Finding your voice and leading from the heart
From finance and engineering administration in Brisbane to co-leading Tackle World Cairns and serving on the Tackle World Board, Janis Winkworth’s leadership journey has been shaped by confidence, communication, curiosity and the belief that every person has something valuable to contribute.
For Janis Winkworth of Tackle World Cairns, leadership was never something she set out to pursue.
It happened gradually.
A manager who asked for her opinion.
A committee role in finance.
A family business opportunity in Cairns.
Then the responsibilities of running a small business alongside her husband Tom.
And eventually, a seat at the Tackle World Board table.
Looking back, one of the earliest lessons Janis received was also one of the simplest:
Your opinion matters.
“He would always throw to me in meetings and say, ‘What do you think, Janis?’… It gave me confidence to think, oh, my opinion does matter.”
That lesson has stayed with her.
Today, Janis is bringing that same belief into the way she manages people, contributes to Tackle World and helps shape the next generation of independent fishing retail.
From Brisbane to Cairns
Janis was born at Brisbane's Royal Women's Hospital and grew up in Brisbane.
Her early career included a stint in Central Queensland working as an administration assistant within the engineering department of a coal mine.
It was there that she encountered a manager who would leave a lasting impression.
Peter Stoneman made a deliberate point of bringing Janis into meetings, sometimes precisely because she wasn't an engineer and could offer a different perspective.
He would ask:
“What can you see that we’re not seeing?”
For someone early in her career who questioned what experience she could possibly bring to the table, the effect was significant.
Peter listened.
He valued her contribution.
And in doing so, he gave Janis confidence to contribute.
An unexpected opportunity
After returning to Brisbane, Janis met Tom Winkworth through mutual friends.
Marriage and children followed.
Tackle World Cairns, meanwhile, was already a successful family business operated by Tom's parents, Tom Senior and Sue.
But joining the business wasn't originally part of Janis and Tom's plan.
That changed when Tom's younger brother left the business to pursue a career in policing.
The family's succession plan suddenly looked very different.
During a Christmas visit, Tom Senior joked that perhaps Tom and Janis should move to Cairns and buy the business.
At first, there was nervous laughter.
Then they started thinking seriously.
“We both thought, what an amazing opportunity. Where else would we get an opportunity like this?”
They had seen what Tom and Sue had built.
They understood the potential.
And eventually they decided to take the leap.
Entering fishing without being a fishing expert
Tom had grown up in the business.
As a child, he had packed hooks, sinkers and bait and spent considerable time fishing with his father and brothers.
Janis's fishing background was much more modest.
Her memories were of fishing from a jetty with her dad using a handline and catching the occasional catfish.
She still doesn't describe herself as the biggest fisher.
But she loves being on the water.
More importantly, her contribution to the business was never supposed to be a duplicate of Tom's.
It was different.
Today, Janis is a Director of Tackle World Cairns and shares responsibility for running the business with Tom.
Between them, they wear the many hats familiar to independent retailers — HR, business development, people management, administration and strategy.
Janis's primary focus includes marketing, social media, digital strategy, staff and rostering.
Tom focuses more heavily on accounts, purchasing and ordering.
It is a partnership built around complementary strengths.
Leadership happened along the way
Before Cairns, Janis spent around a decade in finance.
While working for Perpetual, she served as Deputy Chair of a Young Finance Professionals Committee designed to help emerging professionals build networks and relationships within the sector.
But leadership still wasn't something Janis actively aspired towards.
“It wasn’t really something that I aspired to do. I think it just kind of progressively happened along the way.”
That is an important theme in her story.
Leadership isn't always the product of pursuing a title.
Sometimes it develops because responsibility keeps finding you — and each time it does, you decide to step forward.
Know what is happening with your people
When Janis thinks about the manager who influenced her early career, one quality particularly stands out.
He knew his people.
Not simply their work.
Their lives.
Their challenges.
Their moods.
Their circumstances.
“He just had that emotional intelligence. He knew exactly what was going on with his team.”
Janis has carried that idea into her own leadership.
She and Tom continually try to strike the balance familiar to every small business owner: being approachable without losing accountability, and being friendly without forgetting that they remain responsible for the performance of the business.
For Janis, it begins with remembering that employees are people first.
“Lead from your heart and remember that everyone is a person, and they’re probably going through their own set of challenges.”
Understand what is happening.
See where you can help.
Then find a way for the individual, the team and the business to move forward together.
A different lens
Janis believes women can bring something valuable into leadership within a traditionally male-dominated fishing industry.
Not necessarily better thinking.
Different thinking.
While fishing businesses naturally attract people who are intensely product and fishing focused, Janis believes women can sometimes approach situations through a broader lens.
“It’s just a different way of thinking… approaching the situation differently.”
That diversity of perspective is increasingly visible around Tackle World.
And Janis sees enormous value in it.
Learning to work with your husband
Working alongside Tom every day presented another leadership challenge.
Before buying the business, they had never worked together.
Suddenly their desks were beside each other.
Every day.
The experience taught them an important lesson about communication.
Don't simply make the statement. Explain the reasoning behind it.
“If Tom explains himself and says, ‘What I mean is this,’ then I’m like, oh, okay, well, that makes sense.”
And Janis accepts that the same applies in reverse.
If she wants Tom to understand her perspective, she needs to explain why she sees something the way she does.
That shift from simply communicating a position to communicating the reasoning behind it has strengthened both their business partnership and their relationship.
“I think it’s just taught us to communicate better.”
Small teams need relationships — and boundaries
Tackle World Cairns is a relatively small team.
That creates closeness.
Staff should feel connected to the business and, ideally, almost like an extension of the family.
But Janis also recognises that there must be boundaries.
“At the end of the day, they’re here to do a job. We’re paying them, and we need them to deliver.”
The challenge is maintaining both sides.
Build relationships.
Know your people.
Have a laugh.
Understand what's happening outside work.
But don't lose clarity around expectations and accountability.
It is another balancing act at the heart of leading a small independent business.
Finding her voice
When Janis reflects on moments that shaped her leadership, she returns to that early manager who encouraged her to speak up.
The lesson became particularly relevant because much of her career has been spent within traditionally male-dominated environments — firstly finance and now fishing.
“He really taught me to stand up and have an opinion and have a voice.”
That lesson also connects to another formative experience.
At university, Janis studied journalism and dreamed of becoming a television journalist.
Then she completed work experience in a newsroom.
What she discovered was an environment she describes as highly competitive and unsupportive.
Instead of experienced journalists taking younger people under their wing, Janis felt like the newcomer was regarded as a threat.
She realised quickly that it wasn't an environment she wanted to build a career in.
For Janis, people should be supported, nurtured, taught and encouraged.
That negative experience helped reinforce the kind of culture she would later want to create herself.
Entering the fishing industry
Janis's experience entering fishing has been overwhelmingly positive.
There have been isolated challenges, but she has consciously refused to allow one person's attitude to define her overall experience.
Suppliers, retailers and the broader Tackle World community have generally welcomed her.
Her first Tackle World conference remains particularly memorable.
Janis wasn't sure what to expect.
She imagined walking into a room dominated entirely by men.
Instead, Julie Ramm — then Chair of Tackle World — was waiting to greet her.
“Hi, you must be Janis.”
It was a simple interaction.
But for Janis, it mattered enormously.
“I wasn’t expecting another female to be so warm and welcoming… it made the world of difference.”
The experience reinforced the impact established women can have simply by making newer women feel they belong.
The importance of mentors
Julie would go on to become an important influence.
Janis describes her as something of a beacon.
Seeing a woman chairing the organisation gave Janis a visible example of what was possible.
“You are paving the way and standing there as the example. It’s like, it can be done.”
Their relationship has also become practical.
Janis reaches out to Julie for advice, ideas and lessons from what has worked at Tackle World Miami.
For Janis, mentoring doesn't necessarily need to be formal.
People naturally gravitate towards those who motivate, challenge and inspire them.
But she believes the principle is extremely important.
“Especially someone who’s a little bit older who can help the younger generation coming through feel more encouraged and more supported.”
Difficult conversations need to happen
Janis's approach to challenges is considerably less subtle.
Hit them head on.
“You have to call out the elephant in the room.”
Avoiding the conversation usually doesn't make the underlying issue disappear.
Whether in business or life, Janis increasingly believes almost everything comes back to communication.
Hard conversations remain hard.
But they still need to happen.
Put the issue on the table.
Listen.
Communicate openly.
Determine whether there is a path forward.
And accept that sometimes there isn't.
“Sometimes you can work together and move forward, and sometimes you can’t. And you have to accept that that’s okay.”
Independent retail's competitive advantage
Digital disruption and online competition are significant conversations across fishing retail.
Janis is conscious of them.
But she isn't consumed by them.
Why?
Because she believes independents still possess something difficult to replicate online.
Human connection.
Customers regularly arrive at Tackle World Cairns after struggling to find assistance elsewhere.
The Cairns team spends time talking to them.
What are you trying to catch?
Where are you going?
What do you actually need?
Those deeper conversations allow the team to solve problems rather than simply process transactions.
Janis believes that customer experience remains a major competitive advantage.
“If you can add that human element and give them a level of service that no one else can, I think that’s where it’s at.”
More women on the water — and in the room
Janis is already seeing significant female participation in Cairns.
Female anglers are visible throughout the community, supported by local networks and organisations such as The Ribbons, a women-only fishing club.
Tackle World Cairns has worked with the club through sponsorship, events and cross-promotion.
But Janis sees an even larger shift occurring inside fishing businesses themselves.
Historically, a male owner might attend an industry conference while his wife spent the day elsewhere.
That picture is changing.
Increasingly, husband-and-wife owners are both in the room.
Both contribute.
Both make decisions.
Both help grow the business.
Janis believes that evolution will fundamentally change fishing's culture.
“It’s not going to be seen as this big boys’ club. It’s going to be seen as fishing is for everyone, and we’re all here, and we’re all equal.”
Change will take time
Janis is also realistic.
Put Janis and Tom side by side on the shop floor and ask which person an older male angler is more likely to approach for fishing advice?
Tom.
She still sees it happen.
But Janis doesn't necessarily interpret every interaction negatively.
People often gravitate towards whoever makes them most comfortable.
She compares it to shopping for clothes and potentially preferring advice from another woman.
Her view is that front-facing customer behaviour may take longer to change.
The bigger transformation may be happening behind the scenes — in business ownership, management, strategy and governance.
And that, Janis believes, is where women will have enormous influence.
Living the Tackle World life
At Tackle World Cairns, Live the Tackle World Life isn't simply a marketing line.
Janis believes employees need to genuinely embody it.
The store's team lives and breathes fishing.
Some fish before work.
They know the local waters.
They understand techniques and products because they actually use them.
For Janis and Tom, fishing knowledge is such an important part of the store's proposition that genuine passion for fishing is fundamental when recruiting.
“We need to practise what we preach.”
If Tackle World positions itself around Local Independent Fishing Experts, expertise has to be real.
Customers need confidence that the person standing in front of them understands their question.
Building experts by sharing knowledge
That expertise isn't expected to appear overnight.
New employees at Cairns are partnered with more experienced team members.
But Janis encourages them not to learn from just one person.
Listen to everyone.
Watch how different people sell.
Learn different fishing styles.
Absorb the knowledge around you.
Training also comes from suppliers, representatives and experienced charter operators.
The principle is simple:
Everybody knows something you don't.
Take a little from each person and gradually build your own knowledge base.
Community creates relationships
Community has also become an increasingly important part of the Cairns strategy.
The business participates in activities such as Clean Up Australia Day, supports local schools and fishing clubs, sponsors competitions and creates in-store and community events.
Janis points to events where young anglers can meet respected fishing personalities as particularly powerful.
They create relationships.
And those relationships continue long after the event.
Customers send photographs from the weekend.
Their catches become part of the fishing report.
They return to the store to share their next story.
“Those community activations give you a really good synergy… you’re building these relationships.”
One story stands out.
A young angler fishing from the Cairns Esplanade had his rod and reel broken during an incident with other youths.
When Tom heard what had happened, he contacted Daiwa.
Together, they organised replacement gear for the young fisher.
It wasn't a marketing campaign.
It was simply the fishing community looking after one of its own.
Bringing an established business into a new era
Taking over a successful family business brings a unique challenge.
You don't want to discard what made it successful.
But you also can't stand still.
For Janis and Tom, one of the most important changes was digital marketing.
Tom Senior and Sue had built a highly successful traditional retail business.
The next generation wanted to expand its digital presence.
Facebook and Instagram became more consistent.
Video became increasingly important.
Digital engagement became a core part of the business.
The results can sometimes be extraordinary.
One of the store's tax-time videos reached around three million views.
For Janis, digital isn't replacing local retail.
It is helping a local retailer reach considerably more people.
What keeps Janis grounded
Despite becoming a business owner and director, Janis's answer about what keeps her grounded comes straight back to people.
Her children.
Tom.
Her family.
Even the puppy.
But underneath that is another important belief:
“I’m no better than anyone else. We are all valuable. We all have something to contribute.”
Job titles don't determine somebody's worth.
Whether CEO, owner, employee or cleaner, Janis believes everybody can contribute something meaningful.
That mindset has its roots all the way back in that early engineering office where somebody deliberately asked the young administration assistant what she could see that everyone else had missed.
One team, one dream
Now part of Tackle World's leadership group, Janis is optimistic about what could come next.
Her enthusiasm is centred on greater alignment between independent members.
Different stores will always have their own markets and personalities.
But Janis believes the group can achieve substantially more if it increasingly thinks and acts collectively.
“One team, one dream. Let’s keep moving forward.”
She is excited by younger owners coming through.
She is equally encouraged by long-standing members who remain progressive and adaptable.
Combine that experience with fresh thinking and stronger collaboration, and Janis believes the future is compelling.
“Together as a team we can really accomplish great things.”
Janis's Quick Five
Boat or shore? Boat.
Freshwater or saltwater? Saltwater.
Favourite fish to eat? Barramundi.
Favourite place to fish? Out on the reef.
Early mornings or late afternoons? Late afternoons.
And a few extras…
Coffee order? Cappuccino.
Never leave home without? Her phone.
Biggest fish? Still waiting to catch it.
Bucket-list destination? Switzerland.
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Women Who Lead
Women Who Lead celebrates the women helping shape Tackle World and Australia's recreational fishing industry.
From store owners and managers to directors and industry leaders, the series explores the experiences, lessons and different leadership styles of the women contributing to the future of independent fishing retail.
Janis Winkworth's story shows what can happen when someone is encouraged to find their voice — and then uses that voice to encourage others. Leadership, in her world, is about communication, empathy, curiosity and remembering that no matter where somebody sits around the table, they may be able to see something nobody else can.
