Transcript
Speaker: G'day, I'm Trent Maxwell.
Speaker: And I'm Lee Mason.
Speaker: And we want to welcome you to our Live, Learn, Survive podcast.
Speaker: Since 2018, Lee and I traveled the globe and met face-to-face with 31,000 children in six countries across three continents.
Speaker: We created a series of award-winning children's books, a global online education program, and are founders of the Live, Learn, Survive charity, all focused on teaching children and young adults life skills that will not only help themselves, but help others too.
Speaker: We're on a mission to spread awareness about fire, water safety, and first aid education to inspire the next generation of first responders.
Speaker: So join us for the next half an hour with some fun, inspiration and kindness and we'll try and learn something too.
Speaker: How are you this week, Lee?
Speaker: Welcome aboard.
Speaker: Maxie, I am good.
Speaker: How are you?
Speaker: I am great.
Speaker: It's a special week again.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: One of our favourites.
Speaker: And the guest.
Speaker: So it's very exciting with this guest.
Speaker: We met this guest a couple of months ago and we are excited to have a chat because being in this certain part of town, I come across that she was the boss of the town.
Speaker: So we're excited.
Speaker: Without further ado, introduce our guest, Leigh.
Speaker: Exactly, because we love nothing more than a girl boss, don't we, Maxie?
Speaker: Anyway, so today we are joined from Outback, Queensland by our friend Holly Tom, who we met recently on our trip to the Maranoa region.
Speaker: Holly was raised in the local pub, which is also the local hotel, which many people out of Australia may not know.
Speaker: that often the hotel and the pub are like the same place in the harder town.
Speaker: As a teenager, she moved to the coast to study and gained a diploma of nursing at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital, where she graduated and then went on to work in acute surgical and rehabilitation for two years, a nurse.
Speaker: What a star.
Speaker: But for Holly, the country was calling Holly back.
Speaker: At age 23, she became a business owner, owning part of the New Royal Hotel and the Motel, the local Timber Crate Cafe, which we loved, and also the Surat Cabin and Caravan Park, which both Maxie and I know, they are literally the heart of the community out there in Outback Queensland.
Speaker: Holly has a passion for people, as we saw for ourselves, and when she's not doing this,
Speaker: She's quite happy getting out on the road as a solo traveller.
Speaker: So let's give Holly the warmest of welcome to our podcast, share her amazing story and learn a little bit about what life is like out in the country.
Speaker: Holly, welcome.
Speaker: Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker: It's so good to see you guys again.
Speaker: Yeah, Holly, it's great to see you.
Speaker: And again, a big thank you for looking after us a couple of months ago when we did our recent trip.
Speaker: And we look forward to having this chat.
Speaker: It was an amazing time.
Speaker: It was short but sweet.
Speaker: I think we were actually in town just over 36 hours by the time we worked it out.
Speaker: But we felt so welcomed and so at home and we always leave with friends and here we are.
Speaker: So I think for people in Australia and also Australia,
Speaker: people outside Australia knowing what it is like in the country, in Australia, in the outback, this is going to be a really special chat.
Speaker: So thank you for joining us.
Speaker: So shall I start with the first question, Maxi?
Speaker: Yes, go for it.
Speaker: Get straight in it and hear from the most important person.
Speaker: Holly, I kind of gave it away in the bio.
Speaker: We met you recently out in Surat in rural southwestern Queensland.
Speaker: How long you lived out there?
Speaker: What is that part of the world to you?
Speaker: This is home to me, always has been, always will be.
Speaker: I was born in Roma, which is only an hour away from Surat, and then I moved here when I was four.
Speaker: I'm 23 now, so I've been here for a while.
Speaker: Obviously moved to the Sunshine Coast for three years.
Speaker: But as you said in the bio, it was calling me back.
Speaker: It's my hometown.
Speaker: It's a tiny town for you guys to know.
Speaker: Like those who don't know, it's population 400 and less probably by now.
Speaker: But yeah, it's home and it's a magical place out here and I don't think anything can beat it.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And I think I love that you actually gave the population then, Holly, because I was going to say, you know, like, yeah, I think for people around the world listening to this to a town of 400 people is is very, very tiny.
Speaker: So an incredibly special community.
Speaker: So amazing.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah, I just got to add on to that too, being out there, seeing and meeting some of the locals, you know, being a first responder, meeting a local firey, Derek the local firey, meeting the local police officer and having a chat to the locals.
Speaker: It was a really good vibe and you could tell how much you love the place and look forward to talking a bit about it.
Speaker: more about it through this chat.
Speaker: So rolling to the second question, you are quite busy as we just spoke about.
Speaker: Can you tell us what it's like running a pub, the hotel, the cafe and everything else in between?
Speaker: It's definitely a lot more than I thought I was bargaining for.
Speaker: But like, obviously I grew up in the pub.
Speaker: I started working at the age of seven, but completely different to now owning it.
Speaker: Completely different.
Speaker: Cause like, obviously I would just do the, you know, the front of house stuff, the serving, when now I'm doing the background, you know, the invoices, the accounts, the banking, like all the extra stuff involved.
Speaker: Oh, yes.
Speaker: So there's a lot more involved than people think.
Speaker: And obviously people being, oh, it's a small town, you know, you must be so quiet.
Speaker: No, like when you guys were there, you know, we were fully booked out from Monday to Friday, like, you know, with workers, like we're constantly busy.
Speaker: But I love it.
Speaker: It's, yeah, it's something completely different, something I didn't think I would actually end up doing, obviously, because I went into nursing.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: but I love it.
Speaker: I love the community.
Speaker: I love the people.
Speaker: And it's just, it's so great.
Speaker: Plus I love meeting people.
Speaker: I'm a big people person.
Speaker: So it's the best place for it.
Speaker: Didn't you just have the Cobb & Co?
Speaker: Wasn't it?
Speaker: Did I see something?
Speaker: Was it this weekend?
Speaker: Last weekend.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: That was last weekend.
Speaker: It was huge.
Speaker: So tell us for people listening, tell us what, what that was all about, Holly.
Speaker: Because it'll give them an insight into where you are and where the town sits.
Speaker: Yeah, so where the Cobham Co Festival was just, it was the 100th year.
Speaker: So it was a big reenactment of the last male run.
Speaker: So how they used to do things back in the olden days where they would have the carriage and the horse ride.
Speaker: They would have like the ranges and the horses and stuff like that.
Speaker: So it was a big reenactment.
Speaker: We had 3,000 people in our town, which I don't even know how our town managed to handle that many people, but we did it.
Speaker: And I'm so proud of all the staff and all the helpers that we had because big shout out to everyone.
Speaker: It was an amazing weekend.
Speaker: People came from Brisbane, from New South Wales, from Victoria, like people come all over the place for it.
Speaker: So it was a big thing for our community.
Speaker: And it was just so good to have that.
Speaker: And I think we're putting Surat on the map slowly, which is really good.
Speaker: But it was, yeah, it was so important to our town because it was part of our history.
Speaker: It was part of our culture.
Speaker: And to reenact that and to...
Speaker: you know, even for the young ones to see what it used to be like, it was amazing.
Speaker: It keeps the tradition going too.
Speaker: You said the young ones, it keeps that, that, that,
Speaker: fire that light burning within the young people to keep that tradition alive because it is such a, we were lucky enough to do a meet and greet across the road from the pub at the Coppin Co Community Centre and I actually wandered off and had a look in the museum part of the building and there's so much history.
Speaker: You've got the natural history, talking about the Surat Basin, about, you know, millions and millions of years of, you know,
Speaker: changes and fossils and gas and all these things and then you talk about in the last 150 years um how they used to do things and it's it's it's mind-blowing and cob and co was the mail-run company wasn't it they were the company
Speaker: Yeah, yeah.
Speaker: And so we saw the coach in our museum.
Speaker: I don't know if you guys saw it, but that's where we keep the coach.
Speaker: So they, you know, they brought that out.
Speaker: They brought all the horses out and they, yeah, they actually like people posted mail and they would put the mail on the coach and then send it to Yorba, which is probably, I think it took them three days.
Speaker: So that's what it used to take compared to now.
Speaker: It probably takes an hour.
Speaker: So big difference.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I love hearing that.
Speaker: And a lot of these country towns do have a lot of that history and it's good to hear that it's still alive.
Speaker: But I'm just going to go a little bit off topic here.
Speaker: Do you have a favourite between the pub, the cafe, the caravan?
Speaker: Do you have a favourite role that you like to do other than the other?
Speaker: That's like asking her a favourite child, Maxie.
Speaker: It's like people ask me, do you like being a firefighter or a lifeguard?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: That's a hard one.
Speaker: I love the bar side of it because, you know, you get that fun, you get that banter, you know, you have the customers that you see, you know, every single night come in and then they come in Friday night, they have a big one and you make fun of them the next day about it.
Speaker: So I do love the pub side, but then the coffee shop, you also meet so many lovely travelers through there and it's such a beautiful place and so different to the pub.
Speaker: in the area and the environment as such.
Speaker: So I'm all coffee shop.
Speaker: I think I'm going to go with coffee shop.
Speaker: I love both of them.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You know, the coffee shop and the gift shop.
Speaker: If we had some great gift shops in there.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Local, local produce and local locals putting stuff in that shop.
Speaker: So it was awesome to see that as well.
Speaker: And I think as well, like, again, for people, you know, we get those people like overseas that listen to this.
Speaker: An Australian country pub, it's not like you would imagine an English bar.
Speaker: The family are in, the kids are in, the fire was roaring, the TV is on in the corner.
Speaker: It is like the meeting place, isn't it?
Speaker: It is literally...
Speaker: you know the heart of town and um and the kids come in and the dogs in and you know what i mean it is like the um the lounge so it's not like a grown-up it's a very family friendly place isn't it holly and that's what we aim like we aim to make it feel like a place away from home you know like you can go out and you can dine you can have a lovely dinner but like you still got the fireplace you still got the warm nature of the staff like the familiar faces like and this town's just
Speaker: one big happy family pretty much like everyone knows everyone so it's such a great community it's like catching up with the family isn't it it's like you know like you say you can come for a meal or you can just come to say hello to somebody you know yeah brilliant brilliant so we're going to take you back a few steps um because nursing we we um you stood in nursing tell us about your uh little uh journey with nursing
Speaker: I loved nursing.
Speaker: It was obviously, you know, everyone's going to struggle with it, with the journey of learning.
Speaker: And there's obviously parts with nursing that no one can ever prepare you for.
Speaker: And so, you know, the pretty side of things, um,
Speaker: But nursing was such, it was a really good journey for me, really.
Speaker: It was something that I wanted to do for a while and I'm glad I've done it.
Speaker: But it was a beautiful thing to just, and it's not for everyone.
Speaker: You know, I've had a lot of people be like, oh, like, you know, nursing, I love it.
Speaker: And then other people, you know, they really don't.
Speaker: But there's only so much that, you know, the journey can prepare you for when you actually enter the real world of nursing and you actually go onto the wards and you deal with the
Speaker: unfortunate side of like patient losses.
Speaker: But then, you know, when it came to the good stuff and just seeing your patients completely change for the better is just, yeah, a journey that you can never forget.
Speaker: Brilliant.
Speaker: That's awesome.
Speaker: And there's a question, the next question is asking what was your favourite thing about nursing?
Speaker: Did you have a certain role that you enjoyed doing while you were nursing?
Speaker: With nursing?
Speaker: What I did, so we obviously, as Leah mentioned, I worked on the acute surgical rehabilitation ward.
Speaker: So we dealt with a lot of people who had multi-trauma incidents or like motorbike accidents, car accidents, a lot of people with strokes.
Speaker: So they would come into...
Speaker: They wouldn't be able to walk.
Speaker: They would have to relearn how to eat, talk, drink, walk, all the basic stuff, you know, and it's such a life changing event for them.
Speaker: And to be a part of that change was such a wonderful thing.
Speaker: And like to see them.
Speaker: you know, five months later on the track, they're walking on their own two feet out the doors and you're saying goodbye to them.
Speaker: It was such a beautiful, beautiful moment.
Speaker: That would always make up for the bad part of nursing, you know, like, you know, not every job has, every job has its downfalls, but yeah, to watch those patients walk out of the doors when you saw them be wheeled in through a wheelchair and just to be that
Speaker: Like it's such a hard part to try and relearn all that stuff and I can't even imagine how difficult it would be for them.
Speaker: But to be that little bit of happiness and joy in some of the darkest days, I have no words.
Speaker: It was beautiful.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: It was so good.
Speaker: Like I can't imagine what their days were like, but just to be that little bit of joy or that little bit of happiness or that encouragement that they needed to get them through that day, it's such an important role, I think.
Speaker: I think you nailed that answer with that question.
Speaker: So thank you for sharing, Holly.
Speaker: Brilliant.
Speaker: Absolutely brilliant.
Speaker: So now that you're back in Surat, do you think you would ever go back to nursing one day?
Speaker: You've got a whole long career ahead.
Speaker: Yeah, it probably won't be full-time, obviously, with the stuff that I've got going on at the moment with the businesses.
Speaker: But I do hope to occasionally chuck in a few shifts every now and again.
Speaker: I've currently got no time on my hands for it, but I'm working towards that because it was a part that I love.
Speaker: And, you know, having that degree, I don't want to just lose that, obviously.
Speaker: Well, you do have the hospital in town as well.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yes, which we drove past a few times.
Speaker: So you do have the hospital in town that, you know, if you want to go back casually or part-time, it's good to have those options.
Speaker: I don't know how you'd fit all that in, Holly.
Speaker: Can you imagine?
Speaker: So, like, where's Holly?
Speaker: She is now the nurse.
Speaker: She's the publican.
Speaker: She's running the coffee shop.
Speaker: She's down in the – there's a situation in the caravan park.
Speaker: It's like – I'm going to get you a cape.
Speaker: You are a superwoman.
Speaker: I've got a good idea.
Speaker: Maybe add a sick bay or like a –
Speaker: a quick uh that's probably not a bad idea definitely gonna get to two o'clock in the morning and i reckon a fair few have had enough i'll be like hey off to the sick bay i'll look after you in the morning i was gonna say there's probably all that's already that unofficial corner of the pub maxi that is called this yeah just put them in the corner we'll lock them up and throw a blanket we'll lock up and throw a blanket over them we'll be back in the morning so um brilliant brilliant well that actually kind of leans into the next question
Speaker: Have you got any crazy stories from being a manager at the hotel slash pub?
Speaker: I know that you mentioned a little story while we're having coffee on our last day.
Speaker: Anything you can share on there.
Speaker: Anything you can share on here.
Speaker: I know there's probably a few locals in the town to this podcast, but is there a story that, you know, a couple of stories that you can share?
Speaker: I obviously won't share the story.
Speaker: you know, inappropriate ones.
Speaker: But I mean, I don't know what this pub hasn't seen.
Speaker: Like there's probably been everything that shouldn't be in a pub has been in the pub.
Speaker: Like we've had a guy ride his Harley through the pub and he did burnouts on our carpet, which is why the carpet's half worn out.
Speaker: And we had a guy drive his car through the pub because he was picking up the girls from the formal and it was raining outside and he didn't want them to get wet.
Speaker: It was the most heroic thing I've ever seen.
Speaker: So he drove his car through the pub.
Speaker: He had a male drive his, he was,
Speaker: quite intoxicated um he rode his horse into the pub poured himself a beer and then just walked straight back down i don't know what much we haven't seen to be honest we've we've accidentally locked a patient in the uh not patient a customer that's my nursing friend we've accidentally locked a customer in the pub and then he calls me at three o'clock in the morning like oh holly where is everyone i was like oh we closed like two hours ago where was he under the top
Speaker: He was asleep under the pool table.
Speaker: No idea he was there.
Speaker: It's just stuff that you wouldn't get in the city because, you know, we're just so relaxed and laid back, maybe a little bit too much.
Speaker: But yeah.
Speaker: But how good are those stories and those memories and things that you can look back on?
Speaker: You know, you're 23, you're still young, you've got a lot of time ahead.
Speaker: Right.
Speaker: Can you imagine, it's like me when I reflect back on the 19 years as a lifeguard or 18 years as a lifeguard and nine years of fire.
Speaker: You think about, people go, what's the craziest story or what's this?
Speaker: And you think about certain things.
Speaker: Sometimes things get lost and forgotten.
Speaker: Then a story or a situation will trigger and you tell the story and you're like, wow, there's some definite stories in that place.
Speaker: And even talking about the start, being a boss lady, having, telling grown men
Speaker: to get out of the pub and not come back because they're being silly.
Speaker: You know, hearing some of those stories, honestly, hats off to you.
Speaker: They don't take it too well.
Speaker: I don't know if any lady has ever tried to kick a grown man out of a pub, but they don't handle it well, but it got done eventually, so.
Speaker: So cool.
Speaker: Please tell me, Holly, that you keep a diary because one day please write the book.
Speaker: That's actually really good.
Speaker: You should do that.
Speaker: I might have to start that because this, and like even just some of the questions that we get asked and like the stuff that people tell us, it's just like, you couldn't,
Speaker: You couldn't think of it for the world, but then yet someone next day asks you this question or tells you something, you're like, you would not believe it.
Speaker: But, yeah, I really should look into doing that.
Speaker: Please, like, if you don't journal, get a diary, get a journal, and just literally please write the funniest thing of the day down because one day we'll come and write this.
Speaker: It'll be a big book.
Speaker: It'll be a very big book.
Speaker: It'll be, like, I'm thinking already it'll be one girl who,
Speaker: The pub, the cafe, the hotel, the caravan park.
Speaker: One pub, one cafe, one caravan park, one girl.
Speaker: That's it.
Speaker: I love it already.
Speaker: Turn it into a script and who knows, it could be a TV show or a documentary of the place.
Speaker: It would be pretty cool too.
Speaker: Mad Max meets Mad Surat.
Speaker: So brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.
Speaker: So is it me next, Maxie?
Speaker: I always get mixed up here.
Speaker: Yes, it is.
Speaker: Number seven.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: So we're just talking about all these businesses in small country towns, a population of 400.
Speaker: How can people support small businesses in country towns like yours?
Speaker: Most of country towns, they really do rely on their locals.
Speaker: That is such, obviously a big part of us, like without, you know, if we didn't have the pub and the coffee shop, you know, and that support from the locals, the town has nothing, you know?
Speaker: So we really do rely on that support from locals, but like for travelers, even if you just,
Speaker: come through, have a coffee, leave a review, spread the word.
Speaker: Like there's been a lot of travelers, definitely with the Cobb & Co Festival, that was last weekend.
Speaker: We've had a lot of people be like, oh, you know, we don't normally stop through, but someone suggested it.
Speaker: So we popped in and we love it.
Speaker: Like, you know, it only just takes that one, you know, spread a word and then next minute you got two more followers.
Speaker: So like it's just spreading the word and, you know, getting it out there, stopping in, buying a coffee.
Speaker: You don't have to buy a gift where, you know, we don't expect you to spend a
Speaker: all this money but just saying hello and I'm always happy for a chat so yeah absolutely I think that exactly you know the you know you get into a small town and there are a few places you can probably buy your coffee but buy it from the small business buy it from the local don't buy it from the multinationals and all the you know go and meet the locals I wouldn't say that all the time
Speaker: Yeah, definitely.
Speaker: Brilliant.
Speaker: We were actually speaking to one of the ladies that works in the local council chambers there in Surratt and she, I'm pretty sure it was New South Wales, country of New South Wales that she lived or maybe it was Tamworth or somewhere, but they went on a trip around Australia and randomly one of the riders took them through Surratt and they stopped off to have a chat and have a feed and drink and stay overnight and
Speaker: they fell in love with that place within the 12 hours that they were there and they went back and moved there six months later.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: It's a magical place.
Speaker: The sky seems huge.
Speaker: It's just, yeah, it was, it was, um, I can see why people, um, you know, come for a little while and end up staying.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: Well, I know you've probably had your fair share of stressful situations, being in your previous working life as a nurse and now running a pub, hotel, cafe, all sorts of different things.
Speaker: What has been the most stressful part of the journey so far?
Speaker: I would probably say, and it's probably my own doing, but the expectations from others and that I put on myself as well, I think it's probably been the most stressful part.
Speaker: Like obviously my parents ran it for 19 years, which is quite, you know, a long time.
Speaker: You would get a lot of experience and a lot of knowledge over that 19 years where I've only been doing it for past, you know, eight months now.
Speaker: So like I still got a bit of catching up to do, but I put a lot of expectation and pressure on myself.
Speaker: to try and keep up to that standard.
Speaker: So that's probably been a bit stressful because like, you know, I'm obviously doing things my way now, not their way, unfortunately.
Speaker: And, you know, so I get a lot of feedback, which I love feedback.
Speaker: But, yeah, I think it's just a bit stressful to me only because I'm trying to keep up with what they're doing, keep up with the standards from everyone else.
Speaker: But then also try and set my own track and also set in my own name and have my own
Speaker: path that I'm doing.
Speaker: So I do things differently, but it's, there's many stressful things about it.
Speaker: Like whether it's customers or,
Speaker: You know, the background part.
Speaker: But, yeah, it's been okay, though.
Speaker: That's good.
Speaker: Again, looking at you now, you're still smiling.
Speaker: You know, it's all part of the journey.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And the first year is always, like, the hardest.
Speaker: And then before you come around, you think, oh, you know what, we did this again last year or whatever, and you've just, you know, it does get easier.
Speaker: And like you say, I think always is the biggest pressure you put on yourself.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And we always say to people too, with Live, Learn, Survive, every day is a school day.
Speaker: You're always learning.
Speaker: So don't be too hard on yourself.
Speaker: If you make a mistake or if you actually don't know something, you shouldn't put the pressure on for you to expect to know if that, if you actually never been taught it.
Speaker: So,
Speaker: I'm a learner by doing things and seeing things.
Speaker: That's my best way of learning.
Speaker: So sometimes, you know, throwing yourself in the deep end like you have in the last eight months, you know, I'm sure it gets easier and better.
Speaker: And you've got to have new challenges and face different things over the next few years.
Speaker: But it's just how you handle it.
Speaker: And that kind of leads us into the next question, Lee.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: So how do you deal with that stress?
Speaker: How do you look after Holly?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I have to completely de-attach myself.
Speaker: Like if there's a set, like in the moment, it's kind of just a matter of like whether I'm dealing with like a stressful customer or stressful situation, like in the moment, it's kind of just literally breathing through it and just pushing it out.
Speaker: But like afterwards, I have to completely de-attach myself from that situation and whether it's go for a drive, put on music or something physical, but I need to stay
Speaker: get my brain because I feel like stress is a mindset, you know.
Speaker: I think it's a lot more mental than it is physical.
Speaker: So if I can change that mental into something physical, then I'm normally pretty good.
Speaker: I just need to change what I'm doing, how I'm thinking, and then change it to physical and I'm normally pretty sweet.
Speaker: You know, I was really interested to your answer there as well, Holly, because there's unless you go out of town,
Speaker: work is in front of you, behind you.
Speaker: You can't walk out the pub because you're in the coffee shop.
Speaker: Your work is all around you.
Speaker: So, you know, I was really interested to hear that because, like, you know, when you're in the city or you're not in somewhere that's so sort of, you know, regional, you can go to, you know, as many other places you can go.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You're going on a road that is like literally, you know, you, you know, so I was curious to know what your answer was going to be for that because I sometimes go walk about to Carindale or so I go to a Westfield or go and have a look at like, you know, and I didn't know whether you might say, you know what, I go to Roma where no one knows me for a few hours, but then it's like, can you even go that far, you know?
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: You know, so I think music is always a brilliant answer as well.
Speaker: I think anything that just changes or just switches your mind off, like even if it's reading or just something that distracts you from whatever's stressing you out.
Speaker: So normally reading or music or just something to take my mind off it.
Speaker: Brilliant.
Speaker: Brilliant answer.
Speaker: Um, taking it way back now, did you get good career advice at school?
Speaker: Being at school, did you get a bit of a support?
Speaker: Did you get support to kind of go into nursing, to business, running a business?
Speaker: I think, well, mainly like probably personal, but like we got a lot of career advice where I think we kind of at that age, and it still blows my mind how they expect you to have it all figured out by 18, but, um,
Speaker: I think a lot of people that give advice and you have so many people in your life telling you, Oh, do this.
Speaker: Or what are you going to do?
Speaker: Or what career are you going to take?
Speaker: And you have so much pressure on you when all you really need is support.
Speaker: Like, I think at the end of the day, you know what you like, you know what you enjoy.
Speaker: You kind of have an idea of what career path you want to head down.
Speaker: You just need that person to be like, you know what?
Speaker: You can do it.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: It's fine.
Speaker: Like you don't necessarily like, um, I got a fair bit of, um, advice on to nursing with nursing, but,
Speaker: pub wise I had, I even had a teacher tell me, it's like, oh, I bet you'll still be stuck in strad in five years time and like get nowhere.
Speaker: I was like, like I am, which like when I first moved back, I was like, oh no, that teacher's right.
Speaker: But like completely different.
Speaker: I'm now 23 running a business, you know, like it's completely different circumstance.
Speaker: But I think a lot of schools really try and pressure you into doing uni or like some degree, which I think all of like us three can agree that that's not, you know, that's not the only option out there.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: I think, you know what, you just said something that I think is absolutely magic.
Speaker: You just want someone to go, yeah, you can.
Speaker: As much as they can.
Speaker: Even better.
Speaker: Does that teacher come into any of your businesses?
Speaker: And do you just give them a little warning?
Speaker: I know that you know that I know that, you know.
Speaker: I really hope he one day does.
Speaker: And I'll probably like hand him my business card and be like, hey, if you need anything.
Speaker: Give me a go.
Speaker: Do you know what, Holly?
Speaker: We've all got that teacher and you know what?
Speaker: We never forget their name.
Speaker: No.
Speaker: I don't think Mr. Beaver's going to be listening to this anyway.
Speaker: One day he might know me.
Speaker: Maybe.
Speaker: But I think that's brilliant.
Speaker: They always give out good advice, but sometimes more than anything, you just need support.
Speaker: School's always good advice.
Speaker: Great advice.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: So...
Speaker: Is this me again, Maxie?
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: It sure is.
Speaker: I've got to remember, I'm on the odd numbers, honestly.
Speaker: It's been a big day.
Speaker: So best piece of advice you've been given, be it across the bar at 2 o'clock in the morning from the person you're trying to get out the door, best piece of advice you've been given, Holly, in your life that you can share.
Speaker: I'm not going to lie, that first part where you said about the, at 2am in the morning, that is half the time I don't get the best advice because it's when their filter's gone, they're focusing on you, you're trying to get them out the door, but they're just telling you their whole life story.
Speaker: And you need to hear this.
Speaker: I've once been told and I've, you know, remembered it ever since.
Speaker: It's the same boiling water that hardens an egg that softens a potato.
Speaker: And I think that stuck with me so much because 90% of life is about perspective and it's going to be what you make it.
Speaker: And you're the only one that has the ability to turn into something beautiful and positive.
Speaker: And I think if you continue to focus on the negative, then you're missing out on all the good parts.
Speaker: But once you start focusing on the good, the good gets better.
Speaker: And I think it's really just, yeah, I loved that saying and it stuck with me ever since.
Speaker: Like it's going to be what you make it.
Speaker: Yeah, that's cool.
Speaker: How you look at it.
Speaker: Tell you, look at it's all about perspective and just, just surround yourself with kind, positive people.
Speaker: And it brings out the best version and you want to be surrounded by people that actually lift you, not keep you on the same level or under, under certain people.
Speaker: So yeah, really good advice.
Speaker: Thanks for sharing.
Speaker: I heard a saying once that, um, I heard a saying where it says, if you're the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room.
Speaker: I love that one Holly absolutely if you're not being questioned by people smarter than you you're in the wrong room so yeah that is brilliant brilliant brilliant
Speaker: Okay, Holly, so you just said you're eight months into this role, but do you have a next career goal?
Speaker: Maybe career goal, not so much career.
Speaker: Do you have any aspirations or big things that you want to do with the pub or the hotel?
Speaker: Yeah, what's the vision?
Speaker: Yeah, it's probably a big question, but not so much career because I know you love being a business owner, but is there something that you're focusing on to make better or to...
Speaker: Yeah, vision.
Speaker: As Lee was saying, I'm beating around the bush here.
Speaker: I'm really looking into upgrading the pub, obviously.
Speaker: I think it needs a big, nice renovation out the front.
Speaker: But I think just trying to build the community back is just my biggest focus at the moment.
Speaker: Because, like, even the towns, like you've got Roma and St George, they've got such a big...
Speaker: young crowd and such a big community there.
Speaker: And, you know, the weekends are huge.
Speaker: The young ones are out and about where like our town doesn't really have that.
Speaker: And, you know, even the it's, you can struggle to get some of the locals out.
Speaker: So I really just want to build that community back.
Speaker: Even when I started the Friday night raffles and Jack the Joker, just to try and get that, you know, that atmosphere back in town.
Speaker: Cause like once COVID hit, it kind of did a bit of, bit of damage to our town, unfortunately.
Speaker: So my main focus is just to obviously build the pub, build the business.
Speaker: But I really want to build the community back and get it to, you know, a busy town again.
Speaker: Brilliant.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: It would be awesome to come back and see you reach these goals.
Speaker: And we'll definitely be back.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: Because, you know, like... Hold it to me.
Speaker: Hold it to me.
Speaker: What's the Surat Pop event?
Speaker: We're on.
Speaker: We're on our way.
Speaker: So, you know...
Speaker: And I think you just said it's how you look at things and the people that you have around you and the energy that you put out is what you will attract to your venues.
Speaker: And...
Speaker: Like, I can't say enough of how we were welcomed, how made at home.
Speaker: I remember walking in the pub to see and I can't remember who it was, but they're just starting to light the fire.
Speaker: Just, you know, we walked in the pub in the first night and we knew no one.
Speaker: We walked in the second night, we stopped at the first table.
Speaker: we talked to the lady that worked in the library in the Cobb and Cove.
Speaker: We got to the second table and it was one of the teachers that we'd met in the school yesterday.
Speaker: And by the time we'd got to Andrew, who we, who was hosting us and, um, he was like, you've only been here a day, you know, you know, and it's like, I think you will attract that Holly because of that's how you make people welcome.
Speaker: So, um, you know, you will have no, no more people on your cheer squad than Maxie and I. And, um,
Speaker: You know, you're five hours down the road from me.
Speaker: I can get back in the minute.
Speaker: I still can't believe I brought the mini out to Surratt.
Speaker: But anyway.
Speaker: You're six hours away, an hour flight, five-hour drive.
Speaker: Exactly, exactly, exactly.
Speaker: So, no.
Speaker: And then obviously not the, you know, next career goal.
Speaker: It's in here in ink now, Holly, the book.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: Keep writing the diary.
Speaker: I welcome that.
Speaker: Exactly.
Speaker: Well, I'm going to be, next time I'm back, I'll be asking you for the first three chapters.
Speaker: Yes, exactly.
Speaker: Alrighty.
Speaker: So any other hobbies, as if you've even got time for hobbies with all that you're running, but, you know, we said, oh, you like to relax.
Speaker: Have you got any hobbies that you like to do?
Speaker: Are you a secret cross-stitcher or something?
Speaker: Anything that, you know, you like to do when you get a chance?
Speaker: I'm big on physical activity, so I love the gym.
Speaker: I don't love running, but I am starting to run.
Speaker: I'm trying to like it.
Speaker: I don't know how people do it, but I'm trying.
Speaker: I love baking.
Speaker: I love cooking for other people, not necessarily myself.
Speaker: I never have time to do that, but I love cooking for other people.
Speaker: I love painting too.
Speaker: Painting's a big, big hobby of mine at the moment.
Speaker: That's cool.
Speaker: I'm loving painting.
Speaker: Cool.
Speaker: Do you paint them too?
Speaker: Sorry?
Speaker: Sorry, sorry.
Speaker: Do you paint landscapes or portraits or what sort of painting?
Speaker: Landscape mostly.
Speaker: Yeah, wow.
Speaker: That one?
Speaker: Wow.
Speaker: Because people can't see this video, we can see it and it looks awesome, beautiful colours.
Speaker: Yeah, so I paint mainly landscape stuff or like
Speaker: birds or flowers and stuff like that yeah cool nature brilliant that's out of my level portraits are way too difficult yeah that is um that's i've i actually why we've been talking i noticed that behind you because it looks like a local um sunset or and i actually um i had no idea that you painted it what a legend amazing awesome we need a photo of that if we can holly when we do the socials of this we'll stick the photo up yeah thank you i'll do that
Speaker: Yeah, for sure.
Speaker: Okay, so if you weren't working in the pub, hotel, cafe, looking after people or nursing back in the day, what do you reckon you would have been?
Speaker: Yeah, for some reason, I don't know whether it's the country girl in me, I've always wanted to like go and work on a station, but like overseas.
Speaker: I once had this random email saying,
Speaker: come to me and they were looking for ringers out over in Canada and I was like how incredible like I want and I still want to do that so bad I that's still on my list of things to do eventually if I take a break from the pub I'm going over to Canada six months and I'm riding horses that is my plan that's epic yeah overseas have you I'm sure you have but Yellowstone
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: Great.
Speaker: I think it's the last season of the second part is coming out soon.
Speaker: I'm waiting for it to come out.
Speaker: Me too.
Speaker: Me too.
Speaker: Great, great series.
Speaker: But, yeah, that's cool.
Speaker: That's why I started it, actually.
Speaker: I'm live on Yellowstone.
Speaker: That's probably what gave me the motivation for it.
Speaker: It's a great TV series.
Speaker: Kevin Costner, what a dude.
Speaker: And Rip, Rip's a legend.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Rip is a legend.
Speaker: I need to get on to that.
Speaker: I'm not saying that.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Highly recommend it.
Speaker: Brilliant.
Speaker: All right.
Speaker: Good stuff.
Speaker: So it's not really that long ago, Holly.
Speaker: You're still, you know, you're still so young, but what advice would you give to your 16 year old self?
Speaker: I think, and this is probably going off my current situation and things I've learned very, very recently, but,
Speaker: don't take life too seriously.
Speaker: And I think it's so easy to say that, but then trying to live that is also a completely different situation.
Speaker: But there's going to be so many things in your life that are out of your control.
Speaker: And the more you try and force something or the more you try and, you know, focus on fixing something that's not meant to be fixed, it's just going to do more damage.
Speaker: I think, you know, you really don't waste your time and don't waste your energy trying to change something that isn't going to change.
Speaker: And I think that
Speaker: You know, there's only so much that you can do and it is what it's going to be.
Speaker: You know, it's going to happen no matter what.
Speaker: And I think the biggest thing that like even moving from the coast back home and like whether it's situations, friendships, relationships, no matter what it is, I think at the end of the day you have to just let things be, find the blessing, find the lesson and then carry on.
Speaker: And I think it's not rejection, it's redirection is how I look at it.
Speaker: Yeah, yeah.
Speaker: You know, things are going to change no matter what.
Speaker: And I think we put so much pressure on ourselves trying to put everything together and life's just going to happen.
Speaker: And if you don't, you know, if you focus too much on the small stuff, you're going to miss the bigger picture, you know, kind of thing.
Speaker: Yeah, I like that.
Speaker: I love it.
Speaker: And people do.
Speaker: They come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime.
Speaker: And sometimes you think they're going to be one and they end up being the other.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And just, yeah, I think as long as you're always staying true to you,
Speaker: You can do no more than that.
Speaker: Be true to you.
Speaker: And also just be a good human being.
Speaker: Be kind.
Speaker: Give back where you can.
Speaker: And just be positive.
Speaker: And, yeah, and just life's a roll of the cuts.
Speaker: And you get the ups and downs and ups and downs, twists and turns.
Speaker: But, yeah, it's really good advice, Holly.
Speaker: That's a really good thing that you could give your 16-year-old.
Speaker: So thank you for sharing.
Speaker: Yeah, brilliant.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Okay, so the final question, speaking about how you deal with stress, you love your music, have you got a song that you recommend that we could add to our Live, Learn, Survive Spotify playlist?
Speaker: I would just like to say I would recommend any Zach Bryans.
Speaker: album, playlist, music, song, whatever.
Speaker: Zach Bryant, yeah.
Speaker: My classic first, like if I need an upbeat song, if I need something to lift my mood, it's Good To Be by Mark Amber.
Speaker: And it is just, it's such a beautiful song and it just automatically gets you in the groove.
Speaker: It gets your, you know, it gets your mood lifted.
Speaker: So that's a beautiful song.
Speaker: Good To Be, Mark Amber.
Speaker: Love it.
Speaker: We've got some great songs on there.
Speaker: Mark Amber.
Speaker: Maxie is adding it as we speak.
Speaker: Good to be Mark Amber.
Speaker: We can't play it because then we get a smack on the legs by the YouTube people.
Speaker: But we always... It is added to the playlist.
Speaker: Added to the playlist.
Speaker: Then we sneak off and then we go and have a listen.
Speaker: So, yeah, no, that's great.
Speaker: I was going to say, Holly, those songs that are on this playlist...
Speaker: of coming from people from all over the world.
Speaker: So all of a sudden you'll hear a band you've never heard of or a song.
Speaker: It's like, you know, it was the absolute, you know, banger from Germany or something.
Speaker: So it's a really eclectic, cool playlist.
Speaker: So your choice is now in there as well.
Speaker: So brilliant.
Speaker: Absolutely brilliant.
Speaker: Look, anything else you want to share about your magnificent part of the world, Holly?
Speaker: It's, you know...
Speaker: Outback Australia is kind of, you know, people have seen it on movies and things like that, but you actually live it.
Speaker: It is like driving into a real life movie set from a point of, you know, the open spaces and the roads and the skies, you know, anything else you want to share with us about your part of the world.
Speaker: I just think everyone needs to see it.
Speaker: Like it's probably biased, but even when like, when I went to this, like the, well, I call the Sunshine Coast a city.
Speaker: It's huge to me.
Speaker: It's probably not to most people, but even like going to Brisbane and stuff, it's just, you know, completely different.
Speaker: The landscape, the sunrises, the sunsets, the people, like I think everyone needs to go outside.
Speaker: It doesn't have to be throughout.
Speaker: It'd be great if it is.
Speaker: I'd love to meet everyone.
Speaker: But just go visit the countryside and just, it's just a simple life out here.
Speaker: You know, it's peaceful.
Speaker: It's beautiful.
Speaker: The people are magic.
Speaker: It's, yeah, I think everyone needs to experience once in their life.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: And you do road trains really well out there.
Speaker: We do.
Speaker: We love our road trains out here.
Speaker: How many road trains did we video in the space of three days, Maxie?
Speaker: I think there was about 25 plus.
Speaker: Easily.
Speaker: We didn't film them all, but we stopped and admired and drive past.
Speaker: Yeah, we did.
Speaker: We sort of like stopped and had a little respectful for the truckie, you know.
Speaker: A little bit of a head nod or a bit of a. Yeah, I love it.
Speaker: I appreciate it.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: So, no.
Speaker: Holly, it's been an absolute pleasure.
Speaker: Thank you so much for coming on and sharing your story because, you know, this is all about sharing tips and little bits of advice and that bit of thing.
Speaker: And I'm sure there'll be somebody around the world that one bit, even one bit of it will resonate, probably many bits of it and help them on their sort of journey as well.
Speaker: And that's what it's all about.
Speaker: So we're so, so grateful that you came on.
Speaker: Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker: And just quickly, Holly, if people are listening, how can they find you or see some of your businesses?
Speaker: Do you want to give your businesses a shout out?
Speaker: Yes.
Speaker: So most of us, we're all on social media, obviously, big thing these days.
Speaker: So if you ever want to contact me personally, it's holly.tom01.
Speaker: I'm on Instagram or we got the Surat New Royal on Facebook.
Speaker: I've just started up a TikTok account for it.
Speaker: Awesome.
Speaker: The video was ridiculous, but anyway.
Speaker: I'll check it out.
Speaker: And what is the, is it the New Royal Hotel TikTok?
Speaker: Surat New Royal.
Speaker: Surat New Royal.
Speaker: Okay.
Speaker: I'm going to be going straight up.
Speaker: My 200 followers on TikTok will be all over that.
Speaker: Surat New Royal.
Speaker: Well, again, Holly, thank you so much.
Speaker: It's been an absolute pleasure.
Speaker: Keep smiling.
Speaker: You light up the room.
Speaker: Again, thank you for looking after us a couple of months ago.
Speaker: And we will be back in 2025, hopefully.
Speaker: And we'll be in touch.
Speaker: I can't wait to see you guys again.
Speaker: Absolutely.
Speaker: We'll be coming road tripping.
Speaker: And, yeah, take care and say hi to everyone in the town.
Speaker: Will do.
Speaker: We all miss you here.
Speaker: We miss you too.
Speaker: Brilliant.
Speaker: All right then, Holly.
Speaker: Thanks so much.
Speaker: Have a great, so what, you know, it's nearly four o'clock in the afternoon now, the pub, you better start and go and get that pub rocking.
Speaker: And please tell me you didn't, one last question, you didn't run out of beer for the Cobb & Co.
Speaker: Festival.
Speaker: No, no, we are not a pub with no beer.
Speaker: We are fully stocked.
Speaker: We've got the Surratt races coming up next weekend, so they're probably going to drink us dry as well, but always fully stocked.
Speaker: Stocking up again.
Speaker: Brilliant.
Speaker: We'll let you get back to it, Holly.
Speaker: That's been brilliant.
Speaker: Thanks so much.
Speaker: Take care.
Speaker: See you, everyone.
Speaker: Bye.
Speaker: Bye.
