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SHERIDAN BANNER

“I had a woman who thanked me for three days straight for an enema I gave her to relieve constipation.”

I am a registered nurse working at Southwest Healthcare in Warrnambool.

From an early age, I loved babies, obsessing over how adorable and lovable they were. Perhaps as the youngest child, I felt I missed out on having a baby sibling to care for.

My interest in nursing developed when I went to boarding school as a teenager. The school nurse there was a wonderfully warm lady, a mother figure to all the girls. She inspired me in my later school years to take on that caring role, taking the younger girls under my wing. Continue reading →

EVELYN BLAKE

“They don’t see perioperative nursing as glamorous as maybe critical care, or midwifery.”

I’m a registered nurse, currently working as a Clinical Services Manager in a day surgery.

I went straight into nursing after high school in the 70’s. I thought it would be a job that I would enjoy – and I always have, actually. I did my general training in Dublin, at the Meade hospital, which is gone now.

As a general nurse, you’re looking after patients who are in hospital, in the wards: it’s general duties. From there you can specialize – you can go intensive care, midwifery, acute care, many other specializations. Continue reading →

ARINA ORLOVA

“I believe positive internal energy is a source of confidence and connection with people.”

I am an Esoteric Doctor. My practice is a psychic, healing and metaphysical centre. My aim is to help people be happy and healthy.

It was very hard for me to pick what I wanted to study. I come from Chernogolovka, a science center near Moscow. My parents were chemists,who sent me to an experimental advanced school. I did music, ballet, figure skating, basketball. I liked a lot of subjects and was interested in many things, so I couldn’t quite choose one.

Later on, looking at my karma, I understood why this was. But as a child I was always curious about magic and card readings, possibly because my grand-grandmother was a gypsy and my other grand-grandmother was a Mordovian healer. Continue reading →

JIM MILES

“Then I will walk into town naked, just like him!”

Currently, I am on a sea-wreck hunting sabbatical.

I was born in Geraldton, but in 1980, when I was 9, my family moved to Rabaul, in Papua New Guinea, for my dad’s work. The three years that we lived there had a huge effect on me and formed the foundations of my personality.

My dad loved being on the ocean: we spent a lot of time diving, fishing, snorkelling to see the marine fauna and WWII wrecks. Rabaul was a beautiful colonial town and an adventurous place to grow up, with hills full of tunnels filled with Japanese war debris. In my explorations I’d find live ammunition, bombs; all sorts of things. Continue reading →

IVAN EARL

“There is tremendous security in knowing that as long as you have trees, you will have life on this planet.”

I am an arborist, a photographer and an author.

I was born in Calcutta, India. When I was young, my dad sublet a room in our house to a Russian botanist, also named Ivan. He was a lovely man, and through him I developed an avid interest and love of plants that continues to this day.

The family immigrated to England. By the time I was 14, my passion for plants had grown. In 1962 I applied as an apprentice gardener at Hampton Court Palace.

It was a beautiful place to work. However, there I ran into some trouble. Through being so interested in all things horticultural, I asked many questions. I didn’t realize that my co-workers didn’t have all the answers – possibly to their embarrassment.

As a result, I was labelled a time-waster and punished with tasks like Continue reading →

DAVID SEARLE

“As a born artist or a maker, you will become a bitter person if you don’t become who you are.”

I co-direct the Melbourne School of Guitar Making, and have my own practice building electric and bass guitars.

Although I built my first guitar in high school, my original profession was as a jeweller.

I always knew that I wanted to do something to do with the arts and crafts, so when I saw the Gold & Silversmithing course at RMIT in a year 12 university guide, it seemed like the right fit. Continue reading →

JUSTINE BUHRMANN

“The most successful people in recruitment are sales people who are hungry for success.”

I am the Director of Gough Recruitment, specializing in Property and Real Estate Recruitment.

I loved school and did well, but wasn’t always 100% sure what I wanted to do. I went to university, but wasn’t really passionate about it, so at that point in my life I went and found a job.

Back in those days, you looked for jobs in the newspaper. I saw an ad for Real Estate Receptionist in The Age, and for the next five years I worked my way up through the Real Estate industry. Continue reading →

KRISTINE TUAZON

“You have to begin with an end in mind.”

I run my company Good People HR specializing in recruitment and executive search.

From an early age, I had the drive to work and achieve. Possibly this stemmed from the fact that my parents arrived here from the Philippines when I was five and had to work hard to give me and my siblings a better life.

So I always saw our lives in Australia as an opportunity to work that could not be wasted. In school, I would make friendship bracelets and then sell them for a dollar a piece. The second I turned 14, I went out and got a job in a fruit shop. Continue reading →

EMILY FLETCHER

“An awareness of the need for change is the first step to actual change.”

I’m on my second career as a Pilates Practitioner – my first career was in logistics.

I ended up at uni when I was 22 or 23. Between that and high school I did all sorts of odd jobs: office admin work, catering, restaurants. I went to uni because I wanted to do something more meaningful, so I enrolled in an Arts degree with a double major in linguistics and Japanese, with a bit of French thrown in.

Once at university however, I realized it was a bit impractical. It seemed like there weren’t many jobs where my degree would lead me, and I lost my way a bit. Besides, I was struggling with the university life, balancing working and studying. Continue reading →

JANE RULJANCICH

“You need to be resilient enough to stand up for what you know you’re worth”

I’m a jewellery designer, maker and teacher; I run my own business called Jane Ruljancich Jewellery.

I knew I wanted to do something creative early on, but didn’t know what. I thought perhaps interior design would suit me, but after a year doing a degree at RMIT, I realized it wasn’t for me. I dropped out and decided to travel the world.

During my travels, I worked as a councilor for Camp America – the working holiday program allowed me to extend my overseas stay, and was a lot of fun. Completely by chance, I was made a craft instructor at the camp. I loved it: I found a real joy in making things with my hands. One of my friends there was studying ceramics, and it was a revelation to find out you could actually study a craft as a degree. Continue reading →

What I Did / What I Do

Personal experience stories focusing on work and career.