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In the context of Australia's strategy to Close the Gap on Indigenous disadvantage in employment, this paper tells my personal story as an example of the challenges that Aboriginal people face in moving to new jobs and to face new responsibilities. In my case, I became employed as a researcher in the Empowerment Research Program of James Cook University (JCU) in Cairns and a facilitator in the related Aboriginal-developed Family Wellbeing Empowerment Program. As the first paper in a two-part series, this paper explores why change and the unknown had a large part to do with my reluctance to move to new jobs, and the rewards of facing my fears. The second paper will describe the opportunities and challenges associated with facilitating the Family Wellbeing program. Both papers are based on reflections written during the training and facilitation processes over the last couple of years. I used thematic analysis to code the reflections and identify themes. I reviewed the themes and created a mind map to see how the themes related to each other. This paper concludes that becoming personally empowered through meaningful employment is an ongoing process involving both personal courage and a supportive environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]