Give to Gain: Jacqui O’Donnell

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As Director of BioCeuticals, Jacqui O’Donnell brings a rare blend of scientific curiosity, commercial clarity, and deeply human leadership to one of the Northern Beaches’ most significant employers. Her journey from engineering labs to leading Australia’s premier practitioner-only supplements brand reflects a commitment to learning, lifting others, and creating environments where people can thrive. Jacqui’s influence extends well beyond the walls of Blackmores’ Warriewood headquarters: she champions flexibility, supports working parents, and models a style of leadership grounded in authenticity and generosity. In a community where wellness, family, and connection matter, Jacqui embodies the spirit of Give to Gain, investing in people, nurturing talent, and shaping a workplace that reflects the values of the Beaches she calls home.

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Jacqui O’Donnell: Curiosity, Courage, and the Quiet Power of Lifting Others

Jacqui O’Donnell’s leadership story doesn’t begin with a title  it begins with curiosity. As a child, she was fascinated by how things worked. That curiosity led her into chemical engineering, where she thrived on problem-solving and scientific thinking. But even as she excelled technically, she sensed a deeper pull: the desire to make a broader impact through people.

That instinct would shape her entire career.

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The leap that changed everything

One of Jacqui’s most defining moments came when a Managing Director took a bold leap of faith. Jacqui was working in a marketing role in a $10 million business when she was suddenly backed into a general management role ten times the size with sales teams and cross‑functional teams reporting to her.

“She believed in me,” Jacqui reflects. “But she also supported me. I never felt exposed, just stretched.”

It’s a philosophy she now carries forward: stretch people, but never leave them alone in the deep end.

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Navigating spaces not designed for women

Jacqui’s early engineering years taught her how to navigate male-dominated environments with both grit and grace. She learned to play golf “just in case” she ever needed to join the men on the course. She followed NRL tipping comps she didn’t care about, so she could build rapport with tradies on site. She found ways to connect even when the environment wasn’t built with her in mind.

These experiences sharpened her awareness of the subtle pressures women face. At a global leadership program, a peer introduced her by describing her as “lovely” and “a mum of two” instead of referencing her professional background. And at conferences, she noticed schedules built around male routines – morning run, breakfast, 15 minutes to shower and be at rehearsals. “It takes me 40 minutes just to dry my hair,” she laughs. “It sounds trivial, but it’s real.”

One of the most striking stories she heard came from a speaker at a recent leadership summit: even as the Vice President of the United States, she still spent Sunday nights batch-cooking Bolognese and freezing it so her husband had meals while she travelled for work. It was a powerful reminder that the invisible load follows women everywhere, even to the highest offices in the world.

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Leadership as a responsibility  and a privilege

Jacqui describes herself as results-driven and relentlessly curious, but at her core, she is deeply people-centred. She sees leadership as a responsibility to help others grow, whether that means stretching opportunities for the ambitious or flexibility and balance for those juggling life’s demands.

A formative moment came early in her career at Coca-Cola, when a female leader sat her down and said, “Where do you want to go? My job is to help you be the best version of you at work.” It was the first meaningful career conversation Jacqui had ever had, and she now has that same conversation with every new team member.

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The invisible load and the reality for working mothers

While Jacqui has rarely felt disadvantaged at work because she’s female, she is candid about the real challenge: the load carried outside the workplace.

“When I do canteen, I don’t see dads,” she says. “When my kids ask for a parent to volunteer, they ask me.”

She sees the financial strain on women returning from maternity leave, only to find themselves financially behind for years due to childcare costs. She believes this is the barrier that most urgently needs to be removed for the next generation.

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Give to Gain  and the legacy of her mother

For Jacqui, the IWD theme Give to Gain is deeply personal. She has been lifted by leaders who believed in her, and she feels a responsibility to pay that forward.

But the person who shaped her most wasn’t a corporate leader; it was her mum.

“There were no blue jobs or pink jobs in our house,” she says. “Mum would mow the lawn, then bake a cake. She was fiercely independent. I never grew up believing being a girl meant being disadvantaged.”

Seeing her daughter adopt those same qualities is one of Jacqui’s greatest sources of pride.

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Human Insights

A woman she admires

Anne Sherry, for her authenticity, relatability and the way she openly shares both her failures and her achievements. Jacqui was inspired by her vulnerability, her impact on women’s progress in Australia and her reminder that you can lead powerfully while staying true to who you are.

A book or idea that shaped her thinking:

The concept of ‘not yet’. Not “I can’t do this,” but “I can’t do this yet.”

It’s the mindset that helped her let go of perfectionism, embrace learning, and take bold steps in her career. It’s also the mindset she now passes on to young women, including her own daughter.

A piece of advice she returns to often

No one is going to take control of your career except you.

One thing she wishes more people understood about leadership

Being a great functional expert does not automatically make you a great leader. Leadership is a completely different skill set and can feel lonely without trusted people to talk to.

Advice to her younger self

Do something you love, never stop learning and choose progress over perfection.

It’s simple, but it’s the philosophy that has carried her from engineering labs to the helm of Australia’s leading practitioner-only supplements brand, and it’s the philosophy she now uses to lift others.

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