There are few people who can say they have physically hauled stacks of cash and heavy ledgers into the basement safe at the site of the former State Bank in Bolton Street.
Or watched live during the 1987 Black Monday crash as the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted.
Then there was the global financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, all of which Karen McDonald not only witnessed, but navigated her clients through.
McDonald is marking 40 years in business with Gordon and Gray Personal Wealth Advisers in Hunter Street, Newcastle.
"The office has evolved a lot over the 40 years I've been there," she told the Newcastle Herald.
"We were initially stockbrokers when I first joined. And then when I had my first child, I came back in a marketing and business development role. So I did that for a number of years. Now I work in client services. My position has changed and evolved as time went on."
When she first stepped into her career in the financial sector, every share certificate, important document, or cash and cheques had to be kept in the vault in the basement, which is still in the building today. Telex machines were used for typing and almost every record was paper.
Within the space of just a few years the Newcastle Business College graduate was learning how to use the fax machine and eventually adapting to the digital era.
Not only has McDonald been a jack-of-all-trades for the business, her career developed alongside the city of Newcastle and the greater Hunter Region.
She remembers watching the market collapse on Black Monday on the one screen in the office that was hooked up to the stock exchange feed via a cable that ran all the way to Sydney.
"You see that the markets go up and down over time, different things happen, the Berlin Wall came down. We had the recession in the 1990s and deregulation of banks and things like that."
Now she is watching the global economy deal with the fallout of the war in Iran.
Locally, there were also many great shifts in the economy during McDonald's time in business.
Another ingrained memory from the past 40 years was in the '90s when queues of people lined up outside the building to buy share floats with the Commonwealth Bank and Telstra.
"I just remember we had an allocation for our own clients," she said.
"The general public could come in and get a prospectus, which you really don't see those these days as everything's done online. But you actually had a booklet and an application form that you had to fill in and enclose a cheque, to hopefully be issued with the number of shares that you required.
"At the time, I remember the lift kept coming upstairs and we had queues of people trying to get into our office. It was amazing."
Of course there was also significant downturn in some industries in the Hunter Region during this time.
"We've been through the redundancy cycles," she said.
"We were involved with the closure of BHP, the closure of Pasminco smelter. So we helped with the redundancies that came through during those periods of time. We actually ran seminars with a psychologist for those receiving a redundancy, because they were personally devastated. We wanted to help them through that as well."
Marking 40 years in any job is a considerable effort. McDonald said the key to longevity is to embrace change.
"You've got to be open to change," she said.
"I think that's one of the biggest things. You've got to roll with the punches and try and keep up-to-date with technology. As soon as you start losing what's current at any particular time, you can quite easily fall behind."
A new $1.5 million Tighes Hill sports and entertainment venue is officially opening this week.
X-Golf Newcastle on Industrial Drive is designed for the time-poor golfer, with a typical four-hour round condensed to 60-minute sessions.
There is no travel between holes, no course delays, and consistent play regardless of weather or daylight. Keen hitters can play on more than 50 world-known courses thanks to ultra-realistic golf simulators that use high-speed cameras, lasers and sensors.
Set across 612 square metres and featuring a full bar and kitchen, access to PGA-accredited coaches and a range of competition formats, X-Golf is being delivered by a team of dedicated golfers.
The concept has already gained serious traction in Mackay, Queensland. Operator Roy Boase says both cities "share a similar rhythm" and are anchored by industry-led workforces.
X-Golf Newcastle opens at 10am on Friday, May 22, at Unit 350 Industrial Drive, Tighes Hill.
Newcastle Knights head coach Justin Holbrook is Principle Living's inaugural brand ambassador.
Principle Living creates retirement villages and land lease communities in the Hunter Region for downsizers looking for a secure, low-maintenance lifestyle.
Holbrook said he was not surprised to see more Australians choosing to live in the Hunter Region as they enter retirement: "It's not as busy as the capital cities, but you've still got everything you need. You've got access to great health services, the airport, golf courses, the beaches and, of course, the wineries. It's a great place to live a more relaxed and connected lifestyle without giving anything up."
Working with Principle Living, he said, gives him the opportunity "to connect with the local community beyond football".
Principle Living is close to completing its first retirement village, Blueheath at the Bower in Medowie, and will soon launch The Hermitage land lease community in Cessnock. Future plans include communities in Maitland and Fern Bay.
Hunter Imaging and Douglass Hanly Moir Pathology have opened a new "healthcare destination" at 291 King Street.
Designed to improve access to timely diagnostics and support integrated care in the heart of Newcastle's CBD, it aims to reduce the burden of travel for patients who would otherwise need to access some specialised tests outside the region.
The new practices are located alongside King Street Private Hospital and other specialist services, including orthopaedic consulting suites, supporting a more connected healthcare experience.
A feature of the new Hunter Imaging practice is the advanced CT capability supporting specialised investigations such as cardiac imaging, alongside a comprehensive diagnostic imaging service.
