The central focus of this study was to examine the leadership experiences of females commencing their careers as teaching principals in rural and remote small school communities in Queensland. The specific aims of the study were: first, to understand female beginning teaching principals’ perceptions of small school leadership prior to commencing in the role and to determine if those perceptions changed during their first year; second, to identify the expectations other school staff and the community held for a female teaching principal as leader of the school; third, to investigate the social complexities of living in a rural and remote community and the influences they had on the leadership experiences of a female beginning teaching principal; fourth, to understand whether gender impacts on the leadership practices of female beginning teaching principals in rural and remote communities; and finally, to evaluate the leadership experiences of female beginning teaching principals in rural and remote small school communities and their implications for future career direction. Rural and remote areas of Queensland are populated with small schools, many of which are lead by young females commencing their careers as principals. They are responsible for completing the dual responsibilities of both teacher and principal, with little training and in some cases, limited classroom or life experiences. In addition, these isolated communities have been shown to hold definite cultural and gender expectations, frequently resulting in a high turnover of teaching principals (Clarke, 2003; Clarke & Stevens, 2006; Dempsey, 1992; Lester, 2003; Michael, 1996). Consequently, this study was interested in the experiences of females who commenced their leadership careers in these isolated environments.