Susie Elelman during her WIN TV days, when she did a bit of everything from on-camera to behind the scenes. Photo: WIN Corporation.
When Susie Elelman first arrived in the Illawarra at age 19, excited to start her first job in television, she immediately felt at home.
“Coming from a European background and growing up in the northern beaches of Sydney, I copped a lot as a kid, a lot of bullying and racism, all that sort of stuff,” she said.
“It wasn’t until 19 years of age when I lobbed into Wollongong that I felt at home, because there were so many nationalities.
“Most of them were first generation – some of them second – but most of them first and so they were still embracing their own culture. You know, we had the Polish Club and we had the Hellenic Club, the German Club, the Fraternity Club and the Italian Centre and I just felt at home.
“It was such a community and there’s still that sense of community, all these years later.”
The popular media personality and author is back “working” in the Illawarra, wearing a new hat as Downsizer Ambassador for The Works at Corrimal.
It was during Susie’s reign as Miss NSW, when her role included travelling around the state promoting and raising funds for the Cerebral Palsy Alliance (then known as the Spastic Centre), that she first discovered Wollongong and the Illawarra.
Then later, after her reign ended and she was working in public relations at the Rural Bank of NSW (the former State Bank), she received a call from WIN TV asking her to audition for its morning show, Home Fare, as its female host was retiring.
“So I came down, did the audition, got the job, moved to Wollongong and the show folded before I could even start,” she laughed.
However, Susie continued her connection with the Cerebral Palsy Alliance as an ambassador, “doing whatever they wanted me to do”.
Susie has always loved the sense of community that she experienced when she moved to Wollongong. Photo: Supplied.
“As an ambassador, it gave me a wonderful understanding of people with cerebral palsy,” Susie said.
Then in 1988 her nephew Matty was born 16 weeks premature. Among other critical health issues, he was severely disabled with cerebral palsy.
“The alliance has this great sticker, which Matty’s got on his wheelchair, and it simply says, ‘See the person, not the problem’.
“Because inside that trapped body, he’s got the wickedest sense of humor and he’s just the nicest bloke you could possibly meet.
“I’m Matt’s enduring guardian, his power of attorney. I self manage his NDIS funding; I attend all his medical appointments.
“He’s the love of my life. He’s just incredible. He’s the only man in my life I can honestly say that has shown me unconditional love.”
Susie’s move to Wollongong and her WIN TV “apprenticeship” was just the start of her 50-year broadcast career.
“Not only was I on camera doing things, but I was working behind the scenes. I became their marketing manager, their promotions manager, their community service director, lots of things,” she said.
She produced and hosted her own morning show – “the first one was Susie at 11, then when it was moved to 10 am the second program became Susie at 10, for obvious reasons”.
She was “poached” by Channel Seven in 1987, but 20 years later she pitched an idea to WIN Corporation owner Bruce Gordon for a similar morning show.
“I showed him what revenue could happen and so on, and next minute, I’m back in Wollongong and I’m executive producer and host of my own national daily variety show.
“I’d had a name for it, but Bruce just looked at me and said, ‘No, we’re calling it Susie’.
“You know what? I thought well, if it’s good enough for Oprah and Ellen, it’s good enough for me.”
Susie with a model of The Works development at Corrimal. Photo: Jen White.
As a former Wollongong girl, Susie was “blown away” when she saw plans for the site she had known as the Corrimal Cokeworks.
Work is due to start soon on stage one of The Works, featuring 179 apartments across four-storey towers.
“When people think about downsizing they think they have to go smaller, but they don’t have to, particularly not at The Works,” she said.
“That’s the thing that blew me away about the whole setup, because it’s not like someone’s going to go into a little shoebox and feel trapped.
“I love the fact that people will still have the lifestyle they want, especially when you think about what you want for that next chapter in your life. That might mean that you’re sick of doing the lawns, or you’re sick of doing the gardening, or you’re worried about security.”
Susie regularly visits the Illawarra – her hairdresser, solicitor and until recently her doctor of 40 years are here – and says she could easily see herself living at The Works.
“I came down today by train, got off at Corrimal, and if I’d been living at The Works, I would have been maybe 20 steps to home. Or 10 minutes’ walk to the main street.
“I think they’re the sorts of things that people think about when downsizing or relocating – or right-sizing as we should really be calling it – the convenience of a really good shopping centre within walking distance, a train that’s just a few steps away to get on and off and of course, the beach!
“Down here there is just this incredible sense of community and that’s the feeling I get with The Works as well … that feeling of belonging and being at home.”
