About
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has..."
Pearl Davies is, by her own description, a “sock drawer of interests” - a little bit of everything, brought together by a genuine love of people, creativity, music, photography and making a difference.
Since 2008, Pearl has been writing and photographing ladies and gentlemen, artists, entertainers and humanitarian case studies. Her creative work spans photography, journalism, music industry marketing, event production and advocacy, with a particular passion for celebrating individuality and challenging conventional ideas of beauty.
Photography & Creativity
Pearl’s vintage pin-up and boudoir photography is guided by her “Any Shape, Any Colour, Any Size” philosophy. She is a proud supporter of the #effyourbeautystandards movement and believes that beauty has no single shape, size, colour or definition. Now back in her hometown of Newcastle, Australia, Pearl is bringing many of her passions together through The Atomic Hideaway — a creative, multi-purpose space designed to be much more than a place to stay. The Atomic Hideaway is envisioned as a retro-revival themed short-stay accommodation, home to Pearl Davies Photography Studio, a creative space available for other artists and creatives, and a green room and welcoming space for touring musicians and performers.
Music Industry & Journalism
Pearl’s career in the music industry began in 2008, writing for local and national music and entertainment street press publications, including Reverb and Beat Magazine. Since 2010, she has also interviewed artists and conducted case studies across the music industry and performing arts. Her career later took her to the United States, where she worked extensively within the music industry across talent buying, contract management, show and festival marketing, and day-of-show production. She has worked with budgets exceeding US$1 million and gained experience across many facets of live entertainment. Pearl’s passion for the industry also led her to study music business and marketing at Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, where she graduated twice with a 4.0 GPA. During her time in the United States, Pearl worked with a prominent venue marketing music shows and continued working with American music festival and concert production. Her career has provided opportunities to work alongside and support productions featuring artists including Melissa Etheridge, Pat Benatar, Otis Redding Jr., The Beach Boys, Smash Mouth, Boz Scaggs, Sheryl Crow, Willie Nelson, The Indigo Girls, Everclear, Barenaked Ladies and The Goo Goo Dolls, among many others. Pearl continues to offer musicians and artists free hints and tips on marketing their music, drawing on her years of practical experience within the industry. In 2014, Pearl also conducted an underground survey of Australia's music industry, attracting more than 3,000 responses from people across the East Coast. The research provided valuable insight into the challenges and needs of emerging artists and what they need to build sustainable and successful music careers.
Advocacy Against Bullying
Pearl is a passionate anti-bullying activist and continues to write as an advocate for both national and international publications. She believes bullying can occur anywhere and at any age. While she recognises that bullying may never be completely eradicated, Pearl believes education, awareness and speaking up can help minimise its impact — including the devastating consequences that can contribute to depression and suicide. Her message is simple: If you see something, stand up and say something. Stand up for the little guy.
Giving Back
Community involvement and humanitarian work have been an important part of Pearl’s life for many years. Pearl has actively contributed to not-for-profit organisations and community initiatives, including the International Rotary Foundation and World Vision Australia. She travelled to Papua New Guinea for two consecutive years to help support, deliver and document a long-running project assisting small village communities. During one of those trips, Pearl had the extraordinary experience of assisting with the delivery of several babies — including the honour of having one of the children named after her. Her commitment to supporting children and communities in need has also extended to sponsoring two children through World Vision Australia since she came of age.
Supporting Health & Wellbeing
Pearl has never shied away from getting personally involved in the causes she supports.
Alongside family, friends and members of the wider community, she raised almost AU$7,000 for the Leukaemia Foundation through a Shave for a Cure campaign. For Pearl, the campaign represented more than simply cutting hair — it was a reminder that while some people can choose to shave their hair, others undergoing treatment simply do not get that choice. While living in the United States, Pearl also became involved with Look Good Feel Better, an initiative supporting women living with cancer by helping them feel more confident during an incredibly difficult time. She continues to financially support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which provides treatment for children with serious illnesses while ensuring their families are not burdened with hospital bills. Pearl has also been involved with the Big Brothers Big Sisters of America program, supporting the idea that positive, supportive relationships and strong role models can make a direct and lasting difference in the lives of young people.
People First
At the heart of everything Pearl does is her love of people. She believes everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, regardless of their religion, culture, skin colour, sexuality, gender or relationship. Pearl is passionate about breaking down racial, homophobic and ethnic barriers and challenging the stigma that can divide communities. Her philosophy is simple: people are people. They may come from different backgrounds, believe different things and live different lives, but they share the same fundamental human experiences. We smile in the same language. We cry in the same language. Pearl believes there is more value in celebrating what connects people than focusing on what separates them.
A Life of Many Passions
Pearl Davies' career and volunteer work may appear to span many different worlds — photography, journalism, music, marketing, humanitarian projects, advocacy and community fundraising — but there is a common thread running through all of them. People. Whether she is photographing someone in her studio, interviewing an artist, working behind the scenes at a concert, documenting a humanitarian project, standing up against bullying or raising money for a cause, Pearl is driven by curiosity, creativity and a desire to make a positive difference. Her work is a reflection of a life lived with plenty of interests, plenty of stories and, quite simply, a lot of heart.
Since the age of 18, Pearl has been sponsoring children through World Vision Australia — a journey that began with an unexpected gift from a great-aunt she had never met.
Before her passing, Pearl’s great-aunt left a one-off payment to each of her great-nieces and nephews. Pearl was bewildered that a complete stranger, whether family or not, would choose to give away her hard-earned savings to people she barely knew. While some of her relatives used their money on car stereos, guitars and video games, Pearl wanted to do something meaningful with hers. She began researching various not-for-profit organisations, carefully looking at how donations were distributed and how much of each dollar went directly towards helping those in need.
When Pearl discovered World Vision, she felt she had found an organisation she could trust. She began looking through photographs of children in need of sponsorship, but found it almost impossible to choose just one. So, she closed her eyes and clicked through the photographs several times before randomly stopping. When she opened her eyes, she was looking at a one-year-old boy named Rodrique Allaramadji from Chad, Central Africa. Pearl signed up to sponsor Rodrique and soon received an information pack containing details about his family, his village and his life. Wanting to thank her great-aunt and show her that the money had been put towards something meaningful, Pearl wrote her a letter and included copies of all the information she had received about Rodrique, including his photograph.
It was then that Pearl discovered something she had not known: her great-aunt was blind.
Pearl decided to make the letter a sensory experience. She sprayed the letter and documentation with her favourite perfume, hoping that someone would be able to read the words and information to her great-aunt, while the familiar scent would create a lasting memory through one of her active senses — her sense of smell.
Sadly, Pearl learned not long after sending the letter that her great-aunt had passed away. To this day, Pearl wonders whether her great-aunt ever received her mail.
A Journey That Continued
Rodrique, born on 26 January 2000, lived with his parents in a rural community in Chad. His father was a subsistence farmer whose livelihood depended heavily on seasonal rainfall. Rodrique and his village were part of the Gueni River Area Development project through World Vision. The project continued for more than 13 years, providing education, skills and opportunities designed to help the community become self-sufficient. When the project eventually came to an end, the community had the knowledge and skills to continue caring for themselves and making use of the land around them. Pearl feels incredibly grateful to have played even a small part in that journey. Rather than saying goodbye to World Vision when the Gueni project concluded, Pearl chose to continue her commitment by sponsoring another child and another community. That is when she met five-year-old Esther from Ethiopia. Pearl continues to write letters to Esther, just as she did with Rodrique, and hopes that one day she will have the opportunity to meet them in person.
A Bigger Purpose
What began as an unexpected gift from a great-aunt has grown into a lifelong commitment to making a difference in the lives of children and communities around the world. Pearl’s story is a reminder that even a small contribution can become part of something much bigger. Through child sponsorship, she has been able to support communities as they develop the education, skills and resources needed to build a more sustainable future. There are children in need of sponsorship across the world — from neighbouring Papua New Guinea and Indonesia to Cambodia, Brazil, Haiti, Rwanda, South Africa and many other countries. Pearl hopes her story will inspire others to consider how they might use their own resources to create something meaningful. For less than $2 a day, sponsoring a child can help contribute to a child's future and become the beginning of a journey that reaches far beyond one individual.
Together, We Can Make a Difference
Cancer touches all of us in some way. Whether through our own experience or that of a loved one, friend, carer, or member of our community, its impact can be profound. We believe that raising awareness and coming together to raise funds is one way we can make a meaningful difference — supporting those affected by cancer while contributing to the search for better treatments and, ultimately, a cure. Our journey was inspired by Pearl Davies, who took part in The World’s Greatest Shave to raise money and awareness for cancer research and support. What began as one person’s commitment quickly became a wonderful day of community, friendship and family. Surrounded by an incredible group of friends and family at a local pub, Pearl raised more than $6,000 for this important cause. But the generosity didn’t stop there. On the day, even more volunteers stepped forward to show their support and have their hair shaved. The team held a raffle to decide who would cut off whose ponytail, raising an additional $1,000 on the day. It was a powerful reminder of what can happen when people come together with a shared purpose.
The Inspiration Behind It All
Pearl’s motivation was deeply personal. Standing alongside her that day were three very special people who each represented a different part of her cancer journey.
Miss D — whose brother had fought a long and courageous battle with cancer before passing away the year before.
Miss J — a cancer survivor who fought her own battle and is now thankfully fully recovered. Go Miss J!
And Miss S — a beautiful and determined woman who was undergoing chemotherapy at the time. Despite being incredibly unwell, she found
Pearl has a deep passion for storytelling through photography and writing, with a particular interest in documenting the ways ordinary people can make an extraordinary difference.
During 2012 and 2013, Pearl documented the journey of 16 volunteers working in Nondugl, Papua New Guinea. The volunteers travelled from the USA, Norway, Germany and Australia, coming together to support the local community in practical and meaningful ways. During their time in Nondugl, the team installed water tanks, established a new library, provided medical and teaching equipment, and helped improve local school facilities. At the Nondugl Administration School, classroom floors that had previously been made from river rocks and dirt were cemented, while fresh paint helped create brighter, more welcoming learning spaces for the children.
One of Pearl’s most unexpected and memorable experiences was being involved in the delivery of five healthy babies during her time in Nondugl. With no previous experience in childbirth or midwifery, Pearl never imagined she would find herself assisting with births. One particularly unforgettable moment came when, shortly after helping deliver a baby girl, she discovered the child had been named after her. It was a deeply humbling experience that created a connection she continues to treasure.
Back home in Australia, Pearl has remained in contact with the baby’s mother, as well as several of the friends she made during her time in Nondugl. Pearl’s love of photography, combined with her writing ability and genuine desire to make a difference, drives her passion for documenting these stories. Her focus is on capturing the journey behind donated goods and community projects - and showing how the generosity of everyday people can create lasting and meaningful change in the lives of others.
Lennie the Libraian
Nondugl Administration School
During her stay in Papua New Guinea the team set up the Nondugl Public School Library. They had a lovely librarian named Bron come over as a volunteer from East Maitland Public School. The children at EMPS raised enough money to purchase 3,000 books for the library, so from going from 6 books in total it went to 6,003 books, and these young children did this by selling their own toys at the school carnival - kind of makes you melt doesn't it?
During the set up process (which you can imagine was HUGE) the team had a lot of local helpers. Helpers including 26 years old Lenni. Lenni helped so much Pearl and the team couldn't help but notice her determination and interest in the Library and in learning.It was then that Bron, the beautiful librarian, Belinda, another volunteer who is also a wonderful teacher at EMPS and Pearl Davies decided to fund Lenni's schooling year.
Nondugl children can't really afford schooling and need to drop out early. Bron, Belinda and Pearl are so excited to help out this little lady.Here Miss Lenni is below helping with the library set up. On departure Pearl handed over a few head scarves - because look, doesn't she look funky...
