP meant that Ms Naividi had to learn the importance of setting boundaries fairly early on. She stressed the importance of taking time out for yourself – and meditate daily as well as staying physically healthy.

“It’s so important to have boundaries, particularly if you’re an empathetic person like myself. There’s that real risk that you’ll burn out because you’re taking on everyone else’s problems and emotions,” she said.

“And someone once told me early on that there’s a difference between empathising and sympathising. You must put personal boundaries in place so that you don’t burn out, and you can help other people.

“I have to put measures in place to ensure that I’m protecting my own mental health as well.”

After her stint at DPP, Ms Naividi’s husband came home with some news that “shocked her world” and pushed them to finally make the move up to the Central Coast.

“In 2018, my husband came home one day and told me that he had testicular cancer, and that kind of shocked my world,” she said.

“While we had really appreciated the comforts of a government job and the security that brings, it was just time in our life, and I just decided to take the plunge.”

Thankfully, her husband is in remission and only required an operation rather than ongoing treatment – but Ms Naividi took the news as an opportunity to step out of her comfort zone and open up her own firm, which she said is a place where parents can have more of a work/life balance – herself included.

“My main motivation is creating a workplace on the Central Coast where parents, and particularly women, can use their degrees, but still also have a work-life balance, or a work-life integration, because we all know that balance doesn’t really exist. It’s more of an integration between the two,” she said.

Ms Naividi concluded that throughout her own journey, having friends and family to support you is vital to maintaining a healthy work/life balance, in addition to setting boundaries for your own mental health.

“I’ve got incredible friends, family, and colleagues who I know that I can go to in times of need, and people in life bring you different qualities or different comforts. It’s just finding those people that you can turn to, and equally that they can turn to you, and have those supports,” she said. 

“I think that I’ve learned I’m a lot tougher than I realise. What you see is not sometimes what you get, and that grit and determination is something that is with me for life now.”

The transcript of this podcast episode was slightly edited for publishing purposes. To listen to the full conversation with Kristal Naividi, click below: