Latest / She's On The Money / In Conversation: Jessica Quinn

Transcript

In Conversation: Jessica Quinn · She's On The Money

0:00
Speaker 1: Just before we head into today's episode, we'd like to
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Speaker 1: acknowledge and pay respect to Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait
0:06
Speaker 1: Islander peoples. They're the traditional custodians of the lands, the
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Speaker 1: waterways and the skies all across Australia. We thank you
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Speaker 1: for sharing and for caring for the land on which
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Speaker 1: we are able to learn. We pay respects to elders
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Speaker 1: past and present, and we share our friendship and our kindness.
0:22
Speaker 2: She's on the Money, She's on the Money.
0:45
Speaker 3: Hello, and welcome to She's on the Money, the podcast
0:48
Speaker 3: for millennials who want financial freedom. Welcome back to our
0:51
Speaker 3: International Women's Week celebration. We're spending our week talking to
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Speaker 3: women who have a wealth of insight and deep perspective
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Speaker 3: on this year's theme, which is breaking the Bias Jess.
1:02
Speaker 1: We have been beyond excited to have these deeper conversations
1:06
Speaker 1: instead of our regular scheduled episodes that really touch on
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Speaker 1: the values of our She's on the Money community, because
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Speaker 1: She's on the Money community isn't unique just because we
1:15
Speaker 1: talk about money. It's really special because we openly share
1:18
Speaker 1: our stories and our vulnerabilities, We share our hopes, we
1:21
Speaker 1: share our dreams and we love that our community are
1:24
Speaker 1: just as open as we are.
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Speaker 4: So from my perspective, I would say that we always
1:28
Speaker 4: have each other's.
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Speaker 3: Backs, absolutely, and we're so thrilled to be joined today
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Speaker 3: by women who is absolutely acknowledging vulnerability, facing fears and
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Speaker 3: smashing it along the way. We have model and body
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Speaker 3: positive advocate Jess Quinn. Welcome to the show.
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Speaker 5: Thank you, thanks for having me. What an honor.
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Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, I am genuinely so excited to have you.
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Speaker 1: We've obviously had a couple of chats historically and when
1:51
Speaker 1: we were talking about or when we're going through the
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Speaker 1: brainstorming session of like who are we going to bring
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Speaker 1: to our community this week? You were friend of mine
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Speaker 1: for me and I was just sitting in the room
2:01
Speaker 1: and I was like, Jess Quinn, we have to get
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Speaker 1: her on the show. I am obsessed. So welcome to
2:05
Speaker 1: the show. This is mainly for me.
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Speaker 5: I love that. I love that.
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Speaker 6: I'm very honored to be here, especially on International Woman's Week.
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Speaker 1: As you say, we're reshaping it. We've just decided to
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Speaker 1: do whatever we would like. Love that before we get
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Speaker 1: into our questions, I have a whole heap of questions
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Speaker 1: that we have written down that we would love to
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Speaker 1: ask you about your illness and your childhood, and then
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Speaker 1: about your mindset and determination. But before we get there,
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Speaker 1: you and I were having a conversation before we started
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Speaker 1: the podcast off air, and I asked, how comfortable are
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Speaker 1: you with the term differently abled, disabled or disabled? And
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Speaker 1: how should I be referring to that? And our producer
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Speaker 1: Anna Lisa, who is just hanging out off screen or
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Speaker 1: off air at the moment, said this would be a
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Speaker 1: really good conversation to be having on the show. So, Jess,
2:54
Speaker 1: can you actually talk us through that conversation that we
2:57
Speaker 1: just had, because it was genuinely enlightening for us to
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Speaker 1: I guess hear from you exactly how you like to
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Speaker 1: be referred to.
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Speaker 6: Yeah, for sure, And the first thing I would say
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Speaker 6: is thank you for asking. I think that's the best
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Speaker 6: thing anyone can do in that kind of situation, whether
3:12
Speaker 6: it's whether you're talking to someone with a disability or
3:15
Speaker 6: someone who is different from you or has different lived experience.
3:18
Speaker 6: I think that's the best thing we can do, is
3:20
Speaker 6: just ask. And I think for a lot of people
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Speaker 6: that can be a little bit scary and intimidating, and
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Speaker 6: I don't really know why, as we discussed off air,
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Speaker 6: why that is such a thing, because it is the
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Speaker 6: most respectful thing is to just ask, because we don't
3:32
Speaker 6: know each other's lived experiences.
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Speaker 5: So for me, I don't personally have a preference.
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Speaker 6: I often say differently able to myself, but that's just
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Speaker 6: because I'm in a I guess a bigger conversation around
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Speaker 6: my advocacy around normalizing being different, and I have this
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Speaker 6: mindset that you know, what makes me disabled when every
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Speaker 6: single person on the planet has something that is different
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Speaker 6: about them. So therefore, where does the line sit with
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Speaker 6: disabled in that sense? Because there's things that I can
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Speaker 6: do that are better than many abled body people and
4:03
Speaker 6: vice versa. So I guess that's the reason I've adapted
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Speaker 6: to that differently abled is just because of the conversations
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Speaker 6: I often have. But I do often say disabled her
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Speaker 6: about my body, and it just depends who I'm talking
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Speaker 6: to and what kind of comes to my mind in
4:17
Speaker 6: the moment, to be truly honest, but it's such an
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Speaker 6: important conversation and something about disabilities or people in differently
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Speaker 6: abled bodies, if you like, is there, I think, And
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Speaker 6: I talked about this on my TikTok recently because someone said, oh,
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Speaker 6: you should follow a girl called Footlist Joe. She's an amputee,
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Speaker 6: speaks about similar things that I speak about. You guys
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Speaker 6: will be best friends, And I was like, just because
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Speaker 6: we bother missing your leg doesn't automatally mean that we're
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Speaker 6: best friends or that we know each other, whereas everyone
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Speaker 6: assumes that. But people with disabilities or differently abled bodies,
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Speaker 6: like I have no idea what it's like to be
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Speaker 6: a double amputee. I have no idea what it's even
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Speaker 6: like to be an amputee who's got a different form
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Speaker 6: of amputation from me.
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Speaker 5: Or what it's like to be hard of hearing.
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Speaker 6: You know, there's so many different layers of disabilities, which
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Speaker 6: I think is an important part of the conversation.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, that's basically like someone saying, Hey, yes, you're blonde,
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Speaker 1: I have another blonde friend.
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Speaker 4: You'd get along so well. Like it just sounds a bit.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, that feels really ridiculous that someone would say that,
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Speaker 1: But I can also see if you don't have an
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Speaker 1: understanding of that, they probably just put those two things
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Speaker 1: together and said, Okay, they have a shared lived experience.
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Speaker 1: Maybe they'll understand each other, which I mean kind of sweet,
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Speaker 1: but your shared lived experience of being blonde, like.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, I can't relate to someone else.
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Speaker 4: It's so funny, isn't Jess.
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Speaker 1: While we're talking about it, what do you think is
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Speaker 1: missing in the public domain about disability?
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Speaker 5: Wow?
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Speaker 7: So many things, I think just being open to the conversation,
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Speaker 7: I think we are getting there.
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Speaker 5: But something I'm really.
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Speaker 6: Passionate about is and I could talk about this for
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Speaker 6: the whole podcast episode, but is accessibility. And I think
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Speaker 6: what many people who have spent most of their life
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Speaker 6: or all of their life so far and an abled
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Speaker 6: body don't understand is that the world is made for them.
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Speaker 6: The world has been built with them in mind, and
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Speaker 6: anyone with a disability is an afterthought. And for me,
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Speaker 6: it's different because I feel very independent in my disability
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Speaker 6: because I am able to get around. I don't need
6:16
Speaker 6: too many assistive devices.
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Speaker 5: Or people helping me.
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Speaker 6: But I have many a friends who are in situations
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Speaker 6: where they need that, and so it's open my eyes
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Speaker 6: to realizing. You know, I go to a cafe and
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Speaker 6: I look around it and I'm like my friend in
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Speaker 6: a wheelchair literally could not get into this cafe, and
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Speaker 6: that's just something that we don't have a conversation around enough,
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Speaker 6: except maybe in the political space or people are talking
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Speaker 6: about it, but not as.
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Speaker 5: Often as I think we need to be. So that's
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Speaker 5: something that stands out to me.
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Speaker 6: But I think the mission that I'm on is just
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Speaker 6: normalizing and that's really important to me because you know,
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Speaker 6: for most of my childhood, people with disabilities were painted
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Speaker 6: in a way. You know, you'd see an ad on
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Speaker 6: TV and it was someone who had been in a
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Speaker 6: car crash and they end up in a wheelchair and
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Speaker 6: their life is sad, and they're painted in this way.
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Speaker 6: You know, the minute a person with a disability comes
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Speaker 6: on TV, the music drops and it's all sad, and
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Speaker 6: then someone in an able body pops on for whatever
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Speaker 6: reason and their character and it's all uplifted and happy.
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Speaker 5: And it's just I guess, becoming aware of those narratives.
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Speaker 6: That we are placing on people without it actually being
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Speaker 6: accurate to the lives they're living. You know, everyone that
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Speaker 6: I know in a body that is differently abled is
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Speaker 6: living a very happy, wholesome life.
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Speaker 5: And yes they have a lot of struggles, but often
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Speaker 5: because they've had those struggles.
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Speaker 6: They have a great perspective, so I think that we
7:32
Speaker 6: really need to continue to focus on changing that narrative
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Speaker 6: about what it actually means to live in a differently
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Speaker 6: abled body.
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Speaker 1: And Jess for those in the She's on the Money
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Speaker 1: community that are listening along and going, look this Jess
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Speaker 1: girl sounds incredible, But I haven't met her before.
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Speaker 4: Why is differently able to apply to you?
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Speaker 5: Like?
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Speaker 1: What is your story? How does this apply to you
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Speaker 1: in your situation?
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Speaker 5: Yeah, for sure. I was eight when I was diagnosed
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Speaker 5: with cancer.
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Speaker 6: So I lived the first eight years of my life
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Speaker 6: and a really I guess I was an able body
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Speaker 6: and I've really lived that to my advantage.
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Speaker 5: I was a really athletic, outgoing kid.
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Speaker 6: And then just before my ninth birthday, I broke my
8:12
Speaker 6: fema bon and I ended up at.
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Speaker 5: The hospital and eventually they found out that I had an.
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Speaker 6: Osteosarcoma, and I went through about nine months of chemotherapy
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Speaker 6: and the decision was made ultimately to amputate my legs.
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Speaker 5: So I am an amputee.
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Speaker 7: I had a very unusual form of amputation called rotation plustig,
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Speaker 7: which is an important part of my story because it
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Speaker 7: differs from so many other experiences.
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Speaker 5: I won't go into detail of that.
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Speaker 7: I would recommend the listener's Google because it's really hard
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Speaker 7: to wrap your head around.
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Speaker 1: You can absolutely go on Jess's Instagram as well. You
8:43
Speaker 1: have done a very good job of explaining it, and
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Speaker 1: to me, it's mind blowing, Like it is so cool
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Speaker 1: that science and medicine have come together to facilitate this,
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Speaker 1: Like it's epic.
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Speaker 5: It's amazing. I often think, I'm like, I would love
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Speaker 5: to be a fly on.
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Speaker 6: The wall in the conversation when some doctors and surgeons
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Speaker 6: were sitting around in a boardroom and decided.
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Speaker 5: To give this a go, Like how does that even happen?
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Speaker 6: But yeah, so I'm an amputee and I've now been
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Speaker 6: an appy two for twenty years, so a huge portion
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Speaker 6: of my life.
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Speaker 1: Wow, that is such a significant portion of your life.
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Speaker 1: But as you said before, I was eight when I
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Speaker 1: was diagnosed, and you know, I broke my leg and
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Speaker 1: I was so active before. Then do you mourn that
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Speaker 1: time when you were a child that you had such
9:26
Speaker 1: freedom or is that something that you go, No, that's
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Speaker 1: not me anymore. It's a completely different narrative now.
9:31
Speaker 5: A bit of both.
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Speaker 6: I definitely went through a huge phase of mourning and
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Speaker 6: grief and all of the emotions that are around that
9:40
Speaker 6: when I was youngest, particularly through my teenage years, and
9:43
Speaker 6: then now I really struggle to relate to that person
9:47
Speaker 6: because it's been twenty years and I only spent eight
9:49
Speaker 6: years in enabled bodies, so I don't even know what
9:51
Speaker 6: it feels like to get out of bed and have
9:53
Speaker 6: four feet touched the floor, So I really struggle to
9:56
Speaker 6: relate to that. Of course, I have my moments of envy,
10:00
Speaker 6: you know, mostly when I see, you know, other people
10:03
Speaker 6: living in their abled bodies and they're going for a
10:05
Speaker 6: run so freely. Like that's when I probably feel those
10:07
Speaker 6: emotions and not all the time, you know, like all
10:10
Speaker 6: of us, we have all ups and downs. But I
10:12
Speaker 6: think I don't fully relate to that person than it
10:15
Speaker 6: was when I was younger because it just feels so
10:17
Speaker 6: far away.
10:18
Speaker 3: I guess I feel like being a kid is hard
10:22
Speaker 3: enough as it is, right Like childhood and being a
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Speaker 3: teenager and trying to fit in is so challenging already
10:28
Speaker 3: when you're in an abled body, and then for you
10:30
Speaker 3: you're going through the extreme, you know, KEEPO is so
10:33
Speaker 3: intense as it is, and then learning to walk in
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Speaker 3: your new body and learning to function with a completely
10:39
Speaker 3: different set of parameters.
10:41
Speaker 4: How did that feel for you?
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Speaker 6: Yeah, it was. It was huge, I think. You know,
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Speaker 6: I was really quickly wrapped up in this.
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Speaker 5: World that I didn't even know existed, and I was
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Speaker 5: living it.
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Speaker 7: You know, I was going through chemotherapy, as you've referred to,
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Speaker 7: and I was experiencing things that are just absolutely heartbreaking.
11:00
Speaker 3: You know.
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Speaker 6: I would make friends in the hospital, only to come
11:02
Speaker 6: to the hospital the next day and find out my
11:03
Speaker 6: friends are no longer there.
11:05
Speaker 5: And you know, there's the things that no eight year
11:07
Speaker 5: old should have to go through.
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Speaker 6: And my life was really tested very My cancel was
11:12
Speaker 6: really aggressive and what I went through, so I was
11:15
Speaker 6: living in this world really quickly, and so each days,
11:19
Speaker 6: each phase I went through.
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Speaker 5: You know, losing my leg and all of that.
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Speaker 6: As much as it was really hard, it was also
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Speaker 6: just the world that I was now living in and
11:26
Speaker 6: then adapting to it afterwards. It was kind of the
11:29
Speaker 6: opposite of that, because I'd been living in this really
11:32
Speaker 6: horrible environment for so long and we didn't know if
11:35
Speaker 6: I would come out of it. To then be able
11:37
Speaker 6: to come out of it, everything was just amazing.
11:39
Speaker 8: You know.
11:39
Speaker 6: I was just stoked to be back at birthday parties.
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Speaker 6: I was just stoked to be able to go to school,
11:43
Speaker 6: you know.
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Speaker 5: So there wasn't that, I guess fair, or any thoughts
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Speaker 5: of the future.
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Speaker 6: On how it would impact my life because I was
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Speaker 6: so young a naive, which is something I'm really grateful for.
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Speaker 6: I don't know how people go through it in an
11:57
Speaker 6: age when they have an understanding of the future and
12:00
Speaker 6: they have an understanding affair and all of that kind
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Speaker 6: of stuff.
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Speaker 5: For me, I'm really lucky that I was so young.
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Speaker 5: But yeah, there was a huge adaptation process.
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Speaker 7: And then I became a teenager and we all struggle
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Speaker 7: with our bodies, and I had, I guess, a double.
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Speaker 1: Whammy as somebody who also struggled as a teenager, like
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Speaker 1: you definitely had the double whammy. Like I was just
12:21
Speaker 1: self conscious. I can't imagine going through a situation where
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Speaker 1: you're already just so self conscious about how you look
12:27
Speaker 1: and how other people look, to then go, ah, there's
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Speaker 1: this other thing overlaid over the top of it that's
12:33
Speaker 1: making me feel very different to other people. How when
12:37
Speaker 1: it comes to mindset, have you always had the positive
12:40
Speaker 1: mindset that I see on TikTok and Instagram and online
12:44
Speaker 1: and on socials, like, is that who you've always been?
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Speaker 5: Definitely.
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Speaker 6: I remember nurses in the hospital talking to my parents
12:50
Speaker 6: about my attitude, and I was just the happiest, bubbliest kid,
12:54
Speaker 6: and I think, you know, it's the kind of nature
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Speaker 6: nurture conversation.
12:57
Speaker 5: I think.
12:57
Speaker 6: I'm just I'm that way because of what I was
13:00
Speaker 6: surrounded by and because of the support I had and
13:02
Speaker 6: all of that kind of stuff, and it was.
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Speaker 5: Just in me. Whereas I'm not going to say I've
13:06
Speaker 5: been like that my whole life.
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Speaker 6: I really struggled through my teenage years and I've really
13:10
Speaker 6: struggled in the last couple of years again with some
13:12
Speaker 6: stuff that I've been through, And so I don't want
13:14
Speaker 6: to paint the picture that I'm positive poly one hundred
13:17
Speaker 6: percent of the time, because my situation and other situations
13:20
Speaker 6: that arise really do get me down. But I naturally
13:23
Speaker 6: have a outlook on life that I read a quote
13:26
Speaker 6: once and it doesn't matter if there's water, if the
13:28
Speaker 6: glass is half full or half empty.
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Speaker 5: All that matter is that there's water in the glass.
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Speaker 6: And that's kind of how I've looked at life, I guess,
13:35
Speaker 6: but yeah, I have my days, as we all.
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Speaker 3: Do, one hundred percent. And I feel like people like you,
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Speaker 3: who we spoke about just before, around how the picture
13:43
Speaker 3: is painted of people who are differently abled in traditional
13:46
Speaker 3: media and historically has been done that way. I feel
13:49
Speaker 3: like having people like you, and there are so many
13:51
Speaker 3: others in this space as well, really showing your truth
13:55
Speaker 3: and your journey. And you know, there are bad days,
13:58
Speaker 3: and everybody has bad days, and just because your experience
14:01
Speaker 3: is maybe different from mine doesn't mean that you do.
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Speaker 4: Need to be positive all of the time.
14:05
Speaker 3: I think there's so much power in publicly sharing that
14:08
Speaker 3: journey so that people can have a better understanding.
14:12
Speaker 4: At what point did you realize?
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Speaker 3: I guess that you had the power to make that
14:16
Speaker 3: impact because you've got a pretty decent following online. Now
14:19
Speaker 3: you've absolutely touched the lives of so many people, and
14:23
Speaker 3: I have no doubt that there are many little girls
14:25
Speaker 3: out there going through experiences similar to yours that look
14:28
Speaker 3: in you go oh my gosh, like it's okay, Like
14:31
Speaker 3: there's someone like me out there, and being able to
14:34
Speaker 3: identify with someone publicly so important. And that's why representation
14:38
Speaker 3: absolutely needs to continue to shift. Did you set out
14:42
Speaker 3: with the intention to be that person or was it
14:44
Speaker 3: kind of just an organic thing that happened.
14:47
Speaker 5: It was definitely organic in terms of social media and
14:50
Speaker 5: all that kind of stuff.
14:51
Speaker 6: I had a photo shoop that went viral of the
14:53
Speaker 6: night and just found myself with this audience that for
14:56
Speaker 6: a long time I didn't really know.
14:57
Speaker 5: What to do with.
14:58
Speaker 6: But in saying that and without sounding to woo woo,
15:02
Speaker 6: I always had this feeling inside of me that I
15:05
Speaker 6: was going to use my story in some kind of way.
15:07
Speaker 5: I just didn't know what that looked like.
15:09
Speaker 6: And then I fell into the space of social media,
15:11
Speaker 6: and it's been a challenge at the best of times,
15:15
Speaker 6: as social media is, but it has given me this
15:17
Speaker 6: platform where I can reach people, and I can share
15:21
Speaker 6: my story and I can live my truth in the
15:23
Speaker 6: hopes of being, as you say, that person that we
15:26
Speaker 6: don't see enough out there. So yeah, a bit of both,
15:29
Speaker 6: But definitely I didn't imagine ever becoming what it has become.
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Speaker 6: And I just knew that if I could just tell
15:35
Speaker 6: my story, hopefully I could reach one person. And I'm
15:38
Speaker 6: just really lucky that I've been able to reach more
15:40
Speaker 6: than one.
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Speaker 1: I guess, my friend at that does not sound woo
15:43
Speaker 1: woo at all, Like I haven't even gone through the
15:47
Speaker 1: types of experiences that you have. And when it comes
15:50
Speaker 1: to financial literacy, and you know, now, I feel like
15:54
Speaker 1: I've found my quote calling and this feels really good
15:57
Speaker 1: and it nourishes everything I do. I always knew that
16:00
Speaker 1: I wanted to do something something impacted others. I wasn't
16:03
Speaker 1: sure how I was going to do that. I wasn't
16:06
Speaker 1: sure what that looked like. And I guess that's why
16:09
Speaker 1: I fell into psychology, and I was like, you can
16:12
Speaker 1: impact people in psychology. Didn't work out for me, that's
16:15
Speaker 1: absolutely fine, But I feel like some people just have
16:19
Speaker 1: this underlying sense of no, I don't know what it's
16:22
Speaker 1: going to be, but it's going to be some kind
16:24
Speaker 1: of advocacy. It's going to be some kind of impact,
16:28
Speaker 1: because that's where I get my joy from. How did
16:31
Speaker 1: you get the confidence to step into this advocacy space.
16:35
Speaker 1: It's not something that you know a lot of people
16:38
Speaker 1: would be confident to do. You're opening yourself up to
16:41
Speaker 1: a lot of criticism. A lot of people online aren't
16:45
Speaker 1: as kind as I believe they should be. But how
16:48
Speaker 1: did you take those first few steps towards becoming this
16:51
Speaker 1: advocate that you are now.
16:52
Speaker 6: I think because I fell into the space in a
16:57
Speaker 6: space I didn't understand completely. I never really associated the
17:00
Speaker 6: number of followers with actual people.
17:03
Speaker 9: I just have the confidence to kind of just yell
17:05
Speaker 9: my life away, and I was just telling my truth,
17:09
Speaker 9: you know, I was just telling my story, whether it
17:11
Speaker 9: would be you know, I was at the gym that day,
17:13
Speaker 9: and I didn't really realize when I first started that
17:15
Speaker 9: I was inspiring other people because I was just living
17:17
Speaker 9: my life.
17:18
Speaker 6: And I guess there is a whole other conversation we
17:21
Speaker 6: could have on inspiration porn around that, because it is
17:23
Speaker 6: a thing. But I think because of my unique surgery
17:27
Speaker 6: that I went through as a kid, I've always been
17:30
Speaker 6: put in scenarios where I have had to talk about
17:33
Speaker 6: it and I have had to speak up because I've
17:35
Speaker 6: kind of been a guinea perg if you like.
17:37
Speaker 5: And you know, as a kid.
17:38
Speaker 6: I was going to conventioning things with my surgeon and
17:41
Speaker 6: just showing my leg or I would have an appointment
17:43
Speaker 6: and I would have fifteen doctors in the room, not
17:45
Speaker 6: just one, because I was a medical rarity, if you like.
17:48
Speaker 6: So I've kind of always been in the space where
17:51
Speaker 6: I guess my life has always been shared with other people,
17:54
Speaker 6: and because of.
17:55
Speaker 5: That, I think I just feel comfortable.
17:57
Speaker 6: And I think because I went through such a hard
17:59
Speaker 6: time as a teenager becoming comfortable in my skin.
18:02
Speaker 5: I am now just confident enough to share that with others.
18:05
Speaker 1: I guess that's a weight to carry, though at the
18:08
Speaker 1: same time as you know, going, oh, I can share this,
18:12
Speaker 1: like that could be a burden.
18:14
Speaker 5: Do you ever.
18:15
Speaker 1: Find that, you know, sharing so much of your life
18:18
Speaker 1: and sharing so much of yourself which is arguably incredibly personal, Like,
18:23
Speaker 1: do you find that that is a burden sometimes or
18:26
Speaker 1: does it feel too heavy?
18:27
Speaker 6: Yeah, I'm gonna be honest, and I've probably not talked
18:30
Speaker 6: about this a lot recently, but I am in a
18:32
Speaker 6: space at the moment where it's really heavy, and I
18:36
Speaker 6: want to be honest because I know she's on the
18:37
Speaker 6: money is a really safe space, and I think it's
18:39
Speaker 6: important we talk about this because you know, I'm on
18:42
Speaker 6: tiktop now and I am seeing every second postacy is
18:45
Speaker 6: hard to become an influencer. Look at my PR package.
18:47
Speaker 6: Just look at this and really glorifying the space, which, yes,
18:50
Speaker 6: there are so many perks of it, but the weight
18:53
Speaker 6: that you carry being in the public or if you're
18:56
Speaker 6: an advocate, sharing something that is really heavy, something that
18:59
Speaker 6: isn't just unique to you, is a real big burden,
19:03
Speaker 6: and especially if it's something personal, because you know, I
19:07
Speaker 6: struggle to separate. I guess my public life with my
19:10
Speaker 6: private life, and I am really private online, which some
19:13
Speaker 6: people who followed.
19:14
Speaker 5: Me will be like, no, you're not. But I don't
19:15
Speaker 5: share many.
19:16
Speaker 6: Things outside of my leg and those experiences. You know,
19:19
Speaker 6: I'm not sharing my family or my partner. I'm really
19:21
Speaker 6: specific on my advocacy. But even then, it's really hard
19:25
Speaker 6: for it to not be heavy, because you know, I
19:28
Speaker 6: see a therapist because I think it's really important to
19:30
Speaker 6: do so, and you know, I have all of these
19:32
Speaker 6: conversations where I'm constantly actually reliving the trauma that I
19:36
Speaker 6: went through as a kid. And I've been in this
19:38
Speaker 6: space for probably six years now, in the social media space,
19:41
Speaker 6: and it's only something I'm just realizing now that.
19:44
Speaker 5: You know, some days I got to posset something and
19:46
Speaker 5: I'm like, you know.
19:47
Speaker 6: What, I don't I actually don't need to talk about
19:49
Speaker 6: this today. It's it's also MySpace, and I get to
19:51
Speaker 6: set those boundaries, which is really important, but when you
19:55
Speaker 6: really want to keep advocating, it's really hard to stop.
19:59
Speaker 6: And you know, I had a situation last night where
20:02
Speaker 6: I spoke out about something that is really important to
20:05
Speaker 6: me and ninety five percent of the people, actually ninety
20:07
Speaker 6: nine percent of the people came back in a really
20:09
Speaker 6: positive manner except for one. And that one caused me
20:11
Speaker 6: so much anxiety and made me question everything that I'm doing.
20:16
Speaker 5: Which is ridiculous because we all know not to worry
20:19
Speaker 5: about the one. There's always one.
20:21
Speaker 1: But so easy to tell a friend, right, Like if
20:24
Speaker 1: you and I had this conversation, and I'm very very similar.
20:27
Speaker 1: I struggle a lot with the burden that visibility gives us.
20:30
Speaker 1: And I mean, you've got it completely different to me,
20:33
Speaker 1: but in this influencer space, like I never set out
20:36
Speaker 1: to be an influencer, and it can be really heavy
20:39
Speaker 1: when people trust you, and I get that, and I'm
20:42
Speaker 1: so grateful to have that level of trust, especially with
20:45
Speaker 1: my community, but that means they often open up in
20:48
Speaker 1: a way that you wouldn't usually to someone online. And
20:52
Speaker 1: you know, for me, especially on TikTok, where people are
20:55
Speaker 1: so nasty, they are nasty pasties and it is not fun.
20:59
Speaker 1: It's so easy to say to a friend, Oh, you
21:01
Speaker 1: just don't care about the haters, But then lady, you're like,
21:04
Speaker 1: oh my gosh, are they right? Like they're crazy, but
21:07
Speaker 1: are they right? And it's it's awful, Like it's an
21:10
Speaker 1: awful feeling to have where one person, even though you're
21:13
Speaker 1: saying ninety nine others, was so positive and so supportive.
21:17
Speaker 1: It's funny how even one small comment can knock you
21:21
Speaker 1: off your perch completely totally.
21:23
Speaker 5: And I related that so much.
21:25
Speaker 6: And if I relate to what you're saying about TikTok,
21:27
Speaker 6: because I knew on that and I have never received
21:29
Speaker 6: so many discusting comments in my life. And I think,
21:32
Speaker 6: especially being someone in a different body, people just think
21:34
Speaker 6: they can comment.
21:35
Speaker 5: As much as they like on that.
21:37
Speaker 6: But I also think with the social media conversation, and
21:40
Speaker 6: it's something that I used to talk about in the
21:42
Speaker 6: way to encourage others to not get.
21:43
Speaker 5: Caught up in it.
21:44
Speaker 6: But something I've realized that influences or my experience I
21:47
Speaker 6: have gotten caught up in is the is the instant gratification.
21:51
Speaker 6: Because you know, I'm telling my story and let's put
21:54
Speaker 6: two posts next to each other, and.
21:56
Speaker 8: One talking about my lifestyle and one talking about my leg.
21:58
Speaker 8: The one about my leg does the times better? And
22:01
Speaker 8: so therefore, how do I not attach my worth to
22:03
Speaker 8: my story so deeply when I'm getting that validation. And
22:07
Speaker 8: that's something that I'm working through on my own, because
22:10
Speaker 8: you know, instant gratification.
22:11
Speaker 6: Is something that I try to speak about in a
22:14
Speaker 6: way that we shouldn't get caught up in. But when
22:16
Speaker 6: it's your job and you know your KPI, if you like,
22:20
Speaker 6: is your story and it's something so raw about yourself,
22:22
Speaker 6: how do you then detach yourself from that being the
22:25
Speaker 6: only part of your identity. And that's something that I
22:27
Speaker 6: think is also really important in the social media space.
22:31
Speaker 1: And I find that so interesting more on a personal
22:34
Speaker 1: level because I obviously have discovered you because of your advocacy,
22:38
Speaker 1: but I now follow you because of your personality. Like
22:41
Speaker 1: to me, we sat down as a team and we're
22:43
Speaker 1: having this conversation about you know, diversity and bringing diverse
22:47
Speaker 1: people to the table and people who are advocating, and
22:51
Speaker 1: you came up, but you only came up after we
22:53
Speaker 1: were talking about advocates. I'm like, oh, Jess as an advocate,
22:56
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, Oh my God, sh'd be perfect because.
22:59
Speaker 4: It was isn't the first thing I thought of.
23:01
Speaker 1: But I can see how if people aren't as involved
23:05
Speaker 1: in your personal life and they're may be just really
23:07
Speaker 1: pervy and don't understand being differently abled and don't understand
23:11
Speaker 1: how that could work. How I guess the draw card
23:14
Speaker 1: is very different to who you are as a person.
23:17
Speaker 1: And to me, like the important part is who you
23:19
Speaker 1: are as a person, but that's not always what people view.
23:23
Speaker 5: Totally undred percent.
23:25
Speaker 7: And I think especially when I'm trying to keep my
23:27
Speaker 7: private life reasonably separate, you know, if I share everything
23:30
Speaker 7: on social media, there'd be parts of my life that
23:32
Speaker 7: other people link with, whether it's the effect that I
23:34
Speaker 7: like skincare or whatever it might be, you know, Whereas
23:36
Speaker 7: because I just share my advocacy, it's hard to not
23:38
Speaker 7: let that become the whole part of my identity.
23:42
Speaker 1: Jess, I am equally as obsessed with skincare, but it
23:45
Speaker 1: turns out that's not what everybody wants to see on
23:48
Speaker 1: social media. So let's go to a break, because we
23:50
Speaker 1: have a number of questions for you about the beauty
23:53
Speaker 1: industry and bias and unconscious bias and how that impacts you.
23:56
Speaker 1: So don't go anywhere. We will be right back.
23:59
Speaker 3: And we're back and talking to Jess Quinn, who is
24:01
Speaker 3: a model, an author, body positivity advocate, all around outstanding gal.
24:06
Speaker 3: But we were chatting just before about how social media
24:10
Speaker 3: people can be really mean and they forget that there's
24:12
Speaker 3: a person sitting behind that screen reading their comments. And
24:16
Speaker 3: I think as a woman, there are certain standards that
24:20
Speaker 3: we are held to, particularly when it comes to beauty
24:23
Speaker 3: or you know, what the ideal woman looks like, that
24:27
Speaker 3: have existed for so long, and now we're in a
24:30
Speaker 3: place where people like you are really working to break
24:33
Speaker 3: that bias and show that beauty comes in all different
24:36
Speaker 3: shapes and different sizes. But let's talk about difference and
24:40
Speaker 3: otherness in this industry. Because you're saying you love skincare,
24:43
Speaker 3: and you know the influencer the industry really leans into
24:45
Speaker 3: that side of things. What has your experience been like
24:48
Speaker 3: in that space? Have people and brands and businesses always
24:52
Speaker 3: been really open and accepting to you? Is that something
24:55
Speaker 3: that you really had to carve away at I've.
24:58
Speaker 6: Been really lucky to be really ecc in this space,
25:01
Speaker 6: and why that is, I'm not sure, but I'm very
25:04
Speaker 6: grateful for that, I think. You know, I also live
25:07
Speaker 6: in New Zealand, which is a lot smaller. Therefore, you know,
25:10
Speaker 6: there is not as many people in this space. So
25:13
Speaker 6: I think that has been, I guess, an advantage that
25:16
Speaker 6: I can't ignore, but I think it's definitely.
25:19
Speaker 5: Been a challenge.
25:20
Speaker 7: You know, I have a modeling agency in America that
25:22
Speaker 7: I clearly haven't worked with friend all years because you
25:25
Speaker 7: know starting And I also have one in Australia, same reason,
25:29
Speaker 7: haven't worked with them for a while. But it has
25:31
Speaker 7: been interesting to navigate those different markets, and that's more
25:35
Speaker 7: probably on a modeling scale rather than an influencer scale.
25:38
Speaker 7: But you know, in terms of social media and brand
25:41
Speaker 7: deals and that kind of stuff, I have been really
25:42
Speaker 7: lucky in that space. But I have to acknowledge that
25:45
Speaker 7: I have come in at a time where brands are
25:48
Speaker 7: forcing themselves to be diverse. Therefore it is easier to
25:52
Speaker 7: get work when they need that representation. I guess, so
25:56
Speaker 7: that has been great. But at the same time, I
25:58
Speaker 7: am very good at seeing the difference between brands who
26:01
Speaker 7: are doing it to tick a box and brands who
26:03
Speaker 7: are doing it because they genuinely intend to make a
26:06
Speaker 7: change and to help and to represent. And tokenism is
26:10
Speaker 7: something that I have experienced.
26:12
Speaker 1: I was about to ask that I was about to
26:15
Speaker 1: be like, Okay, so totally and that's such a great thing,
26:19
Speaker 1: and I adore seeing so much diversity, but a mile off,
26:24
Speaker 1: just as a consumer, I can see it as being
26:26
Speaker 1: tokenistics sometimes as the model, like how are you dealing
26:31
Speaker 1: with that? How are you taking that on board? Because
26:33
Speaker 1: I would be genuinely offended if someone was like, we
26:37
Speaker 1: just needed.
26:37
Speaker 4: A financial advisor, Like, oh.
26:40
Speaker 1: Like, I can't imagine if it was something even more
26:43
Speaker 1: personal about me.
26:45
Speaker 10: Yeah, I mean you turn up to a photo shot
26:47
Speaker 10: or I've done a few runway shows and you know,
26:50
Speaker 10: there is a very thin, white blonde model lineup and
26:54
Speaker 10: then you who is.
26:56
Speaker 5: An amputee and you're like, okay, you know.
27:00
Speaker 7: I'm clearly standing out here, which you know, and people
27:03
Speaker 7: think I would be really offended. And I've had this
27:06
Speaker 7: conversation around tokenism a bit, and to be honest, I
27:11
Speaker 7: think a step forward is a step forward, regardless of
27:13
Speaker 7: how far forward. And I think, you know, I could
27:16
Speaker 7: do that runway show and there is someone in the audience.
27:18
Speaker 7: There could be one person or one young person watching
27:20
Speaker 7: that who sees me and feels better about themselves.
27:23
Speaker 6: So, yes, it would be better if there was fifty
27:25
Speaker 6: percent or sixty percent of.
27:27
Speaker 5: Models who were diverse in some kind of way.
27:29
Speaker 6: But at least there's one, you know, And so I
27:31
Speaker 6: think we have to as much as yes, there are
27:34
Speaker 6: brands out there doing it a lot better, we have
27:37
Speaker 6: to also recognize the brands that are trying. And even
27:39
Speaker 6: if it's a tich box, which I don't agree with that,
27:41
Speaker 6: even if there's a tech box, we have to see
27:43
Speaker 6: it from the young person looking at that, going oh wow,
27:46
Speaker 6: there's different bodies out there, even if they're only seeing
27:48
Speaker 6: one different body.
27:49
Speaker 5: And that's something that I think is really important.
27:51
Speaker 10: I know.
27:53
Speaker 7: I spoke up recently Victoria's Secret Models Victoria Secrets who
27:57
Speaker 7: as a brand, I have spoken very politiciar.
28:00
Speaker 4: And I'm not afraid to no, keep that up, my friend.
28:04
Speaker 7: Oh no, I don't agree with pretty much everything that
28:07
Speaker 7: they do, but they are trying to rebrand and they've
28:10
Speaker 7: recently just announced a model with down syndrome, and I
28:13
Speaker 7: spoke up and shared it saying this is a really
28:15
Speaker 7: great step forward. This is awesome, and I had a
28:17
Speaker 7: lot of comments saying this just doesn't seem right, this
28:19
Speaker 7: seems tokenistic, This seems you know, they've already done their harm,
28:22
Speaker 7: they can't.
28:23
Speaker 5: Move forward, blah blah blah blah. And I agree with that.
28:25
Speaker 6: But at the same time, there is young people with
28:27
Speaker 6: Down syndrome out there who will look at this young
28:30
Speaker 6: woman in a position that wouldn't have been painted in
28:34
Speaker 6: that like many years ago, and to me, that's a
28:36
Speaker 6: big achievement. And we have to create space for these
28:39
Speaker 6: brands to take that step forward instead of shutting them down.
28:42
Speaker 5: Oh, you're not deaverse enough. Oh now you're not doing
28:44
Speaker 5: this enough. Now you're not doing that, you know.
28:45
Speaker 6: I think we need to create the space for it
28:47
Speaker 6: to actually just be okay, to take even half a
28:49
Speaker 6: step forward, you know.
28:50
Speaker 1: Yeah, and small steps, they're still steps, right, And it's
28:54
Speaker 1: such a beautiful mindset that you have that you're like,
28:56
Speaker 1: you know what, I'm going to push their tokenism to
28:58
Speaker 1: the side because I'm still having an impact, even if
29:01
Speaker 1: it's just one person that sees a photo a year later, like,
29:04
Speaker 1: they're going to have been impacted by the work that
29:07
Speaker 1: I'm doing. And I just think that not many people
29:09
Speaker 1: would see things the way that you do. They might
29:11
Speaker 1: be offended that they're the token I guess ring in,
29:15
Speaker 1: but that's not how you're seeing it at all, And
29:17
Speaker 1: I just have so much respect for that, especially in
29:20
Speaker 1: a world where you know, we're seeing so many different
29:23
Speaker 1: brands being thrown under the bus on a weekly basis
29:25
Speaker 1: for not being diverse, because you know that if they
29:28
Speaker 1: then start to be diverse and start to take those
29:31
Speaker 1: small steps and start to include more diverse models in
29:34
Speaker 1: their marketing, or you know, expand their size range or
29:37
Speaker 1: do something that is good for the greater good, they're
29:40
Speaker 1: going to be slammed as tokenistic anyway, because the first
29:43
Speaker 1: step is always the step that is.
29:45
Speaker 4: Most harshly criticized.
29:47
Speaker 1: And yeah, I really really respect the way that you're
29:50
Speaker 1: viewing that, because you know it could go one of
29:52
Speaker 1: two ways, right.
29:53
Speaker 5: Oh for sure, for sure, Yeah, I fully agree.
29:56
Speaker 3: I feel like Victoria's Secret is also a really great
29:59
Speaker 3: example of a brand that did absolutely the bare minimum, right, Like,
30:04
Speaker 3: they built up this fantasy woman who, as you said,
30:07
Speaker 3: they all looked the same, they were all tall, they
30:09
Speaker 3: were all really skinny, they were all this quote unquote
30:11
Speaker 3: idealistic woman. And the reason that brand really toppled over
30:16
Speaker 3: was because at some point everyone just turned around and went, actually,
30:19
Speaker 3: that's not good enough, And I want to talk about
30:22
Speaker 3: In twenty eighteen, you really spearheaded a movement that demanded
30:25
Speaker 3: that magazines disclose retouching, right, because that really contributed to
30:31
Speaker 3: that idealistic person where women were aspiring to look like
30:34
Speaker 3: someone who didn't even look like that themselves.
30:36
Speaker 4: They don't even exist.
30:38
Speaker 3: Yeah, like, it's so unattainable and it's just setting us
30:41
Speaker 3: up to fail, which is really really horrific. I wanted
30:44
Speaker 3: to talk about what the response was like when you
30:47
Speaker 3: first started opening up that discussion and how far along
30:50
Speaker 3: that kind of got.
30:51
Speaker 6: Yeah, it's still something I'm really deep in and really
30:55
Speaker 6: passionate about and share all the time because I keep thinking, Okay,
31:00
Speaker 6: I'm going to stop talking about this because I feel
31:01
Speaker 6: like we've made our change, and I see things and
31:03
Speaker 6: I'm like, we are no.
31:04
Speaker 4: Way, never even close.
31:07
Speaker 5: And you know, I at.
31:09
Speaker 6: The beginning I had I'm sorry, I still have a
31:12
Speaker 6: really great response. It has been, for the most part,
31:14
Speaker 6: and I have to look at the most part, a
31:16
Speaker 6: really great response, but it definitely bought up some really
31:19
Speaker 6: interesting conversations, especially when I first started speaking really publicly
31:23
Speaker 6: about it, and I did a lot of media and
31:26
Speaker 6: the hit back I got and not bad hit back,
31:28
Speaker 6: but just you know, I'd be on a presentation, a
31:30
Speaker 6: kind of TV news show, and you know, you'd have
31:33
Speaker 6: the middle aged man presented being like, how is it
31:35
Speaker 6: any different from the makeup you have on your face
31:37
Speaker 6: right now? And I'm like, Okay, this is like a
31:38
Speaker 6: really deep conversation that we.
31:40
Speaker 4: Had to get eat.
31:41
Speaker 6: Yeah, And there are so many layers to all of this,
31:45
Speaker 6: and it's definitely been challenging. I'm working on a project
31:49
Speaker 6: at the moment that will hopefully educate because then we
31:53
Speaker 6: can create the change, because I think that's the issue
31:55
Speaker 6: is we actually don't know the depth of what is
31:58
Speaker 6: being caused and how it's impacting us and young people,
32:03
Speaker 6: and I just I just don't think it's right that
32:06
Speaker 6: we especially in photoships. You know, you see these really
32:09
Speaker 6: diverse photowships get there a photoshops, so it's kind of
32:11
Speaker 6: like you can be curvy, but wait, that curves a
32:13
Speaker 6: bit much, and this curves a bit much. Or you know,
32:15
Speaker 6: when I got photoshopped, it was they removed half of
32:18
Speaker 6: my moles. I had quite a few moles, and it
32:19
Speaker 6: was like you can have some of your moles, but
32:21
Speaker 6: actually the amount that you have was just like a
32:22
Speaker 6: bit too much relp.
32:24
Speaker 1: Just like for the audacity to take that initiative to
32:28
Speaker 1: do that, like, I feel awkward. I was out the
32:31
Speaker 1: other night for a drink with one of our team
32:33
Speaker 1: members on a Friday night. We had a really good
32:35
Speaker 1: week at work, Malay, let's go get a drink, and
32:38
Speaker 1: I wanted to change the lighting on the picture.
32:40
Speaker 4: And I held my phone in front of her and
32:42
Speaker 4: I was.
32:42
Speaker 1: Like, all right, Rache, is that alright if I just
32:45
Speaker 1: changed the lighting? And she's like, yeah, that's fine. I
32:47
Speaker 1: was like, I felt so uncomfortable. But the fact that
32:50
Speaker 1: an entire agency just was like, do you know what,
32:53
Speaker 1: We're just going to erase these parts of Jess that
32:56
Speaker 1: make jest Yess. That to me, that's audacious and incredibly rude.
33:02
Speaker 1: But the fact they didn't even ask for permission, what
33:05
Speaker 1: I know.
33:05
Speaker 7: I've spoken to other models about it before as well,
33:08
Speaker 7: especially you know, because photoshop photoshop is it as a
33:11
Speaker 7: brown but image retouching happens post off, but it actually
33:14
Speaker 7: also happens during the ship.
33:16
Speaker 5: You know, they're wearing maybe.
33:17
Speaker 6: A size large T shirt when they maybe fit as
33:19
Speaker 6: small and then they pull it in in different ways
33:21
Speaker 6: to get the fit right. So often wear buying clothes
33:23
Speaker 6: that actually don't fit like how it fits on the model.
33:26
Speaker 5: Yeah, Like I read the.
33:28
Speaker 6: Thing once about Victoria Secret and they would put push
33:30
Speaker 6: up bras on the models underneath the bikinis and then
33:33
Speaker 6: remove the push up bra in photoshop so that it
33:36
Speaker 6: looks like they have these really kerky boobs like Graveny
33:39
Speaker 6: does not trink My birds.
33:40
Speaker 4: Like that neither.
33:44
Speaker 3: How are they so big but still so perky?
33:46
Speaker 4: Literally totally, I don't.
33:49
Speaker 5: Know what they figured out that we don't know, but it's.
33:52
Speaker 1: It's invisible bras.
33:55
Speaker 5: Totally. It just goes really deep, I guess.
33:58
Speaker 7: And so my conversation that I am still having is
34:01
Speaker 7: a around education and be around disclosure. You know, do
34:05
Speaker 7: what you want to your image as a brand, as
34:07
Speaker 7: an influencer, whatever you want, but please disclose it, you know,
34:10
Speaker 7: because there is young women out there who are comparing
34:13
Speaker 7: themselves to that image and wondering why they're not good enough,
34:17
Speaker 7: comparing themselves to a body that actually.
34:19
Speaker 5: Doesn't exist, which is just so detrimental.
34:22
Speaker 6: And I don't know if people understand the direct correlation
34:25
Speaker 6: that it's having with mental health issues and so many
34:28
Speaker 6: things that young people are going through at the moment,
34:30
Speaker 6: and I just don't know it's something that we can stop,
34:33
Speaker 6: you know.
34:34
Speaker 1: All right, Let's loop this conversation background to the purpose
34:37
Speaker 1: we've asked you to be here today for, and that's
34:40
Speaker 1: International Women's Day and celebrating that, celebrating you and celebrating
34:44
Speaker 1: the impact that people are having in their space, and
34:48
Speaker 1: you know, even just how far women have come, like
34:50
Speaker 1: it blows my mind even talking to people like my
34:53
Speaker 1: mum who weren't afforded the same opportunities that I am today,
34:58
Speaker 1: and you know the fact that she says things like oh,
35:00
Speaker 1: I would have embraced that with open arms, like oh,
35:03
Speaker 1: if that opportunity had existed for me, I would have
35:06
Speaker 1: smashed it out of the park. And it just breaks
35:08
Speaker 1: my heart that she wasn't afforded these things, and in
35:11
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two, we are that we've still got so
35:15
Speaker 1: far to go. So I would love to know from
35:18
Speaker 1: your perspective, what does equality look like.
35:21
Speaker 6: This is such a big question because it is such
35:23
Speaker 6: an important question, and I do think.
35:28
Speaker 7: Equality is allowing opportunity for people to live their truth
35:32
Speaker 7: and to live their truth without judgment, and to live
35:35
Speaker 7: their truth in a world where it is safe for
35:38
Speaker 7: them to do so.
35:38
Speaker 6: And I think for many of us who and I'm
35:41
Speaker 6: going to include myself in this, who have lived a
35:43
Speaker 6: really privileged life, don't actually know the depth of what
35:48
Speaker 6: that means, because there are so many people out there
35:50
Speaker 6: who experienced things, and many women in different cultures that
35:53
Speaker 6: experience things that we will never even understand.
35:56
Speaker 5: And so I think we often think we've got into
35:59
Speaker 5: a place where.
36:00
Speaker 6: And yes, I agree, we've made so many steps forward,
36:02
Speaker 6: but I think we think we're maybe further along than
36:04
Speaker 6: we are because of our own personal experiences and the
36:08
Speaker 6: reason I mean, I'm considered a minority because I live
36:11
Speaker 6: in a differently able or disabled body. But my disabled
36:15
Speaker 6: body has pretty much never stopped me getting any form
36:20
Speaker 6: of opportunity. It's never really hugely impacted my friendship groups,
36:24
Speaker 6: it's never hugely impacted my career or my dating life
36:29
Speaker 6: or anything like that. And there are so many people
36:30
Speaker 6: out there who don't have that experience, And until all
36:34
Speaker 6: of those people feel like their opportunities are the same,
36:39
Speaker 6: then I don't think we've reached that sense of equality.
36:41
Speaker 6: And I think it's really hard because I do think
36:44
Speaker 6: it looks really different for a lot of people. Therefore,
36:47
Speaker 6: I don't believe there's one one easy answer, one easy outcome.
36:51
Speaker 6: But I think we have come such a long way
36:53
Speaker 6: and as you say, actually such a short space of time,
36:56
Speaker 6: which gives me so much hope that we can continue
36:59
Speaker 6: to create those opportunities as long as we keep speaking
37:02
Speaker 6: and having these really open conversations about people or two
37:06
Speaker 6: people with different loved experience from.
37:08
Speaker 4: Us, Jess, I couldn't agree more.
37:10
Speaker 1: And to link this to somebody else who works in
37:13
Speaker 1: the same advocacy space as you do by not saying
37:16
Speaker 1: you would be friends just because you're in the same
37:19
Speaker 1: advocacy space, although he does sound like a pretty sick
37:21
Speaker 1: human that I would like to know even better. But
37:24
Speaker 1: in his incredible speech after being named Australian of the Year,
37:27
Speaker 1: Dylan Orcott actually spoke about the die statistics of underemployment
37:32
Speaker 1: of people with different abilities and the ingrained ableism in
37:34
Speaker 1: the workforce. Do you have a view on that and
37:37
Speaker 1: what can be done by businesses to be even more inclusive?
37:41
Speaker 5: Yeah, and I agree. I would love to be best
37:43
Speaker 5: friends with Dylan.
37:44
Speaker 7: We have made a few conversations I love everything that
37:47
Speaker 7: he advocates for and stands for.
37:50
Speaker 5: I think it's a really important conversation.
37:52
Speaker 6: And again, it's something that I haven't experienced too much
37:56
Speaker 6: in my life because.
37:58
Speaker 5: I really haven't been overly huld back by my disability.
38:02
Speaker 7: And that's something that I am really in a minority
38:05
Speaker 7: for because a lot of people living in disabled bodies
38:08
Speaker 7: or differently abled bodies.
38:10
Speaker 5: Do experience it a lot. And I think the best
38:13
Speaker 5: thing we.
38:13
Speaker 6: Can do, and it probably wraps in with what you
38:15
Speaker 6: were saying at the start around the open dialogue we
38:17
Speaker 6: had around language is to be really inclusive in that
38:21
Speaker 6: and something I speak a lot about is diversity and inclusion,
38:24
Speaker 6: but in the sense that you can't have one without
38:26
Speaker 6: the other. You know, we can be as diverse as possible.
38:30
Speaker 6: We can hire people of the different ethnicities, of different abilities,
38:34
Speaker 6: whatever it might be. We can hire people different from us.
38:37
Speaker 6: But if we aren't including them in a way that
38:39
Speaker 6: we're actually giving them equal amounts of opportunities, that we're
38:41
Speaker 6: actually giving them a voice at the table, then are
38:43
Speaker 6: we really being diverse or are we just checking a box?
38:46
Speaker 5: And that's something I feel really passionately about.
38:48
Speaker 6: Because I would argue that many businesses and many people
38:53
Speaker 6: these days are just checking the box because they aren't
38:56
Speaker 6: actually being inclusive. And I honestly think inclusivity can look
39:00
Speaker 6: small as having a conversation with someone who is different
39:03
Speaker 6: from you and going out for lunch with them and
39:05
Speaker 6: you in your lunch break at work. You know, it
39:07
Speaker 6: doesn't have to be these huge, big players, but it's
39:09
Speaker 6: it's seeing each other as humans, regardless of the way
39:12
Speaker 6: we differ. And I think that that is really important
39:14
Speaker 6: because there are workplaces out there who I just don't
39:17
Speaker 6: think are making it as welcoming as it should be
39:20
Speaker 6: and making it as accommodating as it should be. You know,
39:22
Speaker 6: there's there's different cultures who might have different dress codes,
39:25
Speaker 6: and they need to create that really safe space for
39:27
Speaker 6: people to be able to show up as they are.
39:29
Speaker 6: Because when you can show up exactly as you are,
39:31
Speaker 6: you can put your best foot forward, you can put
39:32
Speaker 6: your best work forward, you can create your best relationships,
39:35
Speaker 6: Whereas if you're being held back or not feeling like
39:38
Speaker 6: you can truly show up as you, then you don't
39:40
Speaker 6: have those opportunities to do that. And yeah, that's something
39:44
Speaker 6: I strongly believe. I work for myself, so I haven't
39:46
Speaker 6: experienced it hugely. My boss being myself, is really great
39:50
Speaker 6: and very accommodating.
39:51
Speaker 1: What's the dress code at your workplace, Laud?
39:53
Speaker 4: Currently I have in track fans and a hoodies, so
39:55
Speaker 4: very nice. That's usually in my dress code.
39:59
Speaker 5: Many brothers around here.
40:02
Speaker 1: No, since COVID, I don't even know what that word
40:04
Speaker 1: is anymore, Jess. I feel like this has been such
40:09
Speaker 1: a beautiful chat that a lot of our community are
40:11
Speaker 1: going to get a lot out of. So thank you
40:13
Speaker 1: so much for joining us. But before we go, you
40:17
Speaker 1: mentioned before that right now is a little bit tough
40:20
Speaker 1: on social media for you. You're you know, feeling it
40:23
Speaker 1: a little bit harder, a little bit heavier than you
40:25
Speaker 1: have historically. And I think a really nice place to
40:29
Speaker 1: leave it would be a question, and that question is
40:32
Speaker 1: what would you say to people who are going through
40:35
Speaker 1: a similar period, whether that is work or life for
40:38
Speaker 1: their relationship, where they've just got it a little bit
40:40
Speaker 1: rough and they just feel like they aren't as bright
40:43
Speaker 1: as they usually are.
40:44
Speaker 5: I'd say, take time for you.
40:46
Speaker 6: I think the best thing we can do is actually
40:48
Speaker 6: just slow down, you know, I delete social media. I
40:52
Speaker 6: sit on the couch sometimes like we live in a
40:54
Speaker 6: world where it's hustle, hustle, hustle, but it's also okay
40:56
Speaker 6: to not do that all the time. And yes, most
40:58
Speaker 6: of us have to show up to ninety five. I
41:00
Speaker 6: respect that, But trying to do those small things for
41:04
Speaker 6: you that make you feel like you again, I think
41:06
Speaker 6: are really important and not feeling like you have to
41:09
Speaker 6: be a voice and advocate for everything, because there is
41:11
Speaker 6: a lot going on in the world at the moment
41:13
Speaker 6: and it can be really hard to handle that when
41:16
Speaker 6: we haven't actually fully wrapped our head around around what's
41:18
Speaker 6: going on. So definitely taking that time and showing up
41:22
Speaker 6: for yourself is I think the most important thing we
41:24
Speaker 6: can do. And knowing that it will get better, because
41:28
Speaker 6: you know, I have been in places in my life
41:30
Speaker 6: where I couldn't see a light at the end of
41:33
Speaker 6: the tunnel. In fact, I didn't actually want to be
41:34
Speaker 6: in that tunnel anymore, but I knew that I could
41:38
Speaker 6: hold on because I knew there was a life out
41:41
Speaker 6: there for me that was just amazing. And I think,
41:43
Speaker 6: no matter what place you're in right now, just holding
41:45
Speaker 6: on to the hope that things will get better because
41:47
Speaker 6: they always do it, or at the very least you
41:49
Speaker 6: get stronger.
41:50
Speaker 1: I love that so much, and thank you for sharing
41:53
Speaker 1: that with our community, because not everyone is on the
41:56
Speaker 1: same journey at the same time. But to wrap this
41:59
Speaker 1: up completely, yes, coming back round to why you're here,
42:03
Speaker 1: it's International Women's Day, or according to She's on the Money,
42:05
Speaker 1: it's International Women's Week.
42:07
Speaker 4: How are you celebrating?
42:09
Speaker 7: I love, I love the International Woman's Week, and that's
42:11
Speaker 7: one of the things I'm going to do to celebrate.
42:12
Speaker 5: I'm going to celebrate it for a.
42:14
Speaker 7: Whole week, but I'm going to connect with other people
42:17
Speaker 7: who have stories that are different from mine and different
42:20
Speaker 7: lived experiences, and use this week as a time to
42:23
Speaker 7: remind myself of all of the different humans that create
42:26
Speaker 7: our world, because I think that's one of the most
42:28
Speaker 7: important things we can do to remind each other that
42:30
Speaker 7: we're all.
42:30
Speaker 3: Human thousand percent. And if people want to learn more
42:33
Speaker 3: about your journey and about your story, they can find
42:35
Speaker 3: you on Instagram, on TikTok. We'll link it all down below.
42:38
Speaker 3: You also have your book Still Standing What I've Learned
42:41
Speaker 3: from A Life Lived Differently, which is such a great read.
42:44
Speaker 3: I personally have read it and I so thoroughly enjoyed it.
42:48
Speaker 3: I recommend it to everybody listening. Definitely check that out,
42:52
Speaker 3: be kind online, lift up those voices, I think, and
42:55
Speaker 3: just really encourage that conversation around beauty, around visits, ability,
43:00
Speaker 3: around accessibility, all of those things.
43:08
Speaker 4: We promise.
43:08
Speaker 3: Victoria Divine is an authorized representative of Infocused Securities Australia
43:12
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