You've got to go the path of leash resistance. And that was doing this because I felt like it was just came naturally to me. It was like, it will barely work. See, I think you are a product of what you surround yourself with, and my work I'm with some of the most joyful people ever. I'm a big champion of the idea that if you're putting in effort into something for long enough, it's eventually going to pay off.
Welcome to the Seas the Yay Podcast. Busy and happy are not the same thing. We too rarely question what makes the heart seeing. We work, then we rest, but rarely we play and often don't realize there's more than one way. So this is a platform to hear and explore the stories of those who found lives they adore, the good, bad and ugly. The best and worst days
will bear all the facets of seizing your yay. I'm Sarah Davidson or a spoonful of Sarah, a lawyer turned fu entrepreneur who's walptor suits and heels to co found matcha Maiden and Matchamil. But C is a series of conversations on finding a life you love and exploring the self doubt, challenge, joy and fulfillment along the way. Ben Macintosh, Welcome to CZA. Hello, yes, hello, Yes.
It's great to be here, great to be here, you know, you know, it's great to be here. You know. I feel this is my first or second podcast Joping made an appearance on, so you know, this is thank you very much the opportunity to talk nonsense.
I am so incredibly honored and quite baffled, to be honest, that you haven't been doing the round like on the circuit. What an incredible story.
Yeah, well see it's weird because my face really lends itself to the podcast format versus the video one. So it's it's really really shocking, really.
Says the guy who has had model in his path. Ya, So I refuse to accept that from you doesn't count. It absolutely counts the.
Modeling that I did. I never got a pay job. I never got a pay job as a model. I was just like on the books for someone for like six months, got nothing, and then I moved to the States for six years and then that was all behind me, So that it doesn't count as model.
I think it counts, and I wouldn't count.
What I do now is modeling either, Like, sure, I, you know, get paid to do stuff on social media from time to time, you know, on occasion, but that doesn't count as modeling because that's I didn't get those opportunities.
Because of your face. Yeah exactly, it's my personality that speaks louder.
It stuns through, you know. And even then I'm just showcasing, you know, wonderful people like my sister, and then we've just stumbled ourselves into this situation that I'm in there.
Okay, well that is the most incredible start, because the first question I always ask is what's the most down to earth thing about you? And I think the fact that you had a modeling career and didn't get paid for any of those jobs is pretty great. That's a pretty amazing start.
I don't think you can use the word collier if you never earns.
A dime well, you know, contra like, I think it still counts. There can be an exchange outside of finances.
I don't think you can get a contact you know, he has like a contact high from being around someone. I don't think I was a contact model. I don't think that's that's the way it works. I didn't. I didn't get modeling rubbed off on me just because I was in the industry.
Well, I mean, you now have like three quarters of a million followers on TikTok, So.
I mean I didn't like a month ago, Okay, a month ago, I only had like four hundred something, and all of a sudden.
I've exploded onto the scene. So this is I don't know, is the other thing that is the trucks of this show really the whole idea that you start off somewhere and there's so many different twists and turns and diversions in you know, your what I call your path yay, like your way to Yay. But people who walk into your life now could easily turn up at your page and think, this guy's always known what he wanted to do.
He's like born for this job. It was smoothing, but you mentioned stumbling into what you did.
So, oh, everything I've done is an accident, right, every single thing. There's been no plan. I've just I mean, if you'll allow me to my little journey on TikTok here there's like COVID. I'd always have friends tell me that I should make a teaktok account and the reason for that is that they're like, I mean, they were just sort of lifting out hype me up a little bit. They're like, you've got that, You've got personality and face
to make model. And I was like, right, okay, So I like started making like little teaktoks and I was like, I'm just not feeling very passionate and motivated for this. And then I made a TikTok with my little sister and like, it was fun. It was just fun to do to make a video with her, and then you know, the feedback was very good, and I started, you know, featuring more and more, and now I don't know, I
just sort of fell into this situation. When I do it, I'm going to use the word professionally, I'm going to you know what, I've graduated to using the word career. I can use TikTok as a somewhat you know, rudimentary career, but that you know, full time gig. Plus I still have my regular job, which you know, I love, I love dearly. I'll never stop doing that. But yeah, it's a pretty full schedule. But yeah, I've absolutely just fallen
into this situation. But you know what, it's serendipitous. You know, it's a little happy accident that that we've come across.
Okay, that is the perfect SoundBite for this entire show, because anyone who listens regularly will know when I describe anything in my journey, like the whole leaving the law and starting business, it's a happy accident, is the word that I use. Which is so crazy that you just use that because I think again, I was like, we didn't talk about this in advanced guys.
If I was off the class.
I always say, like, when I come to your page, I think, here's a guy who was born to be a disability support worker, who was born to be the voice for a career that not many people know what it involves, how you get into it. You know, you knew that you were going to do this the entire time. But then I dug a little deeper and I was like, hold on a second, A, you haven't been in that
role very long. B TikTok was very recent. Cee. You had a whole career playing college football in America before that, And like, I get so fascinated by the fact that people skate over all the steps it often takes to get to the role that you land in and it looks like you found your joy, but I'm sure you had many chapters like from the Gold Coasting Rays to then the modeling to then college football, thinking that your life was going to turn out very differently.
It's been quite a you know, interesting, it's been fun. You know, I sort of look back and see what I've done, and then you know where I am now. And I don't think I even I fully appreciate just how much I've done and how many different avenues I've sort of explored, because to me, I feel like I haven't lived all that much. I've never had alcohol in
my life. I don't party only do all that stuff, So like I think that's for me, and society's sort of metric is like I don't go out, I don't have nights out, and I don't do these like party sort of scenarios where I feel like a lot of people make some of their best memories. I've never had that. But if you look at like the other things that
I've done, I've still lived a pretty full life. Like it's all right, it's all right, but no, yeah, I know, lived lived in America for like five six years or something, like that and played college football. Didn't play college football the whole time I did tm ACL.
I saw a couple of surgeries.
Yeah. Well I've taught ACL four times.
My god, you're such a high achiever, I know.
You know, just really reaching for the stars. They're trying to go for the record.
Really, I mean, you're probably close.
I know, it's bad, it's bad. I know of one AFL players story he's torn his ACL six times. So fingers crossed absolutely no. So I did that and that was, you know, that was honestly probably top five most testing points in my life because you know, I was over in the States, you know, playing American football. I just played at like a junior college level, which, if people aren't aware, is like the level sort of below the top tier college football over there. And I was doing
that because I'd never played American football before. I didn't know really the avenue to get into a college like that. So I started off there and then I transferred to a to a bigger school and then that's when I told my ACL, before I even got to play at a big school. So it was that was tough. Character building again, character building, I you know, obviously, you know I've.
Just had my you know, dream shattered.
You know, it's like I grew up playing AFL. I grew up playing sport. It was my identity, you know. I playing sport was who I was as a person. And then to have that rudely and abruptly ripped away from me. Because once that happened, I knew that that was pretty much my college career gone because the way it works over that once you start, you have so
many years that you're eligible to play. And I tore it like mid season before I'd been cleared to play for this school, and then I knew that the ACL was a twelve month rehab process, and then that's the middle of the next season, and that's my last eligible year. So I was like, well that's it. That's the end. That's the end of the little story there. Yeah, you know, character building, like I said.
And so I think it's interesting that often, like the shitter times in your path are the ones that make you grow into who you're meant to be. It's not those like smooth sailing when everything goes.
You know, resilience. I mean, my biggest like resilience building thing, isn't it. I was an only child. Until I was nine years old. I was getting you.
Know, I was had it made.
Oiled, some sort of king in the HOUSEHD, I was, I was killing it. And then my little sister comes along and rudely, might I add, rudely interrupts that so rude.
I think that about my younger brother. I was like, are you kidding me? Like I had a plan for my life, you are taking away precious resources.
I know. That's what Like, it's ridiculous, and like, you know, not only is she just another child in the family, but she's also you know, obviously a child she was
born with a disability. So it's like, you know, even more intensive efforts need to go into making sure that you know, she can live her fullest life by making sure we go to the right therapies, implementing like you know, just you know, when she's talking, making sure that you're you know, correcting like a tongue movement so she can pronounce like an pronounce a word correctly and stuff like. It's the little things like that is something that you
really need to do. So like a lot of effort, you know, it goes into the wonderful human being that is Grace.
Now, who is really the reason why I wanted you on the show, Like I'm just friends with you to get to Grace basically, like she is the main event. Yeah, basically Grace's manager at this point, the gateway to Grace.
That's it. I'm the gay.
I love that.
That's a good role. I'll be the troll under the bridge to Grace.
So I mean, in already like quite a short life so far, You've gone from helens Vale, Queensland, boy college football in the US, come home, and then found this career that, like you said, you stumbled into it. But again something that I in hindsight, I think a lot of the dots in our journey makes sense when you look backwards, Like your interest in disability support. I've heard you say that it started when Grace was born, but actually it didn't become a career until much later.
Yeah, So like I never ever considered it as a
career at any point in time in my life. Like sure, I was probably doing like some of the things you need to be as a support worker as soon as Grace was born, but it didn't really come to me to make an actual employment until I moved back from America, and I didn't like my job and still like my mom had started the business for like, you know, fitness for people with disabilities and then sort of yeah, this is special size, and then it sort of developed into
support work as well. And I still still like it's there, it's there, ready for me to like do and try, and it just still never occurred to me to give it a try. And then Grace was dating this guy called Zach at the time, who if you're aware of my little TikTok account I've got there, you would be very familiar with Zach.
He looks good in a tux, shows you up, I might say, just put it out there.
He looks good in everything. I'm just gonna it looks good in everything. What are you talking about?
But especially at tucks.
Exactly, And he loves to wear attacks. But his mum asked me to to like fill in. I forget the absolute details about it because like you know, two years ago, asked me like fill in.
He needed a lift to basketball one week. Apparently that's it.
He needed a lift of basketball. And then I did it, and I was like, it's pretty It's a pretty good gig. I'm getting, like, you know, paid to hang out with some incredible individuals and the like. You know, it's something that I've done almost my entire life, from when my sister was born. It was like there was very little, like I just felt like I was just hanging out with friends. You know. It was so such an easy
transition for me. And it like I mean talk about Robert Frost the Road Less Traveled and everything like that, but you've got to go the easiest, the path of leaf resistance, and that was doing this because I felt like it was just came naturally to me. I was like it was barely work, which is what you want from you know, you want exactly you want to enjoy what you're doing. So that's yeah, Ever since I started, it was like from that absolute first shift, I was like,
I can't turn back now. This is so good. Like, you know, the opportunities that I've gotten through work, like we go on holidays like once a month for like a weekend, you know, a few days. We we did our first.
Cruise I saw a.
Few months ago. So yeah, we took a bunch of clients on on a country music cruise and it was fantastic. It was a wonderful, wonderful experience and like those trips are so good, I think as a support worker because you get to see your clients in every aspect of their life, so you really gives you a lot of opportunities to see room for some skill building. And I
think that's such an awesome thing that these trips. There's so much fun, and the guys have a lot of fun as well, but you do get to see opportunities for them to grow as people, and I think that's really what it's all about, all about the independence building, and these trips are so good at seeing what independence needs to be built.
I think it's incredibly cool that you spent your whole life thinking your purpose on this earth and what you wanted to be when you grew up with something that is like you know now you're like, you couldn't have told you two years ago that you'd end up doing what you love and what you're so good at, and that this would be around the corner. I think that's so cool.
And like I think I was like not even like I think Mum and asked me to be a support worker before, but I was just like interesting. But then like it was sort of like like bluntly put to me to like could you do this? And because I'd already had somewhat relationship with Zach already, because he'd been over the house, you know, he was dating Grace at the time, I was like, yeah, taking the basketball, why not?
But I was like, it's not work, it's not.
And then we got in the car and I plug in my phone. He asked for a song, and then you know, three minutes later we're belting out tunes together like we've known each other for ages. And I was like, yeah, I think this is it. This is a good time here, this is a good time. And like, you know, back then, it was so so simple. I guess you could say, you know, we just be after school. We'd be like doing certain things, like, you know, trying to work on
his confidence, ordering food and stuff like that. But now we progressed into he has a job's working at Buns. Now a massive, massive, massive, absolutely massive from him. He looks great in the apron and the reds. He looks supurb.
I mean, it's not only so incredible watching your clients go on this huge confidence journey from the time they start with you, Like you can actually see it if you follow through your content, you can see them getting more confident to do things they might not otherwise do. But I think what's amazing about what you do is because you are so good at it and you are so in love with what you do, You're like creating this educational platform kind of incidentally. Like it's not like
this is what disability support. It's not an educational video that people kind of tune out to. It's just like, this is the day to day of living with my sister.
It's a passive message, you know. It's just you can just pick up on it over time. It's not like I'm giving you a step by step instruction on how to be a support worker. I think it's just and that's what I think being a support worker is about. It's just being there. You just have to conduct yourself in a way that is appropriate, and honestly, that's the
half of the job. It's just setting a good example. Honestly, it is bad at times, though I do with the confidence and when I say bad, you know, Zach is now one of the most confident people on earth around me, So you know I've created some a monster in that regard. But no, it still is come such a far away and I really I'm honestly, I could be more proud of the man and who he is today.
I think something else that I love about your platform and what you've been able to do with combining your job with like with sharing that job and sharing that pathway with other people, is that half the battle in the way that society deals with disability is not necessarily any form of discrimination. I think it's often just fear of like what if I say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing and they don't understand, Like.
I have made this point so many times, Like I don't think people are born fearful on what to say. I think it's more it's more of a taught thing, and I think it also comes from just the unknown. I am a firm believer that with my account, especially on on like TikTok, I think it's it's shown a lot of people on it's not as scary thing to, you know, be around someone with the disability, And I feel like that's where a lot of apprehension comes from.
My people are afraid of saying the wrong thing, like you said, But it's just like you shouldn't have to be It's not that big a deal, Like it's just a fun time. Like most of the time, it's great. I think it's just like just talk to people how you want to be talked to. It's not that complicated, and it's just like, you know, it doesn't come from a place of hey, it just comes from ignorance, And it's not like it like I feel like ignorance is a bad work because it's got like a negative connotation
to it. But if you haven't been subjected to the disability community, you're gonna have no idea you So that's like it's fair that you're going to be apprehensive about that. So it's just you know, it's just becoming immersed in the environment and just saying hello, and you'll notice that
it is not difficult. It is not difficult. Actually, just recently like had an idea that I think would be like I don't know, it'd be so hard to logistically do, but I think it would be really helpful if there was like a high school like component or curriculum thing where like once a week you you sort of are a makeshift support worker and you know, you might have the people from the special education unit come like India class and just like that into mingling and I think
that would remove a lot of the apprehension people have around people with disabilities, because it's like, you know, if that's like a once a week thing that people are immersed in the disabilite community, I feel like there's going to be a lot more understanding when it comes to being out and you know, seeing people in general society.
You know, I think that would be a wonderful initiative. We did a lot of work. A couple of friends and I worked a lot with the arduc Foundation when we were at high school and had a lot of exposure to people with mental and physical disabilities. And definitely at the start, I was like, oh, what if I do the wrong thing or say the wrong thing. But the more you're exposed to people and also understand like everyone's at a different level, you know, you can't get
it right absolutely blanket approach. But it's the same with any person in society. You meet them, you don't know what they're likes and preferences are. At the start, you know, we get really and I think your content allows people to learn in a safe space.
I think that's been my biggest sort of takeaway from making the content and all the comments I get is like the amount of messages for people saying I've just become a support worker because of your content and everything, and I'm just like four, that's big. That's very big. Well, that's huge, and it's like, you know, they're loving it,
like they're having they're absolutely loving it. And I think this is I've had one person say, we just had a girl start at our work, and you know, it's not what you painted to be and it's like, I mean, I'm not going to show you like the stuff that it's more challenging than others. But it's like, if you were meant to be a support worker, you are going to take everything and stride. It doesn't matter what you're doing, really, and I can only make content about my experience. I
very very rarely have a really bad day. You know, you might have a bad you know, five minutes, but you can't let a bad five minutes affect the rest of your day. And I think with me as well, just the way I approach being a support worker is that I'm there to assist someone live their fullest life and I'm just helping them. All I can do is really just be there to assist, and once you sort
of get over that fact. I think everything just it's like water if ducts back, something will happen to you be like, hey, it's all good, it's we're fine out here, you know. And like that's the thing about people think I'm such a great support worker, and like I like to think I am, absolutely, but I don't think I'm an anomaly. I think the vast majority of support workers are just genuinely like me. They're very passionate about what
they do and they love doing it. And I think, you know, like saying that I'm a great support worker, I love that. That's fantastic, But I do think vast majority of support workers are great support workers. It isn't an industry that you sort of get into without some sort of passion for it. And I think that's like one of the big things about being a support worker is that if you're doing it, you're typically very passionate about it.
Which definitely shines through in everything that you do. And while I have you here, and I think one of the great things about having a platform like this and being able to spend more than a TikTok links video on a topic is that for anyone listening who hasn't ever had any exposure to Down syndrome or support work, or has no one in their network that they can learn from. Can you talk us through, like what is
Down syndrome? How does it manifest differently between Grace and Zach And I imagine when Grace was first born that might have been the first time for you and your parents that you'd ever had to learn like what it involves.
Oh yeah, no, it was absolutely It was an interesting time in our lives. You know, my parents have Grace and there's so many different new things you have to do a bunch of I mean I was nine when Grace was born. I didn't have to do really, so it was, you know, such a lie to undertaking, undertaking for them to you know, work out, you know what kind of expectations they were for her for her life, you know, developmental stuff because Down syndrome it's with the chromosomes.
It's a chromosome thing. So things like low muscle tone. So low muscle tone just means get tired real fast, So that can be a thing. But in saying that, not everyone's the same. There was just I think it was earlier last year a person with Down syndrome ran America, and I'm just like, what do you mean It's crazy. I was like, there is no way on this earth Grace or Zach would right now ever want to do that.
And it's just like I think a lot of people say like blanket statements about people with people with Down syndrome, people with disability in general. But everyone has their own personality. They're just you know, it's just everyone has their own interests. Everyone you know, has different body compositions that allow them to do other things and train, and you know, everyone's got their own hopes and dreams. I get a lot of people saying like they're all so happy, Like all
people down syndrome are very happy. They should see my sister on the morning when she gets ready to live. She is a hurricane of just torment and brutality.
That's a big word.
Everyone has moods, you know, everyone has moods. It's hard to put a put a blanket statement on what everyone what everyone with Down syndrome are because everyone is completely different, just.
Like just like you, yeah, absolutely, But it's really interesting hearing even that like low muscle tone is a symptom that's quite common and that you were mentioning that you had to sort of remind Grace about where to put her tongue when she was speaking. Is that something that like you know straight away in her educational milestones are their particular schools that you know everyone who has Down syndrome in roles in those schools early, Like, how did her developmental?
You are you? You cut out? You cut out?
Oh no, now you've cut out.
Hot on, I'm going to bat you money that my sister has just started watching a movie and that's why my Internet might be a bit short. I love that because it just it just reeks. It reeks of it. It reeks of watching a movie and stealing some of the band, which I love it.
I love it. I think what I was asking is that, of course it manifests differently and everyone, and I know it's a chromosomal thing, but obviously it happens in degrees and people will be affected physically or mentally in different ways. But you also mentioned like you had to teach Grace how to move her tongue when she was younger.
Yeah, so like she would just have her tongue out of her mouth because it was just easier, Like she'd just be yeah, like that. It was just like tongue in mouth shut and that was like one of the things is like, you know, it was one of the things we just had to implement. And then she doesn't doesn't do that anymore. So it's just like little things like that can make a world of difference in the
long run. Really so, and you stay on top of you know, different therapists like speech therapy and stuff like that. It's super super important. And Grace Grace has got a job now. She works at zerafis Eah.
She's like nineteen, right, she.
Just turned nineteen. She just turned nineteen on the weekend.
Actually, I was going to say this is creepy, but like six days ago, yes, I was like deep in your I found her twelfth birthday and I was like.
Oh, yeah, you went spilunkin back And.
I was like, you played AFL in Minnesota. I found a lot of stuff.
I did. I did. I fell in Minnesota, I played I fell in many places in America.
We found a lot of stuff.
Yeahh wow, that you really saw the whole back cautalog.
I had to dig. I was like, it's not just about where you are now, it's about showing people you can find your joy.
You're like a proper professional at this. You're doing your research.
Wow, I'm a sleuth.
Incredible, incredible from you.
Incredible, I must admit. Like there's a video on your TikTok where Grace flicks her hair and there's like it's had like two million views or something like one point nine million or thirty million or whatever it is.
Let me check which one we've done a couple because I was like, people seem to enjoy that, I'm going to do it. I think the one that's got the most success is like seventy five million views. It's pretty big find.
I'm going to say that seventy four and a half million of them will me just rewatching it?
Yeah? Good. I think I've done the math and it was like a lot of years worth of watching hours it's been been watched. So impressive from you.
Seventy four and to enjoy that video. She is on fire.
I mean she looks incredible, she looks absolutely she I mean she's stunning. She looks absolutely stunning, much more potentially a model than I ever did, and.
Get paid, like make some money from it, you know, I know.
And it's like her hair is its own end.
It's a paid actor.
It's insane, it's incredible from.
Her, it's on its own schedule.
I know how this happened. It's beautiful, it's silky, it is. It looks like a commercial for shampoo, which hopefully with a bit of like we'll actually get to do oh my God with Grace because I feel like that'd be so cool. Well, she's got the hair flip, she's got the hair flip. I've got a tried and tested method that it looks fantastic. Why not? What's what would be so difficult about this? Let's do it. So.
One of the things that's really really cool, I think in the last little while and you would have a better insight. This is just an outsider's perspective, is that it seems there is a bit more visibility for disability. There's a bit more conversation to help people who don't have disability in their lives to understand it more. You know, we've had our first down syndrome Victoria's secret model.
I did see that. Yes, it's a great time for your live and you know, getting more sort of mainstream. I guess, you know, I think I think it's like target that also has a model with DOWN syndrome modeling clothes and stuff, and it's just it's beautiful, it's great, and you know, it's like walking around, you know, just a little subtle integration society, which is something that never sort of happened before, you know, And I think it's really comforting for people that might have disability to walk
around and see themselves be represented on that stage. I think that's really really important.
Have you seen that in Grace's life and in her capacity to sort of formulate what she might want to do, Like she might want to be a model, and then she sees a DOWNS model and then things I could actually do that, Like has her lifetime been affected by you know, just dominational balling or just misunderstanding and then it's improved over time.
See that's so because I know, like the most of that would have occurred in high school, and lucky for me, I was living in.
America at the times.
I didn't really see any of that. You know, we'd like chat and everything on the phone, but I didn't. I'm sure nothing bad happened, but I was never like well appraised of any sort of situation that was going on. But I'm sure I'm sure if it was bad, I would have been told. But Grace doesn't have any sort of barriers to what she wants to do. We watched like a like a war movie, and she said she wanted to be a soldier.
Oh my god, I love it.
And then she's like big into like Greek mythology and she wants to be like Athena, and then she's like she wants to help Robert Australia. There is absolutely zero barriers in her life. And I love that she thinks she could run through a brick wall, so good on her. She can do whatever her she puts her mind to go for it. I mean she thinks she can fight me and beat me up.
I fully believe that she could. Just saying I would put money on the Grace over you.
That's an issue in itself. She's going all out when she tries to tries to attack me in a joking way, there is no pulling any punch.
She is absolutely full bodies, swinging for the fences.
And it's she's got a powerful punch.
It's powerful, assass on it.
It's tough. I just got to like really like it's tough. That's why I work out because I need to be able to defend myself. It's self defense because there's no holds bar.
For anyone again, who wants to sort of understand more about the day to day and even her independence levels and confidence and ability you know, to have a job. Do you like you drop her off to work.
I'm usually working when she does that, So usually it'll be another support work, like she's she has her own because I'm like, I'm not allowed to be your support because I'm a brother. That's like a family thing. So like I will drop her off at places, but that's just like as her brother. But when it comes to like doing work and stuff, like another support worker will come and get her and go do stuff with her
and stuff like that. And yeah, just her day to day, she would comfortably watch movies the whole day if she was given the complete freedom to do that. I usually try and just rent it in a little courage to do something else, you know, just like, hey, could you do something else a little bit, maybe listen to music, you know, clean your room. But I think her perfect job would be being a film critic.
Because then she'd get to watch them for a job.
I know, watching her watch a movie is a movie in itself because she is so engrossed in the movie. It's the absolute extremes of joy. When there's a joyful scene, she is like like she can't hold it in. She's like clenching her fist, going, Oh, she's so exciting about it, and it's it's wonderful to watch, and it's I think that's what she should be striving to do. But again, I think she just loves to watch.
Good on it.
I love movies through. I love movies through. That's good.
And So with your like, we see Zach a lot on your socials and we've seen you know, other clients for particular periods of time. Do you sort of have one person at once or do you have multiple clients at different times? Like how do you balance your weeks?
So I have like a couple of clients that I see on like a wonder one like a wonder one ratio. I see them like it's just them me throughout the week during the school year, and then on the weekends it was like the group activities that we do and also the stas which is the short term accommodation, which is like when we went away this past weekend, to Sandstone Point holiday resort near Beyond, and so those are the group stuff. But yeah, there's only one or two
sometimes three that I see one on one every week. Obviously, the person I've been working with the longest is Zach. We've done some incredibly fun things, like we're invited down to Sydney for an H and M photo shoot things that was fun. Awesome, Oh man, that was incredible. What an experience that was for the vote of us. Really it was awesome.
Oh my gosh. And I think one of the things that is hard sometimes to manage when you do love your work, and particularly the way you fell into your work is sort of like I already do this. This doesn't even feel like work, Like it's just what I do, is it. Then it's really hard for you, Like even just speaking to you over the past couple of months, you have no days off, you have so little time.
How do you manage the fact that, like it's not a job where it's nine to five you go home, it's like you're going on a trip, you're staying in the accommodation. How do you manage your your energy or your downtime.
It's gotten hardt like I do generally feel like I have a very full schedule. I am very poor at time management though as well, So that's like another aspect in itself, like I, you know, work as a support worker. I don't work full time hours, but with this social media stuff as well, that you got to add that in there. And then I've just got general self care that I need to take care of, like going to the gym and you know, seeing you know, some of my friends. So I feel like I am just chock
and filled with stuff. And I think that's been one of the hardest things for me because honestly, I didn't know what a work ethic was, and I wasn't and I wasn't interested in having one for the first twenty five years of my life.
I mean, honesty is the best policy.
Good on you, exactly right, And it's like, I don't know, it's strange, but like I did the absolute bare minimum on everything I ever did, correct bare minimum, absolutely and granted out of that bare minimum. I have done a lot of things that are great. You know, I did the whole college in the using bare minimum. If I wasn't as lazy as I as I was, i'd probably been in a much different situation I am in now.
Everything happens for a reason.
I'm very appreciative of where I am today. So like this has all been a journey, you know, it's all been a great time. But yeah, Like, up until I started being a support worker and then I started making this content on TikTok, I didn't have motivation to do anything. Really, I was just happy going through the motions, just porting the long and whatever. But ever since I started doing both, it's like I am absolutely consumed by it, and I love that. It's such like a It's been such a
different vibe to what I've been my entire life. And now all of a sudden, I'm thinking of some sort of work related thing all the time, which I would love a break mentally at times, but I can't. I don't feel like I can. I can do that, and that's fine. I've learned to sort of deal with that. With support work, I can just like leave it when I finish work. I am always like thinking things on how things can be assisted. And obviously my mum comes home from work and that's what we talk about her
day at work, which is my work as well. So it's like that doesn't stop in that regard, but I found with TikTok that is like all the time I'm like thinking, I'm like, oh, I gotta make a video. I got it. I feel like I put a lot more pressure on myself than I should have have to or need to really, and I just I just think that's the content game. Really, But I am in a very lucky position with the content I make because it
is just centered around what I do. You know. Sure, some things I have to you know, think about, you know, making a video, like if Grace and I sit down and do it like a piece of a camera or whatever. But most of my stuff, they're just moments taken from
my day. And that's why I think a lot of people enjoy about about my TikTok and my Instagram and stuff is that it feels very authentic and genuine because it is like none of them, like my my vlogs or daily whatever, like you can't recreate those moments like I just happen to have my phone out and I'm
just doing them as you go. And it's just I just feel like people there's so much scripted stuff on social media, so seeing something just raw and happening, I think people really appreciate that because they know it's they're not being sold anything. It's like, this is just the reality. This is a situation.
That's yeah.
And obviously, like the personality of Grace and Zak in particular are incredible. They're incredible, They're incredible individuals, incredible.
Love and a bit I mean as just three quarters of a million of us, of.
Course, but no, like a common thing people ask or like say, is like, you're so good with your brother, And I was like, Zach isn't my brother, but he is one of the most important people in my life, like one hundred percent. I I do view him as a little brother to me. I do, like, I really do care so so much for him. I'm like, I just want what's best for him. That's I think that's why I do go above and above and beyond all.
I mean, at least, I think I'm trying to to to make sure that he is put into the best situation he possibly can be to succeed. And I think that's that's really what it's all about.
I love it even more hearing you say that you were just not super motivated or excited to go above and beyond for anything until you found the thing, and now it's hard for you not to not to be that way. And I think a lot of people spend a lot of their life feeling like.
That, Yeah, well you've you've you've got to You've got to seize you.
Babes. He's now. Honest.
It's not bad, not bad.
I just think it's so I mean, separate to the actual nature of what you do, just the fact that you can spend a lot of your life doing something not feeling super excited or motivated, and then it's possible to fall into something that lights you up so much that it changes your whole attitude towards work.
Well, it's like it's like super strange because I love sport. Sport is still super important to me. I've always loved playing it more, loved playing it more than watching it. And I loved it. I loved playing AFL like it was the most important thing to me growing up. But I wouldn't be doing extra practices. I would rock up, do my thing, and then how far I went was how far I went. I wasn't putting in extra efforts, you know, And like I was, I was pretty I
was pretty solid. I was pretty solid. At AFL. I was. I was, you know, made some rep teams, was in the GACA Soun's Academy and tell you I was in the Gagas Suns Academy. And then I did just I lost it. I lost my passion to play. And that's what ultimately ended up with me coming over to the States because I was like, I need a challenge, I need something new to do. And then, you know, it was funny enough the moment I moved and started playing American football, it was like, oh wow, I kind of
miss AFL a lot. But you know that's you know why I snuck away and I played AFL Minnesota and in Texas and stuff. But yeah, like I still absolutely love doing those things. But it wasn't until I started being a support worker and stuff that I really felt passionate about about these things as well. I don't know,
it's really strange. I don't know, it's really it's really bizarre because I like I can't understate how much I did love playing AFL in sport, and like I actively try and go Like the reason why I've torn my ACL four times is because I continually try to go back and play sport and then my knees just like, maybe not exactly now, I don't know, but yeah, I still it's like it's weird because I did love love it so much, but I wasn't wanting to put it in the extra effort, whereas with this, I am, I
don't know, I love I.
Love that so much. But I feel like that's the case with many people. Once you find the thing, you know how. I think it was who was it who said, if you find something you love, you'll never work a day in your life, Like it won't feel like work. Yeah, And I think that's what's happened with you. You found your thing.
Yeah, it's great, it's great. And then I think my TikTok ultimately started properly started when I started doing the content with my little sister and then getting a lot of comments of people being like positive and being and saying like I've just had a sign daughter born with Down syndrome and seeing this gives me so much hope,
and I was like, that's big. So then I was like, then I was like, if I really just highlight these really full lives that these guys are living, I think I could people even more hope for the future, for you know their loved one, and I think ultimately that's the reason why I carried on making that style of content,
and that's why I continue to do it. It's like, I know that it can make a difference in people's lives, and I do love the idea of people being like this isn't as daunting as it was before, because you know, when you first have a child with a disability, I feel like for a majority of people it would be like, shit, what do I do? I don't know. I don't know
the first thing about how to handle this situation. This, you know, character building moment in my life, and I think you know, by people stumbling across or being tagged in my videos, people see that there is incredible potential for a lot of joy and you know, something to look forward to.
So beautiful. Well, if people don't already follow along, it is the most beautiful and really really like, as you said, super raw, Like it just feels like we're just part of your day. What do you think for anyone who doesn't follow you already, what's like your favorite video? They should begin with? Do you have one that you're like that was good other than the hair flick? Obviously, the hair flick.
See, I don't know, that's not even close to my favorite video. What annoys me about that.
Video is like it's eclipsed to everything I know.
It is by far the most popular video I've ever posted. Like it's got like nine million likes or something like. That's a lot of likes on TikTok. It's crazy. It's nuts, Like it makes no sense.
It makes sense, it doesn't sense. I'm just saying it makes sense.
I just find it irritating because I put all this time and effort into making these vlogs, these like videos about these trips away, and people really enjoy those. But the video that takes its four point two seconds in total that we're just standing there and I'm just like, all right, do the hair, let's do the hair flip, and then she flips her hair and then we get this, and I'm.
Just like, the fuck man, The.
Effort I put into that video is one percent of the other videos that I do, and it's like, of course that would be the one that be the most successful. It really teaches me a lesson. See, if anything, my thing about putting an effort and my motivation stuff for like making videos and TikTok and stuff if anything that's trying to get me to not put in any effort. Yeah, for videos, because like I mean, this is this is tried and true technique.
Yeah, it's gross. Careless, do less, and it'll go better exactly exactly right.
But I think like the videos that I have pinned on my account either, like I think of the three, I think I need to change one of them.
Now they're formals. Oh my god, they were my favorite.
Yeah, they're formal. So they're both of their formal videos, two of my favorites, because you know, it was such like a milestone in their lives, you know, finishing high school. And I made a big story, a big story about it. And I'm so proud of those videos, not only because I mean I made them. Of course, I'm gonna be proud of my own stuff, but I you know, I played an important part of that day for them. Zach requested me to sit next to him at his formal
dinner thing. Not his parents, No, no, no, no, no, this story. Yeah, this guy right here got to sit next to.
Four parents were probably like you are of.
A bit brutal. I know, I'd come in here and I've just comment dear the relationship and like with Grace, you know, I walked her down the little red carpet thing, and you know, when we got out of the car and I heard people like a screen because at this point in time we'd already had some sort of following on tikto people were aware and we got out of the car and people like screaming Grace. I was like,
I'm gonna start dying. This is gonna be embarrassing for me here I need but no, it was like, I think those two videos are They're pretty special to me. And then the other one is another video is like just different aspects of being a support worker, which is like a more zippy, more zip to it, you know, more entertaining, just get you sort of get a snapshot of what my content is like, see what I've what
I've noticed for TikTok. If people aren't appraised with how TikTok seems to work, here, those short attention grabbing videos like the hair flicks and stuff, that's what gets attention. And then it's my other content, the longer form stuff with the voiceovers and showcasing like a day in the life, all these trips away that sort of get people to like care. That's where you sort of build like the
audience that genuinely gives a shit, you know. And I think those are the most important videos, those attention grabbing ones like it's great, you know, we're showcasing off how beautiful Grace is or how entertaining Zac may be. But those longer form content where we're showing the lifestyles that we're leading and everything like that, that I think people genuinely care about it and ultimately stick around for because
it's exciting if they're exciting times. I just finished making a part one of the part two of just a two parter for our little trip away in this past weekend, So hopefully I'm posting posting that tomorrow and then hopefully I remember on my first day in Hawaii on Sunday that I can post the second one.
Is Hawaii a holiday? Is it an actual holiday?
Fore? Yes, see, it's an actual holiday.
But you know, I'm gonna make all the content.
I know, it's like I'm gonna I'm gonna have to make content. So it's like that in that regard, like it never stops, but it would be so awesome. Grace and I am very excited and take the Jurassic Park slicing the world to where it was filmed. So we're big. We're big fans of dinosaurs, so that's going to be huge for us.
I can't wait to see the content.
We're very excited. We're very very excited for it.
Well. I will make sure to include all of your links in the show notes. Ben, thank you so much for this incredible chat. I feel like I could keep picking your brain for like hours and hours and hours. But one very last question for you, which we finish every episode on. Do you have a favorite quote.
I mean, I'm a big Disney guy, same big Walt Disney guy.
Big huge favorite Disney movie.
I see, I can't answer that question. I can tell you my favorite underrated Disney movie, and it's criminally underrated. It's Atlanta. It's the lost Empire quality film. The reason why it wasn't you know, it's not critically renowned now not well known, came out the first year as Shrek.
Oh the Pixar like.
Also overshadowed there, so sort of forgotten. But it's a crazy.
Forgotten, forgotten forgotten. I've gotten like Atlantis. Yeah, so good right, You've also been to Disneyland like eight thousand times. I saw like eight thousand pictures of you there.
I used to live in Orlando, where Disney World is, so I've had numerous annual passes to Disney World. I'd be there. I'd be there at least four or five times a week because I live so close, so I was going all the time.
I'm going to admit I literally thought for a little while. I was like, is he in America because he got a job at Disney World? Like, is that why he was there?
That's what a lot of people thought.
Yeah, the Magic Castle pictureles like, there's like eighty five of them on your page.
Yeah, well, I mean that's a beautiful look and see that it's outseeming. I think just the way Disney does stuff is incredible. But that's beside the point. So while Disney like if you can dream it, you can do it. I loved that. I love that, But I just saw
another quote. It's weird because I was got some like friends going through through some like I don't know, difficult patches in their life, right, character building exactly, And I was like, look, I'm a big champion of the idea that if you're putting in effort into something for long enough, it's eventually going to pay off. And I just saw a quote I think Forbes posted on their Instagram account. It was like Larry Bird the basketball player he once said.
I'm paraphrasing because I don't remember the quote verbatim, and it's like, if you put one hundred percent effort into something, eventually it's going to pay off. And I was like, that's exactly what I said to my friend like four hours ago.
That's fantastic, And I am like, I just think that is so good to think of, because like, yeah, like TikTok's turned into career for me, but that was never the idea.
But I put in so much effort into that. And then all of a sudden, good old day management.
Out here shout out to date that, and then all of.
A sudden, I I started, you know, getting these collaborations going on. I was like, I put one hundred percent effort into this TikTok thing with absolutely no intention of it, you know, materializing into anything else than what it was, like spreading awareness and stuff like that, and all of a sudden, grace and I are wearing sketches and making taking photos for them. I was like, if the shoe fits classic sketches, that's funny because shoe brand.
So I can't cope. I can't.
It's just even my soul, you know, another one, another one.
Oh my god, too much, too much? We did we need to cut out of.
No, no, we're drunk.
We need drunk on joy. Drunk on joy, drunk on.
Joy, exactly right. Yeah, Like I said, I've never had alcohol in my life, so I feel like I have enough energy. I don't need any outside substances to enhance my experience of life. That's the way I look at it.
Oh my god, it is one hundred percent easy to believe that. Like, look at you, you're just a walking yay, it's just bananas.
See. I think you are a product of what you surround yourself with.
That's true.
And my work, I'm with some of the most joyful people ever, So, like, it's hard to not be in a good move. That's true when you're around such uplifting and positive people. You know, like my soundtrack when I'm when i'm driving even from work, I'm listening to Disney hits. It's hard to not feel great about yourself when you listen to Go the Distance by Roger Bart from Hercule.
Literally, I'm on my way, I can go. It's just uplifting, it's this is literally. So we were on a road trip the other day. We went to see Disney, like the classical music version of Disney by Candlelight the other day, and so because of that on the way home, like my Spotify open right now is on Disney.
Hits, So how far I'll go first on their quality song.
I'm more o G. I'm more like Lion King, Beauty and the Beast or Laddin, like the whole Frozen now not not into it. I'm o G. I'm like back in the nineties.
So you just think you're too cool. You're too cool and him to enjoy.
The wow wow you can't appreciate.
But Molana is objectively fantastic.
Agreed, Agreed, Moanentangles.
Is better than Frozen. Disney hasn't seen the Tangles.
I'm a puristurist. Well, thank you so much, Ben, I hope you have the best time in Hawaii. We will all be following along with so much joy.
Thank you very much. I'm very very excited to go. Never been family has, but I have never so looking forward to them finally taken me.
We'll have an amazing time and hope you're season.
Your yay always. Thank you so much