Life's not all handbags and holidays when you live with one of Australia's richest men. Jeanine Cooke reveals all.

Here’s a tip. If you come across businesswomen Jeanine Cooke in her pyjamas, don’t bother talking shop to her.

“We have the pyjama rule,” laughs the hardworking 44-year-old partner of Cairns entrepreneur Tom Hedley.

“If I have my pyjamas on, do not talk to me about work.”

Having been in a professional and personal relationship with one of the region’s most prominent identities for 14 years, Jeanine says she adopted her No.1 rule to save her sanity.

“It can be a bit much at times,” she confesses. “You work with someone and when you come home, you can talk shop until you fall asleep, then wake up the next day and do it all again.

“One day we had some workers around home and they were talking and talking and talking about a job. We went for a walk and when we got back, they were still talking work, so I went and put my housecoat on and came back into the room.

“It was my signal, to say ‘enough!’, Tom cracked up laughing but the others didn’t know what was going on.”

Much as she loves her job as operations manager with The Hedley Group, Jeanine says she needs to draw lines firmly in the sand.

One way of doing this is to live sidebyside yet separately from the man she describes as a “complete
workaholic”. “We are partners in life but in the business, I am an employee. Tom is the boss.”

Living next door to each other in renovated cottages at Redlynch means the couple spend most of their time together but have the option of escaping to their own space whenever they please.

Having moved north from Sydney to Townsville in her 20s, Jeanine found herself at a loose end after a failed marriage. With no dependants, she decided to try her luck in Cairns, where her sister lived. Landing an administration job at one of the area’s biggest plumbing firms, she started work for then plumber  Tom Hedley and within months romance blossomed.

“We found we just got on really well.”

As the company grew, so too did the amount of responsibility.

“I’m the type to put my hand up and ask for a go,” she says. “When we started to get more involved in construction, I asked Tom if I could take on a bigger role. We were paying interior designers and I wanted to see what I could do.

“It was very much learn-as-you-go.

“Tom was a bit dubious at first but I wanted more scope and believed I could do it.”

Jeanine says she has never had trouble dealing with builders.

“I’ve had to earn their respect and while I may not always have the technical know-how, I’m willing to listen, make the tough calls and be decisive.

“Sometimes it helps to have someone around who can think outside the square. It’s not the men on site who have trouble taking orders from a woman, it’s more likely to be men in the office,” she laughs.

The construction side of the business is her real love, possibly because it is in her blood, Jeanine says.

“My father was a builder and I grew up with the industry all around me.

“When I was 16, I wanted to take on an apprenticeship and become a builder but my parents wouldn’t let me.

“It just wasn’t the done thing. So I consider myself very lucky to be where I am, doing the work I do. I love the opportunities I have in the building industry and feel fulfilled.”

But it can be all consuming.

Living and working with a man who consistently ranks in the nation’s top 100 rich list means there’s a lot more to the job than just nine to five. “I knew when I met Tom he was a total workaholic and I would have to adopt a similar approach,” Jeanine says.

While her mother has passed away, her father John now works as a Hedley consultant.

“For Tom and I, our life is our work but I still like to chill out and read or shop and just get away from it all.”

Adamant about not leading a particularly opulent lifestyle, Jeanine admits she has just one indulgence.

“I love being pampered. I allow myself facials, massages, pedicures and visits to the hairdresser. That’s my one extravagance.

“I don’t really bother with manicures. There’s not much point when you’re working on building sites,” she adds with a wry smile.

“Despite what some people may think, our lives aren’t all that glamorous. Tom is very down to earth. Money hasn’t changed him at all. Though, I am seriously considering taking a holiday to a luxurious health spa one day.”

Other treats include spending time with her “babies”, toy poodles, Coco and Pepe.

“They’re 10, so they are getting old now and one especially likes me to be her personal carrier,” says Jeanine.

Like Paris Hilton?

“Yes but without the handbag,” she laughs. Prudent, as ever.

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