My initial role in this team was as research project manager, so while I had experience in research skills and organising people, I very quickly had to do a crash course in epistemic reflexivity! My learnings in this space, and the rapid progression of my academic career, soon saw my contribution the project increase beyond management, and my role was formally recognised by the ARC when I became a CI on the project in early 2020. Being part of this amazing team and learning together has given me the language to be able to explain in an academic way, my interest in understanding the importance of self-awareness as an educator. My area of expertise is trauma-informed practice in early childhood, parenting and education. As educators in this space, I believe we need to be particularly aware of our epistemic beliefs and our capacity to be reflexive. Our way of being with pre-service students is crucial in demonstrating that we “walk the talk”, to help them find more supportive ways of being with diverse students, such as those living with the effects of complex trauma. Professionally, being part of this project contributes to my understanding of so many aspects of an academic career – from understanding the theoretical framework of epistemic reflexivity and how it might be applied to my context, to the process of writing and publishing papers, to working effectively as a research team across disciplines, Universities and physical locations. When we meet up, to be in a room with a group of such experienced and talented researchers provides me with brilliant examples of how to approach complex issues in education, and what can be achieved when we put our heads together and share our thinking. I am hopeful that this project will contribute towards our collective understanding of diversity and provide teacher educators with a social justice lens through which to view our practice. I am a big believer in the “ripple effect” – so when we can work in an authentic way to better understand each other and our students, this understanding will grow and be shared, benefitting many. Being a part of this team as an early career researcher has inspired and challenged me – from grappling with concepts around epistemic cognition, trying to draw our collective thoughts onto paper (literally – our framework additions have been scribbles in my note-book!), and making sense of mountains of data. I love what we have created together so far, with the help of numerous glasses of bubbles along the way, and I am excited for what is still to unfold in this space!