#1781 Free-Range Deborah - Deborah Hutton

I'll get a groovers. It's Harps and Melissa and Deborah, it's us, it's you. It's a bloody You project. It's Friday. It's Friday. As we sit down to do this, it's raining in the thriving metropolis. And I looked at my phone just before and there's only about ten days in a row of rain. So at this point in time, I'm building an arc with some of my mates, and we're just looking for animals two by two because it does seem somewhat theological out there and it could be

Look?

Quite possibly. I've got my flippers and my snorkel. I'm ready to go if you do need to go with the animals two by tea.

Can you make sure you catch that cat, that cool cat that hangs around near you, because I really want to make sure that cat gets on the arch. There's a cat that lives near me everyone. I don't know what his name is, but he's big as a fucking dog. He is black, and he gives no fucks, and I

Debrahadn' oh, Hello, I'm an animal person, but I'm I'm a dog.

I'm a dog, massive dog lover.

Funny enough, I just bought a T shirt online the other day that says, sorry I'm late.

I saw a dog and I loved it. I bought two of them, and I just thought, that's so me. I'm such a dog person.

I had the most beautiful animal for nine years called Billy, and she was a Vishon crossed with Shitsu Wow, And unfortunately I left her with my boyfriend at the time, who I did explicitly say to him, don't ever walk her off lead because she doesn't know you're the commands. Unfortunately, she got run over, so I therefore turned into one of those crazy dogs ladies that just hugs and talks to and I've got a silly.

Dog voice, and yeah, I'm a massive dog lover.

How long ago did Billy go to God? The big ken.

Billy left me? I would say more five years ago.

It's time. It's time.

Come on, I know it's time, and it's time going.

Around go to the lost dogs home.

Don't get a rescue, I know, but you see, yeah, you don't know.

So my circumstances have changed, and I've moved out of Sydney and I'm on this block and we can talk about a lot, but I'm on this block that doesn't have any fences and it's on a busy road, and it's like, I don't want to get a puppy because the house is going to be knocked down. And so I just thinking, I'm thinking now it'll be more like I've found a couple of sites where they've got and I love this idea.

I love this idea.

There's a lot of older people that unfortunately having to go to homes and they're having to give up these beautiful loved dogs and they need a home and they're going to be a bit older and a bit like me and they and they just need some love and because their parents or their mum and dad have gone to other places.

And so that's what I'm thinking of doing, because then.

For they know, they kind of know, they know when they need to go and pee outside. They kind of they've got their shit together. So that's that's what I'm thinking. So anyway, just softly, softly, that's when it's one step at a time. But that's kind of where I'm going with it for the time being.

So where are living at the minute? Not in so you've done it to give us an actual address, but what area?

Yeah, so I don't know how many are the Sydney, but I'm down an hour south right on the coast and a little place. It's a little these little seaside beach communities and it's called it's the Illawarra, so it's north of Woollongong and they refer to it as the Northern Beaches, which is funny because when you live in Sydney, you talk about the Northern Beaches and everyone thinks avalon

That's what it feels like to me.

And it's literally just an over an hour from Sydney, so still very very attainable, very easy to get to Sydney. But you know, I tried to do that lesson less and less because I'm I can'tellue how happy I am to get out of that craziness and that ridiculous traffic and all that kind of stuff.

So yeah, I moved earlier this year.

I sold my beautiful bronte pad that I built at the end of last year and then bought this And this is a massive project.

So I've I've changed location. I'm out of the madness.

And have you got like a bit of space, Like, is it not cluttered where you are? Are you're near the water obviously, Yeah, a little bit of land.

Yeah, look it's I don't know, it's sort of a bit of land. It's a thousand square meters and it runs down to the ocean.

And you talking about rain earlier.

We've had massive rain bombs down here this year and my land suffered a massive landslide.

It also landslip, so everything sort of.

Round, you know, the house, the existing house at the moment is like a nineteen sixties knockdown red bricker, asbestos walls, concrete cancer.

You know, it's adorable, and I've found that horrible.

I've spent tens of dollars on it, and I've gone to Buddings and Kmart and run around and tricked the place up, bought everything on gum tree, and I'm gonna live in it for a couple of years.

But what's happening that the house is.

Fine, but the end of the land has had all this, all this, all this land slippage.

So I'm now sort of dealing with that. But you know it's just to be.

Yeah, I've got space around me, but I've got beautiful community, fresh air, the ocean I listened to at night. Everyone smiles, everyone's got a dog. Everyone. There's dog beaches.

You're allowed.

There's dog beaches everywhere, which is incredible because you've got can't you fight for.

That in Sydney?

And and yeah, I just feel like I've just made the best move for this time my life.

It's unreal.

Well, if anyone's interested in the area that's listening to this, that lives vaguely near Deborah She's available for dog sitting, so just hit her up. Look for the shit hat, look for the crappy shit house with asbestos near the water. Just knock on the door. And the woman in the haz mats, the woman in the hazmat suit that comes to the front door. Just hand to your dog. What could go wrong?

No, I'm wearing the T shirt that says sorry I'm laid I saw.

Do you know someone gave me a very similar T shirt? Literally, Melissa, you know this because I've worn it to death and it says sorry, I'm late. I didn't want to be here. I love that. Now, for the seven people out of the twenty thousand who are listening to this who don't know who Debra is, media personality, entrepreneur, author, speaker, brand ambassador, master's Ceremonies, TV hosts, a one time super duper international model. Now,

That both of us are laughing.

No, don't fuck around. Has my international modeling career window come and gone?

Oh? So it actually arrived.

Help.

That's hurtful, Lissa. You said she was a nice lady. You said, oh, she's lovely, this will be fun.

Don't believe you?

What do I say?

Don't believe anything you see nothing about your year or something like that. Something goes along.

So I spoke a bit about what you do before, what you well, how do you keep busy these days? And are you working flat out or you're kind of part timing it?

Well.

The whole idea was to be working a little less than I have been. I started work at sixteen, and the first time that I actually had a break, a real holiday was in Iso last year when we were all locked up for three months, and it was just an epiphany to me.

It was like, wow, this is I know.

A lot of people suffered and I'm sorry for that, but personally.

I loved it. I loved lockdown.

I was just there was not an email I had to respond to, there was no phone calls, and it was just this peacefulnes that just transcended and it was It was incredible, And so I think part of my movers.

Was recognizing that I didn't want to work as hard.

So in saying that there's a couple of things, so stopped filming Fox Style so that all the stuff was in the bag, So that was good.

That was pretty hectic.

That finished off the beginning of the year, and then I launched a range of upf fifty plus some protection hats called Cannoby Bay last September, and so we started working on the second season and doing all that kind of stuff. And then I also launched Home with Deborah Hutton about the same time, and we've just done a second season and working with all.

Stuff, and then I've been traveling around to doing ken Yount's going to be to you.

I've been so busy, so I'm like, you know what, I'm just now towards the end of the year, I'm like, I'm starting to go, okay, just let's just calm and fuck down and just let's just take a deep breath.

But the whole thing is for me to to be much more in control. And I do feel like getting out of the madness of Sydney. The days that I don't have to work are just a joy and an absolute gift. And I feel like I am then really taking a break and I yeah, there's.

More time for me down here.

Just that interestingly that that actual that physical separation from being in a metropolis has really it's been incredibly beneficial for the time when I'm not working. It for like it's like like a double dose of time off.

That's sort of what it feels like. But I don't want to work.

It's out as I used to have sorid have done that. So now they're pet projects and passion projects. Put it that way, their passion projects.

For me, this is a weird This is a weird question, but you'll probably get it. So you and I around the same age. You might be a year or two old younger. I don't know. I'm not going to ask, but what I want to know is how old do you feel?

Like?

How old? And I know that's done, but I feel around thirty five to forty. Clearly I'm not, but intens with my mind, my body, my energy, my meal like I feel thirty five to forty, And I think because I work a lot and I have a lot of fun. I laugh like a fucking idiot all day. I work with great people. I'm still studying full time as a student doing a doctorate. I do my job. I fucking love I travel and talk to people about shit I'm

What about you, I look, I feel ageless, to be honest with you, I like having a laugh, and I like taking the piers, and I like, you know, I've got I surround myself with some really dear friends, some really really dear friends, and I'm lucky to just be able to count them on you know, probably less than two hands. But I've got definitely like five seriously good friends. And the people that I do surround myself will all have an insanely stupid sense of humor.

So so there's a lot of laughter involved.

And therefore, because I hate taking anything too seriously that I think is it's just you're just it's an ageless thing. So in terms of how I look, well, fuck it, that's the way I look. I don't do anything and I don't shove anything in there. I don't have any any stuff that trying to makes me look look at but younger, and I am what I am. I'm trying to age gracefully. In terms of my body, well.

You know, there's a bit of wear and tear and so what can I say?

You know, my knees aren't that great, and you know, I'm not going to go into all that bullshit, but there's shit going on. So I spend a lot of time seeing sort of chiropractice. And you know, I had a neck operation years ago and had a few here I am. I'm sixty, so it's like, okay, that was done ninety ninety five. So there's just wear and tear that everybody has, and so sometimes and that probably makes me feel a bit older. It's the body that's giving away.

You look annoyingly healthy, and you certainly don't look your age, but anyway.

Must maybe it's all the pino.

I don't know, shout out, shout out to all the drinkers. I often say.

To people, it's a preservative, right.

Yeah, well, I think in moderation, you're on it.

That's it.

I often say to guests. When you're a kid, what did you want to be? But when you were a kid, you were already it like when you're a kid. You were on the front of Cosmo magazine. You were an international model when you were still when most of us are finishing school. Yeah, well not even close to finishing school, like a few years away. You were already get setting around the world and sticking your face on meg or being photographed.

All.

Yeah, what's the good and bad of that?

Interestingly enough, And I talk about this when I do kids other stuff. I wanted to be a primary school teacher ever since I could remember. That was that's what I thought I was always going to be. And I can't imagine a worse primary school teacher. But because a woman doesn't have any children anyway.

I just you know, what do I look?

I I it's interesting because when I left home and I left school at sixteen, I kind of just walked away from it all. I didn't have a bloody clue and it was I sort of tinked around, thought maybe I'm a big bottom. I don't know, but like I was just you know, I pimply skin, annoying your hair, and you know it was And it.

Was my boyfriend at the time and said you could really do this.

Well you actually said it in a mortar ble wal gear and you could really do this, and.

So, you know, I because there was no grand plan.

I have literally everything that comes my way, every opportunity. Every time I turn a corner and see something different, I go oh, and someone.

Says, what about this? So what about that? And I go, yeah, let's get bat to go. Why not? So, I think because there was no structure to it.

And because everything I saw was an opportunity. And I never took anything for granted because I didn't know what was around the corner. I had no idea, and so I just threw myself into everything. And I think because of that, I've always been very open. I'm and I'm very open person. I talk about stuff. I'll sailor to anybody. I will literally saylo to anybody. I'll just start conversations

So, I I don't know if it answers your questionm but but I think it's a fluidness, the openness, the fact that I'm grateful for everything that comes along.

And I think it's because of that, that potentially is why I've had this long jellity, I suppose, and just willing to give stuff a go. And I suppose that's a bit of there's fear that goes with it. But at the same time, it's like, well, what have I got to lose? I've got everything to learn and nothing to lose.

It's interesting how some people successful people like there's there's probably ten groups, but there's two groups that kind of stick out to me. One is they have this clear vision, they have this strategy, they have this structure, this process, all these goals, these fucking KPIs just to do list, you know, regular fucking check ins and that very very cerebral and strategic. And then there's another group like you

Yeah. Look, I think that's a great way to put it.

It was only it was only about twenty years ago I realized that I was I was actually self employed, and actually, you know, self employed my whole life. So I just go, all, I'm a contractor and I've always had these things, and they've been very generous, long term contracts with a lot of sort of iconic companies, straighting companies. I suppose that's what I've kept the profile. But yeah, it's I think it's definitely free range.

Is great. I haven't I must use that. I love that. You're welcome in my next keynote. I love that. And I think it also comes.

Down to then knowing as much being able to say no to something as it is to say yes to something, because I think when you when you start looking at yourself as a per se, as a brand per se, then and then you go okay, you know, and also just your intuitiveness and your gut feeling on stuff is really something you got to tune into and then you go, yeah, that's absolutely that is that's a great fit.

That feels right.

That's fantastic, love to get together, let's do a colab and do something fantastic, love to work with you.

And then you go nah, they go, yeah, but look look at the money, and no, it's not always money.

It's about I'm sorry, I just think that's a shitty product and as bullshit. So that's not really good. It doesn't matter what it is. So I honestly think it's it's really being selective about the about watch watch area of the tippin that you go and peck in. That's a really big, big part of it. But but I've also you know, Rebecca give I did a cover what Ones Weekly cover years and years ago, and we were

Loves what hair alls no hair anyway, So she.

Says to me, I'm just chadding and she said, you know, three things dead she said, I've always I've always lived by because talking about longevity of.

Career, and she said, you turn.

Up on time, you know your lines, and you just really nice to everyone else you work with. I went, Beck, that's exactly always been my thing.

I turn up one time. I'm a highly punched a person.

I basically prepare for everything, so if it's key of whatever it is, I never just smiled, well to go by the seat of my pants.

Are absolutely forget preparation, and then I just.

Go, oh, I'm not even though I might be the based on the camera, I'm one little part of the team that's putting whatever this is together.

And I was really interesting because I've never forgot that. It was one of the things.

We just went your snap and I think they're my three set of principles.

I think I think they're good. I think also I love it. I'm a bit the same. I'm Melissa's a lot more. Melissa is really my boss, and she runs the you project. I just talk, but she's a lot more marketing, branding strategy, but still a bit organic. But she's very cross the t's dot the eyes.

You know.

She has to fucking manage me because I'm like a dog with three dicks, just running around excited at everything.

Right, Yeah, I'm glad that it's just a head and shoulder assumed that we're doing today.

Oh you tell everyone, that's sure, that's she says that everyone that, but just that, like I think also the the ability to or the willingness or the desire to just make decisions that are you know, not stupid decisions, but more gut, more instinct, more intuition, and sometimes like I've made decisions as have you, I'm sure, in and around business and even sponsorship of this show, like we've been off at a few really good in terms of lucrative things sponsors, and I can't do it right because

Yeah, look, I one hundred percent agree with that. Look, if you want to go there, it's kind of past lives or whatever you've you've come through stuff. It comes through from all different directions. And I think, you know, that's that's an important part of knowing who you are and tapping tapping into that. I think it's it's important because not everything makes sense on paper. Not everything you can't just nothing's just so two dimensional. It's just so much more to it.

You know.

And and for me, I you know, I I didn't like, I.

Didn't I didn't do any tertiary education. I didn't even finish my HC.

I basically, you know, I went to New York at eighteen, and I I have my learnings have come through being.

On the road. It's the road of life, and I have learned through people.

I mean, that's the greatest learning thing is the experience, is the relationships you have with people, those who really enjoy those you can't stand those, all those you know, recencies in lifetime, people that come in, that's where you learn.

If you're intuitive and you're picking up on that.

You know, when I was much younger, you know, I would just I suppose I didn't know what it was, but I was looking at people around me, and I was looking at them, not that I even knew what to call it, but obviously they were a mentor in some way, you know. I mean I worked you know, God love Maggie Tabor. I mean, yeah, he was a she is an incredible woman. But I worked with her in a modeling sense, and then I just we stayed friends. And she's been, you know, just such an impact in

You are and you know you and I think you just to get.

To stage in life where you can put a mirror and go No, I'm actually I'm pretty I'm pretty.

Happy with that person.

But I can't tell you seriously, Greg, it took me years to get to there.

It took decades for me to get to there. It's that whole fake it do you make it thing?

You know I want to do? You want to hear my theory on it? Yeah, see, here's what I reckon. It's just my working theory.

Everyone.

It could be completely fucking wrong. I reckon. It's really hard when you're guy or girl, doesn't matter. But in your case, a young lady, you're beautiful and everyone knows you're beautiful, and you're getting work because you're beautiful.

Your job is literally be beautiful. We're going to take pictures of you. You're beautiful, and you've got to be in shape and gorgeous, and that's your literally, that's your currency. So of course your sense of self and self worth will at least be partly, if not totally, tied to that physical representation. Right, So, we want your we want you. We're going to give you money, we're going to sign you. You're going to be important, you're going to be This

Being not completely fucked in the head? And do you know what I mean? How do you be sane? And how do you not how do you not have a gigantic, destructive, toxic ego? And also how do you so many questions HAPs how do you how do you have a sense of who I am beyond what you look like?

I think that's a look, that's a very it's a very good question, and you're absolutely right in terms of modeling in such an I and I remember I did it for six years, and I was I was very fortunate that I could that I picked up.

I picked up like Grace Brothers hence you know Grace Brother's mine. I worked with them through because that was the first time that I.

That I could actually have a contribution of some kind other than just smile there and wear these clothes.

Right. So I literally lasted modeling.

It's in essential thing as for six years and I got so fucking bored with it. I smoked so many cigarettes and I can only so many scarves that you can knit, And.

It was like, you know, what I just like, enough is enough. So I was very.

Fortunate to get away from that and then go and work with the marketing department. And then then I learned how to get up in front of you know, crowds and speak to people and interview people. And that was my one step, my huge step out of that, you know, getting up and doing commercials. Doing speaking commercials is a big deal. Oh my god, you actually want me to say something, wow.

And so then you know so, and then the steps you know, you do that, and then the next thing you know, you know. I mean, I remember when I got.

The call from Nannie King, who was one of the greatest magazine editors of all time, when she said, I want you to come on as the beauty editor, and.

I thought, oh the fuck. I'm not a journalist, but yeah, great. I'd been in the fashion beauty.

Industry and I and I you know, I'm working with mya for fifteen years.

I learned a lot about retail.

I learn a lot about how to market and retailing experience and working with customers and so all that information. And then it's like, Okay, now we're going to go into publications and we're going to have a voice of a different kind. So I'm very fortunate that the roles that I took on, even though they still obviously needed my face, and then it became my voice, and then it's and then it's like and over time, obviously I've had much more important I've you know, started different businesses

Go, bloody, hell, am I really? Am I really? Do I really have more metopause tummy? And do I really do I have to inherit my mother's thighs? Did I really have to my mother's eyes? And I'm turning it to my mother about okay? And so yeah, look, you know it's it's a very image driven. Decades of being image driven. How do I get over that? I don I still have some.

Issues around image that I go, well, you know, as I get older it's I careless but whatever. But yeah, I've just been lucky, I think in terms of just learning life and being in the right environment with the right people, And therefore I've managed to get through that thing where it's just you're just a face and a voice.

So I also think you probably underestimate how how much you you have been in a learning curve for you know, forty years, forty five years, right, because no, you didn't go to university and you didn't finish year twelve, but you've constantly been at the coal face of experiential learning like you, and you continue to learn, right, You're doing new things, you're starting new businesses, you're having new adventures, you're solving problems, you're resolving conflict, you're creating I mean,

What, what I've bought.

One of my things that I just I live by is always surround yourself with people who are smarter than you.

And I do that.

I do that because I know my deficiencies. I know what I'm not good at, and I know what I'm good at, and so I have you know, I have people around me that not only they're providing an incredible service in terms of you know, bookkeepers and.

Accountants for like you know, only twenty five thirty years.

I've got people around me, and I've just got friends that I just they're smarter than me, and I lean on them.

And and sure if it makes you know, for I go, okay, that's great.

I've got to cover because I'm not the smartest, you know, I'm I'm sort of street smart and I.

Do what I can.

But I I've got some as I go back, I've got some seriously good people, and I'm.

Not embarrassed to reach out and go, I'm the last year does you want to do?

And then? And that's why you have your mates and the ones that will stand by you, you know, in times where you're just a little bit confused and need a bit of an arrow pointing in the right direction.

But intelligence also is fluid, like it depends. In certain situations, you will be wildly smarter, more capable, and more in tune than me. In something else, I'll be the smart one, right, It depends. It's situation dependent, task dependent, role dependent, environment dependent. Like there, Like intelligence is a really big, big what we call in science construct or thing. It's intelligence is

So yes, very true.

Yeah, So what do you think you're going to be doing in five or ten years? Is that house going to be built and you're going to be sitting back on the porch looking at the bloody ocean or what?

Well, that's the plan.

Honestly, it's probably at least four years away. So at the moment I'm learning again, I'm learning about subsort of drainage. You know, drill reads, civil engineering, what all that means. So learning a've bit of learning curve there. And this is a very different build to to where I wasn't bronting. So it's another big project. But at the moment, I'm.

Just honestly just with what's going on in the world.

I just want to just sit. And so I bought this block of land with a DA already approved for a magnificent house, one of my favorite architects. And then now I've been living here for six months and an at nah, I need to redesign the house and I don't want it to be this and I want it to be that. So I'm just going to take a breath out and and.

Five years we should. I just hope that my knee holds out.

I hope I'm sitting in my little house that is that feels like me. I hope that I'm still you know, I hope that I still got these beautiful people in my life that I love dearly.

I still want to be working, but I'm normally working that hard.

I made my passion of I said, these, you know, these the hats is a huge passion because of all my skin cancer and you know, that's an area that really interests me to to help others.

That's kind of become a passion thing, is true.

And yeah, look but I've never been able to answer that question to any point when they say we're gonna be five years time fucked.

If I know, I'm just happy to be around. Take that.

Take that stupid fucking question out, Melissa, dumb ass now now just quickly before we let you go. Following on from course, had a couple of bouts of skin cancer.

Yeah, yeah, pretty pretty hairy infiltrating BCCs. So the thing that people don't understand, Look, melanone is a killer. And then just below that, since sccs and BCCs and if they're and if they're left unattended, some of them can still get into the bloodstream and cause a problem. So so yeah, I had I had on ten nine years ago, ten ars ago, and then it unfortunately, it came back in a particular area.

If there's anything around the nose lip.

Chin area, it's like a little freeway for cancer cells to pass through, and if there's been any former surgery, that's the trauma area and they tend to target. So it came back two years ago pretty significant, had a very serious.

You know, flat surgery anyway, all good, you know, and so I just you know, it's so funny.

Out of the hundreds of thousands of photographs that I have had taken since in seventy eight, I reckon the photograph that I posted of the really ugly cancer ugly skin cancer scar that I posted on Instagram.

It was probably the most important photograph I've ever I've ever had taken ever, because it.

Went viral, and that was first I really understood how positive and good social media could really be. And it just opened up this world. And I can't tell you. I keep getting letters from people today saying thank you, thank you for keep pushing the message. So you know, I did something on Channel seven this year called skin Deep, and so I try to keep pushing that message, and I still get all these people saying, wow, I've not gone to chase it up, had I had not had my skin checked.

You know.

I found it it was melanoma. I found out it was this and thank you, thank you, thank you. So so that is just being worth it. It's just been worth it for that, and it continues to be something that people are inspiring me because I can see what's happening. And look, I've been through two significant surgeries on my face and ship skin heels.

Right, it's fine, you get it out, you move on.

Don't be scared because skin heels and you've just got to go and get it checked. So so yeah, I think that's you know, I just feel that going in the future.

For me, it's a really this is this is austronym, is the is this skin cancer country of the world.

And we need to be really onto that, you know, personally, take responsibility for the younger generation to know the damage. So it's trying to protect yourself and my generation this generation.

So yeah, let's point people towards that. So canopy Bay, dot canopy Bay one word, dot com, dot au is Deborah's site for that and all that that stuff. And also house dot com dot au go check that out. You've got a lot of shit going on, also, Debrah Hutton dot com. Yeah it's all there.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's good. It's all. It's all good. I like I like the balance of everything. Now great a.

Woman who's not doing much, you're doing a lot. Your version of lazy is everyone else's version of fucking chaotic. But anyway, you know, I like.

To I don't like to be married, but I love having my own time. I love, you know, just exercising, walking.

I'm never bored. I'm never I've never been bored in my life.

Even if I've got nothing to do, there's always something that's going to entertain me, amuse me, interest me, have curiosity, whatever it is. And I think if you've got that, you remain ageless.

You can talk to anybody. That's what I think. I'm I think I'm very very lucky. I'm very lucky.

Well I think you've created a bit of that luck too, debrahat and your ace, your ace, you're a big deal. You're a big fucking deal. And we're super happy that you chatted to us on the project.

We feel deficily it's been really really gorgeous.

I love your laid back Larkin. I love Alaricans. I love laid back Alaricans.

We sweat, kind of. That's kind of my default setting. Stay right there, we will say goodbye fair Thanks everyone,