Meet Parastoo: Jill of All Trades

It wouldn't be unusual to meet someone who has had these jobs throughout their working life:

• Registered Practical Nurse
• Volleyball Referee
• Security Guard
• Drag Performer

But when did you meet someone who has all of them, all at once?

You will on this episode! Parastoo Sadeghein is interested in many different things, and has always been. In her view, why not do them all? 

If you or someone in your life is struggling with narrowing down career options, you just might find Parastoo's story fascinating.

Transcript

Welcome to The One About Careers with Devon and Sarah-Jane. A career podcast for adults involved with teens navigating life after high school. We help you help your teens make informed education and career decisions by providing quality information and resources. Join us for weekly, bite -sized conversations covering various aspects of careers, including insights from professionals and different fields. - New episodes available every week at theoneaboutcareers.com.


- Welcome back to the One About Careers where we chat about what the heck is your career? What does that mean anyway? And is that any fun? And do you like it? Or what don't you like all the things? So Devn, who's our fabulous guest today?
- Our fabulous guest today is Parastoo Sadeghein. Parastoo and I go way back.
She worked with me as a campus tour guide back in the day, but this is a super
involved student. So we ran across each other a lot, but today Parastu is a
registered practical nurse working in quite a few different capacities. Everything from
doing immunizations in schools to working with older folks in nursing homes,
working with pediatric patients. So lots going on there. She's also a referee with
the Ontario Volleyball Association. She is also a security guard at a bar in
downtown Toronto, and she is also a drag performer. So there's a lot to dig into
today. So I'm going to let you go ahead and do that. I'm curious about I actually
do want to start with why are you you're you've got all these jobs right now can
I ask why you have all those jobs yeah absolutely so uh Devon already touched on a
little bit like when she knew me when I was in school I was a very very involved
individual like um when I graduated from the paramedic program at Durham College I
actually got the president's leadership award for Leadership Excellence because I was
super involved with so many different things. And that's carried on with me to my
adulthood because whether it's the undiagnosed ADHD or what it is,
I just like to be busy. Sitting at home more than like a day, I can't do it.
My mind goes crazy. Like my mind goes like at 5 ,000 kilometers an hour,
like I can't. So doing things that I care about and I'm passionate about,
which I always only do things that I'm passionate about. If I lose that passion is
when I know it's time to step aside.
So yeah, I'm always doing 5 ,000 different things. - I think,
you know, one of the things Devon and I do talk about is sometimes work, It isn't
just about money. Sometimes it's about meaning or filling a passion,
like filling a need within yourself or a passion or something like that. So now
I'll get to the traditional questions.
How did you get from where you started? So if you think about sort of your work
life to where you are now in terms of all those different pieces.
- So in high school, when we had to decide where to go for like university and
stuff like that,
I had no freaking clue. Like when in careers when they're like, oh, you need to do
a presentation about the field you wanna go into. But at that time I was like, I
wanna be a fashion designer. So I designed a dress and did sketches and stuff like
that. But when it comes to wearing things, I go for comfort versus like,
is this the most hip up to date thing to wear right now? But I love designing
things for other people and stuff like that. So that's like, in high school, I
wanted to do that. But my parents were both like accountants, my dad is a self
employed individual who's had his own me since I was a kid. My sister went into
school for accounting. My other one originally like she went to school for I think
biology and then changed the business and then eventually she did culinary. But like
it was all business focused mostly with my immediate family. So then I was like,
yeah, let's take commerce and university. And then I started getting involved right
away when I first started in university. So I heard about the campus emergency
response team. So I joined them and like all through high school, I hated sciences,
granted, like I'm a nurse now and I love those things. But you know, life takes
you on interesting paths that you don't expect. But so I started volunteering with
the campus emergency response team. So I got my first aid and they taught us even
more advanced first aid. And the more I did that, while I was in business school,
on top of all the, you know, being a student leader, campus tour guide, all those
different things that I was doing, I was like, this, doing healthcare, like taking
care of people, this is what I meant to do. So then I was like, okay, I had to
take pre -health 'cause I didn't have any of my science requisites because of the
fact that I hated sciences in high school. So I only took the bare minimum. So I
took pre -health at Durham College for a year and then from there I got into the
paramedic program Which is one of one of if not the most competitive programs at
Durham College and most colleges to get into so I was very grateful and Proud to
get into that and I did finish the program and I became a licensed paramedic But
then shortly after I finished that I had to go in for my second knee surgery on
my second secondly. So then being a paramedic, you kind of need your needs. So then
I was like, I still want to work in healthcare, so let me pursue nursing. So then
I took the RPN program, which is a registered practical nursing program. So again,
in Ontario, we call it an RPN, registered practical nurse, but in other provinces,
and even in the States, something they call it an LPN, which is a licensed
practical nurse or other things.
And then so I've been working as a nurse for the past five years now, next month
will be five years. But I'm also in university right now upgrading to the second
level nurse, which is a registered nurse. So I'm one course away from completing
that degree. And then we'll see if I pursue more after that because I'm not exactly
young anymore. I'm not old. I'm not saying I'm old, but you know, school is hits
differently when you're in your 30s, but I might possibly potentially move on to
become a nurse practitioner. Or I know for sure that, and I'm going to take a
little bit of time off, but I'm, I'm for sure going to take an injectors course to
do like bull talks and fillers and stuff like that. That's what led into nursing.
But while I was doing the paramedic program, I also, I took a security course. So
then I became a licensed security guard and I've just actively kept my life security
license active. Every two years, you have to pay to renew it. And I've actively
kept it active because like I've worked as a security guard here and there. Plus
it's fun for me. So I work at a gay bar as a security guard, essentially the
bouncer. And it's just fun because like, I joke around with people, but I'm also
very serious. Like they know that if they like, if they don't follow my rules,
they're out. They know that. But at the same time, I can be sassy with them. I
can be whatever. And because they're the like, I live in the gay, gay area of
Toronto. That's what also where I do my great performances and stuff like that. So
I know a lot of I'm part of the community. I'm I identify as clear myself. So
like it's it's fun job for me because I know a lot of these people. The volleyball
referee was also while I was at Durham College, I worked for the campus recreation,
athletic department, and I was a scorekeeper. And the more I did that, and all the
volleyball referees were like, "You're probably the best scorekeeper we've ever had in
any of these colleges and universities. Have you ever considered becoming a referee?"
I was like, "Well, is that like I thought being a referee was this huge major like
crazy thing. It's a two -day course. So I did that and I've been a referee for I
believe nine years coming up to 10. So those are the reasons for those.
Drag I've been doing for February 4th will be my three -year drag anniversary as my
queen persona and my king persona just turned two this week actually. So my king
persona was birthed out of my queen persona, so I'm my own drag son and drag
mother.
I don't have a drag family, but I have a lot of friends in the drag community
that I take advice from and stuff like that. But the reason I started doing drag
was because drag is my happy place. Going to drag shows, being around drag
performers has always been my happy place. So then I was like, oh, I want to do
this and make it a happy place for other people. And when it comes to my drag,
I do a lot of political pieces sometimes, or pieces that make people talk.
I used to have long hair to my butt.
And November of 2023. So a year and a couple months ago,
I shaved my head on stage. During a political performance, I was doing as a drag
performer in a pageant I was in, doing something as crazy as shaving your head.
It made people stop and be like, wait, is she shaving her actual head? Because
usually in drag, you wear wigs and stuff like that, right? So I was wearing a head
scarf as again, I was representing for Iran and stuff like that, took that off and
like literally started shaving my actual head. And it made people stop and think of
the message I was making about the piece overall was about we're all human in the
end, we need to come together, especially when we are a minority,
if all the minorities would be there for each other. So that's essentially what my
piece was about. But yeah, So that's why I do drag like I even do like
performances about body positivity because I've always been a bigger individual all my
life So that's how I got into drag. Sorry. This was a really long conversation I
think I probably answered most of your questions at this point. You did You were
messaging each other going past it. She's really covered a lot here. There's not a
lot we need to do. That's the truth
Knowing what you know now if you looked back when you're like 15 16, what advice
would you give yourself about careers?
- Just about careers, but also people in general was just fucking do it and don't
listen to the assholes that are telling you you're not good enough. 'Cause and also
stand up for yourself. Like I stand up for myself now a lot more than I used to
and it's also why I stand up for so many other people is that growing up,
like I was always the one being bullied because I did stand up for other people,
but I took it instead of responding. And now as an adult, I'm like, you know,
hindsight's 2020. A big thing in my life is though, I don't believe in regret. The
reason I don't believe in regret or the word regret is because if I regret anything
I ever did in my life, that means I regret the person I am today. And I love me,
and I love the person who I've become. Do I have flaws? Absolutely fucking loopy.
No one's perfect. Perfect is not a thing. Perfect is something we vie for, but it's
not something we will ever reach. It's being perfect and stuff like that is a
different thing than when you look at Mazel's hierarchy of needs of self
-actualization. Perfection and self -actualization are not the same thing. And
unfortunately, a lot of people think that self -actualization is reaching perfection as
a person. That's not the thing. Self -actualization is coming to terms with the fact
that you do have flaws as a person. You make mistakes. You can get fired from
jobs. You can fail classes. You can quit jobs. You can have 5 ,000 jobs,
whether it's simultaneously like me or throughout your life. But as long as you take
every moment as a learning experience towards your life, there is no set path.
People growing up, especially in different cultures, and I come from a Muslim Middle
Eastern family, like you think there's a certain path you're supposed to follow? No.
And that was my mistake when I was a kid was I looked too much to other people
to tell me what I should do. But I'm me. How does someone know what makes me
happy fully or what I like doing or what my skills are until they see it?
And it's funny because my dad very proudly tells people that I'm a Jill of all
trades, but not like the saying that says like Jack of all trades, but master of
none. He's like, no, she's a Jill of all trades and she's actually a master of all
of it. It comes down to be authentically yourself. And if people don't like that,
water off the duck's back. You're not going to please everybody. Not everyone's going
to like you. You might change your career 17 ,000 times. You're never too old to
change your career. Money comes and goes. Your happiness, your mindset, you,
like those things are limited. You have to do what makes you happy and that's what
I would tell my younger self. - Nice. - Awesome. - That's awesome.
- That was, I just love it. And you know, I think I'm really proud of the fact
Devin and I both really value non -traditional pass
because in careers, frankly, that probably is what most people have.
- Probably actually traditional, come to think of it. Yeah. - Exactly. If we just
flip that around, that's exactly what's going on. - Yeah. - So, Parastoo, thanks you
so much for sharing all of the beauty and variety and vivaciousness and colorfulness
and wisdom that you have for us today, really appreciate it.
Thanks for listening to the One About Careers podcast. You can catch up with past
episodes at theoneaboutcareers .com. Join us next week for another Bite -sized
conversation.