Ellen Crepaz Living Out Loud

11/09/2026

When you look around for the best security cameras 📷
I think we got the best 😂
This is our Lil and this is how she sleeps 💤 🐕 with her head on the window ledge making sure no one walks past with her saying go!!
Best security system ever!!
Ellen Crepaz and Peter Crepaz

07/09/2026

Hey EaTs members

💜 My podcast episode is officially out… and I’m feeling more emotional than I can put into words.

For years, I have used my voice to fight for others to support local businesses through a global pandemic, advocate for people experiencing homelessness, raise awareness of mental health and stand beside those who felt they had no voice.

But this time, I had to use that voice to tell my own story.

In this episode of Wise, Wild & Woven, I speak from the heart about the journey behind Port Macquarie EaTs how one simple social media post grew into a community that supported local businesses, charities and thousands of people when connection was needed most.

I also speak about my beautiful grandmother, whose strength and resilience live within me every single day. I open up about trauma, mental health, the challenges that have shaped me, and how nature, music and helping others became part of my healing.

This conversation required me to be vulnerable. It meant revisiting parts of my life that were painful, but it also reminded me of how far I have come and why I will never stop standing up for people who need someone in their corner.

I am wildly passionate.
I am wildly determined.
And I will never apologise for caring deeply or for trying to make a difference.

If my story helps even one person feel less alone, believe in themselves again or find the courage to use their own voice, then sharing it was worth it.

To everyone who has supported me, believed in me and stood beside me thank you. This episode carries a little piece of every person and every community that has helped shape who I am.

🎧 My episode is now live. I would be incredibly grateful if you listened, shared it and told me what stayed with you.

This is my story honest, imperfect and spoken straight from my heart. 💜

Content warning: This episode discusses trauma, abuse, homelessness and mental health.

💜 From supporting local businesses through a global pandemic to advocating for people experiencing homelessness, Ellen Crepaz has spent years using her voice to lift others up.

In the September episode of Wise, Wild & Woven, Ellen shares the story behind Port Macquarie Eats, the online community that grew from a single social media post into a powerful movement supporting local businesses, charities and community connection.

Inspired by her grandmother's strength and resilience, Ellen speaks candidly about mental health, overcoming challenges, finding healing through nature and music, and why she's never afraid to stand up for those who need a voice.

✨ Honest, heartfelt and inspiring, this is a conversation about community, courage and the power of showing up for others.

🎧 Listen now and discover why Ellen describes herself as wildly passionate, wildly determined and unafraid to make a difference. https://wisewildwoven.transistor.fm/episodes/episode-9-ellen-crepaz

Content warning: This episode touches on themes of trauma, abuse, homelessness and mental health.

04/09/2026

I need people to share this because I genuinely don’t know what else to do and I am asking for help.

On 31 August, somebody took over my personal Facebook account.

Facebook even emailed me warning that someone may have accessed it without my permission. I have screenshots of changes I didn’t make and an unfamiliar account that was linked to mine.

But somehow I’m the one who has ended up permanently locked out.

I had multiple layers of security protecting my accounts. They still got through them. Now, after 18 years on Facebook, I’m being asked over and over again to prove that I’m me.

I have submitted my identification.

I have completed the selfie verification.

I have used the recovery links from devices I’ve had for years.

I appealed. It was rejected.

Now some attempts say my email can’t be found. Other links take me to a page where I can download information, but there is no working option to send more identification or ask for another review.

Downloading information is not the same as getting my account back.

My husband even paid for Meta Verified so we could speak to support. He explained that I was sitting right beside him, ready to talk and provide whatever evidence they needed.

We were told I had to contact support myself.

From the account I cannot access.

Seriously, Meta how am I supposed to do that?

We keep being passed between bots, support chats and the same recovery pages. They tell us they understand, record the problem and send us straight back to the process that has already failed.

I don’t need another chatbot to tell me it understands. I need an actual person who has the authority to look at the evidence and help me.

This isn’t “just Facebook.”

That account holds 18 years of my life. Photos of my children growing up. Videos. Messages. Memories with my husband. Friendships and conversations with people I have known for years.

I am not claiming that everything has been permanently deleted because I don’t know that. That’s part of the problem I cannot get into my own account to find out what is still there or what has happened to it.

This has affected Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp. It has cut me off from people and conversations I relied on.

It has also disrupted my community work, sponsorships and podcast promotion. I have spent thousands of dollars advertising through Meta, and I have the receipts.

Meta was happy to accept that money. Yet when my account was taken over, even paid support could not give me a recovery process that actually worked.

I’m exhausted. I’m scared about what has happened to my information. And yes, I am fu***ng angry.

Meta, I am asking you publicly to give me a secure way to prove that this account belongs to me.

Look at your own security warning. Look at the unauthorised changes. Look at the screenshots, the identification and everything else I am offering.

Tell me what you still need, let me provide it and have a real person review both the takeover and the decision to disable my profile.

We intend to seek legal advice and make formal complaints. I am not going to quietly disappear while a company this powerful sends me around in circles.

I’m also asking people to stop paying for Meta Verified and Meta advertising until Meta provides proper human support for people whose accounts have been taken over.

Why should people pay for “support” that still leaves them trapped in an automated loop?

Please back up your own photos, videos, contacts and business records somewhere you control. Don’t wait until this happens to you.

To journalists, consumer advocates, privacy experts and cyber-security reporters in Australia and overseas: I am ready to speak. I have the emails, screenshots, rejection, advertising receipts and support conversations.

Please contact this Page.

Please share this post and tag Meta and the media. I need this to reach somebody with the power to properly investigate it.

I don’t want sympathy from another bot.

I want my account back.

Ellen Crepaz

Facebook Meta Business Support
eSafety Commissioner CHOICE A Current Affair 7NEWS Sydney 9 News ABC News News.com.au

21/08/2026

Hey Followers and businesses,

Did you know this cause I did not...

Facebook users, check the pages you follow.

I only noticed this because I went back to a few business pages I know I’ve supported for years and realised I wasn’t actually following some of them anymore 🫨😬

A lot of us used to hit Like on a business page and assume that was enough. But nope 🙅‍♀️

Now it’s worth checking whether the page actually says Following.

If it says Follow, tap it.

It doesn’t necessarily mean the business removed you. They may have no idea either.

So if there’s a local business, creator, community page or small business you genuinely want to keep seeing, go and check their page.

And if you own a business, put your page name in the comments so people can find you and check they’re still following. I did a quick video to explain what has happened 😳

I’d be interested to know how many other people notice the same thing.

Make sure you share this post to let your friends and businesses know!

20/08/2026

If your mind has been carrying too much lately, read this 🩷 ✌️

Some reminders arrive at exactly the right time.

Maybe you’re healing. Maybe you’re overthinking. Maybe you’re learning how to protect your peace without feeling guilty about it.

Whatever season you’re in, take what you need from this and leave the rest.

Which one spoke to you the most?

For me life is short and that is why I smile, sometimes that smile at a passing person could change the whole day.

16/08/2026

Good morning and Happy start to a new week!

Here’s something I want you to stop and think about today…

No matter where you go in life, there will always be cliques.

At school.
At work.
In business.
In social circles.
Even in adulthood.

There will always be rooms where you wonder if you belong.

I can tell you now I’ve never really fitted into those cliques.

Not as a teenager.
Not as an adult.
And certainly not now.

I’ve always been a little different.

I did it my way... or no way.

And as I’ve gotten older, I’ve realised something:

Not fitting in isn’t always rejection.
Sometimes it’s redirection.

Sometimes you weren't meant to squeeze yourself into somebody else's circle.

Sometimes you were meant to create your own.

The last 12 months have taught me that more than ever.

They say there are three people you never forget!

The one who helped you.
The one who left you.
The one who put you there.

But I believe there’s a fourth…

The person you became because of all three.

Because hard seasons change you.

They show you who will stand beside you when things aren't easy.

They show you who disappears.

They show you who adds to the weight you're already carrying.

But most importantly…

They introduce you to a version of yourself you may never have met otherwise.

The one who gets back up.

The one who stops chasing acceptance.

The one who learns that being excluded from one table doesn't mean you don't have something valuable to bring.

Maybe you're supposed to build a bigger table.

A year ago, I was finding my way through.

Today, I’m building.
Creating.
Showing up.
Learning.
Growing.

And walking into rooms with a much clearer understanding of who I am and what I bring.

The past happened.

But it doesn't get to decide what happens next.

In business, they call it resilience.

In the workplace, they call it leadership.

In life?

I call it courage.

So if you're reading this today feeling like you don't quite fit in…

Good.

Stop shrinking yourself to fit places you've outgrown.

Take the lesson.
Leave the pain.
Keep your heart.
Be the light anyway.

Because not everyone was made to fit in.

Some of us were made to stand out. ❤️

👇 Now I want to hear from you

What is ONE thing the last 12 months taught you that you could only have learned by living through it?

Someone reading your answer today might need to hear it.

12/08/2026

✨ WANT TO BE PART OF DIWALI 2026? ✨
Food trucks, food stalls, market stalls, local businesses and anyone with something fabulous to bring to Town Green... I want to hear from you! 🪔❤️
If you’re interested in joining us on Saturday 7 November 2026, I’ve made it super easy.
Just fill out the quick Expression of Interest form below 👇
FILL OUT THE FORM HERE https://www.mncia.org.au/diwali2026/stalls
It only takes a couple of minutes and then I can start getting in touch with everyone.
A big thank you to Mid North Coast Indian Association for putting together what I say is the best cultural event on the Mid North Coast and I am so excited to help promote this amazing event that brings so many of us together!
And please TAG any local businesses, foodies, makers or stallholders you think would be amazing for this! 😍
Ellen | Port Macquarie EaTs ❤️ See less

Mid North Coast Indian Association — uniting the vibrant Indian community of NSW from Forster to Coffs Harbour. Festivals, culture, sport and community.