Speaker 0 00:00:00 LA Connect. It's a new way to stay in touch with your local area coordinator, carers Queensland, with everything you need right here on your device. It's a handy app to keep track of your LA appointments, browse workshops and events, check out information and support, and get the latest news stories and podcasts. It's available on Android and iOS, so whatever device you have, you can stay in touch. Head to our website to sign
[email protected] au and look for LA Connect Joyce and Control a podcast celebrating people with disability. Brought to you by carers, Queensland, n d i s, local area coordination partner in the community.
Speaker 2 00:00:49 Disability action Week and International Day of people with disability is a time to celebrate how far we've come in access, inclusion and respect for people with disability. It's also a time to look ahead at the work, still to be done, to build a community where everyone is included and welcome and their contributions recognized and valued. Employment is one area where there's been a lot of progress made, but still more to go. In this episode we'll meet four people with disability, making their employment dreams reality. Shane Falconer lost his vision in a car crash at 22. He's now a certified personal trainer and he's sharing his story to inspire others.
Speaker 3 00:01:31 I know I'm, um, pretty unique person. I know that, you know, and, um, from what I've done and all that, and if I can, you know, um, inspire or, or motivate some other people, um, with any ideas or like any, any, it just gives someone a bit of, uh, bit of hope and encouragement and that that'll be good too. People with disabilities have, you know, for me, with my blindness, I'm very motivated, like a very ambitious, really, you know, and I've, um, and, and I have had a great, an excellent determination and extremely focused at times and also blessed, you know, too, um, at, at times in my life. And, and I, for me, I was, I was very, um, uh, very motivated to find employment in, in as a blind man after losing my sight. And I went to, um, TAFE college for, um, about two or three years to learn how to use all the Microsoft Office suite.
Speaker 3 00:02:33 That led me to, um, getting a certificate in, um, business admin. And then, you know, then the job hunting started and I thought, oh yeah, well this will, it won't be easy getting a job, but I should get one, you know, cause I'm, I'm a good peoples person, I'm good on the telephone and I can't cut my swearing out when I want, but I'm 70 years tired now. But, um, like it wasn't like that at all. I went for job interview after job interview and um, like 80 job interviews in 18 months. It really got me down. And then, but that's, I'm glad it didn't happen, you know, because that's when I, I just, um, started my, uh, personal training and that's when I got gone then. Yeah. And I end up, you know, making enough business in personal training to, um, buy a house out of, so that's all good. It was, it was, it was heartbreaking for me back then. And yeah, so, uh, that's got, that's what's gotta change. And, and I think the, well, I don't really know if any progress is being made on that front. That is something in Australia that has to change so many people that are, that are, that are disabled, that just when there's a job perfect for a disabled person, they should get the right to, um, have that job first. I think if they tick all the boxes.
Speaker 2 00:03:49 Swimmer Braden, Jason has represented Australia at the Commonwealth Games and two Paralympics, unlike many elite athletes, his day job and his plans for life after the pool are not sport related. He's a journalist and a producer with ABC Radio on the Sunshine Coast.
Speaker 4 00:04:06 So I produce the drive program, so the afternoon, three till six. So I produce the shows. We have the presenter who's got the lovely voice and is interviewing talent and I'm the man behind the scenes organiz, the talent writing scripts. And I get to do a couple packages per day, like certain segments and men the phones, which is always fun. Many in the phones, get some awesome phone calls. I interned back when I was at uni back in 2019, I'd say. And I been, and then graduated, took a bit of time off just to focus on sport. And then after Tokyo, I wasn't too happy with my results. It was kind okay, like I gotta focus on my qualification and get back into journalism. So then working there for six months. Yeah, half year
Speaker 5 00:04:54 <laugh>. Excellent. Yeah. And so you did,
Speaker 4 00:04:57 But it's
Speaker 5 00:04:58 Fun. Yeah. So you did a, a bachelor of journalism at the University of Sunshine Coast, is that right?
Speaker 4 00:05:03 Yes,
Speaker 5 00:05:04 That's it. And why did you choose journalism?
Speaker 4 00:05:07 Uh, English was probably my best subject in, in school. And I think being a sports person, I made my first team in grade 12. So I was always good at sport and obviously on the Australian team, uh, open senior Australian team whilst I was still at school. So naturally I thought I had to do for an exercise science or physio. But I think once like push came to the shov and you actually had to like put down what, like what, um, degrees you wanted to apply for. I had a thought on, I don't want to do, like, I don't, like I enjoy sitting, but I don't wanna study it. That's not what, what I wanna do. Then I was kind of flicking through university handbook, the courses and I saw journalism and I was like, a penny dropped. And I was like, oh my goodness.
Speaker 4 00:05:53 Like that's what I want to do. Cause I was always good English, but I like when we like monologues at school, like speeches at school because I can't read conventionally or at the same speed as normal people would, I have acquired like a photographic memory so I can memorize it. A 10 minute speech, you'd probably give me a day I could do it. So I, I enjoy memorizing it, public speaking. I, I'm naturally good at it. So I think when I saw journalism I was like, oh, that's what I wanna do. And then studying, I wasn't too sure like what kind of area I wanted to go in, in journalism. And then I saw Nas Campanella who is the blind or was the blind news reader at abc and I saw the, the incredible stuff she did. And I said, that's what I wanna do. I wanna do radio. And now people at work are trying to get me to talk to her, but she's literally like my main inspiration for studying journalism. So I'm like genuinely starstruck even though she's technically a coworker.
Speaker 5 00:06:53 Oh, that's great. Yeah, you do have someone you can look up to cuz you know, you, you yourself can see her. She can, she can do it. So why not you?
Speaker 4 00:07:01 Exactly right.
Speaker 0 00:07:03 Do you have a passion or a talent to share with the world? A small business can be a great way for people with disability to earn income, build your confidence, be more independent, and be an active part of your community car. As Queensland is supporting our next generation of entrepreneurs with the Be Your Own Boss Micro-Business Projects, it's a place to find out what it means to start a business, whether it's a good fit for you, connect with business mentors and learn from existing micro-business owners and even opportunities to showcase your goods and services in the Be Your Own Boss marketplace. Find out more, get in touch or look for events and opportunities coming up near you. Visit our
[email protected] or call our inquiries line on one three hundred nine six three six
Speaker 2 00:07:52 Carers Queensland's Be Your Own Boss program is supporting people with disability to start and build their own micro-businesses. People like Justine Fox who has cerebral palsy and has worked on the phones as a virtual assistant for more than a decade now she's working with Be Your Own Boss to write the next chapter of her career.
Speaker 6 00:08:12 It kind of went pear shaped when the DFC and then Covid hit I I I then again built up and lost on my clients twice in a row. Uh, and so that's why I'm doing the B own boss of course is to try and get more stability and better sort of paying clients and yeah, just better quality of client basically.
Speaker 5 00:08:32 And tell me more about that role. What does it involve?
Speaker 6 00:08:35 I basically provide Kelly sales support to clients. So I've done everything from tourism to health, IT sales, social media, marketing, pretty much anything you can think of I've pretty much helped someone with in their business.
Speaker 5 00:08:51 And how did you get into that?
Speaker 6 00:08:53 Uh, well I did a telemarketing course a long time ago through a disabled organization called Naau in Brisbane. Uh, and then I went looking for a job and then I decided when we moved out here that I'd go out on my own and start my own business cuz I couldn't find any work in that genre around here that was close to me. So I employed myself. My ultimate goal is to actually diversify slightly and have something else alongside the tele sales roles that I'm not really sure how to sort of go about that or, or what, what really is a good strong niche at the moment. I'm sort of thinking health or um, age care or something like that because that's their health and that's a growing sector. So I'm looking for at sectors that are growing and that are gonna have longevity in the future that may have a, a niche for me to use my phone skills in or maybe even it, um, helped us type stuff and doing some courses there and learning that skill and offering that as a sort of a side to the telesales side of things. I just think life is pretty good at the moment and I'm, I guess I'm the happiest I've been, uh, since, since N ds is coming. It's really changed my level of my mental health I suppose as well cuz it hasn't, without all this having all this Before I had nothing and I was very depressed and like just home and yeah, so I had really no no goals or anything cause I thought, well what's gonna have me a goal? Cause I can't go anywhere. <laugh>
Speaker 2 00:10:37 Nature photographer, Michelle Taylor Holmes is also part of be your own boss as a mentor as well as a participant. She was diagnosed with autism four years ago.
Speaker 7 00:10:47 A lot of people don't like using labels, but for me it's given me a sense of who I am and it's helped me fit into the world better. And I can also verbally say that I have a disability, can you please slow down? Can you please repeat that? I need assistance. I can voice that now. Whereas before I didn't really understand what was happening, you know, I just couldn't work out why I was different to everybody else. <laugh> and it not, and it wasn't working <laugh> I think it was probably just relief and it took, it was such a process to get diagnosed.
Speaker 8 00:11:28 So with your business, did you have your business set up before you came and joined? Be your own
Speaker 7 00:11:32 Boss? Yeah, so I'd already started the process. I started my business a couple of years, but I actually had a support worker who was a videographer and he built websites. So he said, Michelle, what do you wanna do with all your photos? How about I show you how to build a website and we can put all your photos on Big World Web? So that's what I did. So I learned how to build a website, oh my goodness, <laugh>. Um, it's been a very big learning curve, <laugh>. And then I have a friend who is a bookkeeper and she helped me write a business plan. So that took me 18 months to do that first business. So we, we did business planning too and be your own boss. We had, um, guest speakers come in and speak to us. So I was a little bit starting on my way. I'd already had one business name, which is Love By Nature Images. So I was already in the process.
Speaker 8 00:12:30 And I understand you yourself were a mean talking. Tell me how that came about.
Speaker 7 00:12:34 Yeah, so a number of people in the program do jury making and stuff, and I was having a conversation with one of them. I said, well, I can show you how to take a photo to make your products look good. I went and spoke to the facilitators running the Be Boss program. So they, they allowed for an extra, um, mentor day, so a peer mentor. So I did my peer mentor. I had been doing photography for about 30 years. I started in high school. Um, me teach, one of my teachers gave me kind take and photos for the school magazine. And it just kind of gave me the confidence
Speaker 2 00:13:19 To find out more about any of the people we've spoken to today or to find out more about International Day of People with disability and some of the celebrations Carers Queensland is involved in. Just head to our website, carers qld.com.au.
Speaker 0 00:13:37 Thanks for joining us at Choice and Control, a Carers Queensland podcast. For more information about the National Disability Insurance Scheme or carers Queensland, contact us
[email protected]. You can call us on one three hundred nine six thirty six or head to Facebook and look for carers Queensland N D I.
