Hairdresser of nearly three decades. Holistic counsellor. First sponsor of the first Dubbo Women’s Festival. Guest at the second-ever Taco’Bout. Charnie Tuckey turns up in more Social Gain stories than almost anyone.

In her own words

As a Hairdresser with over a decade of experience and a Holistic Counselor, I’ve discovered a significant need for individuals to have a space where they can truly be heard. My goal is to empower clients with the tools they need to cultivate confidence and clarity, enabling them to communicate effectively through challenges and maintain a steady course toward success. ” By committing to self-analysis, discovery, and decisive action, you can pave the way for the transformative change necessary to achieve your personal or professional goals. “

The chair as a consulting room

The thing that makes Charnie unusual is that she didn’t leave one job for the other. She kept both. Nearly thirty years behind the chair, and a qualification in community services and holistic counselling on top of it — taken deliberately, so that holistic support could be affordable and accessible to the people who need it most.

Anyone who has sat in a salon chair understands why that works. It is one of the few remaining places where a woman is given an hour, undivided attention, and permission to talk without being asked to justify it.

First believer

Before the first Dubbo Women’s Festival existed, it had no money behind it. Charnie and Rose Prout of Centric Movement backed it anyway. They were its first two sponsors, and that first sponsorship became the Moment Lounge — the quiet room upstairs with the plants and the meditation films, for women who spend their lives holding space for everyone else.

Read the full story of the first believers →

And then she took the mic

Charnie was the guest at the second-ever Taco’Bout — the one on living with uncertainty, fear and hypervigilance. It turned out she was the only person in the room who hadn’t absorbed that week’s news cycle. Not a hermit; she runs businesses and is on social media daily. She just uses it to put good things out rather than take fear in.

Her news for the day, as she put it: you wake up, you look out the window — that’s the weather. You look at your appointment book — that’s what’s booked in. What are we doing for dinner?

Whoever has been exposed to a lot of uncertainty is probably going to be a lot more resilient in uncertain times. And people who have been exposed to a lot more certainty are going to be clutching for what’s familiar.

Charnie Tuckey

She had lived it. COVID arrived at a pivotal moment for her business — she’d just expanded, and a week later was forced to close the doors with no idea where things would go. “Through those experiences, I feel like I’m a little bit more relaxed around that sort of stuff — because you come out the other end of it, and you are okay.”

And she brought a tool with her: a decision-making tree she’d rolled out on butcher paper down the salon bench at 9.30pm, colour processing, client alongside. Write the decision. Map the worst, middle and best scenarios. Then score each against your values.

You’re going to be happier for longer if you’re making decisions that align with you — rather than what it should look like according to somebody else’s expectations.

Charnie Tuckey

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Charnie Tuckey is a holistic counsellor, businesswoman and hairdresser of nearly three decades, based in Dubbo.

Living a life of uncertainty →  |  First Believers →  |  Why Taco’Bout exists →