Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to A to Z Jobs, the podcast that delves into the fascinating world of careers one profession at a time. In each episode, we'll deep dive into a specific profession, exploring its history, requirements, challenges, and rewards. So get ready to expand your horizons, challenge your perceptions, and discover a world of possibilities. I'm Roxy. And I'm Nate. And we're excited to host you on this journey.
Speaker: This week, we introduce you to Louise, a seasoned life coach and mentor, specialising in empowering tradeswomen and trades professionals. With a background as a heavy vehicle mechanic, Louise brings first -hand experience and invaluable insights to her role. Louise delves into topics ranging from overcoming workplace bullying to navigating the unique challenges faced by women in male -dominated industries. Hi Louise, welcome to our podcast.
Speaker: Hi, thanks for having me. It's amazing to have you on this Friday afternoon. Let's jump straight into it and ask you, what do you do for a living? Yeah, so currently I work as a life coach and mentor for tradeswoman and tradies, but I started my career out as a heavy vehicle mechanic. Wow, amazing. Heavy vehicles, so that's the biggest step. So you went all the way.
Speaker: have all the way. I don't know much about this. What qualifies as heavy vehicles?
Speaker: Yeah, so heavy vehicles are generally divided into two kind of parts. There's heavy vehicle road transport, so you're on highway trucks. And then there's heavy vehicle mobile plant, which is your construction equipment and your mining equipment. So I actually started out on road transport, but then I ended up also qualifying in the construction and mining equipment mobile plant space as well.
Speaker: So what does a day look like for you then? Talk us through your life coach hat and your other hats. What does a day look like for you? So currently working as a life coach, a lot of it has to do with, it's not that glamorous, it's a lot of marketing behind the scenes, creating content.
Speaker: I also host a podcast called Anxious Trades Women, so working on that as well. And then also doing one -on -one coaching as well as I might have a few clients and then I also run professional development workshops.
Speaker: in person and online as well for my community and for different businesses that are looking at supporting the women in their business or even the apprentices within their business. Brilliant. I think it's something that's definitely needed in the trades industry. You know, my husband, like we mentioned,
Speaker: is a mechanic and has been for 15 years. But the women that have come through and been a big part of his life, he's always enjoyed having them as apprentices, but it always feels there is that pull and there does need to be more support for them. It can be a tricky environment. That's it. Like I started my apprenticeship as a mechanic when I was 15 years old. So I was
Speaker: quite young in a very male -dominated industry. And I loved the work, which is really what kept me going through the qualification. There was a few people that were against me, so I did have a bit of bullying and a bit of harassment happen from only a very few people. But the thing that I found most was really that
Speaker: when that bullying and harassment say did happen then it would really play into my mental health and I would repeat it in my head over and over and over again which made it quite challenging to then focus on my work which was one of the biggest struggles that I had going through my apprenticeship it was not only the bullying and harassment but the way that my brain wanted to replay it over and over again
Speaker: and managing to like focus back on, yes, I really love fixing machines and I love working on trucks and I love repairing machines. It really can be grounded in the work. Wow. That's brilliant. I was just going to reflect on that a little bit more. How did you approach that situation with the bullying? Is it something that over time, you know, naturally went away or you had a
Speaker: proactively change the workplace or how did you cope? Yeah, so with that, I probably didn't have the best coping mechanisms right at the beginning. My original coping mechanism was just laughing it off, which didn't help. And I was kind of fortunate enough that one of those guys and he ended up leaving the business.
Speaker: And then I kept going through and by the time another situation had come around, I was able to say, hey, I don't really like what you're saying to me. I don't like the way that you're treating me and be able to have that difficult conversation with him. He did change a little bit for a small period of time, but then after a few months, I ended up leaving that business and going and working for another business.
Speaker: It takes guts to have those conversations. That's huge. Yeah, it's it's a bit scary. And it's it's one of those things that I do pass on now to a lot of my clients and through my podcast as well, because it's yeah, it takes guts. But it also takes like the skill of even knowing how to put it together in the first place, which is something that I did learn a lot through trial and error. And I did have some support like a mentor around me to kind of help guide me through that.
Speaker: But yeah, it was an interesting process to be able to put that together. I can imagine. And it's a difficult environment to communicate in, even for a man, you know, let alone a female doing a very male dominant role. And it's just also being able to have the guts to turn around to sort of
Speaker: quite strong -headed men, you know, and be able to, you know, say, well, no, I'm here. I know what I'm doing, and I don't need this in my life, and be able to structure that effectively without, you know, if it was me, I'd probably throw my toys out the cart.
Speaker: But we didn't handle it very well the whole time. We, we got to that point after some trial and error. That's good. That's good. I mean, but it's, it's great what you're doing and, you know, supporting this wonderful community that you've created and passing on your knowledge. It's, it's some of the best things and it's, it's solely what the trades industry around the world kind of needs.
Speaker: Um, cause it's very similar from UK to here as well. So yeah, it's pretty cool. That's it. So how did you get started in, you know, how did you get, what, what made you want to become a mechanic? And then how did you get started and find your calling and coaching? Yeah. So I grew up on a farm. Um, I was always with my dad, working with my hands, uh, fixing machinery.
Speaker: and I really really enjoyed it. I did not enjoy school so much so I was kind of like trying to get out of there as soon as I could and my parents said I could leave at the end of year 10 if I had an apprenticeship lined up. So got to year 10 and I started doing work experience at different places in my school holidays to
Speaker: trying to secure a position. I ended up having some really good experiences during work experience, but no one had a position available to me. Um, I ended up doing or going to a careers expo, um, which, uh, in the space of about an hour, I had three life changing conversations. So the first one was short and sharp. It was with a guy.
Speaker: Um, and he was like, we wouldn't want our daughters working here. We wouldn't suggest it for you. And I later found out that male apprentices had been sexually harassed at that workshop. So I got out of that, which was lucky.
Speaker: Um, and then the second conversation was this guy that lectured me and my dad for like 10 minutes about how I couldn't be a mechanic. I was too small to be a mechanic. And I was feeling really disheartened. Like I was like, I don't know what I'm going to do. Like this, I don't know if I should just give up. Uh, my parents were like, come on Louise, let's keep going through the expo. And.
Speaker: I was so lucky that they encouraged me to keep going because I then met Sarah and Sarah at the time was a heavy vehicle mechanic. She was a first year apprentice and she was the same height as me and the same build as me and at the time we were both blonde. But her existence literally disproved everything this guy had said
Speaker: for the last 10 minutes. Like that I was too small. No, Sarah's here. She's the same size as me. She's been doing it for the year that I wouldn't be able to do it. Sarah's been doing it for a year. So why couldn't I do it? Exactly. Yeah. So I ended up applying, I was doing work experience and applying at the workplace Sarah was working at. And I loved it.
Speaker: I loved doing work experience there. I applied for the job. I wasn't too sure that I was going to get it. I actually didn't think I was going to get out all because they wanted people a bit older. They wanted people with their driver's license. And at the time I was 15, so I was about a year and a half away from getting my driver's license. But a month later, I got a call saying to come in for an interview. And then a few weeks after that, coming for a medical and I started my apprenticeship at the beginning of
Speaker: 2012 at that workshop and it was yeah I've kind of career wise I've never looked back it was definitely the role and the position for me to go into. That's brilliant. It's amazing how having conversations in environments like that and pushing yourself or having you know your parents push you along a little bit because
Speaker: You know, having that kind of coping mechanism to go around a networking environment and ask questions and get stuck in, it's the hardest thing to do. And, you know, so brave to have talked to three different people and the third person being the most positive and the last two would have, you know, most people would have gone running, even not listen to their parents and walked out.
Speaker: It's funny, the careers expo that we met at, my husband was there to figure out what he might want to do and change his job. But because I was there talking about the podcast, he got stuck there for an hour and a half. So he actually managed to have four different conversations that were quite life changing for him. But because he was stuck there with the kid, he couldn't go anywhere else. But, you know, meeting one person can always introduce you to five others or an incredible environment or an incredible
Speaker: journey. So it's amazing that you got out there, got stuck in and also paid attention to what worked and what didn't work. Getting involved with Sarah and knowing, ticking all the boxes and saying, well, these people are wrong. So many different people have so many ideas of different jobs and it's worth getting an average count, especially in trades and the basic jobs as well. So there's the
Speaker: the ones for admin and finance and mathematics that can go and spread into so many different avenues in life. Being able to talk to lots of different people about what they do will give you so many inspiring ideas for the future. So how did you get into coaching?
Speaker: So really I got into coaching because I was angry at the system. Like I said, you know, being a mechanic is quite male dominated and, you know, that was all fair enough, well and good. You know, I made it through with different challenges. I had different types of support at different times. Like I didn't know what I needed. And like, as I kind of grew up in the industry and become qualified,
Speaker: I really tried to be that person that I wish I had, the someone that looked like me, that could help me through what was going on. So I started posting on social media and different people who knew who I was would connect me with other people to help support them. So if there was any newcomer women in the industry, they would connect me with them. So I started doing that while I was still a mechanic.
Speaker: Um, and then I went through and I competed in the world skills competition, um, which is like the Olympics for tradies. And I competed regionally and I came second. Um, I competed nationally and I was the first female to compete nationally. Um, and then the first female to win nationally. And then in 2017, I competed internationally in the heavy vehicle competition and I come forth out of 16 countries. So I went through.
Speaker: Yeah, it was so amazing. I actually, for people who are watching the video, there's some medals behind me, those medals from that. But really through that process, it really made me see that there was
Speaker: not women weren't coming through the ranks because it was literally a numbers game. If we're one in 100 and then, you know, out of a hundred mechanics, one of them becomes a leader, then it's kind of like, well, the math does not add up for women to become leaders, to become the experts in the space. I'm not saying that any of those 1 % of girls that was with me, like a lot of them have become experts and leaders.
Speaker: But when I was going through the process of the competition, I was being put forward to be interviewed and do stuff like that. And I was getting a lot of questions like, you know, why aren't there too many girls? What can we do to get more girls into leadership? You know, why aren't, why don't women apply for jobs? And at the beginning, like I had never really thought of that before, because I was like focused on my own journey.
Speaker: But as it kept happening, I was kind of like, well, you know, there were some things like I did get bullied. I did, you know, have those instances where I was discouraged from becoming a mechanic quite outright. I had kind of struggles with my mental health, which does happen to a lot of apprentices and people in general as well.
Speaker: And thinking about it, I was kind of like, yeah, you know what, I've been through this. And like looking back, I'm like, okay, I know how I got through this. I ended up becoming a trainer and assessor, so teaching mechanics. And I really thought it would be a way to get me in front of
Speaker: people to then show them that women can do that. If a female was teaching a whole class of men, even though I wasn't teaching other women, these guys would then go out into the workforce and already know that women can do it to kind of eliminate some of that unconscious bias or sexism that they might have. So I did that for two years. And the company that I worked for kept saying that they support women, they support women, they support women, they want more women.
Speaker: And really, I wasn't feeling too supported. I also had a few apprentices and people that were working in the workshop that also weren't feeling very supported. They were having issues with different kinds of things and they weren't getting the support they needed.
Speaker: And it was very different to like the kind of blue collar working as a mechanic or working, say in the workshop and the people that were working in the office, they were getting treated very differently. And I saw, you know, what these girls that are working in the workshops, I can do more for them. I can be more, I can help more, I can use my experiences to help them.
Speaker: And that's when I become a life coach. I was already doing a lot of speaking, like people were asking me to speak at schools and at different conferences and stuff. And I was getting really good feedback. They were like, get me so empowering, like we can go out and like, you know, we feel like we can go out and conquer the world kind of vibes. But then I was like, what happens after you're feeling empowered? What happens, you know, six months down the track when you might come across someone who's against you
Speaker: or your mental health starts to wobble a little bit or your confidence dips. What happens then? That's when I started doing the coaching and the mentoring and being like, okay, I can be there for these girls that come through. So I do coaching for tradeswomen, also non -binary people, and I also support tradesmen if they do come to me as well. That's good.
Speaker: They do need help, all of them. It's an industry that doesn't do annual reviews or even salivary reviews in many cases. There's no platform for any of the employees to sort of turn around and go, this is what I've been doing and I need appreciation or acknowledgement for it. And there's also no platform to say, this is wrong or this is how I'm being treated or
Speaker: having that kind of one on one with your manager and that kind of support. So if you could change it with the employees of thinking and feeling that way and pushing for that system to be there.
Speaker: then hopefully, you know, that what you're doing now will have a huge impact on the trades industry in the future. It's just so incredible. Yeah. Some businesses like they, what I've seen is they've tried to implement different kind of, where I did my apprenticeship, they did do the yearly reviews and that kind of thing as well. It was really good.
Speaker: in the sense like the managers or the supervisors that were doing the reviews, they were mechanics who had stepped up into team leader or leadership roles and they didn't quite have the leadership experience needed to kind of talk through that kind of stuff as well and to put it together. So it was kind of, everyone was learning a little bit and yeah, to then be able to really take advantage of that, like a lot of small businesses that do employ a lot of tradespeople
Speaker: they don't have those processes in place. But also that sort of training of the leadership as well of how to manage diversity as well and how to communicate that. And you've got so many different pathways you can go down and support. So not just for the employees, but also try and educate the managers a bit more. And it's so exciting. Hopefully it might work. I don't know.
Speaker: We'll see what happens. Yeah. It's amazing that you had such a clear vision of where you wanted to be when you were 15. I think that's amazing. I was 15, I had no idea. But to hear someone that's had that vision and being able to follow through is fantastic.
Speaker: I guess my next question for you is more about your career path was quite smooth in terms of you were 15, you got your apprenticeship, you got your job, and that was sort of a very traditional way of getting into the mechanic career. But in terms of the coaching career then, how if you had realized that a bit earlier or if you had a clearer picture of what that was gonna look like, do you think there's a quicker way you could have built your coaching career to what it is now?
Speaker: Are you feeling inspired by everything you've learned so far? Keep that momentum going with our four -part Career Change Made Easy course. Dive deeper at thecareerchangecoaches .com. Now enjoy the rest of the podcast.
Speaker: I don't think my coaching career could have come around quicker or easier. It was kind of like everything had to play out the way that it did for one for me to want to be a coach and then two for me to have the skills experience to then be a coach. So if I didn't have the experience as then
Speaker: I wouldn't have been able to, I wouldn't have the topics to speak on, I wouldn't have the knowledge or the skills that I learnt from those, even though some of those experiences were not very fun at all, but they then gave me the knowledge and the experience to then speak and pass on that message.
Speaker: And then going back to the apprenticeship side of things and like kind of knowing what I wanted to do, I think I was in a very privileged kind of space. A lot of times now when kids say that they, from what I've seen, when kids say, I don't like school, they're kind of like, well, you're stuck here, you have to like it.
Speaker: But when I said I didn't like school, I had the option, okay, if you don't like school, then you need to get an apprenticeship, which then led me on the path of, okay, what trade would I like to do? And I think that kind of, even that step is missing from a lot of conversations with school age people as well now.
Speaker: Yeah, there is something to do if you don't like school, and here's the options. I think that's what leads a lot of people to be lost. They're like, school's not for me, but no one's told me any other options, so I need to force myself to go through it. Yeah. So for those people that were sort of pushed through school and possibly through university, and they're reviewing now, if they wanted to get into the mechanic industry and they wanted to be sort of your
Speaker: your career, how would they get in as more mature aged students? Yeah, so it's pretty much the same way as well. Like to do that, you do an apprenticeship. There is like, just so to get an apprenticeship is pretty much just going to a business and saying, this is my experience. I want to learn and I want to, you know, be an apprentice to get qualified.
Speaker: I think it's one of those things where it's not as complicated as it seems. It's like that fear of the unknown. A lot of businesses love taking on mature age apprentices because they have that life experience behind them. Obviously, they're not teenagers, so they think of it differently. They don't take as many risks. They can be a lot safer as well.
Speaker: going through that, like anyone can start an apprenticeship at any age and be able to go through that. That's brilliant. And it's funny when you ask about easier paths, all of our podcast guests say there really isn't one because I've done X, Y and Z to get to the point. And it's this wonderful core values puzzle that your life creates where you're putting those beautiful blocks into place, the good and the bad.
Speaker: to work out what you want to do with your life and finding an effective and a healthier, happier career. So it's just such an interesting thing to sort of take also those negative experiences and understand them, analyze them, and also support other people from your experience, which is incredible. Yeah, that's it. I think, like I said, if we don't go through those challenges,
Speaker: If you don't see, like for me, it's like I'm solving a problem that I see. Like these women are getting put into industries and they don't have the tools to navigate different situations that they might be faced with. And that's what I wanted to fix and see. But if I hadn't seen that, then I would still be a mechanic. I'd probably have a really good life being a mechanic and I might still have become a trainer and assessor.
Speaker: gone that way, but I might not have gone in the coaching space because I might not have seen like the need for it. How are you finding the balance for that? So work -life balance, you've got a lot of things there. How do you make it all happen and still be healthy and happy yourself? Yeah, I think it's a lot of trial and error.
Speaker: often remind myself that it's almost like I'm doing my apprenticeship again, just for my business. So just navigating learning, trial and error. There's because with the, you know, like you guys know, you used to a podcast, like for me recording my podcast, you know, it's a big outburst of energy.
Speaker: And then, so if I'm doing a speaking event, that's also a big outburst of energy. And then you've got the more kind of mundane tasks of being a business owner, where you have to do your back end, and you have to reply to emails, and you have endless meetings that might not go anywhere. So it's been a bit of a challenge, I'm not gonna lie, going to this next step of being a life coach.
Speaker: navigating finances, navigating energy levels, especially being in an opinionated kind of space where I am talking, you know, things that women go through and having kind of, without a better term, sometimes a bit of backlash from that and all the differing opinions. It's been a lot of remembering why I started, who I am here to help,
Speaker: and remembering that I can take a step back. Like even though it's my business, I'm the face of it. It does depend a lot on me and my energy. Like I can say no and have a week off. And it's not like I'm going to disappear off the face of the earth. Like I'm, you know, take a week off and then I come back at it. I am allowed to take time off as well, which is really important to remember as a business owner.
Speaker: Yeah, there's a lot there. You're juggling all these hats with social media, websites, podcasts, all the admin trying to work out how to make money, how to brand yourself. And at the same time, you're focusing on an issue within an industry. So you do get that.
Speaker: that incredible backlash, which you've got to be able to have a good stand back on, you know, and I think that's incredible that you're able to sort of lift yourself back up and go, well, this is the reason I'm doing this, and this is how I'm doing it, and still move forward on your own, running a business by yourself as well. That takes a lot of strength, so I really admire that.
Speaker: Thanks. Off topic though, I just realized we have the same nail polish colour. So what would be your, you know, favourite part about this whole experience or, you know, favourite part about being a mechanic that's led you to this experience? Yeah, well I think like thinking back to like being a mechanic,
Speaker: I really loved the style of the work. So my brain was engaged because I needed to know how the machine worked. I needed to know the science behind how the engine worked to be able to fault find that step by step process to find faults. And then I was using my body to fix the fault. So let me use my mental and my physical energy to do that.
Speaker: And being a mechanic, like your repairs, like your successes are very visual. Like the engine doesn't start and now it starts. This was broken and now it's fixed. So that was really amazing during that kind of time while I was a mechanic. Now, like coming through, it's all the amazing people that I've met, not just the amazing women, but also the amazing men that I've met.
Speaker: that are supportive, that are wanting to create change, that have each other's backs. That's been probably one of the best bits about coming into like this life coaching, speaking, mentoring kind of space. Because there's so many other people doing amazing work. That's incredible. And you give them a voice, you give them an understanding and, and, you know, it's the community.
Speaker: around everything, which is just the best part. You know, when you start an initiative like this and you find some incredible people and you keep meeting the people, it's one of those reasons you keep doing it. You know, you keep going back to it and you get these amazing opportunities because somebody has some other idea that you just never thought of and you get put into a realm that is just so interesting.
Speaker: We've spoke a lot about the negative things in the industry that you've faced already. Is there anything else that you'd like to mention that you found a bit of a struggle in either the coaching or in the mechanic industry?
Speaker: When you're working in a male -dominated industry, there's that hypermasculinity or that toxic masculinity, whatever you want to call it, where you don't speak up, you do your work, you work long hours, you work hard. That was something that was interesting to navigate and look back on and the impact that it had on so many different people like the men and the women and the young guys and the older guys.
Speaker: Everyone navigates that differently. Some people love it and thrive in it and some people struggle. So that's probably one thing. It's good to be aware of it and then where you sit in that kind of spectrum of what you actually enjoy doing and your work -life balance in that sense. And then in the starting the small business and the life coach side of things like
Speaker: putting your opinion out into the world can be pretty scary. You never know quite what's going to come back. It can be, you know, starting a small business is starting a business. There's a lot of work involved and you might not see any results for quite a while.
Speaker: which can be challenging to navigate, especially when you're putting so much energy into it and you might not be seeing a direct result, which is probably one of the biggest challenges to keep going when you're in that position. It's so hard to figure out where the light at the end of the tunnel is, because you know, it does just take that one comment or that one client to really make things work, but it is a lot of time and energy and
Speaker: trial and error, a lot of trial and error. So we've talked a little bit about a mature student going into the trades industry, but what is the advice that you give females who are starting out and wanting to get stuck in and how they can kind of get over some of the hurdles that you've outlined?
Speaker: Yeah, so like with that, with women getting into the industry, you know, you can come across against, you know, I had those conversations with people telling me that I couldn't do it because I was a woman. I think one of the biggest things to overcome that is
Speaker: work placement or work trials are actually better than a resume. When a woman tends to go to a male -dominated workspace, it's really hard if a leader or an owner of a business hasn't seen a woman doing the work before, sometimes they can be very dismissive because they can't imagine her working in the space.
Speaker: So I often tell the girls to dress like you could just step onto a work site when you're going to apply for these jobs and when you're speaking to these businesses. So then it can bridge that imagination gap. And then also ask to do a work trial. So it's kind of an in -between. You're not asking straight for a job, you're asking for the work trial.
Speaker: then you can prove that you can do it and navigate through any unconscious bias that there might be. A lot of the times unconscious bias can be broken just by someone seeing that you can do it. And they're like, oh yeah, all these ideas that I had in my head just purely because I hadn't seen someone. And now like she's amazing. A lot of people, a lot of businesses sometimes have their first woman come through and they're like, we would love to just have all women now.
Speaker: It just takes breaking that thing. So if any women are struggling to get into an apprenticeship or into the trades, ask for a work trial. It's a really good in -between to then get your foot in the door.
Speaker: And then also like, keep on going, it just does take one yes to get your foot in the door. And being qualified in a trade, whether it is mechanical or any other trade, it really sets you up for life. Like, you can always fall back on your skills, there's so many branches off, you know, that trade experience that you can use.
Speaker: And even just taking those fault finding skills, the being able to use tools and all that kind of stuff into your life after your apprenticeship can really help set you up. Yeah, everything you do, no matter what you do, will always come back round to be some kind of puzzle piece of your life that moves you forward. It's funny that you say dress for the job.
Speaker: And I think it also works for men, but it's a really female thing. So for instance, my sister, she studied to be a computer scientist and she kept applying for these jobs, going into interviews, but she turned up with her big, beautiful high heels on and her hair done up and her makeup done to the nines, you know, to look presentable for an interview. And then she finally gave up on her last one cause she was not getting these jobs.
Speaker: turned up with a platinum makeup on and her glasses on rather than her contacts, he got the job. And it's just because in that industry, they're not expecting you to dress like that. It's funny in the visual effects industry as well. I mean, most people turn up in different outfits, but we should really warn them. It's very relaxed. You can turn up in your pajamas or your shiny pineapple t -shirt, it won't matter. But it is funny to sort of understand what to wear when you go and approach a situation like that and how it can
Speaker: effect, whether you get the job or not, and those kinds of tips. And I think that's an incredible tip for a specific industry to look those things up and find out, okay, what am I applying for? And is there someone I could talk to who's been interviewing for these things? Well, what did you actually wear, even if you're a girl or a boy? Because it's very key. It's sort of, you're, you're, you're creating a picture of what you would look like in a work environment, like you said. So yeah, it's just small things, right?
Speaker: So we had a bit of a chat about your apprenticeship and how you got into the education you've been doing. Along your journey, is there any other education highlights or resources for mechanics or coaching that you think is worth mentioning? I think just going back to, I don't know if I mentioned it, but networking is such a powerful tool for like anyone.
Speaker: And like Roxanne said, we met at a careers expo and we were talking and chatting meeting new people. And that being able to go and meet new people and expand your network is really powerful in any aspect of your career or business.
Speaker: Um, like when I moved workplaces as a mechanic, it was from someone that I had known. And when I become a trainer and assessor, it was from someone I had known as well. And then, um, going through those steps and even as a business owner now it's through my network that I meet connections who work with different businesses and then, you know, work as a coach or.
Speaker: run a workshop for them in their business. So networking is so powerful in any stage of your career. You never know who you're going to meet, what job opportunity they have available, if they could be a great mentor, if they know someone who's looking for someone. Networking is so powerful.
Speaker: It really is. And it's trying to work out how to network, which I think over the last few years for me, there's been a bit of a eureka moment. If you have a project to talk about or an idea to talk about, rather than, hi, I'm Roxy,
Speaker: I'm a visual effects recruiter or something. Hi, I'm Roxy, I'm doing this thing. Do you have any opinions or how do you want to get involved? Oh no, you don't want to get involved? Okay, but do you know anyone? And somehow you end up meeting more and more and more people that open your world. Your little box of your five friends, as everyone always likes to say, suddenly becomes
Speaker: a worldwide understanding and and you can sort of take those little passion projects or the coaching side of thing or what you do for a living and flip it to be like this is how I'm going to network and communicate and then you're also not afraid of going into networking environments because you feel like you've got something to talk about even if it's some
Speaker: For me, it's my random horror movie, right? So if I go up to anything film, I'm like, this is the Guinness World Record that I've been trying to break for eight years, but I have not got any clothes anywhere close to any of it, but it gets the person talking. They think I'm a horror fanatic, which I'm not, but it brings it forward, right? And you meet, so every one person you meet opens up another five opportunities.
Speaker: Check it out. If you're going to places on your own where you don't know people, my favorite thing to do is find the other lost person because there will always be someone there who hasn't come with anyone or they're either waiting for their work colleagues or something. So if you go into a networking event on your own, scan for the other person that's on their own and go in and lead with
Speaker: Hey, I don't really know anyone here. Do you know anyone here? And then I'm like, no, I don't know anyone here. So it's like, now we know each other. So that's, if you're stepping out your comfort zone and going to networking events on your own, that's something that really works.
Speaker: My other, my other hack for networking is just go there really early, be the first one. Cause then you get to chat to the people that organize the event and they, they will then take you under their wing just naturally and start introducing you to people. So if you don't know anyone, get there early, just here for a quick drink. And then, and then you'll naturally just get introduced to people. So another hack for you. Yeah. I did meet this guy last week. He was going around the room and he went, hi, I'm Gary. Can I buy you a beer?
Speaker: Literally, that was it. That he's like, come with me to the bar. And that was it. I know everything about Gary now. It's very direct. Yeah. Yeah. I do want to go into our last question, which is, you know, an inspiring quote, but I actually am very curious about the awards behind you and how you got or what made you get involved in those challenges. I'm a big challenge person. I love challenges.
Speaker: So, you know, talk me through that. So behind me, I have a few different. So I have my medals from the world skills competition. I also send my certificates. Two of them are for a leadership award, so community leadership. And then one of them is for the People's Choice Awards from that. So people vote and then I won that one.
Speaker: And then the Channel 7 Young Achiever, which was, yeah, the Young Achiever, it was the Young Achiever Leadership Award. I was a finalist for that one.
Speaker: And I've got, there's a little clock here. That one's for innovator of cultural change, which was actually one that was probably one of my favourite ones to be recognised for creating cultural change in the industry, where culture is such a big impact, and it really needs to be changed. So that was amazing.
Speaker: And then I've got a few model trucks, which were different awards through my academic kind of during TAFE, getting best work practices, which is like being safe in the workplace and being like open to learning and being the
Speaker: one of the tracks up there is from being the first person from Australia to represent Australia at the Heavy Vehicle International Competition from my type pictures, which was awesome. That's incredible. Yeah. See, you're really stepping out there and those kind of achievements just mean you're doing the right thing and it's just so brilliant. It's pretty awesome.
Speaker: So the challenge, the world championships that you got stuck into, how did you, you know, what made you go for them? Did you just find out about it and go, I'm going to do it? Or someone encourage you? So with the world skills competition, someone put me forward. So my mentor actually nominated me to compete in the regional competition and
Speaker: Generally, you can either find someone to nominate you or just find a connection within the competition to then be able to find a regional competition to compete in. Yeah, so someone put me forward to compete in it, and I had heard of the competition and stuff before, but I didn't really know what to expect going into it. But yeah, once I got into the regional competition, I was like, this is awesome.
Speaker: And then going nationals and internationals was just an amazing experience. So yeah, we're definitely, if you're studying, generally like your, either your tape teachers or if you're in Australia or wherever you are, whatever technical college you go to, if you ask your teachers, then they'll probably know where the local competition is happening and that kind of stuff.
Speaker: So what happens in the competition? Do you go in and fit tires? Yeah, so with the heavy vehicle competition it was six stations of different kind of breakdown. So it was like an engine breakdown, an electrical breakdown, gearbox, brakes, steering systems, rebuilding an engine.
Speaker: And you have a certain amount of time on each station and you just go through your repair process. The judge is there and the judge is like a customer and you're like explaining what you're doing. So using your technical language, your communication skills and watching to see that you're being safe. And then they mark you. The whole competition is marked out of 100. So each section is like 16 points or something. And then
Speaker: Yeah, we regroup, they regroup at the end, they give you some feedback and then whoever gets the most points. So whoever found the fault was the safest, communicated well once they come out on top. Brilliant. That sounds like a fantastic way to interview people.
Speaker: like, you know, do you get someone to get into the right job? How would you run like watching the thought process? I wish you could do that for every industry. But yeah. I saw on the internet somewhere, there was a bed making competition. So hospitality workers were competing at who could make the bed the fastest and cleanest and perfect.
Speaker: So there's all these crazy, exciting, different awards out there. You just got to be made aware of them. It's a really good way to prove what you can do. Yeah, that's it. So the world skills competition is run in like 60 different categories. So it's run in hospitality, it's run in electrical, it's run in beauty therapy, hairdressing. And so that's like one general competition, but a lot of industries do have their own internal competitions or
Speaker: different brands have their own internal competitions just to, I think it's really cool to keep it like you have that healthy competition, you're striving for something more, you get to meet new people through the competition. So it's yeah, they're everywhere if you look for them. It's incredible. No, I love stuff like, I mean, I write the competitions in my spare time, but I just love stuff like this.
Speaker: So that leads us on to our last question. Are there any quotes that inspire you on a daily basis? Yeah, so one that really kind of gets me is, what if you fly? What if I fly? And it's kind of like, you know, reminding me to think of like, okay, so my brain, most people's brains automatically think of everything that can go wrong. But it just reminds me like, you know, what if it goes right? And
Speaker: going down that path. And that is something that really has kept me pushing myself all these times. That's brilliant. That is amazing. What if you can't fly? Yeah. No, I think, yeah. I want to put that one on my wall with my husband because he does think that way. Everything negative just comes straight out. I'm like, here, let's do the positive stuff.
Speaker: You can list 20 negatives straight up really easily, but to stop there and list 20 positives, it takes a first. Yeah. It reminds me of the, you know, there's a million reasons not to do something, but what is the one reason you would do it? Because that is the one thing that would drive you forward. Did you have any other questions, Nathan?
Speaker: No, no, all good from my end. Thank you, Louise. It's been fantastic getting to know you and we're going to hit you up for some links and resources later that we can add to the show notes. So have a think about what could be useful for the listeners and we'll get that up online. But thank you. It's been great getting to know you. Yeah, it's been amazing. Thanks for having me on. It's been brilliant. Thank you.
Speaker: You've been listening to Roxy and Nate. Thanks for tuning into A to Z Jobs and always remember it's your career and it's up to you to shape it. So dream big, make bold moves, stay curious and keep exploring. Check out our website at thecareerchangecoches .com for more resources, tools and upcoming training. Thank you for joining us on this journey. Don't forget to subscribe and hit that notification bell so you never miss an episode of A to Z Jobs. Remember your dream career could be just one episode away.
Speaker: Are you feeling inspired by everything you've learned today and ready to take the next step with your career change journey? Dive into our four -part career change made easy course. We'll help you gain career clarity, understand your transferable skills, and put them into play with application, negotiation, and interview advice. Head to careerchancoches .com.
