Cathy McGowan has never been one to crave the political spotlight.

The trailblazing former independent member for Indi is more naturally at home working in the background — organising, strategising and influencing, encouraging others to take a step forward.

Her own step into the glare of national politics a decade ago came reluctantly at first, but in the end proved transformative.

Now 68 and retired, the so-called "godmother" of the independents movement flies under the radar. However, McGowan remains a force to be reckoned with in this current election, despite not standing as a candidate.

Away from the media's view, Cathy has been nurturing a support network for independent candidates running in federal seats across the country, sharing her insider's knowledge of how to run a successful political insurgency.

"Because she was so successful at what she's done, she's now in demand," political journalist Phil Coorey said.

"She looks like your mum. You know, she's sort of a harmless lady from the country, but she's very formidable and not to be underestimated."

With the so-called "teal independents" proving one of the decisive factors in this federal election, McGowan's influence may be reaching its zenith at a moment when she's more removed from the public eye than at any time in the past decade.

The power of community:

McGowan, a sheep farmer and agricultural consultant, made history in 2013 when she staged an unlikely victory as a community independent in the safe seat of Indi, in north-east Victoria, defeating sitting Liberal Sophie Mirabella.

"It really took the Coalition by surprise when Cathy McGowan initially won the seat," Insiders Host David Speers said. "But then [she] became a model for how this could be done not only in regional Australia but in urban areas as well."

"So Cathy McGowan is really the architect, in many ways, of how to successfully generate that community momentum and turn that into a seat victory."

McGowan defeated Mirabella again in 2016 before handing the political baton to independent Helen Haines in 2019. It is the first time in Australia that an independent has succeeded another.

The Liberal Party were "Quietly confident" they would regain Indi once McGowan retired, Coorey said, so they were "Not only shocked when she took it off them, they were shocked when they couldn't get it back either, because Cathy had engineered a succession that stopped that happening."

"I think with Cathy McGowan, it's not just taking seats, it's keeping them in independent hands afterwards," he said. "She's the one who can teach you how to do it."

McGowan might have left Canberra for the relative peace of her 100-acre property in the Indigo Valley, but she hasn't completely exited the political scrap.

For the past few months, she has been travelling around the country mentoring many of the so-called "teal independents", sharing the learnings from her own campaigns and rallying their army of 20,000 volunteers.

"I don't think Cathy would ever have foreseen this, but she has become a lightning rod for so many other independents," McGowan's sister and campaign leader Ruth McGowan said.

"People are naturally drawn to Cathy's story of what she's achieved as an independent and can see well, if this middle-aged, short woman from rural Victoria is able to do it, then maybe I can have a crack at being an independent for my community."

In an exclusive, The ABC's Australian Story joined the media-shy Cathy McGowan on the political hustings as she sought to shore up election victory for the independents contesting more than 23 seats across Australia.

Replicating the success of Indi:

On a flying visit to the Nationals-held seat of Cowper, on the NSW mid-north coast, McGowan unpacked a political "Survival kit" for independent candidate Caz Heise in front of a room of campaign volunteers.

"I've brought [Caz] a present – here's a dummy for the occasional person who does a dummy spit," McGowan told the group, lightening the mood in the room.

"[And] a little clapper," she added, revealing a pair of toy hands. "Because not many people actually know how much work the campaign candidate actually does. So that's a personal clap to you."

With that, it was down to the business, training the volunteers on how to run a successful campaign for an independent candidate. McGowan is the consummate political strategist, Heise said, and she also knows how to read a room.

"Volunteers love [Cathy] because she is so engaging," Heise said. "She has a very big impact wherever she goes.

"She flies under radar because it is strategic, and she doesn’t make a song and dance about who she is … it is all about the community and grassroots democracy."

Like many of the new independent candidates, Heise decided to stand in the 2022 election after taking part in an online conference in February last year held by Cathy McGowan's Community Independents Project.

"It was really what inspired me to actually put my application in and say that I'd like to run as an independent here in Cowper," Heise said.

The project, designed to get more independents elected, is the brainchild of McGowan, two of her fellow Indi campaigners Alana Johnson and Jill Briggs, as well as Tina Jackson from the Warringah independent campaign in Sydney, which got Zali Steggall elected to former Liberal PM Tony Abbott's seat.

"We ran the Community Independents convention and we thought we'd get 50 people," McGowan said. "We got 300 and out of that convention, this number of electorates running independents has sort of blossomed. So part of my job is to stay in contact with those people."

Since then, McGowan has been instructing Heise and her team on how to best connect with the community, how to win a seat and run a campaign, "To hopefully replicate the success of Indi," Heise said.

She has mentored and helped Heise, as a novice, to navigate the political landscape, as she attempts to unseat sitting Nationals MP Pat Conaghan on a "Safe" margin of 11.9%.

"I take nothing for granted," Pat Conaghan told Australian Story.

"There is certainly a move and a movement away from the major parties" said Pat - We shall see!

Watch | Australian Story tonight 16-05-22 at 8:00pm on ABCTV | Cowper | MP Pat Conaghan & Independent candidate Caz Heise.

Story By | Janine Cohen and Matt Henry