Amber has been in the hospitability industry for over 15 years. She is highly experienced with catering and nutrition and working in fine dining restaurants alongside Michelin Starred chefs.

Courageously, Amber remembers how she used to drink a lot of alcohol to deal with the work pressures – sometimes half a case of beer was required to put her to sleep.

A pivotal moment in her life was New Year’s Eve 2017 – She was managing a large 1600 people event overlooking the Opera House. She decided to have an after party celebration at her house and purchased plenty of alcohol for all the chefs and staff to consume.

However, it all started to go downhill when the staff and chefs were too exhausted to celebrate and chose to go and rest instead. Amber was disappointed, lonely and upset and chose to drown her sadness with all the alcohol at home.

Her best friend and mentor, Richard, was one person who accepted her choice. He still continued his drinking though and one day he asked her advice on how to give up. He said he wanted to stop drinking but just couldn’t make it last more than a day. Amber suggested the hypnotist, but the next thing she knew was that Richard had decided to end his life.

It was a tough time for many in the industry after Richard passed away and that’s when Amber realised the impact of drugs and alcohol and people not knowing how to communicate and deal with their deeper issues. She saw how this was killing a beautiful industry and this couldn’t go on any more.

And The White Jacket Effect was born.