2023 Industry Leaders Breakfast

6.45am for 7.00am start   |   Wed 18 October  |  Jones & Co, Henry Jones Art Hotel, 25 Hunter St, Hobart

WITH's signature annual event dishes up fresh perspectives and insights from three talented women about their diverse experiences in Tasmania's tourism & hospitality industry. The 2023 breakfast panellists are Sheralee Davies, Analiese Gregory, and Kitana Mansell.

Our panellists will reveal the challenges and rewards in balancing their lives, tips and sage counsel in conversation guided by MC Sarah Clark (CEO, Tourism Tasmania).

For a large helping of inspiration, served alongside a delicious breakfast, some 'ah hah!' and ‘I know exactly how that feels' moments, join us at the Henry Jones Art Hotel.

Sheralee moved to Tasmania in early 2010 to head up Wine Tasmania, the peak body representing the island’s wine producers through voluntary membership.

This followed 15 years in global and Australian wine positions across communication, strategy, issues management, events, membership, tourism, marketing, governance, and wine education, including roles with the peak national wine body and the world’s largest beverage company. During this time, Sheralee had the opportunity to explore the island’s wines from afar, developing a particular love and appreciation for the sparkling wines being grown and crafted in Tasmania.

She jumped at the opportunity to move to Tasmania and play some small role in supporting the sector’s already impressive and growing profile and contributing to its future success. 

Flying well past the original three-year contract, Sheralee continues to feel privileged to support Tasmanian wine producers and represent the talented, hard-working, creative, and good-humoured people growing grapes and making wine in Tasmania. Through the efforts of many, the Tasmanian wine sector is very well respected and regarded globally, achieving some of the highest values in the country, clearly focused on driving quality and demand for its wines ahead of production. 

Sheralee is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors course, a Director of the Tourism Industry Council Tasmania, and served on the inaugural Board of the new Brand Tasmania statutory organisation (2020-22).

Analiese Gregory is one of the most talked about and trailblazing young chefs in Australia today, with a string of enviable kitchen credits to her name, including The Ledbury (London), Michel Bras (France), Mugaritz (Spain), and Sydney’s Quay. Having flirted with returning to France, she instead packed her bags on a whim in 2017 and moved to Tasmania where she headed up one of the state's most acclaimed restaurants, Franklin in Hobart. 

When Analiese is not busy with one of her many projects, she is renovating her 110-year-old farmhouse in the Huon Valley, where she lives with a cornucopia of farm friends and a wardrobe filled with charcuterie (a new hobby; she insists it was the best place for it!) and plans to open a bespoke intimate restaurant. Tasmania has given her a semblance of meaning and the life she craved, and she cherishes her time in nature foraging, diving, hunting, cooking on beaches, and connecting with the people whose life work it is to grow our food.

In 2020, she appears with chef Gordon Ramsay in his National Geographic series Uncharted (screening on Disney Plus). In the episode, Analiese is Gordon’s culinary guide to Tasmania, introducing the island’s unique ingredients and food traditions. She has her own TV series ‘A Girl’s Guide to Hunting, Fishing, and Wild Cooking’ with Southern Pictures and SBS that aired in 2021 that follows her cooking and outdoor adventures in Tasmania. Analiese was born in Auckland, New Zealand, to a Welsh father and a Chinese-Dutch mother. Raised on a mix of stroopwafels and pork buns, she was schooled long-distance for three years during a caravan trip around Australia.

Kitana Mansell, a proud Palawa woman, is the face, manager, cook, tour guide, and public speaker of Palawa Kipli, Tasmania’s only Aboriginal food business. Kitana, aged 23, has been working for Palawa Kipli since she was 17 years old, alongside her cousin Tim who started the business in 2017. Since the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre’s purchase of the business in 2020, Kitana has been working as the manager.

Kitana’s passion for Palawa culture and community shows in her work, from guiding bush tucker tours, state-wide catering, cultural dining experiences, masterclasses, and public speaking for justice and rights for her community within the bush foods industry.

Kitana Mansell and Palawa Kipli recently won the 2023 Tasmanian Young Achiever Tourism & Hospitality Award.

From the land to the pan, Palawa Kipli shares culture, history, and sustainability on a plate and, most importantly, on Tasmanian Aboriginal land that was returned to Kitana’s people in 1995 at piyura kitina / Risdon Cove. 

Sarah is the Chief Executive Officer of Tourism Tasmania. Sarah is an established leader with broad industry experience, from working in front-line roles to trade, marketing and general management. She has a passion for sustainable tourism and is delighted to help realise Tasmania’s future in positive impact tourism.

Born in Tasmania, Sarah has over 20 years of experience in the tourism industry, having started her career as a tour guide with Topdeck Travel. While travelling, studying and working all over the world, Sarah rose through the ranks at Topdeck to establish a brand presence in North and South America, before leading the business as General Manager for Asia Pacific and as Global General Manager, based in London. She has been part of the global management team of Flight Centre, Vice President for STA Travel in Dallas, Texas, a Board Member of Eurail, and a Phocuswright Young Leader USA. Before joining Tourism Tasmania, she was Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand at Intrepid Travel, while also on the Tourism Tasmania Board of Directors.