Deborah Hutton ON: Trusting your intuition, embracing reinvention, finding confidence at every age, knowing your strengths and building a life that keeps you centred

There are certain women who feel woven into the fabric of Australian culture. Deborah Hutton is one of them.

So it felt particularly fitting that our conversation happened not behind a studio desk or through a laptop screen, but gathered together in a room in Coledale, on Dharawal Country, surrounded by more than 70 women.

This was the very first Wildfemmes IRL event, and it remains one of those moments that feels bigger than the sum of its parts. Wildfemmes had always been about honest conversations with interesting women, but bringing that conversation into a room and watching women connect, laugh, listen and share something together made me realise there was another dimension to what we were building.

And who better to do it with than Deborah Hutton.

A true Australian media icon, Deborah has spent decades in the public eye, moving through modelling, television, publishing, business and entrepreneurship with a kind of curiosity that has allowed her to continually reinvent herself. In this conversation, she talks openly about the reality behind that seemingly effortless career: the uncertainty, the pivots, the imposter syndrome, the moments of doubt and the importance of learning who you actually are along the way.

We talk about intuition and manifestation, and Deborah shares some wonderful stories about trusting her gut when it would have been much easier to ignore it. She talks about “following your charm”, knowing your strengths and weaknesses, and understanding the kind of person you want to be rather than simply chasing what you think you should achieve.

There is also a brilliant trip through her career, including her time with Grace Bros and Myer, her years in publishing and her experience working with The Australian Women’s Weekly. We talk about the infamous “Incredible at 50” cover, what it was like working inside one of Australia’s most iconic publications, and why being able to understand your place within a team can be just as important as being the person at the front.

And then, because this is Wildfemmes, we get into the harder stuff too.

Deborah speaks candidly about her experience with skin cancer, why it led her to create Canopy Bay, and the importance of protecting ourselves from Australia’s harshest environmental reality. We talk about learning to say no, resisting the lowest common denominator and the courage it takes to make decisions that actually serve the life you want.

Perhaps my favourite part of the conversation is towards the end, when we talk about confidence, champions and figuring out who you are and who you want to be.

Because at some point, the question stops being “What do I want to achieve?” and becomes something much more interesting: “Who do I want to become?”

And maybe that question doesn't have an age limit.

This conversation happened at a very particular moment in Wildfemmes, but listening back, I think it captures exactly why I wanted to create this series in the first place. To sit with women who have lived big, complicated, fascinating lives and ask them what they've learned. To make space for the messy middle, the reinventions, the uncomfortable growth and the things we don't always see from the outside.

And to remind ourselves that there is no single way to build a life.

Deborah is still evolving. Still creating. Still figuring things out. Still having adventures.

And, perhaps most importantly, still becoming.

This is Wildfemmes IRL.