ABOUT TENNEILE MANENTI. 

I’m Tenneile Manenti—a Registered Psychologist, Senior Leader, mum to two boys, and a woman who has spent over two decades navigating (and helping others navigate) complex, high-pressure, and often male-dominated workplaces. My passion lies in supporting women, first responders, professionals, and leaders who juggle the weight of work, relationships, parenting, identity, and purpose. I understand that world intimately.

​

My journey into psychology started with a double degree in behavioural science and criminology, specialising in criminal psychology. I spent the early years of my career providing psychological services within a detention centre followed by two years on an Aboriginal Mission in juvenile psychological services and case management, with a brief stint in between supporting those undertaking the Merit program through the QLD Drug Courts system. Those years shaped my understanding of trauma, resilience, and the systems that both support and fail young people.

​

After realising—half jokingly, half seriously—that there were more psychopaths in business than in the prison system, I took a sideways step into organisational psychology, where I developed a deep expertise in workplace culture, safety, wellbeing, and psychosocial risk. My fascination with Corporate Psychopaths and the Dark Triad (Psychopathy, Narcissism, Machiavellianism) led me to complete a research project on their influence tactics in the workplace during my Masters of Organisational Psychology at Birkbeck, University of London. (If this interests you, you’ll find more in my blog.)

​

For six years I worked in Sydney for one of the world’s largest consulting firms in their WHS practice, helping pioneer psychosocial risk assessments, frameworks, and policies—long before psychosocial risk became legislated. In 2016, our team broke new ground, setting standards that organisations would only begin adopting years later.

​

After supporting the NSW RFS throughout the 2019/2020 unprecedented bushfires, I was asked to join the organisation. Across several roles—including Program Manager of a Joint Agency Initiative and later Director of Health & Safety—I helped shape and transform mental health, safety, and wellbeing services. I established the first-ever in-house psychological services, developed the operating model, protocols, and critical incident support framework, and helped design the first health standards for volunteer firefighters anywhere in the world.

​

My time there was deeply meaningful—but it came with personal sacrifice. Long hours, high emotional load, and the pressure of leading through crisis took a toll. At the same time, my husband sustained a spinal injury at work, and my neurodivergent son struggled in childcare. I was navigating leadership, caregiving, motherhood, trauma exposure, and exhaustion—like so many women trying to hold everything at once.

​

Just shy of burnout (no pun intended), an opportunity arose in Queensland that allowed me to move closer to family and support my father after his diagnosis of Stage 2/Moderate Alzheimer’s Dementia. I spent the next two years leading a global facilitation team, modernising a flagship safety culture and leadership program. We integrated neuroscience, performance psychology, communication skills, and psychological safety—developing a premium global train-the-trainer program delivered across multiple countries.

​

Across all my roles—clinical, forensic, organisational, and leadership—my purpose has remained the same: to help people navigate challenge, change, and complexity with compassion, clarity, and evidence-based support.

​

As a psychologist today, I bring not only professional expertise but lived experience—of motherhood, caregiving, neurodiversity, high-pressure work, trauma exposure, and personal reinvention. I’m passionate about helping women reclaim their identity, confidence, and wellbeing while navigating demanding careers and complex personal landscapes.

​

I show up with heart, honesty, and a belief that transformation is possible—even when life feels heavy, messy, or overwhelming.