Team with the Queen Sat, 13 Jun 2026 05:26:06 -0400 en-au © 2026 Team with the Queen yes 8dfd5fca-25d3-5e43-98b2-e4d33ad87bd4 Yosmerys Aparicio Cuencas episodic false The podcast that goes beyond the titles and the LinkedIn bios, where we uncover the real stories behind the leader shaping the industries. 


100 leaders in Australia whose stories are worth hearing.

That's the mission. Team with the Queen is the fortnightly interview podcast on the journey to find them. Not the ones on every panel. Not the ones with the loudest LinkedIn. The leaders actually doing the work — the ones nobody's putting a microphone in front of yet. Until now.

Hosted by Yosmerys Aparicio Cuencas, a Latina-Australian, founder of Supporting Communities Australia, and the host who got tired of waiting for the gatekeepers to choose the guests for her.

Every second thursday, one guest. Their real stories. The wins, the failures, the stuff they only tell you off the record. Vulnerability that earns the moment. Humour that earns the rewatch. Conversations you can't get anywhere else, because nobody else is having them like this.

You'll meet founders, support workers, sector-shapers, accidental leaders, the unsung ones whose work is changing how Australia actually runs.

If you've ever felt like the conversations that matter most aren't the ones being broadcast — this show is for you.


New episodes every second thursday.
Follow on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube @teamwiththequeen.
Website: https://linktr.ee/Yosmerys

Team with the Queen is a Supporting Communities Australia production.

]]> Buzzsprout (https://www.buzzsprout.com) Yosmerys Aparicio Cuencas https://storage.buzzsprout.com/6wikorwj7za74v3vbsouh1yj81br?.jpg Team with the Queen She Sang Stevie Wonder in Her Dad's ICU at 16 with Jillian "Gigi" Bichara (Connect Community and Respite Services) She Sang Stevie Wonder in Her Dad's ICU at 16 with Jillian "Gigi" Bichara (Connect Community and Respite Services) NDIS's most connected operator started as the 16-year-old who sang Stevie Wonder to her father in ICU.

Chapters:
0:00 — Cold open: the life support decision
0:36 — Meet Gigi: the NDIS's best connector
2:24 — Two roles fill my cup
4:17 — Dad's accident at 16
12:14 — Choice and control + dignity of risk
13:25 — The Heartbreak High reveal
18:09 — Doctor or pharmacist? I chose neither
23:43 — Singing Stevie Wonder in dad's ICU
26:18 — Brought to you by Wholii
27:01 — The headbands game
39:13 — 'Open to collaborations' is the new spam
43:54 — Footprints in the sand
44:53 — The No BS Queen award

This episode is proudly presented by Wholii — built by compliance specialists for Australian NDIS providers. Wholii cuts admin time, automates the manual stuff, and keeps your whole team compliant and audit-ready. Book a free demo: https://wholii.com.au

Episode 2 of Team with the Queen featuring Gigi Bichara — Business Development Manager and Support Worker at Connect Community and Respite Services (Beverly Hills, NSW). Gigi is widely recognised as the best-connected person on the NDIS — but the path there started somewhere most people don't see.

In this conversation, Gigi shares:
- The day the medical team asked her family to turn off her father's life support
- Why she rejected the "doctor or pharmacist" expectations her Egyptian Orthodox family had for her
- What being on Heartbreak High Season 1 taught her about reinvention
- The line that separates real collaboration from "open to collaborations" spam
- Why dignity of risk is the missing pillar of choice and control
- The one thing she'd keep if everything she'd built disappeared tomorrow

Gigi Bichara — Connect Community and Respite Services

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillian-gigi-bichara-701127320/https://www.linkedin.com/company/connect-community-and-respite-services/

Yosmerys Aparicio Cuencas is the founder of Supporting Communities Australia and the Elevate Youth Lab.


LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yosmerys/
Website: https://linktr.ee/Yosmerys

@teamwiththequeen on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. New episodes every second thursday.

Team with the Queen is a Supporting Communities Australia production.

#NDIS #LeadershipPodcast #AustralianPodcast

]]> NDIS's most connected operator started as the 16-year-old who sang Stevie Wonder to her father in ICU.

Chapters:
0:00 — Cold open: the life support decision
0:36 — Meet Gigi: the NDIS's best connector
2:24 — Two roles fill my cup
4:17 — Dad's accident at 16
12:14 — Choice and control + dignity of risk
13:25 — The Heartbreak High reveal
18:09 — Doctor or pharmacist? I chose neither
23:43 — Singing Stevie Wonder in dad's ICU
26:18 — Brought to you by Wholii
27:01 — The headbands game
39:13 — 'Open to collaborations' is the new spam
43:54 — Footprints in the sand
44:53 — The No BS Queen award

This episode is proudly presented by Wholii — built by compliance specialists for Australian NDIS providers. Wholii cuts admin time, automates the manual stuff, and keeps your whole team compliant and audit-ready. Book a free demo: https://wholii.com.au

Episode 2 of Team with the Queen featuring Gigi Bichara — Business Development Manager and Support Worker at Connect Community and Respite Services (Beverly Hills, NSW). Gigi is widely recognised as the best-connected person on the NDIS — but the path there started somewhere most people don't see.

In this conversation, Gigi shares:
- The day the medical team asked her family to turn off her father's life support
- Why she rejected the "doctor or pharmacist" expectations her Egyptian Orthodox family had for her
- What being on Heartbreak High Season 1 taught her about reinvention
- The line that separates real collaboration from "open to collaborations" spam
- Why dignity of risk is the missing pillar of choice and control
- The one thing she'd keep if everything she'd built disappeared tomorrow

Gigi Bichara — Connect Community and Respite Services

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillian-gigi-bichara-701127320/https://www.linkedin.com/company/connect-community-and-respite-services/

Yosmerys Aparicio Cuencas is the founder of Supporting Communities Australia and the Elevate Youth Lab.


LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yosmerys/
Website: https://linktr.ee/Yosmerys

@teamwiththequeen on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. New episodes every second thursday.

Team with the Queen is a Supporting Communities Australia production.

#NDIS #LeadershipPodcast #AustralianPodcast

]]> https://youtu.be/R0l4yZF3UI4 Yosmerys Aparicio Cuencas Buzzsprout-19324695 Thu, 11 Jun 2026 04:00:00 +1000 2835 NDIS leadership, Gigi Bichara, Connect Community and Respite Services, best connector NDIS, Team with the Queen, NDIS support coordinator 1 2 full false NDIS Providers Got Marketing WRONG — with Solomon Rokotavaga (Aligned Community Care) NDIS Providers Got Marketing WRONG — with Solomon Rokotavaga (Aligned Community Care) 15 years in the NDIS. Now head of marketing for one of its most data-driven providers. So why does Solomon say every provider's marketing is broken?

CHAPTERS
0:00 Welcome to Team with the Queen
0:48 Why Solomon is the first guest
2:00 From Fiji to 15 years in the NDIS
4:30 Starting at DSA and working the front line
6:30 The Criminal Justice Program years
9:00 Black don't crack and the Venezuelan heritage detour
10:50 Aligned Community Care and why they built their own CRM
13:30 The data justification trap most NDIS providers fall into
18:00 Elevate Youth Lab and the "Queen" origin story
21:00 The headbands game (and the shark-head story)
27:30 What's on Solomon's forehead?
30:15 A word from our sponsor: Wholii
30:50 Back to the game
32:30 Why content in the NDIS sector is broken
33:50 "Hey guys, my name is Solomon" – scroll
40:15 Vincent Shian: 127 likes, under 100 connections
43:45 Vulnerability is the strategy
46:20 The hard question: ethics of marketing vulnerable people
49:25 The Lamborghini-NDIS problem
51:00 Gigi's celebrity question
52:30 Inclusive influencing: the centre Solomon would build
58:30 10 years from now, what will the sector say?
1:00:50 The Marshall Islands ripple story
1:02:00 Why community services are invisible online

SPONSOR
Wholii – NDIS compliance, without the chaos. Cuts admin, automates the manual stuff, keeps your team audit-ready. Book a free demo: https://wholii.com.au (ad read at 30:15)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wholii/

This conversation goes deep on what's broken with how the NDIS markets itself, and the small shifts that change everything. Solomon's 15-year origin story. Why Aligned built their own CRM. The post that got 127 likes with under 100 connections. The ethics of marketing vulnerable people. The kind of inclusive content centre Solomon would build if money was no object.

There's also a headbands game. And a shark head. Stay for both.

Solomon Rokotavaga is Head of Marketing & Community Engagement at Aligned Community Care, an NDIS provider specialising in complex mental health. Aligned Community Care is also a presenting sponsor of this episode.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/solomon-rokotavaga-26a466107/
Website: https://alignedcommunitycare.com.au
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AlignedCommunityCare

Yosmerys Aparicio Cuencas is the founder of Supporting Communities Australia and the Elevate Youth Lab.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yosmerys-aparicio-cuencas/
Website: https://linktr.ee/Yosmerys

@teamwiththequeen on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. New episodes fortightly.

Team with the Queen is a Supporting Communities Australia production.

#NDIS #ContentMarketing #SupportCoordinator

]]> 15 years in the NDIS. Now head of marketing for one of its most data-driven providers. So why does Solomon say every provider's marketing is broken?

CHAPTERS
0:00 Welcome to Team with the Queen
0:48 Why Solomon is the first guest
2:00 From Fiji to 15 years in the NDIS
4:30 Starting at DSA and working the front line
6:30 The Criminal Justice Program years
9:00 Black don't crack and the Venezuelan heritage detour
10:50 Aligned Community Care and why they built their own CRM
13:30 The data justification trap most NDIS providers fall into
18:00 Elevate Youth Lab and the "Queen" origin story
21:00 The headbands game (and the shark-head story)
27:30 What's on Solomon's forehead?
30:15 A word from our sponsor: Wholii
30:50 Back to the game
32:30 Why content in the NDIS sector is broken
33:50 "Hey guys, my name is Solomon" – scroll
40:15 Vincent Shian: 127 likes, under 100 connections
43:45 Vulnerability is the strategy
46:20 The hard question: ethics of marketing vulnerable people
49:25 The Lamborghini-NDIS problem
51:00 Gigi's celebrity question
52:30 Inclusive influencing: the centre Solomon would build
58:30 10 years from now, what will the sector say?
1:00:50 The Marshall Islands ripple story
1:02:00 Why community services are invisible online

SPONSOR
Wholii – NDIS compliance, without the chaos. Cuts admin, automates the manual stuff, keeps your team audit-ready. Book a free demo: https://wholii.com.au (ad read at 30:15)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wholii/

This conversation goes deep on what's broken with how the NDIS markets itself, and the small shifts that change everything. Solomon's 15-year origin story. Why Aligned built their own CRM. The post that got 127 likes with under 100 connections. The ethics of marketing vulnerable people. The kind of inclusive content centre Solomon would build if money was no object.

There's also a headbands game. And a shark head. Stay for both.

Solomon Rokotavaga is Head of Marketing & Community Engagement at Aligned Community Care, an NDIS provider specialising in complex mental health. Aligned Community Care is also a presenting sponsor of this episode.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/solomon-rokotavaga-26a466107/
Website: https://alignedcommunitycare.com.au
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AlignedCommunityCare

Yosmerys Aparicio Cuencas is the founder of Supporting Communities Australia and the Elevate Youth Lab.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yosmerys-aparicio-cuencas/
Website: https://linktr.ee/Yosmerys

@teamwiththequeen on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. New episodes fortightly.

Team with the Queen is a Supporting Communities Australia production.

#NDIS #ContentMarketing #SupportCoordinator

]]> https://youtu.be/C4uQnDAarTU?si=eQYLDzfSzF6oBEmq Yosmerys Aparicio Cuencas Buzzsprout-19324478 Wed, 10 Jun 2026 19:00:00 +1000 3878 Australian podcast, interview podcast, leaders, founders, NDIS, support coordinator, community services, storytelling, Latina podcast, Yosmerys, Team with the Queen, Solomon Rokotavaga, Aligned Community Care, Wholii, business interview, Australia, Sydney 1 1 full false