Catherine Marriott OAM inspires students at The Scots School's International Women's Day breakfast

But rather than letting school results and other people dictate her path, she has instead always been guided by her passion in her pursuits.

The OAM, agricultural leader and CEO of Riverine Plains addressed students at The Scots School's International Women's Day breakfast. The former student was the guest speaker, sharing her experiences of what it takes for a woman to excel in a male dominated industry.

"I've never known what I wanted to do with my life, but what I have known, is that I'm passionate about making a contribution to rural communities and agriculture," she said.

Courage and resilience are the two pillars on which Ms Marriott has built her life, values she said she learned from her mother and sister. They are qualities she has needed to exercise numerous times throughout her career, battling endometriosis, enduring the death of her father and exposing Barnaby Joyce in the sexual harassment saga of 2018.

"My dad died when I was nine and I was the oldest of four kids, and just to watch mum and see her strength through the whole process, inspired me to build that strength in myself," she said. "You just give life a go, and the thing that builds courage is making small changes, and gaining confidence on the back of them.

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"I had endometriosis and a hysterectomy a couple of years ago. One in nine women suffer from the disease, and there has been $89 million spent over the last five years which equates to 26 cents per woman suffering in Australia per year, which is horrific.

"I share this because I've been told my whole life there was nothing wrong with me and it was in my head, and I know many other women have had the same experience.

"It was a great decision, because the amount of blokes who wrote to me saying, 'thank you so much, I have now gone and gotten my niece, my daughter, etc. checked and she is having surgery now'. So it was very rewarding to be able to move the needle on that issue."

Ms Marriott said there had been great strides in getting women in leadership roles but the challenge now was to inspire the next generation.

"I would say follow what makes you happy and what gives you energy," she said.

"You will be pulled in a lot of different directions, particularly if you're clever, and people will say, you need to be a doctor or engineer or whatever. Run scenarios through your head and discover what lifts your energy, because your intuition and your energy level won't lie - follow that impulse."

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