Prediction Projection

When I was about to turn thirteen (above), my Intermediate School teacher Mr. Tooley presented me with a certificate to mark the end of a two-year stint under his tutorage. He was equally and by far the worst and the best teacher I have ever had.

Worst because his level of discipline was extreme which created a great deal of anxiety in myself and my fellow classmates. Much of this discipline was connected to the underlying and often unwanted competitiveness he created in class, boldly documented in chart form, prominently posted on the classroom walls displaying our ratings in all subjects at all times, including sports.

Best because he taught me what I'm capable of if I set my mind to achieving a goal and dedicate the time to work it takes to achieve that goal.

On the brink of being cut loose from his growling grip and entering the first year of high school, he created a farewell ceremony where each student was called up to the front of the class room and instead of being ridiculed, shamed, embarrassed and humiliated, we were presented with the certificate and a few words of encouragement to take with us as we stepped into the next phase of our young lives.

When it eventually came to be my turn, at the very end of the alphabetical class list, I felt a familiar surge of adrenalin race through me as I shakily made my way to the front of the class. All eyes on me I felt my usual awkward self, coupled with the stinging nervousness of facing Mr Tooley up close.

This time it was different though. Instead of his dominating demeanor and penetrating glare, I sensed an ease to his nature, and it could even be said, a kindness in his eye I had always hoped was there but had seldom seen. It was as if he had done his job and was cutting us loose. Letting us go. Releasing us from the Tooley tyranny.

More important than the mandatory cardboard certificate, he offered each of us a brief personalised summary of who and what he thought we'd become, following his observations over the past two years.

What he said to me has stayed with me my whole life and is something I often reflect upon as I find myself constantly surrounded by a great diversity of people wherever I am, the driving force behind the work I've chosen to do.

Job #1: I began life as a hairdresser which began when I decided to give all of my dolls a 'personalised' haircut when I was a small child. In my teenage years I extended that invitation to various friends at high school, offering distinctly 80's style haircuts in the toilets during lunch breaks. 'Steps' were my specialty. If you know, you know!

So obvious it was to one and all that this was my vocation, I left school on the brink of 16 and immediately started my apprenticeship at 'Gabriellas of Switzerland' a busy little family style salon in a small block of shops where the school bus stopped. I'd already been shampooing, sweeping floors and 'handing up' after school whilst deep in observation mode during the final months of my schooling life.

When I first started my apprenticeship my boss Gabriella used to call me a 'church mouse'.

I was barely able to look clients in the eye as I approached them in the waiting area to wash their hair. Over I'd go, head hung low, inaudibly whispering "Would you like to come to the basin?" On the occasions they didn't hear me the first time (a common occurrence) they'd ask me to repeat what I had said which made me cringe with embarrassment. Oh no, I'd plead silently, face flushed with the crimson shade of shyness, please don't make me say it again!

Reflecting back, I realise I found it easier to talk to people while I was moving around them, working on their hair. I served a purpose and the addition to that purpose was the conversation, it wasn't the main event. The thought of striking up a conversation outside of the safety of the salon still eluded me at that point.

Final Year Apprentice. Great eyebrows!

I left NZ in 1989 as a fully qualified hairdresser having completed and excelled in both my NZ Trade Certificate and the UK equivalent City and Guilds. Unlike my high school years, I was top of the class in theory and practical throughout my entire apprenticeship.

Job #2: London's boutique 'Claverley Hotel' in Knightsbridge. Like all live-in jobs the role as a chamber maid attracted cultures and characters from all over the world. I began my London working life serving breakfasts and cleaning rooms with an amazing bunch of friends who immediately became family: stand-in replicas of our blood relatives we'd all left behind in search of adventure. I was soon upgraded to nighttime receptionist, checking in late guests and typing letters of confirmation to oversees enquiries before the advent of fax or email.

Job #3: During my time as receptionist, I was offered a job at the legendary 'Harry's Bar Cafe' in the beating heart of Soho. Opening hours were 10pm til 6am. Here I got to experience the inner workings of London's underground nightlife and the colourful characters that so strikingly adorned it. I set off for Harry's each night after my hotel reception shift and didn't get home until well into the dawn of the day. This moonlighting didn't go unnoticed by my hotel boss, who eventually fired me and kicked me out on the streets of London with nowhere to go.

Job #4: Harry's bar and the unique and unbridled life experiences it offered ended when it closed its doors. Just before it did, two of its regular customers and local nightclub owners offered me a job as receptionist at their Picadilly venue Xenon where, as it turns out, Freddy Mercury had his debaucherous 38th birthday party in 1984, and my teen pop favourites Wham held their second album launch party within its lavish levels. All before my time though, I arrived on the scene in 1992.

Job #5: I was called to return to my first love: hairdressing, but it had been so long since I'd picked up a pair of scissors or mixed a tint I didn't know where to begin. I answered an ad for an all-round stylist in a small frumpy salon in Buckhurst Hill's Epping Forest district called Jane Nash, which served its purpose of getting me back in the game. About a year into winging it there without complaint, a newer, cooler, groovier, up market salon opened on the same road further down the hill appropriately named DIVA (after the owner Georgie?!). I instantly knew this was the place for me and migrated accordingly.

Job #6: DIVA's are hard to work for so most of the team who had been 'headhunted' from another salon returned on mass and took me with them. 'Greta Kahn's' was the best and last place I ever worked as a stylist. The owner Greta built a tea bar into the salon where clients could wait and relax before, during, or after their treatments. A team of us travelled to Austria together to open a training school in Greta's hometown of Innsbruck and performed demonstrations on stage during the opening. I absolutely loved the whole experience.

Job #7: I missed the irregularity of hospitality hours and the buzz of being in the center of it all and I was tired of standing on my feet all day counselling people between snips and trims and wanted to return to London's nightlife and the underground accompaniment of its naughty nature. I answered an ad for a reception manager at the iconic Cafe de Paris in the heart of pulsating London where Queen Elizabeth had her 21st birthday party and during my time Prince performed his only London gig. This was possibly my all-time favourite places to work. Ever. Full-stop.

Cafe de Paris London.

Job #8: Leaving London after 10 years of magic and mayhem, I arrived Sydneyside and soon walked into the waiting arms and army of the Hugos family, first as a Bondi beach bum collating a database for the soon to open Hugos Lounge in Kings Cross and later as Reception Manager when the Lounge opened its doors during the Olympics in Sept 2000 . What a time to be alive. Those were some of the best and wildest years of all of our lives. The Hugos family goes down in history as being etched deep in the heart and soul of anyone who was part of it. If you were there, you know. If you weren't, you can't even begin to imagine!

Job #8.5: As a sideline I appointed myself The Hugos Lounge 'Fun Fund Manager' and took the agreed upon $5 out of everyone's weekly tips to contribute to 'The Fun Fund' set up specifically for 'Overprivileged Hugos Staff'. I would arrange huge staff 'excursions' when we'd saved a stash of cash: Epic boat cruises on the Sydney harbour, private hire of Jambaroo fun park etc etc. I arranged coaches to pick us all up and drop us back 'home' to the Lounge. Our motto: What goes on tour stays on tour.

What goes on tour .....

Job #9: Resident DJ at Hugos and Resident DJ at Establishment along with many other events, gigs, clubs and venues, locally and nationally between 2003-2009. I was also a BondiFM volunteer radio presenter during these years.

Early days. Friday night resident DJ @ Hugos Lounge.

Job #10: To save my soul and my sanity I left Sydney with an Advanced Diploma of Applied Science (Nutrition) and six wild years of DJing under my belt. The first job I saw advertised in Byron was a handwritten sign in the window of a kooky car rental company called 'Earth Car Rentals' where I thought could safely hide away from the world and become a 'normal' person. Waking up in the morning and going to bed at night felt exotic and enthralling!

During these years I also worked for 'Raw Ecstasy' one of the first raw food businesses around and sold their goodness from all of the farmers and weekend markets. I was the sole stall manager. We're talking 4.30am starts! That lasted a year before I realised it was just as unhealthy for me getting up at 4.30am as it was getting to bed at that time!

After three years at Earth Car Rentals, I was well and truly done with my attempt at being 'normal' and by then deeply dedicated to my radio journey. This was the moment I vowed NEVER to work for anyone else in my life, believing irrefutably that I possessed enough within me to make my own way in the world. I walked out of that job with a $20,000 credit card debt and no idea how that would play out. I literally had no choice. It was a leave or die trying scenario.

In the Bay FM studios.

Job #11: Welcome to the world of self-employment. It's a 24/7 kind of 'job' but funnily enough, none of it actually feels like the hard work I've put into previous occupations which bleed me dry and leave me in a state of mental unease.

Grant funded radio and podcast projects, vinyl DJ gigs, curly haircuts, training, teaching and mentoring both radio & podcast wannabe's ... the list goes on. All of what I do now sits under the Plantation Studios umbrella and this is a place to welcome the creative community. To be surrounded by likeminded and loveable characters whose sole purpose in life is to Create. Collaborate. Communicate. Connect. It's a dream come true.

And this very dream brings me back to the words my teacher spoke to me as a shy, shaky, uncertain 13-year-old standing at the front of the class, accepting my certificate for the two treacherous yet lifechanging years I'd spent under his tutorage.

"You'll always be surrounded by people, and you'll have a place that people will want to come to".

Well, Mr Tooley, if your prediction is correct and still stands some 40+ years later then I'm here to tell you, bring it on!

Come one come all. Bring all the parts of yourself that make YOU unique and colourful. We can't wait to meet you wherever you're at.