Others Magazine

I was born in Northern Ireland in a town about 40 minutes outside of Belfast. We moved to Australia when I was 13. It was an amazing opportunity for our family to come to this incredible country. I spent my teenage years growing up on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. I lacked a lot of confidence in my ability in those years and was quite introverted.

At that time, I was training three days a week in gymnastics. I moved into swimming, a bit of running, and teams sports. Sport made me feel really good and was a way for me to make new friends as well. I got into surf lifesaving and was one of the first women back then to be eligible for my Bronze Medallion lifesaving course. I completed advanced resuscitation certificates and became a trainer.

After school, I trained to become a registered nurse. I was around 27 when my wonderful husband encouraged me to complete Year 12 maths. I went on to do a bachelor’s degree in health administration and then a master’s degree – between working and having a baby.

Sharon Callister maintains contact with The Salvation Army after having served as the Aged Care Plus CEO for a decade.

My faith wasn’t strong in those days and far less important to me than it is today. I worked for the Australian Red Cross and then for an aged care provider in Victoria before returning to Sydney and working for the Salvos. My faith was growing, and I felt very comfortable with a Christian organisation.

I’ve run marathons and ultramarathons around Australia and in many places overseas. I love distance and endurance events. I guess you could say I’m on an extreme marathon journey. Two years ago, my son, then 23, joined me for seven days of running in the Sahara Desert in Morocco. Together we ran 250km. He will also join me at the next event I’m training for in Whitney, California. And my husband, even with a hip replacement, is planning to run with me – COVID permitting – in the New York Marathon.

After the Moroccan ultramarathon, I decided to do a 230km event across the Arctic Circle. This was the most challenging endurance event that I’ve done by far.

Running has absolutely made me a better leader. When you’re really testing yourself, you think you’ve reached rock bottom and have nothing left and, somehow, your body responds. And that does give you a sense of confidence, calmness, self-belief and courage. And I think courage and leadership go very well together.

Faith journey

My faith has come to life more over the past decade. It has grown phenomenally and has changed me. I really believe that God brought me to the Salvos. I felt from very early on that I was coming home to a family I never knew I had. I loved the fact that prayer and worship were a part of every day in those times. And it just made me feel very confident, very warm, grateful, loved and supported to do my job.