From Jillaroo to Change-Maker: How Curiosity Led Karen Beckham to a Career in People

Careers don’t always begin with clarity. Sometimes, they begin with curiosity — and the courage to say yes before you know exactly where the road will lead.

For Karen Beckham, Senior Advisor of People and Culture at Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal Pty Ltd (DBCT P/L, also known locally as Daly Bay), that road has been anything but linear. It’s a path that started on a cattle station, detoured through supermarket aisles and council reception desks, and ultimately led to shaping workplace culture for one of the region’s most significant employers.

“I left school not really knowing what I wanted to be,” Karen says. And for a while, she let life guide her.

Her first job? A jillaroo. A brief but formative experience that taught her resilience early. That was followed by a short stint at Woolworths, learning the rhythm of retail and quickly realising that repetitive work wasn’t where she thrived.

“No, this is not for me,” she remembers thinking.

What was for her, though, was people.

Encouraged by her mother, Karen applied for a receptionist role at Cairns Regional Council — a decision that would quietly shape the next two decades of her life. That single interview led to 18 years in local government, where Karen worked her way up, gaining exposure to leadership, systems, and the real human stories behind policy and process.

During that time, her curiosity deepened.

“I’m curious about people,” she says. “That connection you can make with them.”

Even when life threw its share of challenges — including years marked by illness within her family — Karen kept learning. When she moved to Mackay, she enrolled in TAFE, studying four nights a week while working in the scenes of crime unit with police. She graduated with two diplomas and, with them, a clear sense of direction.

“That’s really where I found my love for HR.”

Karen’s HR career continued in the sugar industry before an opportunity finally opened at Daly Bay. What began as a recruitment role during a major expansion soon evolved into multiple positions across the business — five roles over almost 18 years, each one deepening her understanding of people, culture, and organisational change.

“I get to work on things that change the organisation,” she says.

Today, Karen’s work sits at the intersection of strategy and humanity. From hybrid work and flexibility benefits to paid parental leave, her focus is always the same: how decisions land in people’s lives.

“It’s all of those things that make a difference to employees’ lives that I get to work on.”

Her leadership style is anchored in relationships — a belief that outcomes don’t come from authority alone, but from trust.

“Without relationships, you really can’t get outcomes,” she says.

From an HR lens, Karen describes a good workplace culture in one word: respect. Respect for individuals, for the organisation, and for the fact that people don’t leave their humanity at the gate.

What she’s most proud of at DBCT P/L is the sense of family — particularly how people show up for one another in moments of crisis. It’s a culture she’s helped nurture deliberately and thoughtfully over time.

Karen is also deeply passionate about what the future holds for women in the industry. Through targeted programs and cultural change, she’s seen confidence grow — women beginning to see themselves as leaders, decision-makers, and role models.

“We want women to realise they can be our next management team,” she says. “They can have a career and they can be a mother at the same time.”

When days are challenging, Karen grounds herself in purpose — not just for today, but for what comes next.

“We are designing our organisation for your kids, your grandkids,” she often reminds colleagues.

It’s a statement that captures her career perfectly: long-term thinking, deep care, and an unwavering belief that workplaces shape lives.

As part of The Just Saying Project’s storytelling series with Daly Bay, Karen Beckham’s story is a reminder that some of the most powerful leaders are those who stay curious, lead with heart, and never stop believing that people matter.