Kerry Bolton is a community builder, system fixer, and the founder of a multi-million-dollar care company.

Her journey hasn’t been easy — from losing her mum at 19, to building her first home at 21 and leaving it behind to start a new life in America, where she endured poverty, domestic violence, and the challenges of the recession. Returning to Australia, she turned her lived experience into a mission to create community, connection, and logical systems that truly serve people.

Kerry Bolton’s story is one of resilience, reinvention, and a relentless drive to create change, fuelled by a deep family legacy of courage and heart.

Her great-grandfather, DCM Sloan Bolton, was a war hero whose story was immortalised in the film The Light Horseman. At just 12 years old, Kerry attended the film’s premiere, walking the red carpet in Melbourne as tanks rolled down Flinders Street. Her great-grandmother, Elsie, was known for her heart, passion, and determination, qualities Kerry proudly carries forward today.

That strength would be called upon early. On her 16th birthday, Kerry’s mum came home from hospital after major brain surgery. Three years later, on her 19th birthday, Kerry learned her mum had an inoperable brain tumour. She passed away on Ukrainian Christmas, leaving Kerry with a deep understanding of how short and precious life is.

By 21, Kerry had built her first home, imagining a stable, comfortable life. But fate had other plans. After surviving a serious crime that left her with a lifelong medical condition, she moved to the U.S., married, and had her son. Life there was far from the dream as her marriage unravelled into domestic violence and stalking, forcing her into a safe house. She endured years in U.S. family courts, surviving on food stamps during the recession, before finally winning the legal right to bring her son back to Australia.

Even back home, challenges didn’t end. Following another domestic violence situation, she fought for and secured her abuser’s deportation. Then came workplace bullying, which became the catalyst for Kerry to launch her own business on her birthday. Two years later, also on her birthday, she moved into her first dedicated office. Two years after that, she won her first major award and reached over $6 million in turnover. By year’s end, she was in New York accepting the titles of Female Entrepreneur of the Year and Company of the Year at the International Stevie Awards.

Kerry’s career has spanned systems analysis, process improvement, and consultancy across industries including insurance, health care, justice, NDIS, and finance. She is known for identifying inefficiencies, challenging illogical processes, and designing practical, people-focused solutions. She believes illogical systems don’t just waste time, they create frustration, isolation, and a sense of being unseen. That’s why she builds communities that push for change, speaks openly about flaws in systems, and empowers people to connect in meaningful ways.

In 2021, she founded her current company, built on community, connection, and the commitment to fix systems that too often divide instead of unite. Her leadership style is proof that business success and heart-led purpose can co-exist.

Kerry is not in business for prestige or luxury. “I’ve had one disc replaced in my neck, I live with degenerative disc disease and I’m not about to struggle getting out of a Lamborghini,” she says with a laugh. “I’m about purpose, not prestige.” She believes everyone has a reason to get up in the morning, and that focusing on strengths while uniting for the greater good is the real game-changer.

Her work is driven by lived experience. She has navigated the very systems she now works to improve, and her insight into bureaucracy’s human cost fuels her determination to find logical, human-centred solutions. Beyond her professional success, she’s a connector, mentor, and advocate for fairness, equally at home in a boardroom, at a community event, or mentoring the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Kerry is proudly mentored by renowned entrepreneur Aaron Sansoni, known as ‘Mr Empire’ for building and scaling businesses globally. His guidance has helped refine her strategic vision, strengthen her leadership, and expand her impact as an entrepreneur, investor, and social advocate.

Her mission is clear: to create social change, challenge what doesn’t make sense, and build systems and communities that work for everyone.