TikTok Star Hamish Briggs: Nurse by Day, Viral Sensation by Night

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kate Coomber (00:00):
Welcome back to Season 2 of it Takes Heart.

Sam Miklos (00:02):
I'm Kate and I'm Sam , and we look forward to sharing
more incredible stories ofhealthcare professionals making
an impact across Australia.

Hamish Briggs (00:09):
I saw registered nurse on my shirt, I thought I
am, I am part of the cool club,and it was.
I put my scrubs on and Ithought, whoa, I don't know what
I'm in for.
I said, but I've got a pen andI've got the time and I'll be
ready to go.
I remember getting this job ata prison and I remember rocking
up and you have to have thisbelt with like a radio and an
alarm and keys and I justthought I was shit.

(00:30):
I was like, yeah, people whohave a million followers follow
you back.
You're like, oh my God, theyknow who I am.
I just go up to them because Ijust think they're friends.
I love what you're doing.
Just go up and talk.
Talk to them because at the endof the day, they're still a
normal person.

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the
land of which we meet who, forcenturies, have shared ancient
methods of healing and cared fortheir communities.
We pay our respects to elders,past and present.

Sam Miklos (01:04):
Today's guest is somewhat of a celebrity, who has
just returned from the redcarpet at the TikTok Awards in
Sydney.
I have so much to ask aboutthat.
This small town country boybegan his journey performing in
musical theatre, which landedhim a coveted role at Disneyland
Paris in 2020.
But when the pandemic cut thatdream short, he suddenly found
himself working as a COVIDmarshal in WA.

(01:25):
Originally from Kalgoorlie,hamish Briggs has now found his
passion in the world of remotetravel nursing.
But there is so much more toHamish than nursing.
He's a drag queen, a contentcreator with over 100,000 social
media followers and oneincredibly positive, fun and
inspiring guy.
I feel like I need to sing thisWelcome to it, takes Heart.

(01:46):
Welcome to it, takes Heart.
Welcome to it, takes Heart.

And honestly so excited to be here with you
girls today.
I know we're going to have alot of fun.
We've got a lot to talk about.
So much to do.
Let's jump into it.

Sam Miklos (01:58):
I need to jump into the TikTok Awards.
I am showing my age here.
I'm from like the MySpace era.
My only friend on Instagram isKate and the company.

Fabulous.

Sam Miklos (02:07):
How is there a TikTok Awards?
What is it?
What do you do?
Are you all just on your phonesTikTok-ing?
Does anyone look up?

Well, that's the thing you know.
You're on your phone the wholetime.
You're filming, everyone'staking photos and I think when
you enter that space, the firsttime is quite daunting, because
you are on the red carpet,people are taking photos of you,
you're getting like yourmanagement team to take photos
of you and videos so that youcan post later on, but

(02:33):
everyone's in that one space soyou don't feel like you're the
only one doing it.
We're like if you go to Wooliesand you're filming, you're like
I'm the only person filming atWoolies.

We're there, but you do it.
Of course you do it.

But every single person is doing it.
So I think now, with socialmedia and how it's growing, it's
just getting bigger and biggerand bigger.
So the TikTok Awards have beenon in Australia for a few years
now, and are you nominated to?

how do you go?
So you get an invite.

So obviously my management team I'm with Amplify
for social media and they wouldbe one of the biggest kind of
management teams for socialmedia.
The owner in that has beenaround for like 10 years in
social media, so quite large inthat sense and I think like, yes

(03:21):
, tiktok is looking at whatyou're posting and your viewers
and your engagement and what youare putting out there to the
world.
But also your management doesplay a big part in it.
Like it's it's a big hustleindustry and like the weeks
leading up to TikTok awards, Iknew this year after my 12
months being on social media,that was my goal TikTok awards
me on the red carpet.
Hello girls, let's get into it.
But I, every single day, was onthe phone to my management.

(03:44):
Do I have an invite?
Have you realised?
I really want to go.

Have you gone, please.
What do I need?

to do.
And they were like yes, yes,yes.
And I was like, but I haven'treceived it, like I need to see
it now.
And they were like trust us,You've got one.

And I said, no, I just need a confirmation,
because Do you have to get to acertain level to be invited?
Well, that's the thing I thinka lot of people do.
We have to know the rightpeople.

Honestly, I think it is knowing the right people
in a way.
But Amplify have a big partwith TikTok Australia.
So I guess you could say, yes,it's kind of a guarantee that
you will get an invite, but youalso have to work hard.
You're not just going to like.

(04:30):
Amplify are a great managementbut they're not going to take on
any Joe Blow because just soyou can go to the TikTok awards
Like, although that's one nightof the year for us all to
celebrate the hard yards we'vedone that year.
After TikTok awards ends, noone's remembering what happened
at TikTok awards.
We all continue posting everyday and doing our thing until
next year.

Sam Miklos (04:42):
So is there like best newcomer.

Yeah, so they have like TikTok, creator of the
year, they had a food one.
This year they had a four goodone.
They have makeup.
Well, yeah, no healthcareindustry one, but that would
probably fall under the fourgood one.
So they have all these differentand they have about.
They have a comedy one, andthen they've got about.
I think it's five creatorswithin each area that are

(05:09):
nominated by TikTok.
So TikTok actually choose themthat I know of, and then it's up
to that creator to post theliving hell out of it so that
all their followers and fansvote for them.

So what you're saying is that you went onto to
TikTok and within a year you gothere.

So we can do this we could be at the podcast
awards.

Are we going to the TikTok awards or?

Sam Miklos (05:32):
the podcast awards Both.

We'll do both.
Let's do everything.

We're going to both.

Sam Miklos (05:36):
Yeah, Can I ask, was there like there's got to be
like one outrageous story fromthat night?

I think, when I look at it as a whole, I could
talk to anyone right when a lotof people get quite nervous
around people who have a largefollowing or people they look up
to.
I, in a way, am very used tonetworking and getting to where
I want by talking.
It's like I will talk the houseoff anyone to get where I want.
So when you're following peopleand when they follow you back,
it's always so exciting.

(06:02):
So when you're following peopleand when they follow you back,
it's always so exciting.
Like when people who have amillion followers follow you
back, you're like, oh my God,they know who I am.
And then when you see them, Ijust go up to them because I
just think my friends love whatyou're doing.
And then they know you and that, I think, is better, rather
than being like, can I get aphoto?

(06:23):
That stuff boring, you know.
Just go up and talk to thembecause at the end of the day,
they're still a normal person.
They just do this as afull-time job and have a
following like no other.

So who's the person or the people that you
really were excited to see?

I think Luke and Sassy Scott.
They're quite large on socialmedia and, yes, we have spoken
in the past, but it was kind ofnice to meet them at the TikTok
Creator Camp and the TikTokAwards and just talk like we'd
known each other a really longtime, like I got on with them
really well You're about to saywho are they?

I'd leave that to you.
The Content Creator Camp yes,what's that?

So Content Creator Camp, from what I can
understand, is the day beforethe TikTok Awards.
Tiktok put on an event and theybasically go through like the
latest tips and tricks for youto grow your brand, make the
most money, get your name outthere.
But it's in a way hush hush.
For those people there it's notknown knowledge.
A lot of people who have beenin the past say sometimes it's

(07:25):
great, you learn things thatyou're like whoa, that's
incredible.
Other times it's like yeah,that's you know we understand
that you've got to becaptivating in the first three
seconds or people are going toscroll.
Tiktok is a five-second job.
If you can't get someone'sattention in five seconds, we
don't care.

Boring, it's wiping on.

Unlike you know.
So you're like next topic, butlike Instagram.

Have we talked too long around this now?

Like Instagram, we do put a lot of effort in
what we're going to post.
You know we want to look goodin that photo because people are
going to continue seeing itwhen they go on your kind of
grid.
Yeah, we're TikTok Next, and Ithink if people haven't seen it,
like if your views are terrible, well then no one's seen it.
So who cares?
Yep, you know, rather thangetting upset that oh, it only
got 2,000 views.
Well, no one saw it.
So you know, it obviouslydoesn't matter that much, but it

(08:11):
is.
It's a five-second job in a way.

Sam Miklos (08:13):
Yeah, right, yeah, all right over that.

Cal Goolie, there's only water.
Girls, there's only water.

It's a very, very good savvy bee.
That's why it's clear.

So I want to talk about Kalgoorlie.
Yes, so grew up in Kalgoorlie.
Yeah, we place a lot ofhealthcare candidates out that
way.
What was it like?
Tell us about life growing up?

If there's one thing I could say, I wouldn't
change anything about growing uprurally, I think it has set me
up for the person I am today andfor the challenges that I face,
being a very flamboyant gaymale, stop you.
No Me, no, my wife's outsideThree kids, no, my wife's
outside three kids.
But in a way that I had verysupportive parents, but not

(09:08):
parents that would you know,baby me.
If I come home and said oh,so-and-so's been really mean at
school, mum would be like not myproblem, sort it out.
You know it wasn't like oh well, I will talk to his mother and
you know it was never that myparents are caring, but not in
that aspect Mollicod, but not inthat aspect.

Sam Miklos (09:22):
Molly coddling yeah.

They'll help us with absolutely everything in
the world, but they're nevergoing to blow wind up our ass,
you know, ever.
So I think growing up there wasgreat for me.
I always danced.

Sam Miklos (09:33):
That's what I did for a living.
Did you feel like you could?

be yourself, 100% , yeah, and I think my age group
, like all those babies born in1999, were amazing 1999?

God, we're amazing 1999.

Sam Miklos (09:46):
When I was graduating from high school I
know it's hard to tell we weregetting our MySpace ready and I
was like coming into the world,yeah right, but do you know what
I think?

growing up, always dancing, I was always in
the newspaper.
You know, hamish wins thistrophy.
Hamish is off doing this thing.
So everyone in the town alwaysknew me as the boy that danced.
That's all it ever was.
I tried football, hated it, youknow what I mean.
But mum wouldn't let me quitbecause she said no, that's bad
sportsmanship.
I said, mum, I'm on thesideline, everything like
they're not going to miss it.

Sam Miklos (10:13):
Bring the oranges, bring the oranges, yeah.

Honestly.
So growing up there taught me,in a way, to have really big
balls, because you have to standup for yourself in this world,
and you, I think.
Then it's allowed me to goplaces where people would never
venture or never feelcomfortable going because
there's all this stereotype ofbeing gay.
You can't do not that, youcan't do it, but you can't go
here and feel safe.

(10:35):
You can't work in mining andfeel really, you know, powerful
and all that.
Yes, you can.
I think there's like once weget over that there's a whole
world out there that you can goand do things you can go, why
not go there?
Why there's no gays?
Whoopie, doo bee, I love beingthe only gay in the village.
Oh, I love it, you know, andpeople know, and I love that.
Like when I walk into a pub,people know, oh, he's gay and

(11:05):
stare in a way that I think I'mvery happy and confident to
stand here and order my Savvy Bat the bar while you get your
you know, your bluey tins.
Whatever you, you know.

Sam Miklos (11:10):
I don't drink beers.
I don't know.
I was about to say I use it inthe cans, a fosters.
Is it a fosters in a blue tin,maybe, or?

like an emu export.
Yeah, get an emu.
Oh, a bush chook.

Sam Miklos (11:20):
A bush chook, a bin chook.

And I think that's for anyone.
I think you don't have to be,you know, the only gay in the
village for someone to feeluncomfortable going into a
certain environment.
I think lots of us just don'thave the confidence full stop to
go into an unfamiliar setting,whether it be the TikTok Awards
or a really outback pub wherethere's locals everywhere.

Sam Miklos (11:38):
I've never heard any me chook.
Oh, isn't it bush?
Is that a shot I need to get atthe christmas party?
Can we get some bush chooks?

no, it's like a terrible red beer.

Sam Miklos (11:50):
My brother drinks it oh, okay, I wouldn't touch it
with 10 foot pole, but can I askthen, disneyland, paris, like I
mean obviously you just saidyou were always in the news, you
were the dancing boy fromcalgurley.
Was that the dream?

the dream of mine was to be in stage shows, so I
obviously started dancing atfour.
I danced my entire childhood.
I moved to Perth when I was 15.
So this January marks 10 yearsout of my home, like when I left
my home.

So you left on your own.

Left and I moved in with another family in Perth
from Kalgoorlie.
So I've been out of home 10years.
But I moved to Perth, I studiedfull time and then I got signed
up with Jeep Management inSydney and then I relocated when
I was 18 and just hustled everyaudition, every job, every.
I think I was like 18.
I went to like a Magic Mikeaudition.

Sam Miklos (12:39):
I was like and I said to my manager I said I
would love to have watched him.
You would have been the I stilltry to say to my husband can
you just do them up the hallway?

It was the most awkward audition of my life,
like you had to do the routineand then, like, take your shirt
off.
But I was this, like scrawnylittle, like 18 year old, and I
thought that none of that issexy Disneyland Paris.

Sam Miklos (13:00):
What was your role there before we get?

into the nursing bit.
I was a tap dancer in Mickey'sChristmas Big Band, so it was a
tap show.
They basically only hiredAustralians.
So out of about 500 boys thatauditioned, they took five of us
and we were over there for fourmonths.
We would do 25 shows a week.
Wow, yeah, it was a huge, huge,huge show, but all live it was

(13:23):
like about a 40-minute show.
So you had singers, thenobviously the Disney characters
and then us tap dancers and a 20piece live orchestra.
So I went over there.
The French are completelydifferent when it comes to
performing arts.
Like if you didn't have yourMickey smile on, they'd start
the music again.
Like one person drops theirsmile, boom Start again.
Yeah, but obviously, like I gotthat job and that was probably
that was my first internationaljob and I thought this is it, my

(13:45):
career is about to take off.
You know we were looking atcruise ships when I come back
and then COVID happened and Ilost everything.
So we got to finish thatcontract.
I got back in January of 2020.

Sam Miklos (13:59):
Just before lockdown , so that was like we were over
there.
Where did you go Back to?

Perth or Kalgoorlie Back.
Where did you go?
Back to Perth or Kalgoorlie,back to Sydney?
Okay, and then I was in Sydneyfor maybe six weeks and over
that period, once COVID had cometo Australia, I lost all my
jobs in a week.
Every day would be a new phonecall being that's cancelled,
this bar's closed, you know,whatever it would be.
And then that was like, oh myGod, I've got nothing.

(14:22):
Yeah, in 2020, no one was outseeing stuff, were they Nothing?
And being in Sydney where theywere doing suburb locks, you
know, I went.
I was applying for jobs to belike a tomato picker up in like
far north Queensland, because Iwas like I will do anything,
like I was ringing IGAs, woolies, and they were all like we've
got enough staff, like I said, Iwill pack boxes, like I would

(14:46):
do anything, because obviously Ihad to make a living and I had
to pay rent and I was like I'vegone from like this massive high
of living overseas and doingwhat I've worked so hard to do
to now back at square one whereI've got.
And as a dancer, you never havea backup, because it's your
life unless it's a backup danceryeah, for like Nicki Minaj or
something no, you need thebackup dance, not be the backup
dancer.

Sam Miklos (15:05):
Well, that's right now.

But I think, like you work so hard to be on that
stage and you you know it's notthe most amazing money, but
you're not doing it Like that'swhat you've worked so hard for.
And then all of a sudden it'slike that was the first thing to
go.
You know was performing artsand clubs and little singing

(15:27):
shows.
That was like no, can't haveyou all sitting together Out you
go.
So when I lost all that, I waslike I've got nothing, like not
one thing.
So it kind of put a lot ofthings into perspective.
And then it was a Sunday, mymum rang me and she said they're
closing the WA border on theWednesday.
What are you going to do?
And I said, oh well, I don'tknow, I'll just stay here.
And she said, yeah, but you'vegot nothing.

(15:47):
You've got no one over there.
Like my friend's mum had tosend me toilet paper because
there was none in my suburb.
So she sent me toilet paper froman hour away and I said, well,
righto, then I'll pack up and Imoney on food.
So I gave that all to myneighbours and this was mum rang
me at like 11 and by threeo'clock I was on the road to

(16:09):
Kalgoorlie Wow, and I had noidea how I was getting to
Kalgoorlie.
I had no idea what the roadswere like.

You hadn't done that drive before, never.
And like in a Kia Rio, I packeda tiny suitcase With your
toilet paper, yeah, everythingin Sydney.

And I put a post up and then obviously all the
mums and everyone got on boardand were like no, you've got to
go this way.
Oh, now they're closing theborder.
Three hours earlier and I saidto mum I said you log on my
Facebook and tell people I'mgoing to make it and to stop
messaging me because my phonewon't stop.
People were calling andmessaging and you know.
So I just set off on this and Idid it in two and a half days.

(16:44):
I got to their border for anhour to spare.

Sam Miklos (16:46):
And then, where did the COVID marshalling?
Come?

in yeah, very interesting.
So I moved back home and had nojob and I was like this is
boring.
So I was on the dole and Ihated that.
Free money is great but it'snot that exciting, you know.
And then my friend Abby, shegot this job at BHP as a project
I don't know, some sort ofplant operator, and I thought,

(17:11):
well, if she can do it, I can doit.
So I took my dance CV into thisrecruitment agent in Cal and I
said, robin, I will do anything.
And obviously the last job onthere is Paris Disney tap dancer
.
And she said oh, I don't havemuch to work with here.
And I said you'll find me a job.
Because I need a job.
I'm going mad.
So every day, four times a day,I'd give her a call and on the
Friday she called me and shesaid Hamish, I've got you a job.

(17:32):
And I said perfect, what is it?
She said you're going to be aCOVID marshal at the BHP.
Nicholls Smelter and I saidyou'll start on Monday.
It's eight-hour shifts, youknow 4 am to whatever, and then
an afternoon shift to do thenight shift.
I said that sounds really good.
So I went and got my high-visoutfit Outfit.

(17:53):
Costume A little cosy Mum waslike go tell the people you're
doing a diesel mechanicapprenticeship so we can put it
on the book.
So I did that to pay for it.
I said they're going to believethat.
But, anyway and I said oh, I'mjust doing my diesel
apprenticeship, like I need somestuff.
And the lady was like well,normally people would pick those
boots there.
And I turned around and sawthese beautiful blue boots,

(18:15):
beautiful.
And I said I'll have them.
And she goes oh, not manypeople pick them.

And I said I'm not many people.

So I rocked up and I started this kind of COVID
marshalling job where I wouldlike go out there with my face
shield on, take the truckiestemperature and open up the buzz
like the boom gate, have a goodday, mate, you know.
And you would do it for abouttwo hours and then sit there
doing nothing because everyone'sin work and it would be the odd
truck or the odd delivery wouldkind of come up and you would

(18:41):
do.
But from there, who managed uswas the emergency services
coordinator.
Now I went to school with hisdaughters and that's the best
part about being back inKalgoorlie Everyone knows me,
you know everyone, so you willalways find a job.
And Ken said to me oh Hamish,have you ever thought about
being an emergency serviceofficer?

(19:02):
I said, ken, I've just gonefrom dancing with Mickey Mouse,
I don't know what you're talkingabout.
And he said oh well, you know,that's like your road crash
rescue, vertical rescue, bit ofmedical, you know listing all
these like real butchy things.
And I thought, oh, not really,like it doesn't really tickle my
fancy.

Sam Miklos (19:19):
What's the costume?

I'm in my and he was teaching me to do like tie
ropes for rope rescue and do allthese knots and like
butterflies and whatever.
And I rang my manager, my dancemanager, and I said, well,
covid, lasts longer than threemonths, because that was my idea
, I'd be back in WA three months, back in Sydney, doing exactly
what I was doing.
You know, cruise ship here Icome was my goal.
And he said, hamish, they arecancelling things for the next

(19:43):
two years.
Like this is going to last along, long, long time.
And I said, well, I've got anopportunity now to kind of try
something that I would never,ever try in my life and make a
lot of money.
And he said, well, just do it,you're 20.
So I was like, okay, I took mysuper out, I did my cert three
in Minds Rescue, which is like athree-week intensive course.

(20:04):
I did my certificate four inhealthcare pre-ambulance, which
was like the lowest medicalcourse you needed for this job
to be an ESO.
And then I did my drug andalcohol screening ticket and
kind of finished all that.
And again, it was a Friday, mycert three finished, I got my

(20:25):
little certificate and Ken rangme and said, oh, I've been made
redundant, but I've got a jobout in Ravensort, which is six
hours from town.
Do you want a job?
I said yeah, I'll take a jobthere, and rocked up on this
mine site with him.
This was like real mining.
I had to live there for a week.
You know, go to the littlecafeteria, eat the terrible food
, and that was my job.
And I was like what?
I don't know what I've gotmyself into.
I was so nervous to go intothis cafeteria because it's all

(20:46):
like real butchy men and I waslike, oh, hi, everyone, Hi
everyone, what do we do?
Because no one tells you, noone goes.
Oh, the plates are over there,you know, and they don't walk
you through it.
It's very daunting because youwalk in and everyone just stares
.

And what does nervous Hamish look like?
Are you still you?
And you're just rolling inBecause I'll just make a joke
out of something.

I'll be like oh, where's the plates?
Where do you get a plate from?
And then someone will feel sadfor me and be like, oh, they're
over there.
So I'm like, thank you.
And it was from that momentthat I started this job as being
a medic on a mine site and Ihad no idea there was a medic on
a mine site until I was one.
And when I mean I didn't knowone thing.

(21:28):
I didn't know one thing.

And because to do that sort of work you sort of
need to be good with, you know,being able to look at blood and
you know all of that sort ofthing, Like not everyone, like I
don't know that I could dothings like that.
How did you?

I've always loved helping people always.
How did you?
I've always loved helpingpeople.
Always I would create shows todo at nursing homes.
I would, you know, go to theChristmas ladies' lunch in
Kalgoorlie at the Pensioners'Club and sing.
It's always been my thing tokind of help people and make
people smile and I've always hada massive interest in old
people and a massive interest inour Indigenous healthcare and

(22:04):
Indigenous people per se Likethat was always me as a little
kid.
So, kind of going into this, Ithought, well, I see it.
Being a medic or a nurse asyour one man show it's you, you
do your thing.
You've got your patients youknow, in a way, yeah, fake it
till you make it, because youdon't want that patient to see
that you don't know what you'redoing.

Sam Miklos (22:25):
Yeah.

Act like you know what you're doing.
Leave the room, have adiscussion with someone that
does know what they're doing,Walk back and it's like you know
.
You don't be like, oh, Iwouldn't have a clue.
You know, because then they'relike oh, now I'm panicking.
Yeah, I don't know what I'mdoing.

(22:46):
I don't know anything aboutthis.
The girls had seen me on likethey'd Googled me on Instagram
and thought, oh God, this boy'snot going to last five seconds.
And I and we just made the bestfriendship ever and I said all
I want is to be good at this job.
I don't, I want to be, I wantto know what I'm doing.
I say because this is so farfrom anything I've ever done or
known.
And I said that's my one goal.

(23:07):
And they said, oh, we'll teachyou everything we know.
And these two girls who justput me through the absolute
ringer like they would fakeemergencies.
They would get the boys to like, pretend they're having a heart
attack and I would think it wasreal.
Yeah, so many times they wouldrun these little scenarios and I
would be like don't get thedefibrillator until the point

(23:27):
where I would like just kidding.
And I remember one day likesomeone come in and I was like
nah.
I'm over this.
This is I'm not doing it yeah,yeah.

And they said no, this is a real one oh wow, and I
was like, oh sorry, love sorry,let's go but it was.

I was on my live the other night and I said do
you ever remember the momentthat you first do an ECG?
Now that is the easiest taskever for a nurse.
You do 50 million of them a day.
Boom, boom, boom.
Chuck the dots and leads onripper.
But the first ever time Iwouldn't even know what an ECG
was.
Blood pressure, what's a bloodpressure?
Like all these things that Ihad like started to learn and I

(24:03):
think I've come into it astechnically, like a glorified
first aider is what the job wasyeah, unlike with nursing, where
you learn what an ECG is and ablood pressure in your first
year, you don't learn that atyour first aid course.

Sam Miklos (24:16):
You know, did you then go on and get a nursing
qualification?
I loved it, I fell in love.

I did six months of this job and I loved the
medical side.
I hated the other side of it.
It was too butchy for me.
Like I was, like I don't wantto drive a firetruck down yeah,
you know yeah.
I loved the medical side, thatI wanted to become a paramedic
and I didn't get in because Inever finished year 12.
So then one of the girls said ohwell, there's so many more
nurse, there's so many more jobsas a nurse, why don't you apply
for nursing?

(24:40):
And I thought, thought, well,okay.
So I applied with CharlesDarwin so that I could study
online and continue working fulltime.
On the mind side, the one thingI was like is I'm not rocking
up to a uni to watch a lecture,boring, I'll fall asleep.
So I applied and I never paid myfee and I thought oh, random, I

(25:02):
feel like I should have heardby now.
And I rang the uni two daysinto the semester and I said hi,
and they said, oh, you didn'tpay your fee, but if you pay it
now we'll just chuck you in thecourse.
So then I got in and I I did mybachelor of nursing um with
Charles Darwin and I continuedworking week on week off or
three weeks on one week off inthe mines so I could pay for my

(25:24):
degree, go on placement whereverI wanted to go and still learn
and use medical skills my entirethree years.
So it's not like I had anotherjob and had no medical
background.
I got to do that every singleday?

And did you have any ideas through that process
of once you have your degree,what next?

My main passion is Indigenous health.
All my placements were basedaround indigenous health care.
Um, I made I never wanted to doa metro placement.
I never really wanted to workin predominantly white hospitals
.
Um, I think for me I just havea huge passion in that and I
love being out in the bush.
I love that community feel andknowing everyone.

(26:03):
I want to know bloody Susie atWoolies, you know I love that.
That's just knowing everyone.
I want to know.
Bloody Susie at Woolies, youknow, I love that, that's just
who I am and, like I said, I cantalk till the cows come home.
So I've always said, like onceI became a nurse, emergency 100%
is what I love doing.
I like the aspect that I canhelp you and then send you on
your way.
I like seeing the patient everyday.

(26:23):
But I, you know, I love that weare doing.
You know what first comes inthe door and then we get you
ready enough to go to your nextlocation.
And I always have known that Iwanted to do rural and remote
Like I've.
As you all know, I've now movedMetro.

Sam Miklos (26:38):
Yeah, I was just going to say that you've gone
Metro.
What brought?

you to the Gold Coast, but then you're going
from the Gold Coast.
Yeah, you've gone Metro.

Sam Miklos (26:43):
What brought you to the Gold Coast, but then you're
going from the Gold Coast.

Yeah, so obviously once I became a nurse
I got offered a job inKalgoorlie straight away and
organized all that and I startedin the ED and kind of float
nursing there, which was amazingbecause that was my last
placement.
So I did that.
And then I moved up to theKimberley region so I did Derby
Hospital, I then did Halls Creekhospital and then I came back
to Derby to do prison nursing,which we'll get into a bit later

(27:07):
.

Sam Miklos (27:07):
We need to talk about that, but hang on, we can
do the book, yep.

And then, you know, being like coming up to,
like it was coming up to my yearwhere I'd been in the remote
setting I thought.
You know everyone raves aboutMetro is.
Am I missing out on something?
Am I missing out on the factthat I'm not seeing, you know,
big road pileups on a freewayand strokes and all these kind

(27:31):
of things that don't oftenhappen out in the bush, that are
happening every single secondof the day in the metro,
hospitals and in a way, I wasreally enjoying my social media,
but it is hard to do that froma remote setting, because I do
want to go to events and I dowant to make content.

The content is limited and being in, say, halls
Creek.

It's not a one flight to Sydney, it's, you know
, a flight, a drive to Broome, aflight to Perth.
You know, it's a whole day toget there and probably about two
and a half thousand dollars.
So I thought to myself, well,why not, let's go apply for an
ED job at Australia's busiest ED.
And I got it and it sort ofbrought me back over east, which

(28:13):
I'm very happy about.
I love being over here becauseI'm more accessible to the world
.
I love being in the bush, but Inow have the opportunity to
whiz down to Sydney and say goto an event.
Metro as such is just not myvibe.
I think personally, from anoutside point of view, we in a
way are have a larger skill setin a rural setting, because you

(28:35):
don't have that button on thewall to press it and 20 people
and specialists come running andI think that's the thing in a
metro setting kind of always gotsomeone more experienced than
you standing over you.
And you've got to do your job.
That's it.
Where, in a rural setting,you've got to do the job of
three people because you don'thave the staff or you know

(28:55):
agency, right, you don't knoweveryone's skillset.
So where my my great skillsetmight be airway, your great
skillset might be airway too,but you only want to do airway
and I'm like well, I'm happy todo something else where other
people will put their foot down.
I'm not doing anything else.
Where, when they do therostering for Metro, you're that
role and that's what you do andyou don't step outside that
role.

(29:16):
So I think we do have a largerskill set out in the bush and
that's what I'm missing metro,and we don't have all the
divisions of ed.
You don't have a sub acute.
You don't have an acute.
You don't have.
You have one area.
You get kids, you get oldladies, you get really sick
people, you get people who don'tneed to be there and could go
down the road to the g.
You get that all in one daywhere, when you're in Metro, you

(29:39):
could be in subacute and that'syour category fives all day.
People who could have probablygone to the GP but have come
here and I feel like I'm missingout on those skills where I'm
using my critical thinking a lotmore or I'm being able to chat
with the doctor on a phone,rather than a doctor coming in
doing his job and then they'relike right, he needs fluids.
It's like I would have loved toassess that patient, had a

(30:01):
discussion and then learn somuch from each.
So now I obviously have decidedto kind of step down from my
Metro and I know I've only beenhere like just under three
months.
But I sat down with myself theother day and I thought what do
I really love about my job?
And it's my rural aspect, it'smy connection with community,

(30:22):
it's going to places peoplewouldn't normally go to and it's
putting myself in the deep endin a safe way.
Yeah, you know, I would neverdo something to harm someone,
but I learn by putting myself inthat situation to then be like
perfect, like you know.
Now I know the steps of thisand let's discuss what happened
and why it probably could havegone better, rather than

(30:42):
starting at the bottom andworking your way up, you know,
over two years to get somewherewhere I probably don't want to
be, where I can go out and findexactly what I want.
So you know, and I think havingmy entire life on social media
comes with a lot of hate and alot of negativity around me,
moving a lot.
But that's been me my entirelife.

(31:03):
Like I'm, I don't think I'llever be somewhere permanently
enough to call home, like myhome is everywhere, and I think
I build the relationshipseverywhere I go that I can call
someone from any town and say,hey look, I need a huge favor,
can I stay on your cat?
Sure thing, come past.
Or do you know someone who?
Do you need nurses at themoment?
Yet we definitely do so.
That's always.

(31:24):
It was with mining.
I used to move every threemonths cause I would get stale.
If I'm not learning, I leave.

Sam Miklos (31:28):
Like I don't understand, travel nursing is
almost like the ultimate rolefor you being able to like go
around.
We got to dive into derby andthe prison work because you know
, I think, um, that's a prettyadventurous role too like pretty
early on, even location wise.

You know some people won't know where that is.
Can you paint a picture ofwhere it is?
Yeah sure, what's it like?

derby is a small kimberley town.
If you know where broom is,it's the kind of the most
northern large town of WesternAustralia and we're two and a
half hours inland from Broomeand it is predominantly
Indigenous.
Healthcare, like 98% of yourpatients, is Indigenous.

(32:11):
Background, the odd you knowwhite traveller or grey nomad
coming past, but still a verybooming town in a way.
There's lots of businesses,there's lots of.
Obviously we've got the what'sclassified as the sentence
prison of the Kimberley.
Broome has the Remand prisonbut with the overload now of
prisoners we've got a mix ofboth.
We're probably half-half when Iwas at Derby's prison and same

(32:34):
with Broome.
When I was at Derby's prisonand same with Broome.
So I left Derby and went toHalls Creek Agency and I loved
it but I missed my friends and Imissed everything in Derby and
I thought I want to go back toDerby.
So I left Derby for two monthsand then I did a U-ey on the
freeway and I went back and Iwent back and I got this prison

(32:56):
job prior to leaving and I said,no, I'm going to go do this
travel nursing thing and that'swhat I want to do.
And then I was like, oh no, Imiss everyone and it was the dry
.
There's a lot of things on inthe Kimberley in the dry season,
so I went back and I took thisjob at a prison, and now that
has always been something thatinterests me.
Why?
Because I just you, I,calgoorlie's got a prison right

(33:18):
on town and we used to drive outthere and sit in the car park
and think I wonder what's behindthose gates don't we drive out
there, you and your mum or yourfriends, and we would sit there
because it's like all lit up,it's really like, but it's right
on the edge of town and I wouldthink I wonder what's going on
in there we used to do it withmine sites as well, like what's
happening in there, like I wasso intrigued because it's so

(33:38):
hush, hush.
It's like you know you've got tohave special privileges to go
in there.
And I remember getting this jobat a prison and I thought,
righto, rocking up, you knowyou're not allowed your phone
You're not allowed.
You've got to have a clear withlike a radio and an alarm and

(34:00):
keys and I just thought I wasthe shit.

I was like yeah, You're like I'm in a movie.
His costume's better than thelast one, yeah.

Hi Viz, no, thank you.
But and you get to the biggates and it's like a big, thick
gate with a big lock and it,like the man up in controls like
unlocks it and it slowly opensand then it slams behind you and
you're like I'm in prison.
And it was like I just wasalways intrigued to know what
prisoners were like.
And, yes, they're people, butthey're people who have 24 hours

(34:32):
a day to think about whateverthey want to think and to
manifest whatever they want tomanifest.
And they're, in a way, a lot ofthem.
Their way of thinking is sodifferent to ours because they
don't have a distraction.
You can get on your phone, youcan drive to the next cafe, you
can talk to your kids orwhatever that might be.
But when you are in a prisonand you say to them say, oh yeah

(34:55):
, I'll get this done for you,and you haven't done it.
They've had every second of theday to think about.
Hamish is going to do this forme, and then when you have
gotten busy and not done it.
That's like the worst thing inthe world, like you've.
You've just teared them apart.
So I think, stepping into thatkind of prison scene, I thought
I was going to save the world.
I really did.

(35:15):
I thought I'm going to come inhere, I'm going to love it, you
know, because it's Indigenouspeople.
You know.
99% of people in there wereIndigenous.
I think we had five whitepeople, you know, and like three
Asian descent girls.
So stepping in there, I thoughtI'm going to save the world.
I'm going to make somethingamazing at this place because I
will be able to connect withthese people and in a way I did.

(35:39):
I built the trust very quicklywithin that kind of healthcare
aspect and probably in a way, bypushing the boundaries a bit
with the rules Like there'srules for a reason, but I would
push them a bit because I wantedthem to get the best care,
where a lot of people would belike how would you push the
boundaries by advocating forthem, completely to the point

(36:00):
where I would get in trouble,because I think why are we not
giving them the best care?
In a way, when we look atIndigenous people, I think
there's.
Sometimes we have a group ofpeople who health education is
very different to our healtheducation.
Health in general is verydifferent to our health
education.
Health in general is verydifferent to our health and
every aspect of health is verydifferent to white Australians.

(36:23):
So when we have them in an arealike the prison, where we can
focus mainly on their health,we've got a target audience.
I think why are we not doingthe utmost in that aspect to get
everything done?
Why are we not doing groupswhere people hey, you haven't
got these immunizations.
I'm not forcing them upon you,but let's have a chat about it.

(36:43):
Let's put a group together andlet's get everyone this, let's
get everyone that.
So by the time they leave,whether it's there in there for
two months or 24 years, they'releaving a healthier person and
they're leaving not wanting tocome back when, unfortunately,
it's very sad when you look atIndigenous people, they have a
long line of family members andrelatives who have been in and

(37:07):
out of prison.
It's, unfortunately classifiedas normal.
It's not a scary thing for alot of people because they come
into prison and they will listoff 20 names to you when you
first meet them and I say, yeah,they're all in here, oh perfect
, you haven't seen them in years.
So it's a.
There's a lot of family behindbars and a lot of they've seen
people go to prison and it'swhere.

(37:28):
If I went to prison, I would be,scared, shitless, like it would
not be, because I don't reallyknow many people that have gone
to prison.
So I think, when we are lookingat it as a whole, I went in
there and I thought how can Imake a difference for the people
that are here?
How can I get them into themedical centre?
How can I get them to trust me?
And honestly, I just did that.
From all their requests theyput in some of the silliest

(37:50):
requests.
But, yeah, sure, come in, let'shave a chat about it when a lot
of stuff would get disregarded.
Now we don't have time for that.
Why?

Yeah.

We're not busy.

And so it's predominantly primary healthcare
.

Huge primary healthcare.

Sam Miklos (38:01):
It's almost like a GP clinic.
Who else?

are you working with?
So we had, depending on the day, either two or three nurses, a
mental health specialist, andthen the nurse unit manager was
kind of who was in, and then youhad your ward clerk who did the
admin side of things, so, andthen obviously always an officer
, and they would shuffle theboys in.
You'd kind of do the boys inthe morning and then the, then

(38:26):
the girls, but I, you know it,it just depended on what it
wanted, and when I built thattrust with the people in there,
it got to the point where thegirls would only want to see me.
Now, indigenous health infemales is like men and women
are polar opposites.
So to have that respect fromthe women, to only line up at
the front of my door or say tothe lady nurses, no, I don't

(38:47):
want to see you.
And it wasn't the fact that youknow they weren't, you know,
didn't have the skills to doIndigenous health, because
they're not from an Indigenoushealth background.
It's the fact they didn't buildthe trust.
The girls were happy for me todo examinations and talk about
you know private issues thatthey're going through, or they
would write me a letter and wewould discuss.

(39:08):
You know what they're goingthrough, because I took the time
to sit there and speak withthem.

It's that human element, isn't it?

I think we've spoken to so many guests and it
is a human element, like it'slistening.
At the end of the day, nursingis all about listening.
There is so much we can do byjust talking to someone and then
, oh, all of a sudden, all thatpain that you came in for is
gone, because that's not thereason you came here.
You wanted to get something offyour chest and we've done that.
And I think, unfortunately,what I have seen in that space

(39:37):
is there is a lot of people whochase the money because it is
exceptional money when you comeinto a prison but you are
working with a demographic whoneeds you there every second.
You know they want to be ableto be like oh, I know Hamish
knows what he's doing and will.
I can trust him that if he saysI'm only going for an X-ray,
that's all I'm going for,because sending them out of the

(39:58):
prison is a big ordeal.
You know, some of these peoplehave not been outside the walls
in a long time, so going for anx-ray is like an excursion, even
though it's six kilometres downthe road, it's not that
exciting.
But going back into a hospitalsetting they don't get to go in
like us, where we walk, walkthey're shackled hands and
ankles.
That's when they realisethey're a prisoner again while
they're roaming free inside theprison kicking the footy.

(40:18):
You know having a yarn with theboys under the tree, that's
great.
You know having a durry, butthen something happens where, oh
, you've got a specialistappointment or we've got to get
that finger x-ray, buddy,because I can't do anything more
.
If you know, then you know, incomes all the things and you see
it in their face drop that I'vedone bad things, you know, and
that's why I'm in here.
So I just I wanted tounderstand what we could do

(40:45):
better in that kind of healthcare aspect, but also just that
human aspect.
That exciting.
I think.
If I was ever to go back intocorrections, I would want to do
like a a kind of future planningrole where I get to speak with
them inside prison and thenoutside.
I loved hanging out with themlike it's sad to say, but I

(41:06):
would classify some of them asreally good friends if I saw
them on the outside.
People that I and I know they'vedone bad things, but you push
past that.
You can't judge someone on whatthey've done, because I get to
read what they've done badthings, but you push past that
you can't judge someone on whatthey've done, because I get to
read what they've done.
You know for my own safetybenefits when I am consulting
someone.
But in a hospital, when theycome in in their green outfit
and offices, you don't know whatthey've done.

(41:27):
They could have robbed a bank,they could have done something
catastrophic.
You don't know that.
You treat them and present andyou know treat the factors that
they're presenting with andthat's all you do.
You don't go oh, what have theydone?
Because I'm now going to changehow I act.
So you know, having people whohave lit schools on fire or
people who have murdered people,they're all people, at the end
of the day, that need healthcare, that have issues and that want

(41:50):
the best you know outcome forthemselves.
So I remember the girls said tome they said, hamish, we're all
getting fat.
And I said, yeah, girls, youknow your boyfriends won't like
in your bikini when you get outafter six months and you're
eating the prison food.
And they said, well, we're allgetting fat and we don't want to
.
And I said, righto, well, let'sstart a jazzercise class.

(42:12):
So, I started jazzercise classSaturdays and Sundays for the
women.

Sam Miklos (42:16):
Did anyone go other than you, or you did get a
following.

Oh, I made sure they were there and honestly, I
just approached the assistantsuperintendent and said hey look
, the girls think they'regetting fat.
I think it would be verybeneficial to get them up moving
, because they're just sitting.
Let's do something.
Let's get them out in the sun,put some music on, have a good
giggle, have some fruit afterthe class, and that's basically
what we did.
So Saturdays and Sundays Iwould go now, I'm not a

(42:42):
jazzercise teacher, girls but Isaid I've got the background of
a dancer.

I've come from Paris.

I will move around to some music.
And I said, girls, you put inyour song requests and we'll
dance.
And they loved it.
You know getting up laughing,them all being in that kind of
like fun.
And we used to crank the shitout of the music.
I said because Unit 3 was likethe locked boys unit right on
Unit 4, and I said now our onerule, girls, is we've got to
crank the music that loud so theboys would get really jealous

(43:10):
and then when I do med roundthey'll ask me what the music
was and I won't tell them Didyou end up with a boys'
jazzercise class?
No, the boys got a lot insideprison.
They got football andbasketball and heaps.
They got to go to education,where the girls, unfortunately,
are segregated in their unit,and I felt really sorry for them
because they weren't doing much.
You know, they had a garden,whoopie-doo, you know, and they
wanted more and I said, well, Iwill, if you girls come, I will

(43:33):
put this on, but if you stopcoming, class is cancelled.
You know, you've got to put inas much effort as I'm putting in
and it started really high andthen, you know, slowly weaned
off until it got too hot forthem.

Sam Miklos (43:44):
So let's go from like jazzercise to drag queening
.
Yes, like, first of all, what'syour drag queen name?

So my drag queen name is Savannah Blanc or Savvy
B.

Sam Miklos (43:55):
Ah, savvy B name is savannah blanc, or savvy b is
savvy b.
We didn't get some savvy b,we're just giving you that water
, that town water over there.

Okay, it's brisbane water, it's quite nice
actually um, when did the dragshow start?

Sam Miklos (44:06):
I know you, is it a one, one, one woman, one woman.

Yeah, I mean drag started when I was 18 in sydney
I thought I'm gonna give that aburl.
and my drag show started when Iwas 18 in Sydney.
I thought I'm going to givethat a burl.
And my drag show started when Icame home for COVID.
So I came home in say likeMarch of 2020 and started this.
You know that mining, you knowadventure.
And then by October I said tomy friend I said, oh, I want to
put on a drag trivia, why not?
And she said, yeah, do it.

(44:32):
And I I published the ticketsand it was no joke sold out
within about 20 minutes.
Wow.
And then I had to ring thevenue and say, can I add on some
more tables Because we'recompletely sold out.
And they were like, yeah, nowthat I do my shows, so I now do
a proper cabaret.
So we've just sold out Derbyand Kalgoorlie this year.

Sam Miklos (44:51):
And do you?
Is your vision to go to likeDerby, work as a nurse and do
your shows while you're there?

I think it's a lot easier if you go there and
you meet the people and you makethat connection within the town
.
Derby sold out in five secondsbecause I you knew them.
Yep, and I made sure I was verywell known in the town in terms
of providing healthcare andgetting out and about and doing
things.
So then when I publishedtickets, it was like, oh my God,
everyone will get aroundsomething and support it.

(45:20):
Because it's unusual, dragqueens don't go to Derby.
This one does this one does.

Yeah, well, that was the question right.
It's like is there loadstravelling through or you're it?

No, and I think that's why I love it.
Why not push the boundaries?
Why not push the boundaries Atthe end of the day?
If you don't, I we're sellingtickets.
You know the tickets aren'tcheap.
There's $70 a ticket, you know,for the show.
People who would, who don'tlike drag or don't like gay
people, are not paying $70.
So I think whoopie do like.
If people at the pub go, oh,you shouldn't be here, I said

(45:50):
sorry, love.
So show sold out.
No-transcript, because I'm veryconfident in myself and who I
am, that people's words orwhatever they want to yell out
water off a duck's back.
And I think that's probably myone teaching thing on my social

(46:12):
media now is to push past that,because people take a lot of
things to heart and I think thesooner you get rid of that, the
sooner you will be like, I willfeel very confident.
You know, doing a travel nursecontract out to Wut Wut as a gay
man, or going here and nothaving any friends and you know
walking into the pub being like,hey, I'm new, you know what's
there to do here?
And it's the same as that withdrag.

(46:33):
I love performing, I lovetelling my story and I love
doing it in drag.
I love to put on a great showand I like to go to places where
people miss out on that.
You know there's gay peopleeverywhere and there's people of
LGBT.
You know bubble everywhere wego and they enjoy it because

(46:54):
they miss out on a lot there.
You know, you're not moving toDerby to find a husband,
unfortunately, because it's verylimited.
But I can go there, be veryhappy with what I'm doing and
say, hey, look, why don't Ibring a drag show here?
And we put it on at the pub andwe have a great night.
And that's exactly what we did,and it just.
It blew up Like I was on thephone with the girls while I was

(47:14):
on the train.
They said, oh, so when's thenext show coming?
Everyone's talking about itstill.
So bringing shows to towns thatdon't necessarily get them is
what I love.

Sam Miklos (47:27):
Perth, brisbane, sydney, melbourne.

You can see a drag queen any day of the week
Derby never.
That was the first show likethat ever to go to Derby, which
is just so much more special andI think when people know it's
me and you know everyone in theaudience, the show's great
because you can tell jokes withthe people.

Sam Miklos (47:41):
Because it'd be more intimate too, like that
connection with community.

And they like you know you can bounce off each
other because you knoweveryone's kids and you know
where everyone works and youknow they're pissed as a fart
and you can make a joke out ofit.
And then the whole audienceknows them, so it's even funnier
.

And you're going to keep doing it into 2025?

100%.
I hope for so.
At the moment it's me and Ihire my two friends from Perth
and we do like a three-personshow it's mostly me, and then
they'll break it up with solosand duos and we'll do group
numbers.
So you know I can have a breakand it's not just me.
But so for the end of 2025, Iwould love to have my own

(48:19):
one-woman show with athree-piece band and it'd be
about an hour cabaret, and we'llprobably start with the bigger
cities per se just to get it outthere and then take it, because
obviously, travelling with aband is very expensive and I
think that's what people need toconsider.
Like, if a ticket's $70, it'snot $70, that's going in my bank

(48:39):
account.
A show is a lot of money to puton.
So doing it rurally, wherepeople, nothing happens, so a
$70 ticket is like.
But in Perth, where they couldprobably see a show similar for
$40, they're like, oh well, whywould I go?
So you need to get people tounderstand why they should come
and pay that money for your show.
So by the end of the year,that's what I would love a

(49:00):
little one-woman show.

So a bit of travel nursing in between A bit of
travel nursing in between.

A bit of travel nursing and we've got our first
contract with you guys.

It's exciting.
Welcome to the community.

Sam Miklos (49:08):
I just want to jump into, too, finding love in the
bush, because I know you've donelike a part A and a part B on,
you know, yes, finding love inthe bush.
Yeah, a lot of our youngernurses will talk about that.
It can be hard.

It can be very hard and I think it depends what
you want to find.
Yeah, you know, sometimesyou've got to put on I call them
your bush goggles.
You know you're not wherepeople I do have to say people
in the Gold Coast gorgeous,absolutely gorgeous, where you
head out bush and sometimesyou've got to just put on your
bush goggles a little bitbecause they're a little bit
rougher.
Yeah, you know they might bedue for a haircut.
You know they might be due fora shave, so be due for a shave.

(49:47):
So you've got to put on yourbush goggles and people do
become quite gorgeous once youput your bush goggles on and
then you might feel like youknow going out for dinner with
them.
But you've got to rememberdinner places are very limited,
yeah so if you're going on adate.
The whole town knows yeah,they're all seeing you at the
pub on that, yeah, cute date inthe corner having you know,
friday night, chicken parmesespecial, yeah.
So I think in terms of the gaysvery limited gays you do get in

(50:09):
peak kind of dry season whenthere's lots of backpackers of
such, because they all go upthere.
There's a lot of events thathappen and pop up in dry season
and everyone's up doing theirrural work to extend their
contracts to stay in Australia,so you will get your influx of
people then People who are justin the town.
It's very limited,unfortunately.

(50:30):
And do you know what?
For some people that's okay andI'm one of those people Like,
I'm not out there looking forlove.
I'm loving doing my own thingat the moment, but for people
out there looking for love, itcan be challenging, it's a
consideration we might need togive, in our merch packs, a
little cornerstone bush goggles.
Bush goggles.
Got to put your bush goggles ongirls.
That's what I would say.

Sam Miklos (50:48):
Let's talk social media.
You're about to hit the 100,000followers.

by Christmas, we're hoping that was this by
the time this goes live, you'llbe well over.
We'll be at 110,000.

Sam Miklos (51:02):
Yeah, you'll be well over.
We won't even be talking, we'llbe like a distant memory, which
probably would make you a minorcelebrity.
I imagine, like at that point,I would hope so.

I think people are beginning to realize who I
am, which is great because Ilove.
I love talking to people.
In that sense, I love whenpeople come up to me and say, oh
my God, I know you from socialsor I really love your videos
and you know, getting intosocial media was one video
saying today's my first day as anurse and I am so excited and I
think it blew up because no oneis excited about nursing that's

(51:34):
what struck me when I cameacross you was the positivity.

Yeah, like I can't wait to get to work, I'm
excited to wear my costume.

Yeah, when I saw registered nurse on my shirt I
thought whoa.
I'm in I am part of the coolclub and it was.
I put my scrubs on and Ithought whoa, and I was the
float nurse and I was like Idon't know what I'm in for.
ready to go.
You know, I've got my littlephone, hello, hamish the float
nurse.
And from there it just took off.

(52:05):
People were interested in whyyou, you know, you get the.
Oh, give it two months andhe'll hate nursing.
And it's never been like that.
I've never hated it and I thinkI've never hated it because I
in myself have the ability tomove around.
If I start to begin that, I'mgoing to hate it.
Goodbye, you know.
Let's go to the next adventure.
When I saw registered nurse onmy shirt, I thought whoa.

(52:26):
I'm in I am part of the coolclub and it was.
I put my scrubs on and Ithought, whoa, and I was the
float nurse and I was like Idon't know what I'm in for.
ready to go Person and beingable to kind of go from place to
place and start again.
I love that.
I love being the new person.

(52:46):
Oh, I love it Meeting everyone.
I think saying hi is such likeI find it rude if people don't
walk past me and say hi, likeI'm like, oh rude, like I'm
always like howdy, how's itgoing?
Which people are like?
Oh my God, someone's spoken tome.
Yeah, it's very different now.

Sam Miklos (53:03):
So I guess criticism how do you deal with that
Because?

you'd have to have a thick skin.

Hugely, or even boundaries, to preserve some
sort of privacy.

My one tip for anyone wanting to go on social
media is you need to show theworld every single aspect of
your life, because they willfind out regardless if you're
not showing them Privacy.
Yes, in a way that you need tobe able to switch off, but
people are interested in yourlife for a reason, so don't hide
anything from them.
I think if you hide things fromthem, they will find out they

(53:39):
will because you have serialfollowers and messages and
people who comment on everything.
You know people want to be thefirst commenter and they'll
write I'm the first commenter,like it's a big thing, Wow, you
know, I would never comment onanyone's things.

Sam Miklos (53:51):
No.

So I think if you're going to hide something
from them, you've got to bereally good at it, because they
will find out and it comes tothe point where you either have
to fess up and tell them or youjust tell them from the get-go.
Like I've already told people,I won't be traveling with
Maverick as much and I'm alreadycopying a lot of heck for that.

Sam Miklos (54:07):
Who's Maverick?

My gorgeous Labradoodle.
Oh, I love him.
Sorry, yeah, so I'm alreadycopying, heck, but I like how do
you cope with when they put theheck?

Sam Miklos (54:15):
like you know those comments, do you?
Do you describe them?

Well, I always say, like you don't know these
people at all and you are goingto cop it.
You know, don't ever look yourname up in Reddit unless you
want to giggle Like.
If you can laugh about it, gofor it, but if it is something
that affects you, it's not a jobfor you because, you're always,
people are always going to comefor you and if you're happy,
love what you're doing andconfident people are going to

(54:49):
come for you even more.

You must have to charge your phone like six times
a day.
I mean, I can't even take aphoto today, because my storage
is full.

Sam Miklos (54:56):
That's because you're older.
Maybe it's because I'm just sopresent online.

How do you manage that?
Because you must take a lot ofvideo.

And do the ideas come all that like are you just
constantly I feel like I'mevolving with it, like I started
not being a phone person.
I hated being my phone.
I hated when people were ontheir phone at a table.
Now I am that person I becauseit's a second job and I love it.
I love it as much as I lovenursing, because I love being

(55:26):
online.
I just there's something aboutit that I'm like that is so me,
like this today microphone, thisis so me so pushing past that.
Like I said, you know you wouldfeel awkward filming at Woolies.
You get pretty used to that.
I'll go to a gym with all theselike beautiful muscly guys and
me like trying to lift a weightand I'll film myself.
And people are thinking whyearth are you filming yourself?

(55:46):
But you, you just push past it.
You think they're gonna look atyou for five seconds and think,
oh, he's filming himself.
And then they forget about itlike you can't.
And you can kind of see it whenyou watch people's content if
they're nervous about filming ina public space, because you'll
see it in their face thatthey're kind of rushing or you
just got to do it like people.
people I don't think care thatmuch, Like we probably think

(56:08):
they care more than theyactually do.

Sam Miklos (56:10):
But it's also good, I think, from the nursing
perspective, like that awarenesspeople hearing about you know
that the video that you didabout working in the prison, you
know, I think there'd be somany nurses that have watched
that and it would create aconversation that if we can get
more nurses out to these remoteareas and, yeah, halls Creek,
derby, all those places, andthat's why I love filming and
putting it online becausethere's nothing you can't.

You can't Google what's it like to be a nurse in
Halls Creek?
Or what's it like to be a nursein, you know, bidjidanga?
It doesn't just appear, youknow, like what's it like to be
a mechanic?
Sure Million stuff's going tocome up about that because
you've not got much choice.
But for us healthcare workers,every um, every aspect of a
community is different from onestate to the other, from 100

(56:52):
kilometers to one kilometer away.
They're all got their owndifferences.
So people talking about it andputting it online now gives
people like oh, I'm going to gothrough Hamish's stuff because
he did a whole lot on living inHalls Creek and what is there to
do?
And I will be honest and I'llsay there's nothing to do.
You've got to make your own fun, you've got to make friends
with people.

(57:13):
But people can then decidewhether that's for them or not,
and that's the best part aboutit, Then they can decide, rather
than, you know, rocking up andthey're like oh the nursing
quarters, check out the bedding.

So people have a bit of a clue.

And people want to know that stuff before they
get themselves into it.
Unless you're an adventurer andyou're just like hey, give me
whatever you've got, there's nota lot of people like that they
want to know, a breakdown a stepfor step.
And that's why, when healthcarecentres get like, oh, you're not
allowed to post, I think meposting is bringing more people
here, me enlightening people on.
You know this is all you've gotas iga.

(57:51):
Come look at the prices sopeople are aware it's going to
cost you twenty dollars for apacket of mints, not six bucks
like at woollies.
Yeah, so I think in terms of mysocial media I have been able
to kind of bring a light tonursing, bring a light to grad
nurses who you know they sayeveryone gets eaten by their
young, which you know is true.

(58:12):
But like I say to them, pushthrough.
It's your degree.
At the end of the day, it'syour piece of paper and you can
do whatever you want with thatpiece of paper.

Sam Miklos (58:19):
And you know, you know on that, sorry on that,
just tips.
Like that you would have foryou know, grads going out to
these remote communities.

Like that you would have, for you know, grads
going out to these remotecommunities to make the most of
it Is do it, and I think isgetting used to not having a lot
, because you don't have a lotout there, you might not have a
gym, you might not have safestreets to walk around, and
that's the real aspect of it.
Some of these places are verydangerous and they are very

(58:49):
dangerous for, unfortunately,women.
I feel very safe as a man, eventhough I'm a gay man, to go to
these places because inIndigenous communities I don't
feel like gay is an issue,because there's a lot of trans
people and there's a lot of kindof LGBT aspect of their beliefs
and culture, where for women Ithink it is very, very different

(59:10):
.
And I you know, having theability to explain to someone
where you're going is going tobe great and you're going to
learn some skills You're nevergoing to learn anywhere else and
see some things you're nevergoing to see in white healthcare
, but the aspects of it are youmight be bored out of your
brains.
There's one shop you know thatcloses at 3pm, so getting quick,

(59:31):
and then you know if the truckcan't come, well, the truck
can't come and some of theplaces you go might be quite
dangerous.
So learn and listen to what thepeople are saying.
Never be a legend.
That's my.
No one's a legend.
That's what I tell everyoneonline.
No one is a legend.
If you think you're a legend,you're already in the wrong boat
because you've got to go thereand learn from the people that
live there every day.

(59:51):
And if they say don't go there,don't go oh, why not, don't go
there?
You know what I mean.
Don't push the boundaries,because that's when bad things
will happen, and I think there'sso many beautiful places to go
to, so many people that you cantouch and help, and I think just
having a little bit ofunderstanding on what you're
getting yourself into prior isgoing to help you in the long

(01:00:13):
run.
And I think us you know peoplewho are on social media, like
Indy and all those other greatnurses on social media.
We have the ability to post itand let you like.
Just a bit of intel is betterthan nothing.

Kate Coomber (01:00:28):
So I guess where to now.
Yeah, that's that's theexciting question what's the
2025?

Hamish Briggs (01:00:33):
2025.
I feel like it's going to be avery busy year for me.

I'm feeling busy already.

So I would like to reside on the Gold Coast.
Um, I've changed my Metro tocasual, which has all happened
already.
So that starts basically when Istart my contract with you guys
, which I'm going to Cal inSouth Australia.
So that will be exciting.
So I am planning on, obviously,now that I have the ability to
kind of say, go to a contractfor six weeks, have two, three

(01:00:59):
weeks off, I can push my socialmedia in a way.
I want to push it.
Although I'm very healthcarebased, I would like to push it
in a way that I'm more of ahousehold name.
Um is where I'm kind ofdirecting my socials as well and
I think, just getting out there, I would love to start my
training for ran nursing.
I think that's my calling outin the bush.

(01:01:20):
You know, although hospitalnursing is fabulous, I love
being out in the bush.
And so that's kind of where Iwant to end up is doing ranting,
and hopefully, like long-termgoal would be RFDS.
That's the kind of big picturegoal in terms of healthcare,
because then I can fly anywherehere there and everywhere, which
is, but I honestly I feel like2025 is going to be busy and I

(01:01:43):
already feel better about kindof leaving that metro space and
doing something that I'm happyand passionate about and
although that was nursing, butit wasn't my type of nursing.
My type of nursing is insmaller places with
predominantly Indigenous peopleand doing that aspect of my job.
So that's kind of what I've gotin store for 2025.

I love that you try things, though I feel like
you need to try it yourself, butyou need to then know, and that
was what Metro was about.

I gave it a good crack and I don't feel like it
was a waste of time moving,because I love being over this
side of the world.
Like I said, I can go anywherenow and I can fly to wherever
where.
If you live in Derby and do acontract from there, it's very
tricky for you know you guys tobe like yeah, we'll get you
somewhere Exactly.
And now I have the ability tolike.

(01:02:34):
I just sat on the train andcome, like it was.
It was wonderful, so I don'tthink it's been a bad move.
It's opened my eyes up intokind of where I want to be as a
nurse and I've met some greatnurses at the Metro Hospital and
I think I have inspired a lotof them to go and do bush stuff,
because I speak about it allthe time and they're always like

(01:02:55):
well, I don't know if I'm readyfor it.
I said, love, you've been atthis hospital eight years
working in ED, you're ready forit.
And you know, you just go do asmall contract somewhere that's
not, you know, like Kalgoorlie.
Obviously I'm from there and Ilove it, but that's a big
hospital still, in my opinion,with predominantly Indigenous
people coming through it.
So that you're getting the bestof both worlds where you've
still got x-ray and CT andultrasound.

(01:03:16):
You're not going to somewherethat's got none of those and
you've got to.
You know, kind of scaffold.
That journey, yeah, and then youcan get smaller and smaller
from there and more and moreremote if you enjoy it.
If not, go to all the kind ofrural bigger hospitals that are.
You know not.
You know gold coast unihospital that has every
specialty under the sun, but goto some that you know maybe
cardiologist comes out onceevery three months or and work

(01:03:39):
on it.
In that sense and I mean justfrom being a nurse we all know
how much work is out there.
There's, so there's endlessamounts of work in every aspect,
and I think that's that'd be myfavorite part of the job is
there is so much work you willnever have a day where you don't
have work.
If you want to work every dayof the year, make it happen, you
know.
So that's a great part and Ithink for grads getting out

(01:04:01):
there, always know that if youare not enjoying what you're
doing, don't push, push through.
I always say why push through?
And like, oh, cause everyoneelse says you've got to do it.
No, think outside the box.
What?
How is how?
Am I going to make them hire me?
You're going to write a bloodygood cover letter.
You're going to tell them whythey should hire you.
You've got to hustle.
At the end of the day I alwaysthink the job is not going to

(01:04:21):
find you, you've got to find thejob.
So, and a lot of people say, oh, I hate working.
Say gen med, okay, well, figureout how you can get out of gen
med, say in three months.
You don't just go cold turkeyand then have no job.
You need a job before you quityour next job.
That's how it should work.

You need to talk to us and we'll help Exactly and
like there's so much work outthere.

So I think just give it a go, like if you don't
give it a go, you, you can't sayyou, you just have no words to
speak about it.
You know you've got to give ita crack before you can have a
whinge or say you love it reallyfantastic so look, with every
episode we're donating to acharity.

Yes, where where are we donating for you?

Sam Miklos (01:05:03):
so I had a thought about this and we have, like I
don't have a foundation yet butwe are going to go with the
Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Obviously that one day is my goal to be up
there in the plane.
And also, you know, workingrural.
You do work very closely withRFDS.
You know getting your patientsto the next point of care, so I
would love for that to bedonated to them.

Wonderful.

Hamish, thank you so much.

Honestly, we could have sat here and talked to you
for hours.

I feel like we're going to have to do a part A
and a part B.

I feel like I have to keep like oh my God, I've
like there's so many things,stop asking.
You've lived a life for 24.
I know it's been a busy life.

It's incredible.
But we're not slowing downanytime soon, that's for sure.

No, and you are so inspiring I know there's going
to be so many people that hearthis episode and just the energy
, the positivity, like you areliterally a ray of sunshine.

And thank you so much for making the trek up on
the train.

I probably wouldn't have done it, so I really it's
quite fun actually.

I listen to your podcast while I come up.
Oh well, there you go.
So what's in my favour?

Yeah, look, well, now we'll have this.
It'll be a long one.
Someone could go to Sydney andback on a plane.

Exactly, but no, we so appreciated your time.

Thank you.
No, thank you and yeah, all thebest with all of these great
opportunities and hopefully weget to see a drag show of yours.

Yeah, to a drag shot in the bush.
Thank, you.

Thanks girls, Thanks for tuning in to it Takes Heart
.

If you love this episode, subscribe leave a
review or share it with a friend, and if you know someone with a
great story in healthcare, getin touch.
Follow us on socials for allthe behind-the-scenes fun, and
we'll see you next time.

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