About Me

I’m Lilja (Lil-ya) Sigurpalsdottir, born in Iceland, I migrated to Australia when I had just turned six.   Given how big and amazingly beautiful Australia is, it probably comes as no surprise to know that I have lived in a few different places over the years, from small country towns to tropical getaways, to the seaside city of Sydney.  

I now live with my gorgeous, vibrant (never a dull moment) three children in a little town on the coast of Australia, we live by the sea and are surrounded by the most beautiful beaches, bushland, and wildlife.

As is the Aussie way, most people just call me ‘Lil’.   Aussies love a nickname, they will often shorten or halve your first or last name or add an ‘a” an “o” or a “y” at the end.

I still have lots of family in Iceland and scattered around Europe, and have even retained some basic Icelandic, or at least enough to get me through some conversational chit-chat.   Those who have traveled to Iceland, will know that it is a place of unparalleled beauty, there are scenes in Iceland that almost seem unreal.  

I’m incredibly proud of where I come from and am still to this day I am in awe of my brave parents who in the 1980s decided to pack up their lives and four of their children and move to the other side of the planet.

I’m also incredibly grateful for my life in Australia. Every day I get to gaze out at the vast coastline from my beautiful home, I see wildlife, birds, wallabies, and even the occasional koala and I get to see the joy of my children as they play in the surf during summer and experience the freedom of living an easy-going, peaceful life in the country.

Kapatola (the name is a whole other story!) came to be after working for over 20 years in private enterprise, local government, and community services.   I decided that life needed more balance, and I needed more time to indulge in my passion and to simply live and be with my children.

I have extensive experience in change management, facilitation, marketing, communications, customer and user experience, leadership development, and project management.

Although my expertise extends across various areas, combined it provides a specialised level of customer-focused skills that can be applied to any business or organisation.   I am intrigued by people, I understand the predictive nature of human behavior and use my skills, experience, and empathy to deliver exceptional results in customer engagement, whether it be marketing, communications, training, creating customer experiences, or managing projects or change.  

I love what I do.  I am constantly intrigued by my work, the people I meet, and the businesses I get to work with.   My approach is solution-focused, optimistic, adaptable, and professional. 

If you think we might be able to work on a project together, I’d love to hear from you, email me at connect@kapatola.com.