DOM CONDO was 30 weeks pregnant when she found her dream job. 

"I honestly thought, and this is I think a lot of women would feel like this, 'Well, that's my opportunity gone. It's probably not going to be possible'," Geelong's now-general manager of women's football told AFL.com.au.

But a conversation with Geelong's CEO Steve Hocking surprised her.

"I said to 'Hock': 'I'm pregnant'. And his first reaction was 'that's unbelievable, congratulations - that's amazing," Condo said.

"I said 'But what does this mean?', and Hock said 'Absolutely nothing. It doesn't change anything. Let's just work through what you think it will look like for you and we'll make it work'.

"And, yeah, here we are."

A highly regarded sports nutritionist who previously worked at both Geelong and Richmond, Condo was looking to change careers when the opportunity at the Cats arose.

It’s been a whirlwind 12 months since stepping into the role, with Condo now running the Cats' AFLW program after welcoming her first child, Arlo.

But busy environments are where Condo thrives.

Throughout her career she has pushed herself to her limits, juggling multiple positions across multiple organisations - and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I don't shy away from a challenge, I think good things aren't meant to be easy,” Condo said.

“I'm a hard worker. I think that's something I'm comfortable to say about myself. I'll put 110 per cent into anything.”

The self described “pocket-rocket" is a leader in her field, something that was cemented last year when she was chosen to perform a TEDx talk that was later selected for the official global TEDx page.

Just as Condo was at her peak in her profession, she decided she wanted more.

“I started to have a big think about my career," Condo said.

"I was director of our Centre for Sport Research and I had PhD students and was managing some pretty big projects.

"I loved that aspect, but at the same time I was just starting to think 'where do I actually want to go in my career?'.

"I had a lot of self-reflection around it and I thought 'I love footy. I just love it'.

"I'm so passionate about the women's space and I think my strengths are the people and the relationship side of things, and I also am quite ambitious.

"I thought 'okay, if [sports administration] is what I'm interested in, how do I get there?'"

Since stepping into the new role, Condo has learned quickly on the job while drawing on the relationships she built during her previous roles at the Cats.

Condo is also currently completing a Master of Business Administration as well as the AFL's General Manager of Football Program, an initiative to help equip emerging talent with the broad and deep skill sets required to step confidently into a GM of Football role.

"There’s been a lot I’ve learnt on the job and the relationships that I've got with staff here, with the men's program, I think that allows for just some organic collaboration and connection, which I think is important," she said.

"That's what we want to strive for. We are one club."

Geelong’s AFLW program has had some big changes in Condo's short tenure.

Coach Dan Lowther stood down from his role and was replaced by former Melbourne AFLW premiership coach Mick Stinear, long-standing captain Meg McDonald retired and the Cats have welcomed seven new players onto its list.

“My philosophy has always been that when you step into a new role, you never make decisions quickly,” Condo said.

“You have to sit back and observe and really just let things happen the way they are. So we went through the season and I just listened and observed.

“At the end of the season, I think from both Dan's perspective and us as a club, we mutually just got to the point where we probably both needed change.

“All of the changes have been made to make sure that we're setting up our players for success. That takes some really challenging conversations with the best intent. So yeah, that was a big first six months.”

Knowing that Stinear was out of contract at the end of the 2025 season and that he and his family lived in the seaside town of Anglesea, the Cats made some enquiries about his availability moving forward.

"We always knew that Mick was on a one-year contract, but respected that he was in a finals campaign," Condo said.

"Once that was over, then we were really able to engage in some of those conversations and see where he was at going forward and if switching colours is something he'd be interested in, a bit closer to home.

“It all sort of aligned with Dan being ready for a change and so were we, and Mick was ready to give something else a go.”

Condo has always backed her decision-making.

“I'm a big believer that, like, there's no point in dwelling on a decision that you've made. We've made it and we’re really excited by it,” Condo said.

“If you know why you've made a decision and you've done everything you can to make the best one, and in my case, it's trying to get the best people around the players, then you've just got to move on from it and back it in.

“Also you can’t get too worried if it doesn't feel like it's working straight away - things take time.

"In my mind this is a three-year project. We're at the start of change and change takes time.”

One thing that won’t be changing is Condo’s approach to life, which has served her well to date.

Most importantly, Condo bringing every inch of herself and her wide ranging experience to the new role. 

“I couldn't imagine not being me,” said Condo.

“Sometimes I think when you step into a leadership role, you question how you present to others - like is it appropriate to have a laugh and to be the person that you are?

“For me it's just being authentic and being people-centric, people-focused, always assuming good intent by people and giving people the space to be the best version of them, show you what they can do, and then guiding where you need to guide.”