Transcript episode 7

Good day guys it’s Matty from Carpentry Australia
I’m here today with one of our long term members
David Garrard yeah
long term member long term chippy and yeah
just tell us a little bit about yourself mate
I started a little bit late in the game
I’m 42 now didn’t start my apprenticeship till I was 30
and I was in hospitality in my 20s
it’s pretty rough game hospitality
like I did a few tape courses
and kind of built myself up to running kitchens
even though I wasn’t qualified chef
I was running a few bistros around Newtown
I was from Sydney originally and then yeah
just felt like it was a bit of a strain on my mental health
always working late sleeping during the day
they work hard they work hard yeah
and a big drinking culture that goes along with it
you know you might not finish till midnight
and then you probably still drinking till 3
4:00 in the morning
sleeping through the day really detrimental to your mental health
so I was kind of at the point where I knew I needed a change
wasn’t quite sure which direction I was gonna go in and met the
the two carpenters Jimmy and Cosmo
a bit older I think
actually my housemate at the time was doing some labouring for them
and they had a bunch of work on
so I started just labouring for them
I just really enjoyed it really
enjoyed getting up early working outside
working hard physically
and I was probably labouring for about a year and they were like
that already had me on the tools
teaching me you know
just basic power saw things like that
they really recommended that I start an apprenticeship yeah
cause I was really liking it
and I was finding it awesome for my mental health
did they put you on or did someone else
they put me on okay
yeah yeah
they did I was gonna tape at Randwick at night yeah
working for them full time did some awesome jobs
some multi million dollar builds
like over 10 million dollar builds in the North Shore
and it’s awesome yeah yeah
it was great do you still keep in touch with those boys nowadays
I do yeah yeah
especially Cosmo like when I finished my qualification
cause I did like 3 years with them
one year labouring and then moved down to Victoria
and I finished off my trade down here yep
with a company called Aspire Built okay
they’re still going they got a big carpentry team but yeah
like touch base when I finished my qualification
and then after my first few big jobs I did by myself
I was always in contact with him and sending him photos and yeah
he’s like he’s been in his 50s now but yeah
he was an awesome teacher and awesome mentor fantastic carpenter
what do you think were
a couple of the main things that you Learned from him
my biggest lesson from them was like
really keeping their clients happy
doing good clean up being respectful
having a good rapport with the clients
and just seeing how they just never stop building momentum
because of that
like really if you never let anyone down and never do a bad job
you should always have work
but they’re also old school dudes
and I think some of the carpentry that
like he was originally a cabinet maker
then carpenter and then builder
so he had a really good understanding of all facets of carpentry
and then building and kind of
you know a little bit rough
kind of that kind of bully mentality
I think they used to get hit in the head with the hammer
if they stuffed up in their apprenticeship
so they were tough on me
but I knew it was worth it to get that proper training
yeah of course
and look sometimes a bit of
bit of tough love can help in the long run
and it can sort of make you a stronger carpenter
and you know obviously things are a bit more different nowadays
but you still gotta have you know
sort of some direct learning paths
and can sort of form you into not accepting a subpar result
very high standards yeah
like everything to the mill
like you know
a lot of these high end jobs
there was no room for error
yeah everything to the mill
just paying attention to detail
doing it properly no matter how long it takes
you know that was the kind of go on some of those sign jobs
it doesn’t matter how long it takes you as long as it’s perfect
so that was great to have installed into me
so you went through your your mature age with Cosmo and Jimmy
Jimmy that’s right
and then once you finished up
did you come back down to Melbourne
you said you finished the last part of it in Melbourne
is that right I did yeah
so my first job down in Melbourne was with Stella
have big kind of commercial company
and I’ve never really been in the commercial realm
I didn’t really love it to be honest
the environment yeah
they’re good people and you know
had steady work and and everything
but I wasn’t actually
in a position where I was finishing my apprenticeship with them
I was just kind of doing general carpentry around site and
and labouring
and then they had a few different carpentry companies that dad used
one of them was aspire so
I got to know some of those lads
and the boss from working with Stella
and then explain to them look
you know I’m liking the work and they’re really good to me
but I’m not able to be finishing my apprenticeship in this position
so they offered me to go with them and finish off my apprenticeship
and it’s important to obviously finish off
you know oh
for sure
some people get halfway through and they throw in the towel or yeah
was that always your main driver as well
hundred percent yeah
yeah yeah
I mean at seeing the way Cosmo and Jimmy operated that’s
that was my end
goal you know that’s what I really wanted to do so yeah
ended up finishing off with the a spire and and a private organization
which they were good but I do think that the old school Tafe teaching
which is becoming more rare these days
was a lot more hands on and a lot more thorough in
in your learning you know
it’s a lot more hours
but I think it makes a better carpenter in the long run yeah yeah
II think there’s some people that really swear by on site training
and then there’s the flip side of the coin where it’s
you’ll never get the same kind of experience unless you go to and yeah
spend the time in the classroom
and sort of do the prep work and learn off your peers
and stuff as well
like I’m a big believer in trade school education
yeah as well yeah
definitely they could use a little bit of a reform
and maybe they could use a little bit of help with sort of
how they teach their units
but yeah I think as a whole
you usually get a
a much higher quality sort of chippy that comes out of that stuff
yeah I believe so too yeah
I mean they were a good organization
but it was like from going to tafe two nights a week
to having like one afternoon off to do your book work
and then every few weeks
one of the teachers would come in and just check on your paperwork
so you know
if you had questions while you were doing your school work
you had to go and kind of ask
one of the carpenters that were busy working
I was quite self motivated and quite good with the book work
but for some of the lads it was really hard
like some of the younger fellas
I’d see when the teacher came just be like wrong wrong
wrong wrong
wrong try again
I did pretty well with it
I think yeah
after a year he signed me off
and then what what happened next
so once you got signed off
how long did you sort of work within that
or did you start subbing straight away or
I started subbing straight away
actually I had in Noble Park for a builder called Peter
I think his company was Pinnacle
and I mean
it was a big commute for me going out to Noble Park every day
were you still in Brunswick
I was in Brunswick yeah
yeah so it’s quite a big drive
but yeah probably a couple of months with him
and then was kind of keen to try and start doing my own thing
and to start that off initially I was going through Air Tasker
well it was good to find clients
but they take a pretty considerable cut
it was like 20% yeah
that can sting yeah
and when there’s you know
a bunch of other carpenters trying to get their quote through
basically you have to get your quote through to exchange information
so they have to accept your quote
and then you can get their phone number and address and
start the proper report but 20% is massive
you know what I mean after your materials
that might be your profit margin
you know so like it was really hard
I mean generally I met good people and you could have a discussion and
you know like if it’s gonna be more or less
you kind of do what you assign to Airtasker
through Airtasker and then just privately invoice
but I met a builder out in
even further than Noble Park out in Cape Shank in the Peninsula yeah
OK yeah
ages away yeah
ages away but I camped at Rosebud
oh really yeah
yeah for a few weeks and did this beautiful
helped with this beautiful build out in Cape Shank
like looking over one side the golf course
the other side was the ocean right on top of the Headland
it was really cool and then yeah
just kept on getting new clients doing little jobs here and there
if it was a fence or a deck or this
that the other
ended up getting really good reviews and having a 5 star rating
so it was kind of easy to get work
and then it just kind of organically built from there
you know those clients would tell their friends and family
I’d get me back to do private jobs without Airtasker
and without losing all that money to Airtasker
and then yeah
just just kept growing and growing
and then this is kind of heading into lockdown
so that kind of put the brakes on everything
I was really hard
time to try and be negotiating your own business as a carpenter
I know I think
you know commercial sites were still rolling over
but got to a point I couldn’t go to people’s property
I couldn’t go inside their homes
like maybe I could do some outside work
but they have to stay inside and you have to stay outside
you can’t even use the toilet
you know what I mean I think that the restrictions were crazy
it was hard yeah
it was very tough
and I think we tried to keep people updated as much as we could
throughout the process and when things sort of eased up
yeah but there was no sort of getting around it
well that’s actually when I joined Carpentry Australia during lockdown
yeah I think after the first one
and then we open back up for a bit and then it went back in
and you probably remember
the rules were chopping and changing week to week
it was really hard trying to navigate the government websites
and I think I was following you on Instagram
and I see that you were doing updates
and that’s when I joined specifically for that reason
cause you guys were so good at keeping us in the loop
with the regulations and what we could and couldn’t do
I think you were emailing like it was like every few days
yeah every few days
it was like really really helpful for me
so yeah that’s when I started with you guys
and I was in the middle of a pretty major renovation in Northcote
some days you’d get there and the neighbours would be like ah
we just heard on the radio
you can’t be here and everyone had their own opinion this and that
and some trades were coming
some trades weren’t and then the vaccine roll out pretty full on
and like my Sparky any vax
so then he couldn’t come to the property
and me and my carpenter Tammy
we went out and got vaccine did the right thing
you know we wanted to keep working
and then yeah we’d have to shut down for a week or two
still paying the scaffold cost and everything
yeah yeah
it was it was so slow starting

it was I don’t know how anyone really survived it
you know it was
it was brutal but what so once we sort of got out of that period
what’s gonna happen next I think
I finished off that big job in North Cut
and started another big renovation
for my next door neighbour
at the time actually
he’s a doctor started off just I think replacing the fence
and then they said they had these major works
they’ve got architectural drawings and I made it clear
you know I’m a carpenter
I’m not a builder and I encouraged him to get the owner builders
and then me and my team could do all the work
so yeah we ended up pretty much rebuilding the back of the house
of the drawings and went really
really well that’s good yeah
I had my first frame inspection and they didn’t have one defect oh
how good is that yeah
that’s really sick
that was a time actually I called Cosmo
I was like Cosmo you won’t believe this he’s like
oh my gosh David
that’s unreal I made it that’s unheard of not one defect
I’m like not one bugle bro nothing
no that’s crazy
that’s crazy that is that’s
that’s very impressive from there
so you you did this big Reno
yeah for your next door neighbour
and obviously done the right thing as well by yeah
telling him look if you want me to do this work
you’re gonna need to be either be an owner builder
or I’m gonna need to sort of level up my game as well
that’s it yeah
have you thought about yourself you know
maybe ever taking that step into a DBL or a DBU or
I have registered I have thought about it actually during lockdown
when I was just getting jobkeeper and couldn’t really work
I engaged Tafe looking to do it
but
but I already had a certificate for in cultural community development
some study I did kind of in between hospitality and carpentry
I guess and did a couple of like community art projects
but because I’d already used that funding for the search for
it was gonna cost me like 10 grand or something ah yeah OK
so I kind of put it on pause OK
but it is something I mean
it’s probably the next step
you know that I’d like to do and that old neighbour
they actually wanna buy another house and renovate it
and they want me to do it
if you could have a builder’s license by then
will use you to do the whole job
so it’s good to see you too
yeah definitely
I remember you you did a bit of travel and you know
you sort of ended up moving away for a little bit to to work
like can you talk me through that and sort of how that all came about
yeah yeah definitely
I went on just a holiday with my mate out to Alice Springs
his girlfriend was out there
and we did like a van relocation
and spent a couple of weeks out there
I really loved it and kinda got invited to stay on a uni camp home
which is like all indigenous and language speaking it
was quite a like privilege and honour to be asked to stay there
I met a couple of uncle and aunties coming through Cooper Pedy
and we actually took them up to Alice Springs
so like my brother lives in this place called Conacamp
if you can take us there when we got there
they asked if I could set up camp and they were happy for me too
so I stayed there for a couple of weeks
came back to Melbourne
and a short time after that broke up with my partner
which was a hard time
I know sometimes when you break up with your missus
you’re like I just wanna get out of here
yeah you know
of course and I had such a great experience out there that I thought
oh if I could get my dog and go back out to Alice Springs
and if I could stay on Cano Cano would be awesome
and during that time I got asked to do a mural
I do a bit of street art as well
oh amazing
amazing I didn’t know that
yeah and that was out in Hermansburg in Ontario yeah
a community about I think 100 K’s out of Alice
they engaged me to do it I said I’d be happy to do it
but the funding and all that stuff still wasn’t ready to be allocated
it’s kind of governments at work
which is slow process yeah
well it ended up taking about 6 months before I did that project
so I got out there I had my tools
had somewhere to stay on kinda camp
and I engaged the local indigenous council tanganyarra
if they had any work for a carpenter
and they were actually looking for someone to do building inspections
assessments of the town camp homes
there’s like 15 town camps around Alice Springs
about 300 houses I think
they’re obligated to have these inspections
done by the end of the year
and they’re done like 13 out of the 283 or something
so there was a lot of yeah
a lot of work to be done and yeah
I got that position and went about doing that
which was really unreal would you do the inspection and then sort of
do any sort of other work that needed to be done
or make recommendations for what needed to happen
yeah definitely
so I’d allocate other trades if
you know the outside of my trade
but if there were carpentry things that I could do
it was a lot of bureaucracy
and a lot of red tape to kind of get things happening
but if I put down in the form that someone was like
urgent or needed doing immediately
I could do it so I made that a real priority in my inspections
like these forms were so intense
it was like every single item in the house
you had to give a rating of 1 to 5 and I think
you know like 700 different items or something like that
really thorough yeah
but anything that you know
like if your entry door wasn’t closable or
you know was not functioning
I saw that you know
like a safety risk you know
you need to be able to lock your home
so I could just go and replace the door
windows are broken I’d fix the windows
I would have liked to do more
but I made it a real priority in my inspection to be like
let me know what you need fixed
and for a lot of these people
they’re like we’ve been asking for years to have certain things fixed
and there’s just you know
so much bureaucracy behind it because it never happens
never happens
so I made that a real point to try and do as much as I could
and I think that gave me a good kind of reputation around town
because people like David’s coming
he’s not just filling out the form
is actually getting things done
you know cares yeah yeah
yeah and
you know cause I was living on town camp
so I knew what it was like
what was it like up there for
you know someone coming from
you know Sydney and Melbourne to then go and live in
you know an indigenous community and be in and amongst it
that they that they welcome you with open arms
and definitely yeah
I’ve heard so many
great stories come out of Alice Springs and sort of the
the the surrounding communities that they’ve got there
but yeah what was it like for you
it was awesome for me
it was really beautiful community and really great to see the
and learn about the culture
so rich you know
and I was learning language
I was learning pinajara I got the dictionary so I could
you know cause they’re all speaking language is their first language
English is second language for everyone in these communities
so I think even just knowing a few words and like
you know it showed to them that I was interested about the culture
and learning about the culture
but coming from the city like
I’ve lived in places where there’s massive indigenous communities
like Redfern and Waterloo
I had an Aboriginal partner for many years
and lots of my best friends were curry back in Sydney
but you don’t really see that culture alive
like it is out in the desert
you know where they’re still doing their practices
and still passing on the language to their kids
and like even just being
showing how to cook a kangaroo tails and goanna and that
take me up the mountain to find Minko Bar
it’s like the native tobacco plant
oh yeah
yeah
it’s really really awesome
you know got up the top of the mountain
there’s like wedge tail eagles and rock wallabies
and there’d be nothing like that
to be honest you know
you don’t see any of that stuff down here
no never
just doesn’t exist not at all
I think that’s really cool
and you’ve obviously yeah
you’ve got a lot of background in sort of
being involved in the community
does your street art come into it as well
are you in that sort of ballpark
do you do murals that sort of have an indigenous undertone
or do you do your own style
like what’s the I mean
not really because I’m not indigenous myself
I don’t really see it my place to paint it
I ended up doing that massive mural out in Hermansburg
that’s for the football team
OK yeah
yeah yeah
Hermansburg Bulldogs so yeah
they had a huge like 20 meter wall for me to do
what did you paint
I just did massive Hermsburg Bulldogs on the 20 meter wall
in the Bulldogs colours and then on the
there were two returns on the building
kind of 6 by 8 meters so on one
I did a huge Aboriginal flag
it just took up the whole wall
and on the other side
I had the Bulldogs logo and just a welcome to Ontario
it’s awesome yeah
I love it and if you’ve done
you’ve done more murals since
since that I do yeah creative yeah
yeah definitely yeah
yeah I try and paint
you know every couple of weeks or so
I’ve got a good crew of fellas down
here that I paint with
I’ve actually got a mate that I went to school with
who does a lot of murals for the council and stuff down here
his name is Christian Vine
he’s like a super tall amazing painter
does these sort of intricate
sort of cartoon like Japanese style
almost landscape pieces and beautiful yeah
he’s he’s super talented
but yeah I’m always fascinated by anyone who can paint
obviously you’ve been painting all your life
did you did you know that you wanted to do carpentry
or were you ever interested in it
you know previous to you know
your hospitality experience
or you just went to the shore like very young
my uncle that lived with my family growing up
he’s a landscaper and when I was very young
I gone kind of help him out on site
and to a few days labouring here and there
and I always kind of liked the atmosphere
I was a skateboarder as well
so it was kind of you know
build a few things along the way for skateboarding
yeah yeah
couple of ramps couple of fun boxes in metal working school
I actually made this adjustable flat bar for us to grind
yeah and that’s still around
I think dollar chill or something like it’s
it’s lasted like 25 years or something
that’s amazing yeah
I love it so you’re always a tinkerer
you know you sort of had that yeah
you you sort of were interested in that
I’d really love to know like any advice you’ve got for you know
any other chippies that might wanna help out with these communities
or is there is there like a way to actually help
cause I’ve got some chippies
some members that are in Broom WA and sort of out in sort of the
in the outback in Northern Territory as well
that do help out a little bit
but it’s it’s such a small community of our chippies that are helping
yeah so from your point of view
is there any way that you know
people can help out or what more can be done
there is a lot of work to be done like
and there is heaps of work out there
but trying to find who’s organising it is sometimes the hard bit
like I think it changes between Mac Rangers Council
NT Housing and the the people I was working for Tanganyira
so if you wanted to do work in town
I definitely recommend do Tanganyira Constructions
they have lots of different facets
but the construction company is predominantly
what’s doing the building in town
but I was out in another remote community
tjigala
and there’s a heap of work that needed to be done in these houses
and it was really hard for me to find out who to engage to do work
who would pay me if I was gonna do work
but I think that if you’re keen in it and the works there
you know
cause they’re kind of building a lot of new houses and developments
and if you’re keen to work out in the desert
in like 44 degree temperature and stuff
yeah yeah but no
it is it’s really awesome and it’s really really beautiful
I mean just the sunrises and the sunsets are magical everyday yeah
II ended up doing a bit of arbors work out there as well
for a local crew trees are us yep
I had my Ute had to go into the shop for what seemed like forever yeah
even the days too long
yeah so I ended up doing a bit of work with them and he
he employed quite a few indigenous local lads as well
and paid everyone really well
and it was a really great community culture obviously
you know
I think that it gets blown up that there’s such a dark side to things
and you know
there’s this this is negativity that comes around you know
some of these happenings in you know
out in out in the outback and all that stuff
and it’s like coming from someone who’s really been there and has
has gone through it and has communicated with
learn some of their language and really taken their culture on board
like what are
what are some of the most positive things that came out of your
you know your experience up there
and do you ever wanna go back
yeah definitely
and I’m still like in really close contact
especially with Auntie Margaret
who I was living with she calls like at least every week
stay really close and I speak to a few of the other people out there
I think
you’re never gonna feel like you’re part of such a rich community
anywhere in the city you know
like
there’s only kind of 15 houses in the town camp that I was living on
and everyone knows everyone and
you know helping each other out day to day with just like
bread and sugar and tea
it was like a massive honour to be accepted into that community
you know I think a lot of the stigma
even goes back to the intervention under Howard
a lot of these like kind of racist laws were implemented
and a lot of those allegations were proven to be untrue
and a lot of it totally you know
fabricated
and they’re still living under the harsh reality of those conditions
you know when you get out there
I mean it just feels like these are the most accepting
genuine beautiful people that I’ve ever lived with
you know yeah
and I think I wasn’t really going in town at night drinking and stuff
like I think it does get a bit rowdy in town late at night
think like all the pubs close at 12:00 or something
and push a lot of drunk people out into the street
but these camp homes were dry
you know there’s not meant to be any alcohol there at all
unfortunately there still is
you know from time to time there’s a bit of a black market
which is yeah
hold another conversation
yeah but
it’s like when there’s a will
there’s a way that’s the other yeah
but it’s like paying something like $250 for a bottle of Jim Beam
on the black market
it’s crazy so there’s like
you know opportunists in town that are able to buy liquor
and then we’ll come out and supply it to people on camp
but like you gotta think about the food that
that takes out of communities mouths
selling that kind of exuberant prices
you know so alcohol is a problem
you know and I don’t encourage it
but I don’t know if like having these like they are racist laws
you know
saying that some people in town can buy alcohol and these people can’t
I mean alcohol affects everyone yeah
you know no matter what colour you are
it has a detrimental effect if you abuse it
you know plenty of uh
Caucasian alcoholics and drug addicts and yeah
people that are yeah
that aren’t involved in the community at all
hundred percent for that real problem
so yeah yeah
it affects everyone so for sure
and I think it’s like
maybe the only place in the world where they had to suspend the Anti
discrimination act to implement these laws
cause these laws still in place they are racist

you know what to someone that’s a to a layman that doesn’t know like
what are the what are the key thing
things that you know
they’ve got in place at the moment that discriminate against them
the purchase of alcohol yeah
the entry to certain clubs and pubs unfortunately
the the casino is open to everyone all the time hahaha
of course it is hahaha the bastards hahaha is there a casino in Alice
there is yeah
what’s the name of the it’s not crown or anything up there
it’ll be I feel like it is a crown maybe it is okay
possibly yeah that’s insane yeah
it is so the one place it shouldn’t be yeah yeah
yeah and that’s kind of open to everyone
gambling’s a bit of a issue for community for sure
it’s really good point you bring up as well
we’re actually working at the moment with some of our mental health
support systems and um
we do a little bit of work with TX
which is this is a conversation starter
and they do this sort of branded t shirts that are a little bit funky
they get some some cool colours and stuff on it
and it’s just to bring awareness to
you know be
the amount of mental health issues
that happen within the construction industry yeah
and that’s also parlay’s into like gambling issues and stuff as well
cause there’s there’s mental health issues within construction
there’s drug and alcohol problems
and then there’s also gambling that’s
that’s a big sort of prevalent thing
um within sort of young tradies for sure
now it’s all on the phone
people are just betting on everything
yes all the time
they are they are
and look
we’re doing whatever we can to try and put some protections in place
for for young chippies and try and lead them down the right path
because gambling can be a real problem
and like I know when I was younger
like we’d we’d go a
a night out would be a night at Crown
or we’d go to the club and people would be putting bets on
on track side you know
yeah yeah
on the horses and you didn’t
you didn’t know that it was a problem
until a couple of your mates have
have lost their whole paycheck and they yeah
stressed and there’s all of these things
but you know
coming back to Melbourne and like you said
you’ve been here for just over 12 months now after being away
is that right yep
so yeah
what are some of the things that you’ve noticed
have shifted within the industry
you know as being someone who’s been in it for a little while now
it’s hard to say because I’m not like
so engaged with as many builders as I was before I went away
for me I
think the stress of the cost of living
is making it
hard for a lot of my clients to do the works that they wanna do
you know
a lot of people are a little bit tighter in the pocket at the moment
like I got a few mates that own homes and
you know I do works here and there for them
but then when the interest rates go up
and the cost of living is so tight
it’s really hard for them to move forward with the projects
that they wanna do so I’ve had to
you know
most of my clients are kind of doctors or lawyers or people with
you know a bit more of a cash flow
yeah yeah
so we found that everywhere that yeah yeah
pockets have tightened up and people are um
people aren’t sort of spending as freely on renovations and
extensions as they once were
and we think that with some of these rate cuts that
you know you
maybe people got a little bit more money in their pocket
but then everything’s still expensive
you know yeah
it’s true it’s like $6 for a bottle of milk and
you know yeah yeah
it’s it’s kind of wild
that’s the other thing like when you were living up in Alice
did you see that even some of the essentials expensive
definitely like
and especially out on the more remote communities
like I I stayed out in Tjigala for quite a few weeks
and there’s just one little store
and yeah things are really expensive
something that I’d say is one of the hardest challenges
is just keeping the power on
so in those remote communities as well as all the town camps
they have to top up power as they go
so in Djibouti I had to actually get a card from this one little shop
like $50 and physically put it in your outlet to get the power going
yeah right
but the second that that runs out
it’s off it’s off yeah
you can put a code in which gives you $5
which might last like you know
in winter just a few hours
yeah yeah
not long yeah
like it’s amazing how quick it would go
and we were like in on Conner Camp
we’re like 15 minutes south of town
and when the power went out
you can’t do it over the phone or over the internet
and when I didn’t have my Ute
I’d have to get a taxi to and from town
there’s no Ubers out there
yeah like $35 each way
so to get the power on that might only last for a week
it would cost me $110 yeah
and like I always did it
cause that was like
part of my way of contributing for them letting me live there
but yeah I couldn’t believe how much money I was spending on the power
like might be 150 bucks for three months in the city
but it’s very hard to get it turned off
you know
you probably have like six months of warning letters kind of thing
yeah yeah
so to think that the second that you run out of money don’t it’s out
and if you don’t have money or don’t have access to transport
or even into Gigalow over Christmas and New Years
that one little store is closed
so I actually got out there on Christmas Day
and a huge proportion of the community didn’t have power
so you got to think all the food in your fridge going off
it’s 44 degrees you can’t use the aircon
it’s really tough yeah
and a bit backwards I think like it feels like you’re in the 80s
you know what I mean yeah
that’s I’ve never heard of that as well
and I sort of done a little bit of research on it
I didn’t know that they had to buy their their power like it yeah
almost like a prepaid exactly like a prepaid phone yeah
you know so yeah
that was pretty full on what about for the carpentry side of things
so you’ve come back
you’ve got your the private jobs and stuff that you’re doing now
you got a few clients that you’re working for and yeah
you know some high end people
have you got any advice for sort of
anyone who might be a little bit further along
cause we’ve got plenty of people who are um
you know maybe wanna step into a mature age apprenticeship
or maybe wanna get into a trade later in life yeah
like what advice have you got for
for them you know
coming from someone like yourself
what my uncle used to say is work hard and be a smart ass hahaha
but I think being out of you know
have a laugh on side
and build a good rapport with the people that you’re working with is
really important and just treat your clients really
really well you know
go above and beyond be completely transparent in your billing
you know I
I show all my receipts and breakdown the hours
and breakdown the tasks on all of my invoices
and just kind of go above and beyond to make them feel safe
like you have to think there’s not many industries
where people kind of just give you the keys to their home
and you just go in and out of their houses and
you know their children and pets are there
it’s actually quite a big
it’s an intimate thing really
it is it really is
which I can’t compare to many other industries
so to make them feel safe and secure and be just yeah
transparent in your billing and do a good job for everyone
if you do if you do your best for everyone
you should be you should be set
you know
cause that word of mouth is the best advertising you’re ever gonna get
yeah and then when people contact you and they’re being recommended
they might still you know get a couple of other quotes
but you can be pretty sure that you’re gonna get the gig you know yeah
that’s right and your um your reputation sort of precedes you as well
yeah yeah
that’s it I think I saw something
there was a guy on Instagram
that’s become pretty popular in the building game
like really humble young bloke
I can’t remember his name at the moment
but he put up a post that like your
like your reputation is your currency
it is and you know they’re they’re doing a good job
and if you do something poorly
or if you stuff over a client or whatever it might be
if something goes sideways and you don’t fix it
you know that word spreads 10 times faster than for sure than
you know that like any good job that you’re doing
hundred percent yeah
like being somebody who works for themselves it’s so important to yeah
do a good job and you know
home those relationships and use your people skills as well
I think yeah people gotta realise that you know
in the building trade you
you do have to have some sort of personality and people skills
for sure communications key that comes from your previous
you know like coming from hospitality background
and having to be in a high intensity
sort of environment where
you know things are happening and
you know did you reckon that helped with your transition into
into construction as well
yeah quite possibly
and you know anytime you spend front of house
you’re obviously dealing with people flat out
but having good communication with your staff
running a kitchen is crucial to how it operates
you know and if people respect you
and you build that rapport where you’re not just biting and not to
cause there’s so many angry chefs
like there’s so many angry builders yeah
you know
and I think that yeah
if you’re hot headed and yelling at your staff in either industry
the second that you turn your back
people are kind of you know
dragging their feet and not really caring
like you wanna show them how much they’re appreciated
give them that respect and it will become mutual
and you build a good environment for the clients and the staff
and I think yeah
happy workers are good workers too
you know like definitely people
clients comment yeah
I can’t believe how much work you get done
and how much you’re having a laugh as well
yeah
if you’re not having a good time
then you know it yeah
you have to have time for everything
that’s it yeah
and it can be brutal work construction
you know like you can be running barrels of sand all day
you can be digging holes digging holes
bringing in massive tile packs
whatever it is it’s back breaking work
running barriers of concrete
you know if you don’t have a bit of banter to get through those hard
a bit of a laugh yeah
I think it’s really important
I guess the one thing I wanna finish up with is
I appreciate you coming in and having a chat and
you know being so honest about and your experience is fantastic
like
I love the story that you’ve got of starting out a little bit older
and sort of doing some of your own stuff
and it’s you can tell that you switched on
you know about how you feel about obviously put in the work as well
like I think you care about the educational side of it as well
it yeah definitely converts
what what do you appreciate about
sort of being able to be a member with Carpentry Australia
and what do you wanna see more of as well
I think initially as I said
getting those updates about lockdown were priceless
you know it was really awesome
and then yeah quite a
quite a few builders that I still have a rapport with
came through leads from from Carpentry Australia
I think that the person that employed me in the centre actually
originally was also a member
oh there you go
yeah and like it kind of they’re not questioning your qualification
you know when people see that you’re a Carpenter Australia member
they know that you’re legit
they know that you guys have
you know
seen the certificate and given the approval just to be a member
so I think that’s awesome
you know what I mean and even the stickers on the back of the Ute
I’ve got work because of those stickers
just like that
hundred percent chippy
on board the first sticker pack driving through Australia
cause I had my tools with me
so quite often
I’d end up swapping some carpentry work for accommodation and food
and a little bit of extra money
quite a few of the little remote towns
and it was often the Carpentry Australia sticker that that um
made them you know
curious as to what I was up to and if I was able to help out
and then yeah
just the job leads have been a massive help over the years for sure
yeah awesome
I’m glad that we’ve been able to
you know provide some help
and you can you can see that it sort of translates
no matter where you are in Australia
that’s that’s yeah for sure yeah
that’s really great organisation
and yeah proud to be a member
love it love it
well thanks for coming in today man
and you know having a chat and I appreciate all your
your honesty and yeah
we’ll definitely get some some really good stuff from this
so awesome thanks man
no worries matey
thank you no thanks brother cheers appreciate it