She Shapes History

12/04/2025

Yesterday I launched She Shapes History (the book!) into the world at the National Library of Australia with 300 incredible humans.

It’s officially going down as a top 10 moment in my life. A huge thank you to the incredible team for making it happen, and to my gorgeous team (Megan, Amanda and Rosanna) for coming down/up and being there. Despite my light public bullying re: all the women you cut, I genuinely can’t thank you enough for helping bring this book to life. I’m so incredibly grateful for everything and you have all played such a big part in helping me shape history. Thank you forever.

I loved meeting and chatting with so many of you about how long you’ve been following She Shapes History, and how you plan to use the book (so many teachers told me they were excited to use it in the classroom 🥹). I was also genuinely moved by how many people travelled from interstate just to be there.

The National Library bookshop had 200 copies available and they completely sold out before the event had even finished (!!). It’s the most books they’ve ever sold at an event (the previous record was 135!). I still can’t quite believe it.

Thank you so much to everyone who came and helped launch the book with me. I’m so excited for it to be properly out in the world from Tuesday.

Make sure you grab a copy! It’s great. Although I might definitely be a bit biased.

11/04/2025

I was invited to Government House this morning for a meeting with the absolutely incredible Sam Mostyn (Australia’s Governor-General!!).

I genuinely had no idea what to expect from the meeting.

What I most definitely was not expecting was to hear that she’d come across She Shapes History on social media, gone down a deep dive into our socials and my journey writing the book and running tours in Canberra — and even tried to make it to our book launch tomorrow at the (!!). When she realised she couldn’t make it to the launch, she invited me over for a chat instead.

That “chat” ended up going for an hour and included a quick tour of Government House with her and her team.

She had so many ideas for how she could support She Shapes History. She told me she wants to start weaving more stories of incredible Australian women into her speeches and was genuinely excited to use the book as a resource and said she hopes this is just the beginning of a long relationship (!!).

Even typing this out feels a bit surreal and also like this is all a very elaborate prank.

Gosh. What a way to kick off what’s going to be a massive weekend/month/year/decade.

P.S. The book will be available to purchase from the National Library from tomorrow, and in all other stores from Tuesday — so please grab a copy!! I promise it’s good!! Also really looking forward to launching it tomorrow at the National Library with 300 people — it’s going to be such a special event ❤️

03/04/2025

Here to remind you that we run tours, and in April, we’re running SO MANY (30!!!!!!).

Please join us on one (or three), because every time Sita thinks about how much it’s costing to run them, how much it’s going to cost to train new guides in Sydney, and how many of those dates don’t have many people booked, SHE IS STRESSING 😬.

And she already has more than enough to stress about, what with trying to launch She Shapes History in Sydney and Melbourne (and likely also Fremantle and Wollongong) this year.

So please help her be slightly less stressed by booking a tour, or by sending this to a friend who should book a tour.

P.S. I don’t know why I decided to write this post in third person 😅. That’s how stressed I am about making sure we get enough bookings in April to help fund our expansion to Sydney and Melbourne. Also, if you’re not keen on doing a tour this month but still want to support us, you can always buy a gift card or the book ❤️.

01/04/2025

I LOVE April Fools’ Day. I think it’s such a powerful moment to create thought-provoking content that sparks real conversation.

In my opinion, the best posts are the ones that make us pause and ask, “Wait… could this actually be true?” They stay with us. They make us feel something. And hopefully, they push us a little closer to action.

On the last slide, you’ll find a few actions you can take to help make sure women don’t get written out of history (again!).

I’m hoping this post did exactly that. And I’m sorry to everyone I gave a mild heart attack to while they were sipping their morning coffee or half-asleep, scrolling Instagram in bed.

I do an April Fools’ post every year, so next year… be prepared. This one will be hard to top, but I have faith in myself. I’ve got a year to come up with something. You’ve been warned.

26/03/2025

We’re ridiculously excited to be opening up our very tiny but mighty team at SSH HQ to one more person: a Marketing Assistant (!!!). This is a part-time, entry-level role and we’re really pitching it to uni students without heaps of experience because it’s genuinely designed to be entry level.

We’re not looking for someone with a long resume or loads of experience. We’re looking for someone who’s curious, creative, up for giving things a go, and passionate about women’s history and creating social impact.

For those who haven’t heard of us before, She Shapes History is a historical tourism social enterprise (based in Canberra but expanding nationally!) making women’s history accessible & engaging. We’re creating recognition and respect for women – one tour (and one reel!) at a time.

📍 Canberra (or Melbourne for the right person)
✨ Part-time
🕐 10 hours/week
🎓 Entry-level (genuinely!)
💰 $25/hour (+ 11.5% super)

18/03/2025

Oh my goodness what a week!! And it’s only Tuesday!

I made it into The Sydney Morning Herald (!!) AND my 10 advance copies from the publisher arrived.

The interview with The Sydney Morning Herald was hands down one of my favorite interview experiences ever.

The fabulous Julie Power and I spent two hours wandering around Sydney, chatting about women’s history and how much of it has been erased and forgotten, but (hopefully!) not for much longer!

The gorgeous emails and DMs we’ve been getting from folks who’ve read the article have me so excited to launch tours in Sydney and see the book out in the world!

We’re planning to launch tours in Sydney in May (tickets go on sale mid-April!), and the book will be out on April 15 (but it’s available for pre-order now!).

I’ve honestly had so many “pinch me, how is this my actual life” moments lately that I’m starting to worry the universe is about to balance things out with something truly chaotic and terrible 😅😬🫣

11/03/2025

We’re hiring guides in Sydney! 💗🕺🏽✨ We’re looking for people who are able to run at least 1x 2-hour tour a week

Please share this with anyone who might be a great fit – we’ve put together a list of green flags and red flags to help you get a feel for what we’re looking for. The link to apply is in our bio 🫶🏽.

We’ll be reviewing applications and conducting interviews as they come in, as we’re looking for 1-2 people to start SOON in preparation for launching tours in Sydney in May! We’re developing and trialling our two Sydney tours throughout March and April, and we’d LOVE for whoever we hire to be part of that process.

Btw our Sydney team already includes two incredibly badass women — one is an architect and the other is a cartoonist — and we’re so excited to add 1-2 more incredible humans to the mix.

Feel free to send me a DM if you have any questions. Otherwise, we’re really looking forward to (hopefully!) welcoming you to our (frankly, pretty amazing) team.

P.S. We know this post is a bit of an info dump, but if someone’s genuinely interested in being a guide, we figure they’ll read it.

23/02/2025

I wrote a book, and it hits shelves on April 15—but you can pre-order now (ideally from your local bookshop, but online works too!).

Writing this was one of the hardest and most challenging things I’ve ever done—and for better or worse, it consumed my 2024. So I’m both really excited (and equally nervous) to see it out in the world.

Canberra is the only stop on my book tour, so I’d really love to see you at the launch at the National Library of Australia on April 12! It’s free, and it’s going to be a really special event—but you do need to register here: https://www.library.gov.au/whats-on/events/book-launch-she-shapes-history-sita-sargeant.

Hopefully, I’ll see you there 💗

And also… holy s**t, I cannot believe I wrote a book 😳

14/02/2025

These past two nights running our Love in the Capital tour have been absolutely fantastic! 💖 Huge thanks to everyone who joined Eleri for a walk through Canberra’s hidden history of romance!

Here’s a little round-up from night one (with a special pic from night two thrown in for good measure):

1. At the Ladies Rose Gardens 🌹
2. Kicking off the evening with champagne at the (their courtyards are stunning and are definitely one of Canberra’s hidden secrets) and getting to know one another. 🥂
3. Out front of the Hyatt, hearing about one of its more famous residents (hint: her husband went missing at sea and was never heard from again).
4. Tennis at the Senate Rose Gardens. Including these men in my round-up because oh my goodness, they were LOUD—so much grunting, which was not exactly the vibe we were going for while telling a story about someone key to The Dismissal.
5. On the front steps of Old Parliament House.
6. At the Aboriginal Tent Embassy.
7. Two of my fave SSH community members—they’ve been on every tour and have probably told everyone in their lives about SSH. Another of my eternal faves was there too, but I didn’t get a good photo of her. (She is on my spy tour this afternoon AS A SECOND DATE activity so maybe I’ll take a sneaky pic then)
8. Eleri and John McEwan.
9. Hotel Kurrajong.
10. A group video from night one, featuring very unclear instructions from me, which is why it’s slightly awkward. 😅
11. Group photo from night two! ☂️

See you all again tonight! And then probably in a year when we run this again. 😉🕺🏽

30/01/2025

Thank you HerCanberra for the lovely shout out!

"Learn about the love stories that shaped the nation

Running for only three days, She Shapes History Tours returns with its most scandalous tour just in time for Valentine’s Day and Galentine’s Day.

Discover Canberra’s hidden romantic side on this eye-opening journey into the heart of the capital, revealing its lesser-known history of love, passion, and scandal. Grab your date or some friends and uncover the stories that rocked the city, from power couples to secret love affairs, and everyday romances that thrived despite government policies."

From where to book a table for two to fun activities that will woo your boo, here are 15+ ways to spend Valentine's Day in Canberra.

28/01/2025

We are absolutely delighted to bring back our very popular Love in the Capital tour this February for three NIGHTS only: 13th (Galentine’s Day), 14th (Valentine’s Day), and 15th (because Saturdays deserve some love too) 🌹💕

Your ticket includes a complimentary glass of bubbles 🥂 and two hours of incredible stories that will absolutely transform how you view Canberra and Australia’s political history forever.

This is one of our absolute favourite tours to run (and we’re so excited to offer it as an EVENING tour!), so hopefully we’ll see you there. We personally couldn’t think of a better way to spend Valentine’s Day! 💗

14/01/2025

So, I quit my part-time job (Engagement Manager at the amazing women-owned social enterprise ) AND made my first non-tour guide hire today (Zev is coming on as our new part-time Operations Manager). And holy sh*t, am I really nervous and low-key second-guessing myself.

December and January are ALWAYS super quiet months for us (Canberra empties out, and the locals who stick around don’t want to be outside), so I’m making this move knowing the next couple of months will be a bit tough in terms of cash flow.

But after a really good break where I thought a lot about what I wanted my life and She Shapes History to look like, I’ve fully decided to go all in. I have so much faith in She Shapes History (it’s already so much bigger than I imagined) and I really do think a few slightly painful months will be worth it because I get to work on something I love every day and I also get to contribute to making Australia a better place by reshaping how we think about our history.

I don’t know exactly what I’m trying to say here. I guess, just keep me in your thoughts as I scale up a women’s history tourism company to the point where quitting my fairly well paid and flexible job and hiring someone for operations feels like the right call 😅. (Right now, I low key feel like I need a drink, but instead, I’m going to go for a walk with a friend as I’m trying to not go to the pub as my default post-work activity).

My goal for 2025 is to expand She Shapes History to two other Australian cities, grow our corporate and school tour offerings, and to keep amplifying women’s stories through digital content. I honestly just couldn’t see that happening while working part-time elsewhere, or without someone else dedicated to operations and customer service.

But it’s still a MASSIVE leap, and one that I *really* hope I won’t regret.

Keep shaping history,
Sita

17/12/2024

Look, we dropped the ball on marketing this year and left it pretty late to remind you we do gift cards. But maybe you also dropped the ball on getting a gift...

If that’s the case, we’ve got you. A She Shapes History gift card is the perfect Christmas gift—for literally anyone.

Your partner, mum, best friend, grandma, colleague, even your misogynistic dad. We’ve got you.

It supports a small business, celebrates women, is good for the environment and your soul, and leaves you feeling incredibly inspired (or, on our spy tour, questioning whether you missed your true calling as a spy). Honestly? It’s just the ultimate gift.

Our tours are the kind of gift that doesn’t disappoint. We’ve got a way-higher-than-average redemption rate, and there’s almost always someone on tour who’s there because it was a gift (and they love it!).

Okay, going to stop selling now—but seriously, our gift cards are great, and you should grab one.

25/11/2024

Thank you everyone who braved the hot weather and joined us on a tour weekend! ❤️🫶🏽🌞

22/11/2024

Pretty soon after Eleri started running the tour last year, she was asked to create a comic for a children’s event in Sydney.

Drawing inspiration from the tour, she developed an incredible comic about Dorothy & Enid (the first women elected to federal parliament) and the lack of female toilets . It was such a fantastic comic that Allen & Unwin is turning it into a children’s book (out next June!).

Honestly, this is one of my favorite outcomes from starting She Shapes History—knowing the tours inspired (an amazing) children’s picture book is pretty damn awesome.

But this post isn’t just to brag about how amazing Eleri and the tours are (though they are). It’s to let you know that Eleri will be doing a live comics reading at Old Parliament House on Friday, November 29, at 6pm.

I went to my first live comic reading a couple months ago, and it was such a delightful, unique experience—I genuinely can’t recommend it enough. If you’re free on Friday, I can’t think of a better way to spend your evening (especially since it’s ridiculously well-priced at just $10).

This is your chance to experience Eleri’s brilliant feminist toilet commentary in the very building where the history ACTUALLY HAPPENED. And if you ask really nicely (no promises), she might even take you to the infamous toilet itself. 🚽

It’s also your last chance to see the unsanitised OG version before it’s polished for print as a children’s book.

Eleri promises you won’t regret coming.

22/11/2024

Eleri’s absolutely fabulous tour group from this morning!

PSA the rose gardens are in full bloom at the moment, so are STUNNING 🌹

Still time to book your spot for this weekends tour!