Working With Wildlife
Working With Wildlife
Scaling with Scales: The Journey of a Young Wildlife Entrepreneur
Right out of high school, Monique Bast did something bold—she started her own wildlife business. While most were still figuring out what to study, Monique was booking shows, wrangling reptiles, and building a brand from the ground up.
In this episode, Monique shares what drove her to take the leap so early, how she built her business, and what it’s really like working with animals for a living. She opens up about the challenges too—including a moment where she nearly walked away from her passion because of the doubts and opinions of others.
From the excitement of wildlife demonstrations to the behind-the-scenes realities of entrepreneurship, Monique’s journey is packed with insights for anyone wondering if they could turn their love for wildlife into something more.
Whether you're dreaming of starting your own wildlife venture or just want a better understanding of how people make a living in this field, this episode will give you a clear—and inspiring—look at what’s possible.
________________________________________
🎯 You’ll Learn:
•What it’s like to run a wildlife business as a young entrepreneur
•Why Monique chose this path—and how she made it work
•The real-world challenges (and joys) of working with animals
•How to push through doubt and follow your passion
•Practical tips for starting your own journey in the wildlife industry
________________________________________
🙌 Love the episode?
Subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who needs a little inspiration to follow their wild side.
For more episodes and resources, visit [Your Website or Podcast Page].
============================================================
▶️Guest information◀️
➡️Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelizardwizards/
➡️Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/thelizardwizards02/
Thankyou for listening!
=============================================================
If you enjoyed this episode please let the platform you listened on know by leaving a review or rating on the podcast - if you already have thankyou!
Reach out and let me know of any topics or guests you would like seen on the podcast🤙
You can find more information at:
▶️Website - https://workingwithwildlife.co/
▶️Podcast Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/_workingwithwildlife_/
▶️Personal Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jaedon_lunt/
▶️Email – jaedon.social@gmail.com
=============================================================
****************⬇️bellow is a list of all the podcast gear I use⬇️***************
This podcast is NOT sponsored. Some product links are affiliate links which means if you buy something I will receive a small commission.
✅Mic: https://amzn.to/3PLXz44
✅Mic Stand: https://amzn.to/48ohvBk
✅Camera Stand: https://amzn.to/3PM1s9a
✅Camera continuous power: https://amzn.to/48jgGdg
✅Focus rite: https://amzn.to/3Lrhjri
✅10ft X...
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:01:12
Unknown
I can't be a babysitter,
00:00:01:12 - 00:00:01:13
00:00:01:13 - 00:00:21:00
Unknown
which used to be a really big problem for me. Yeah, because the parents would just put me in a room with 34 year olds, and then they just run away and I'm like, that's quite overwhelming. It is. It's a lot. It's a lot of grubby fingers, which is scary.
00:00:21:00 - 00:00:43:04
Unknown
If I had to start again. I would start slow, blow the, finding, you know, could you do you just start a business? A reptile demonstration business? The biggest part is the animals. So starting really slowly. Slowly building up a a really nice collection of creatures, that you can take to shows less is more.
00:00:43:04 - 00:00:45:19
Unknown
I wish I could go back and build all of my enclosures instead of
00:00:45:19 - 00:00:53:01
Unknown
buying, things from new all the time. So it's just like I would say, be resourceful, be slow, be resourceful.
00:00:53:01 - 00:00:58:07
Unknown
Yeah. Because this isn't a business that you can really just run up and start it.
00:00:58:07 - 00:01:12:06
Unknown
because I was way more hands on anyway. And in the animal industry, the more hands on you are, the more likely you are to get jobs. And, so I feel like it helped me not going the traditional route anyways, I would I did better without it.
00:01:12:06 - 00:01:15:09
Unknown
Like. If I didn't have that teacher, I would have dropped out in year ten
00:01:15:09 - 00:01:22:14
Unknown
My record for the year was always really bad, but my year 11 and 12 experience, because of my teacher, I didn't miss a single day of school.
00:01:22:14 - 00:01:24:01
Unknown
I loved it so much
00:01:24:01 - 00:01:30:02
Unknown
having a good teacher or a good mentor is so important. And the most valuable thing that you can have.
00:01:30:02 - 00:01:36:07
Unknown
my first snake. I got it in secret because I had my reptile license already, and I had my car,
00:01:36:07 - 00:01:37:16
Unknown
and
00:01:38:16 - 00:01:41:13
Unknown
About a month.
00:01:46:14 - 00:02:04:03
Unknown
Welcome to working with wildlife for. I host a giant lunch with the experts and enthusiasts in different fields of nature to find out how and why they do what they do. Have you ever wanted to start your own wildlife related business, or you've just been curious about how you can work with wildlife?
00:02:04:05 - 00:02:11:12
Unknown
Well, in this conversation, we're going to be speaking to the founder of The Lizard Wizard, and we're going to be hearing about some of her wildlife experiences,
00:02:11:12 - 00:02:15:10
Unknown
as well as learning about her experience as a young entrepreneur. Sure.
00:02:15:10 - 00:02:19:14
Unknown
Well, without further ado, please welcome to the show, Monique. Best.
00:02:39:03 - 00:03:08:07
Unknown
Good. I'm doing well. Thank you for having me on. I'm really excited for the opportunity. Because I haven't done a podcast before, but, yeah, today the weather is. It's been beautiful and warm all week, which I love it. And now it's really rainy and depressing. It's good to be able to do something inside today, so I'm excited.
00:03:08:09 - 00:03:32:06
Unknown
Yeah. Yeah. So, the fluctuating with, It just means that you're you can control the temperatures with your, your lighting and your heat maps and things like that, but it's just the actual temperature of the air in the room, that they're staying in and just outside and everything just dropped the and goes high really quickly.
00:03:32:08 - 00:04:09:04
Unknown
And that can be really frustrating to deal with. And yeah, the power bill, especially in winter. And as we are coming into the cold month, is really expensive. We've just finished paying off a $3,000 power bill. So it's a huge business expense.
00:04:09:06 - 00:04:37:07
Unknown
So this is Cleo. Clear is an adult female children's python. I've had her for about six months, and she was actually an ex breeder for Jason, who runs Jurassic Jungle, a really popular reptile store down here in Victoria. So she's been bred, bred really nicely for a really big girl. Yeah, that's her.
00:04:37:08 - 00:04:46:01
Unknown
Just Jurassic jungle.
00:04:46:03 - 00:04:51:01
Unknown
Yes.
00:04:51:02 - 00:05:16:07
Unknown
Yes. Very well known breeder in the Victorian reptile community. He started up a shop in, near where I live. Here. And he he used to run the shop himself, but now he's got workers there, and they've got some of the coolest stuff, but they've always got the really cool different monitor species. He does aquarium as well, so lots of cool fish.
00:05:16:09 - 00:05:44:10
Unknown
I get most of my stuff from from there.
00:05:44:11 - 00:05:57:03
Unknown
But.
00:05:57:05 - 00:06:25:12
Unknown
I.
00:06:25:12 - 00:06:49:13
Unknown
So my first ever trip to a wildlife experience in work was, I did actually. Well, if you just count animals in general, I did dog grooming for a little bit as my first work experience, and I absolutely hated it. So I am way more scared of dogs than I am snakes. Something I learned really quickly doing dog grooming.
00:06:49:14 - 00:06:54:09
Unknown
You're way more likely to get bitten by a dog than a snake. I stand by that.
00:06:54:09 - 00:07:13:10
Unknown
Yeah. Yeah, I've been bitten, by way, more dogs in the snake. And then I moved on to working for a wildlife demonstrator. I won't say her name here because she was absolutely terrible. Her her work, just her compassion for animals was just a nightmare.
00:07:13:10 - 00:07:42:02
Unknown
And she would allow animals to get, respiratory infections and over breeding and still presenting them to the public. And that was something that really sparked sort of a fire under me to try and do something better than her. And then from there, I tried to get out of there quickly. Did, some wildlife shelter work? Up near where I live for an older lady named Carol.
00:07:42:04 - 00:08:06:03
Unknown
And, Carol's doing really well now. She's on the news the other week, and she's really gone off with her wildlife shelter. So that was really good to be a part of the growing stage of that. Yeah. And then from there, I started my own business, so I haven't had a whole lot of experience, but, enough to be able to sort of go off on my own.
00:08:06:04 - 00:08:09:18
Unknown
Yeah.
00:08:10:00 - 00:08:36:01
Unknown
Yeah. So I did dog grooming for about a year. So that was when I was about 16. And then for a year when I was about 17, I did the or maybe less. Then I did the wildlife demonstrator thing. And then from ages, 18 through to about 21, I was, doing the wildlife shelter while I was starting my business as well.
00:08:36:02 - 00:08:45:09
Unknown
Did they overlap a little bit?
00:08:45:11 - 00:09:07:11
Unknown
Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Back when I just turned 18 years old. That's when I would.
00:09:07:12 - 00:09:30:02
Unknown
So when I was younger, I kept to pet mice and really simple, cute, fluffy animals. And I wanted to do the zookeeper thing that everybody wants to do when they're younger. And then realize that that wasn't. That's a really tough industry to get into, especially for someone like me. That wasn't I'm not super academic, and I didn't do the the normal school route.
00:09:30:03 - 00:09:47:06
Unknown
And I found that being a demonstrator was much more achievable than going for a zoo.
00:09:47:07 - 00:10:16:19
Unknown
So in Victoria, we have Vic, and then the. When I was to school, there was another option called vehicle. Vehicle is, it's working through. It's got a, like an up doing an apprenticeship basically. And then doing a is where you do exams and you get a score that helps you get into university, you're into, special pathway that you want to go towards after school.
00:10:17:01 - 00:10:41:16
Unknown
Yeah. Whatever it would be for you in Queensland that you would have to do exams.
00:10:41:18 - 00:10:42:11
Unknown
No,
00:10:42:11 - 00:10:58:14
Unknown
no, definitely in that because I was way more hands on anyway. And in the animal industry, the more hands on you are, the more likely you are to get jobs. And, so I feel like it helped me not going the traditional route anyways, I would I did better without it.
00:11:18:11 - 00:11:48:06
Unknown
The. Of course, the more studies and things that you do, the more knowledgeable you're going to be. Absolutely. Because I did do animal studies at hay. So that's what I had to do while I was at school. But it's also, I find experience is best in animals because you will never get as much of an understanding from just reading or knowing the information than actually putting it into practice.
00:11:48:08 - 00:12:07:18
Unknown
Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I feel like that's been way more useful to me because it will actually stick in my brain because I've experienced it.
00:12:07:19 - 00:12:26:18
Unknown
Probably once I started high school and I started because I really wanted to do biology, and I wanted to do all of the things that you're supposed to do to help you learn about animals and the environment. But I did it, and I just couldn't understand anything that was really because it was all just on paper. And I'm still.
00:12:26:18 - 00:12:48:03
Unknown
You might have had it too. In science class, they print out these sheets with all black and gray, and you can't see anything. You don't know what's going on. You're reading out of a textbook. And then, Well, I did really bad at science at school, but then I went to animal studies and crushing every single assignment because they were all hands on.
00:12:48:04 - 00:13:08:14
Unknown
So it just made sense that I just don't I don't learn in the traditional sit down at a table, then.
00:13:08:16 - 00:13:19:00
Unknown
Yeah. Yeah.
00:13:19:01 - 00:13:36:07
Unknown
Yeah.
00:13:36:08 - 00:13:55:01
Unknown
Yeah. Yeah. Exactly right.
00:13:55:02 - 00:14:17:09
Unknown
Yeah. Well, I've done I've done a lot of jobs around animal stuff as well. I've done retail. I've done, I've run my own, selling, building my own crochet products as well. So I did that from when I was about 12 years old. So that's when I first started working for myself and making my own money.
00:14:17:11 - 00:14:49:16
Unknown
So I've always just wanted and working in retail and working for other people, you realize especially for me, I am more driven by things that are going to help me directly. Then just doing it just to get a paycheck at the end of the week and just doing, you know, just serving customers because I have to I'd rather do things that make me feel fulfilled and actually have an impact than just doing a really boring job.
00:14:49:18 - 00:15:12:01
Unknown
Yeah, searching for having a few animals worked. Yeah.
00:15:12:03 - 00:15:35:09
Unknown
Probably when I did work at the wildlife shelter. It was very. It was really hard because when I was working there, Fiona, the owner, had about three volunteers. She'd got 70 now, but just to get it, 70, just to get an understanding of how much work is actually involved in her shelter and how little help we had.
00:15:35:11 - 00:15:56:12
Unknown
But it wasn't her fault. But it was very, it was hard, but it was super inspiring and fulfilling to have to be, you know, be really counted on me at the age of 17 to be able to, you know, keep all of these animals alive. And I think that that's what sort of made me I was like, I need to do this all the time.
00:15:56:12 - 00:16:14:10
Unknown
It makes me feel good. At the end of the day and makes a difference.
00:16:14:12 - 00:16:31:02
Unknown
Is a bit of both. For used to get some animals that would get brought in from the local vet. Because a lot of people, I'm sure you know the find a blue tongue in their backyard and take it to the vet, and the vet's got no idea what to do with that. So they end up going to a wildlife shelter.
00:16:31:04 - 00:17:11:06
Unknown
The RSPCA is well used to bring in a lot of bird, rabbit, domestic reptiles, like pet reptiles and things as well. But we'd also mostly work with, little massive, mammals. Marsupials like kangaroos, wallabies, wombat. That was the main gig.
00:17:11:07 - 00:17:33:03
Unknown
When I first got into the animal thing. Love the fluffy animals. They were my favorite. Grew up keeping rats, mice, guinea pigs, bunnies, all of the cute stuff. And I wanted to work at the word love shelter because my dream was to always take care of kangaroo joeys. I thought that was the route I was going to go, wildlife wise.
00:17:33:04 - 00:17:57:18
Unknown
But once we started getting the reptiles in, no one at the shelter really like to work with them. So I ended up just taking them home and keeping them. And then. Yeah, that they ended up being my favorite. Yeah.
00:17:58:00 - 00:18:03:09
Unknown
It's very rightfully so. They're super cute, and they're really,
00:18:03:09 - 00:18:24:11
Unknown
like, working with Baby Wombat. There's nothing better than working with them. They are so cute. They're amazing. They are the coolest. It's one of the coolest animals I've ever worked with. So I totally understand. Yeah, yeah, definitely the baby wombat. I don't wombat, they're just so cute.
00:18:24:11 - 00:18:41:04
Unknown
They're literally. They're like little dogs. They built, like, a little brick, and they're super strong. Like, they'll just run up and bash you straight in the fins, like. And then they get the zoomies and they jump around and carry on and roll all over the floor. And they're just so playful and fun.
00:18:41:04 - 00:18:46:12
Unknown
And they're really easy. Honestly, they were quite an easy one to raise from young.
00:18:46:13 - 00:19:08:17
Unknown
So I could see why the wombat, the cool, the people. But, the kangaroos I didn't enjoy as much. I see the appeal, but they are way more, temperamental to to raise. Yeah, I definitely get it. They're really cute. But the reptiles, to me, they just way more. It's the closest thing you get to dinosaurs. I feel like that just they feel cooler to me.
00:19:09:01 - 00:19:21:08
Unknown
Overall.
00:19:21:10 - 00:20:02:05
Unknown
Definitely the history of it. Of it all. And I just find it so interesting how, how they look, how they moved, the time that they were around. And like, I wish that we could still have some animals that are a little closer to the dinosaurs. That'd be so cool. Yeah.
00:20:02:06 - 00:20:08:16
Unknown
Yeah.
00:20:08:18 - 00:20:41:18
Unknown
Yeah. Yeah.
00:21:36:11 - 00:21:46:16
Unknown
So when I first started, I did it. I just called it many animals shows. Like. That's pretty lame. Pretty boring. And, my mum,
00:21:46:16 - 00:21:58:12
Unknown
I came home from doing a show like. Oh, I heard of this band called King Gizzard and the lizard Wizard. She said you should name your business the Lizard Wizard. And I said, no, that is so cringe.
00:21:58:12 - 00:22:13:08
Unknown
I would never want to do that. But then with time, I was like, it's it is catchy and it is fitting. The only hard part is a lot of people get upset because I'm not a wizard.
00:22:13:08 - 00:22:25:04
Unknown
But yeah, sometimes like, oh, perfect. Yeah, yeah, they're expecting me to be actually dressed up as a wizard. So that's the only downside of the name.
00:22:25:05 - 00:22:41:06
Unknown
But other than. Yeah, that's how I got at my mum suggested it. I hated it, but it worked. And it sticks with people's brains. And that's an important thing in business. Yeah.
00:22:41:07 - 00:23:16:03
Unknown
I've thought about it because I used to love practicing magic when I was younger and got those little cheesy magic kids, I could put something out. I'm sure.
00:23:16:04 - 00:23:22:04
Unknown
Yeah.
00:23:22:06 - 00:23:44:02
Unknown
So I did, Lizard Wizard started as my year 12 project. So instead of end of year exams, we had to do something called a senior project, which mine was to do animal shows for kids, because I'd built up a small collection of stuff that I had gotten from the wildlife shelter, so I was going to use them for a couple of free shows.
00:23:44:04 - 00:24:12:13
Unknown
In year 12, I also did a small business course while I was in year 12. That was the part of our schooling. So I do have a certificate three in small business as well. And in doing that, so my assignments, I would just do, making things to start up my business. So creating business plans, learning how to create your own invoices, learning how to, just all of the really boring basic stuff.
00:24:12:15 - 00:24:38:10
Unknown
I learned while I was in year 12 doing my small business course, and then was building my own business at the same time. So it all just worked together really nice. The first few clients I got, was actually I contacted my old primary school, which was just down the road from my high school, and contacted a few other local schools to thank, doing a free show.
00:24:38:12 - 00:25:00:02
Unknown
Yeah. Whenever you want me to come, I can do it. And then people where it's free. So they were really into that. And then from there they wanted to keep booking me in, and they were actually recommending me going to other places and people contacting me trying to get these free reptile shows as well. And then from there, I obviously made a good impression and they kept coming back.
00:25:00:02 - 00:25:27:15
Unknown
I still have a lot of those clients five years later. So yeah, that's how I it was actually way easier than I expected it was. It's tedious, but it was pretty easy to start because I was only 1718 at the time. So money, I didn't really need to have too much money at the time.
00:25:27:16 - 00:25:55:06
Unknown
Yeah, I could focus on, yeah, taking it slow. Like if I started this business now, it would be hard because I've got, you know, a car that needs to be. You need to pay a lot of money to keep a car. The power bills, the just the constant expenses. Now, just that comes with being an adult. But back then, I had nothing going on, so it was great.
00:25:55:07 - 00:26:29:15
Unknown
It.
00:26:29:17 - 00:26:48:06
Unknown
It's not even like it is age. And also, I had a lot of energy, you know, a lot of, a lot of drive to get it done when I was 18, because I was just so excited to get out of school and get it over with. But it's also the world changed a lot. There's been Covid in that time.
00:26:48:07 - 00:27:26:11
Unknown
And there's been like just the cost of living crisis that we're in at the moment. I can't even imagine trying to sort all your animals and, everything you need to start up a business really expensive with the current, price of just everything. So it would be a lot harder for sure.
00:27:26:13 - 00:27:40:17
Unknown
Yeah. Yep. Don't come near my area. Yeah. It would really be.
00:27:40:17 - 00:28:04:07
Unknown
If I had to start again. I would start slow, blow the, finding, you know, could you do you just start a business? A reptile demonstration business? The biggest part is the animals. So starting really slowly. Slowly building up a a really nice collection of creatures, that you can take to shows less is more.
00:28:04:09 - 00:28:13:04
Unknown
Trying to keep your expenses low. So, like, for me, I, I if I wish I could go back and build all of my enclosures instead of
00:28:13:04 - 00:28:28:01
Unknown
buying, things from new all the time. So it's just like I would say, be resourceful, be slow, be resourceful. Yeah. Because this isn't a business that you can really just run up and start it.
00:28:28:17 - 00:28:46:00
Unknown
That would be my advice just for the current cost of living. Yeah.
00:28:46:02 - 00:29:08:00
Unknown
That actually really interesting. So this was something we were talking about earlier, was that I would love to move up to Queensland one day. I would love to get to a point where I can leave the lizard wizard down here in Victoria. Have people that I have working for me and then moving, up to Queensland one day.
00:29:08:00 - 00:29:34:10
Unknown
I would love to. And maybe starting a second sort of branch of the lizard wizard up there as well. So I know that there's an insect company called Mini Based Wildlife, and they started in Victoria, and then they've kept the thing down there and done the same sort of idea that I want to do. They live up in Queensland now as well.
00:29:34:11 - 00:29:52:01
Unknown
I've tried to work for them many times. Yeah, but I haven't actually spoken to them directly. But that's the closest I've gotten.
00:29:52:03 - 00:30:01:06
Unknown
Yeah.
00:30:01:07 - 00:30:33:11
Unknown
Oh, yeah.
00:30:33:12 - 00:30:54:07
Unknown
Yeah.
00:30:54:09 - 00:31:06:13
Unknown
Oh.
00:31:06:15 - 00:31:30:09
Unknown
That is a really, really good question. Definitely. The the main the. I haven't had any giant bump. The main really big one that has affected me financially in my business was I actually, wrote my car off on the way to a show one day, and that car, I had it it was paid off. Such a good car.
00:31:30:09 - 00:31:53:07
Unknown
And then I, ended up, a split on oil and ended up crashing it. And now I've had to, now I have a car that I need to pay off. And that's been a really hard thing in business because I had no real overhead costs above me at that time. And now, like one mistake and now it's become quite difficult.
00:31:53:09 - 00:32:21:06
Unknown
But other than that, you just we have a lot of day to day things. Sometimes you get clients that can be really difficult to deal with, and learning how to manage people can be difficult. Yeah, because you're working with parents. And of course, parents want the absolute best for their children. Totally understand. But sometimes they can be quite, unreasonable with me and what I need and what the animals need.
00:32:21:08 - 00:32:41:03
Unknown
So that can be really tough. But yeah, it's usually just a little, little rock on the road along the way that there hasn't been too many big, big issues. Thankfully.
00:32:41:05 - 00:33:00:13
Unknown
We, there was insurance on the car. I got I got the money back that I paid for it, but it was a really cheap car. It was just it was a cheap ute, but it was perfect for what I needed. And then by the time I had to buy my new car, Covid had happened and everything had changed.
00:33:00:13 - 00:33:38:08
Unknown
And the market at the time was really bad. And I ended up buying a car that had to be a lot more expensive to be able to do the same job that my old car did. So that was tough.
00:33:38:10 - 00:33:48:18
Unknown
Yeah.
00:33:49:00 - 00:33:58:14
Unknown
Yeah.
00:33:58:16 - 00:34:14:17
Unknown
Some of the the hardest part. A lot of times that a lot of demonstrators would be able to relate to this is that the parents treat you like a babysitter sometimes. This is very rare. It doesn't happen much anymore. And this happened because I didn't communicate enough to the client.
00:34:14:17 - 00:34:24:02
Unknown
Now I make sure that the parents are there to be with their children throughout the session, and it helps me because I have to watch the animals as well.
00:34:24:04 - 00:34:45:04
Unknown
I can't be a babysitter, which used to be a really big problem for me. Yeah, because the parents would just put me in a room with 34 year olds, and then they just run away and I'm like, that's quite overwhelming. It is. It's a lot. It's a lot of grubby fingers, which is scary.
00:34:45:04 - 00:34:50:02
Unknown
But it's also it's been tough.
00:34:50:02 - 00:35:15:00
Unknown
Another big thing that's been hard for me is that, I run this business with my partner. He's my right hand guy, and he's taken a lot of training. So sometimes when I can't be there to help Ryan out, I've gotten a couple of complaints from the parents that he may not have been a thorough in the show as he should have been.
00:35:15:02 - 00:35:42:15
Unknown
And that can be really hard, because that's something that they're getting upset with me, I totally understand, but I didn't have full control over the situation, which has been a hard thing in business. That's the thing. Yeah, yeah, it's really hard to. Yeah it's hard. That's a that's another actually, I should have mentioned that that being in a business with your partner can be really hard time.
00:35:42:17 - 00:36:09:04
Unknown
Because you do have to call him out and say, hey, you messed up there. Someone's really upset. How are we going to fix this and try and say it in a way that doesn't ruin your relationship as well.
00:36:09:06 - 00:36:18:18
Unknown
Yeah.
00:36:18:19 - 00:36:43:07
Unknown
I was running the business for about six months before I met my partner. And then, That was in 2019. Then 2020 Covid hit. I started doing online sessions, and he jumped in, to that right towards the end of Covid. So he's been helping me out for about three and a half years now.
00:36:43:07 - 00:36:46:03
00:37:11:12 - 00:37:29:00
Unknown
So it was really tough at the start because we had. I would book things in, and then we would have lockdown come out of it, lock down again, come out of it. So it just was constantly you'd get to a point where it did get canceled. The whole thing, and then I'd end up having to refund everybody.
00:37:29:00 - 00:37:50:08
Unknown
And I was working at a loss for a little bit. And then I saw, a couple of other demonstrators doing the online thing. I was like, that's a great idea. And I did it super cheap as well. Because I didn't have an amazing set up. As you can see, I just did my zoom setup exactly how I am right now.
00:37:50:10 - 00:38:13:04
Unknown
And. Yeah, which it's not great. You can't see that. Well, but, a lot of schools are running through zoom, and then, the kids, they lost so much interest in the schooling. It only took a couple of months, and the kids were over the whole online thing. So. Yeah, so, I started doing online shows.
00:38:13:04 - 00:38:34:16
Unknown
45 minutes. They cost 25 bucks. Eight. And I ended up feeling whole days. I would do eight hour days. So after, you know, after so after. So it was pretty amazing. And the teachers. Yeah, the feedback from the teachers were that that was the most, kids they would actually get to join in for the day when the animals would come.
00:38:34:17 - 00:38:59:02
Unknown
So it was really helpful to people. And then I ended up branching out to scout groups. They ended up loving it as well. And it definitely sort of went in line with what the scouts are all about. Nature and wildlife. And yeah, I ended up going from about, I think I had about 300 people on my Facebook to up to a thousand just with the zoom shows.
00:38:59:02 - 00:39:07:06
Unknown
It just really went off and did super well. And I still have kept clients, in person from that to.
00:39:07:08 - 00:39:16:03
Unknown
Yeah.
00:39:16:05 - 00:39:51:15
Unknown
No.
00:39:51:17 - 00:40:11:16
Unknown
It was actually surprisingly worked really well. Because I would just literally just bring my name up, like, it was so dodgy. Just bring them up to the camera like that. That they used to just love how the animals would react to things. I used to hold the frogs up in. The frogs would jump onto my webcam and just the sugar gliders up, sniffing at the camera.
00:40:11:16 - 00:40:30:16
Unknown
So the kids just thought it was really cute and it was in real time. So I guess that they enjoyed that aspect as well. And I ran it like a normal show. But I did it really quick. And then most of it was just Q&A. So like, we, we were just chatting just like friends pretty much.
00:40:30:16 - 00:40:53:16
Unknown
And I think that they really enjoyed that and it helped them to be a bit more, Yeah. Engaged. So yeah, that's how I ran those.
00:40:53:17 - 00:41:23:04
Unknown
Yeah.
00:41:23:06 - 00:41:50:02
Unknown
Because my agenda in a lot of my jobs, and especially this business, has been, It's been an eye opener. Especially it happens all the time where, you know, I've put in so much heart into this business and so much work, and then we go to a show, and, sometimes the clients will ignore me, and only you know, shake Ryan's hand and acknowledge Ryan.
00:41:50:02 - 00:42:11:04
Unknown
And, like, thank you so much for coming out today like that. And it can be hard because Ryan just come out just to give me a hand today. Like he has no idea. It happens a lot, and I can imagine it would happen a lot to a lot of other women in business. Yeah, a lot of people just don't assume that you can really do it, especially if you're a younger woman.
00:42:11:04 - 00:42:44:01
Unknown
I think, but that's been a hard thing to deal with. And so even in messages, people will always just assume that Ryan runs everything, which can be hard. So I think what trying to say is there is a bit of sexism in women running a business, especially with the animals. I find a little bit more.
00:42:44:01 - 00:44:04:19
Unknown
so unfortunately I haven't been able to speak to many other women in the same field. The only ones I've ever spoken to have all been male as well. So I feel like there's not heaps of representation for women working with animals. So yeah, it's been hard to get more perspective as well, when it doesn't exist as much.
00:44:05:01 - 00:44:23:03
Unknown
Yeah. So many like what I've seen before. When you rock up to a show, you've been talking to the parent the whole way, and then you don't get spoken to you the whole time. They only speak to your partner. And he gets the appreciation for coming out and doing such a good job. But I don't need that appreciation.
00:44:23:05 - 00:44:43:02
Unknown
But I just it would be nice for you to say, hey, how are you going? It's also been. I've had a few times. Yeah. I've had a few times where I've had people just ask for a man to do the show. I've had that about five times, and that can be hard sometimes. And I don't really understand why.
00:44:43:03 - 00:45:16:19
Unknown
Because I've never had it the opposite way. I've never had anyone ask it just to be a female that runs the show. It's always people just want a guy to run the show. So it's been. Yeah, it's a little weird. Wonderful.
00:45:17:01 - 00:45:37:15
Unknown
I've had one time where? The only one time I've gotten an explanation for it. Because it's the awkward thing to, It's like, why? Why would you just want to have a man there? But one time, someone did say that their child just doesn't like women, basically. Which was a weird one. But the rest of the times, I just.
00:45:37:19 - 00:46:06:10
Unknown
I haven't gotten an explanation and I haven't really wanted to pry further because it's an uncomfortable topic. But and it's also strange because I, like you said, I'm doing my video series and things like that, and I so openly advertised myself. I think that's why I have been doing it more. I used to put a lot of photos of Ryan on there because, like, I was just taking a photo of him and taking photos of myself, but now it's encouraged.
00:46:06:12 - 00:46:21:19
Unknown
Yeah, yeah. But now I've tried to make a point that I. It's my thing. And, the like, if you're booking it, you can expect that I'll probably be there.
00:46:34:18 - 00:46:47:05
Unknown
Yeah.
00:46:47:06 - 00:47:18:03
Unknown
That's okay. But I let them never know, so I just do. I do wildlife demonstrations. I like I was saying, the zoom ones. I think that my, style of demonstrator is a little bit more casual. Because especially where I'm from, I live in the Dandenong Ranges of Victoria and up where I am, there's a lot of, people that homeschool a lot of more alternative.
00:47:18:05 - 00:47:31:08
Unknown
Oh, you're homeschooled as well? Yeah, yeah. So there's a lot more, there's a lot more people that enjoy that style where I am a bit more of a casual approach to education.
00:47:31:08 - 00:47:46:18
Unknown
So my shows, I bring in a variety of animals. I do, pueblo lizard species, sugar glider, frog, turtle, pythons and a scorpion, usually, or some type of insect.
00:47:47:00 - 00:48:14:13
Unknown
I run through information, I try and so information that is not as, I when I first started, I try to go really scientific with everything and really legit, but now I just try and make it information that's easy for young people to digest, understand, and actually respond to and be able to ask questions back. And something that when they go home, they can actually tell their parents and they remember it and
00:48:14:13 - 00:48:15:06
Unknown
hold on to it.
00:48:15:06 - 00:48:33:01
Unknown
But yeah, I try and go for a casual approach with my shows. We we do get to pattern handle that. Some demonstrators don't like to do,
00:48:33:03 - 00:49:04:16
Unknown
Yeah. I find it really important for kids. A lot of people disagree with me on this, but I think that they need to be able to touch and feel the animals to fully get a respect for them, because if you just looking, it's not the same.
00:49:04:17 - 00:50:06:10
Unknown
Yeah, I teach the way that I personally like to learn. And what's been effective for me teaching as well, just what feedback I've gotten has been good.
00:50:06:11 - 00:50:26:11
Unknown
So I've. I still live with my family, and I have the whole way of my parents that they. This is their house, and, and my older brother, so with this is a sort of a way that's inspired me business wise. I actually grew up working for my dad. I didn't go to school a whole lot.
00:50:26:11 - 00:50:43:18
Unknown
I went just enough to sort of get by, because I did get bullied quite a bit throughout my entire schooling experience. So I used to work with my dad instead. And he did. He was a sign writer, so, yeah, he was.
00:50:43:19 - 00:51:09:07
Unknown
Yeah. No, I still went, but I went just enough, so it was still okay. Just getting through it. And so I would work for my dad. He was a sign writer. So put the sale signs up on people's houses and things like that. But, yes, this was his own business. And I would work for him every day.
00:51:09:09 - 00:51:30:08
Unknown
And that's where I first started, learning and understanding how business work and what it means to own your own business. And he would pay me as well. So I got, so to learn and get an appreciation for earning my own money from a very young age. My dad. Yeah, yeah, it was good, but my dad, he got me.
00:51:30:10 - 00:51:53:04
Unknown
My dad is an animal guy to an extent. He grew up in, rural Victoria, where the opinion was the only good snake is a dead snake. Put a deal here. He liked the fluffy stuff. We were allowed to have that growing up. And I always had animals, chickens and things like that as well. All the simple stuff.
00:51:53:05 - 00:52:21:15
Unknown
But yeah, so I had the animals, worked with dad, went to school a little bit. Bit like I said, I got bullied a lot, especially once I hit high school. Because that's when I started showing that I was sort of interested in animals a little bit. And then, Oh, yeah. Big time. Yeah. Yeah. I used to be my main thing because, I was allowed to have them were insects.
00:52:21:15 - 00:52:42:17
Unknown
I wasn't allowed to have reptiles when I was younger, but insects were cool. So I actually started a YouTube channel talking about my insects. And I had an Instagram account, back when I was about. Well, I was just getting p seven, so 13. Yeah, everyone found it and was sharing it around, and yeah, they hated me for it.
00:52:42:19 - 00:53:17:05
Unknown
Yeah, they thought I was a weirdo. So that was. Yeah, that was hard. And I actually stopped. No, but I actually started. I slowly, went away from the animal thing because I was too scared about what people were going to think of me. But then I got to a point where I just. Well, once I started looking at a career and things like that as we go through high school a little bit, I came back to the animals again, but yeah, that was I was up and down with the animals all throughout.
00:53:17:05 - 00:53:39:01
Unknown
And my experiences with them, I didn't have many experiences till I hit my teens. Really? Yeah, well, animals always had them, but the wildlife side.
00:53:39:02 - 00:53:51:01
Unknown
Yeah, because I started when I was like 12, 13. I just had, I had like a collection of 50 different insect species. And I was all over.
00:53:51:03 - 00:54:24:13
Unknown
A cool one that I still keep. Actually, I called Red Triangle Slugs. They're a weird one. I do, yeah, I've got giant rainforest snails. Scorpions. I've got a tarantula. I used to keep heaps of different stick insect species and, Man. And what else would I have? I had oh, so many different weird things. I used to love it.
00:54:24:15 - 00:54:59:10
Unknown
Honestly, I forgot to mention, but a massive part of my growing up, an interest in the animals was just watching YouTube. Watching YouTube and people on Instagram and influences and what they had. That used to be my favorite. And that's how I started. Keeping my own stuff really close, inspired by them.
00:54:59:12 - 00:55:18:13
Unknown
The first one that I got that I begged my parents for and they didn't want it. But I got it with a giant burrowing cockroaches. I'm sure you've seen them before. Yeah, yeah, because, of course, the parents going to be freaked out by, you know, 50 gram cockroach. That's, you know, size of your palm. But, yeah, I got those.
00:55:18:13 - 00:55:48:09
Unknown
And I was so excited. That was the coolest. And the first thing and that I got.
00:55:48:11 - 00:56:10:14
Unknown
Yeah. Well, I forgot to mention, like, they weren't for the longest time, but my dad actually work for me sometimes now, so he's definitely come around. He's. Yeah, he works for us when we need an extra set of hand, so he probably does like one in every 20 shows. They're not too often, but he's happy to help.
00:56:11:11 - 00:56:31:19
Unknown
But, yeah, my my first snake. I got it in secret because I had my reptile license already, and I had my car, so I just went and got one. Yeah. And I set it up in my bedroom. About a month.
00:56:31:19 - 00:56:41:03
Unknown
I told my dad straight away, pretty much. Because, like, it's, it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.
00:56:41:05 - 00:57:01:00
Unknown
My mum, there was one night where she. It's really not the best way to tell it, but she'd had a couple of one. She was feeling good, and I was like, okay, I'll just let you know that I've got a snake up in my room. It's not going to bother you, but it's there now. And so that was the best way to tackle mum.
00:57:01:01 - 00:57:04:09
Unknown
And then.
00:57:04:10 - 00:57:27:02
Unknown
Yeah, she was all good. Yeah. Because she was up. She was having a good time just cooking dinner, and she was just. Yeah. So it worked out fine. It's. That's what it's all about is timing. But she's like. It's fine as long as you don't get any more, which I have 15 snakes now, so that worked out really well.
00:57:27:04 - 00:57:46:05
Unknown
Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Well, they shouldn't have encouraged my animal thing earlier on, and this wouldn't have been a problem.
00:57:46:06 - 00:58:04:05
Unknown
Yeah. I've.
00:58:04:07 - 00:58:28:13
Unknown
My dad was my main source. I always knew that he would come around eventually, but you just got to give him a little bit of encouragement. But, probably my year 11 and 12 teacher. She is the most important person in my business journey. And I still talk to her now. She ended up getting so into the animals as well.
00:58:28:13 - 00:58:49:11
Unknown
She worked at the wildlife shelter that I used to know as well. Yeah. So, she was my biggest. The port. She just wanted me to go for everything, try everything. And, she really pushed and pushed and pushed. She helped me get a lot of clients as well. She got me onto radio. She. And. Yeah, like I said, we still track down.
00:58:49:11 - 00:59:03:16
Unknown
We're we're good friends. I just want me to call it by a first name. And I refused to do it.
00:59:03:18 - 00:59:11:01
Unknown
Yeah.
00:59:11:03 - 00:59:37:07
Unknown
Yeah.
00:59:37:08 - 00:59:39:17
Unknown
Yeah, definitely. My.
00:59:39:17 - 00:59:56:11
Unknown
Like. If I didn't have that teacher, I would have dropped out in year ten because my my schooling, as I said, I didn't go very much because of bullying. I did my track. My record for the year was always really bad, but my year 11 and 12 experience, because of my teacher, I didn't miss a single day of school.
00:59:56:11 - 01:00:09:06
Unknown
I loved it so much and I just loved being around her and having her mentor me. So yeah, having a good teacher or a good mentor is so important. And the most valuable thing that you can have.
01:00:17:19 - 01:01:06:15
Unknown
Mostly figure it out on my own. But also my dad, because he ran his own gig for 20 years, and my mum was his accountant, and did all the books and stuff. So, they helped me a lot and give me a lot of just practical advice. But I wish I had more of a mentor when it came to the animal side of things, or someone that I could sort of talk to when something isn't quite right and I don't know the info that I would love to try and find in the next few years.
01:01:06:17 - 01:01:35:08
Unknown
Thank you.
01:01:35:10 - 01:01:58:04
Unknown
So the the main reason I started pushing the videos and stuff was like, I was telling you, not a lot of people knew who I was and who was actually running the business. And I actually, to get into the videos, I used to work at JB Hi-Fi for a little bit while I was still running the business in the background.
01:01:58:05 - 01:02:27:04
Unknown
And I made, a friend there, and he, does video creation. He does it for restaurants for, and he really inspired me on how to, he told me how to get like, the, the best mike for videos and, like, little tips, like the editing, software that you know how to use and how to get yourself a bit more well known out there.
01:02:27:06 - 01:03:15:09
Unknown
So he helped me. But again, it's kind of hard because it's someone that's not in your animal industry. So that's really tough trying to get the info. Mostly Tik-Tok and little funny animal videos on Instagram and stuff is where I try and I try and put my own spin on it. But yeah, that's the hardest part is coming up with new ideas all the time.
01:03:15:10 - 01:03:45:15
Unknown
Yeah. I've never used it. Never. I've heard that it. I'm not super tech savvy, so it's kind of hard. I don't really know how to use AI effectively, but that's something I guess I need to talk to somebody about as well.
01:03:45:17 - 01:03:53:18
Unknown
Yeah.
01:03:54:00 - 01:04:06:09
Unknown
Yeah.
01:04:06:10 - 01:04:11:19
Unknown
Yeah.
01:04:12:00 - 01:04:37:14
Unknown
That's okay. I need to learn.
01:04:37:15 - 01:04:50:13
Unknown
Yeah, sure.
01:04:50:15 - 01:05:12:13
Unknown
Everything's tracked anyway, so we might as well just use it. Yeah. Yeah.
01:05:12:15 - 01:05:22:06
Unknown
Yes. Yes, absolutely.
01:05:22:07 - 01:05:31:00
Unknown
Yep.
01:05:39:13 - 01:05:50:12
Unknown
Wait. So end the fear of snakes in Australia this year.
01:05:50:13 - 01:05:59:10
Unknown
Underrated.
01:05:59:11 - 01:06:15:06
Unknown
In some places, actually. Oh, no. Okay, I'm going to say that's rated. That's two. It's too broad of a question. Some snakes are scary in certain countries. And people still watch them. So I rate it.
01:06:15:07 - 01:06:24:05
Unknown
Top out on the first question.
01:06:24:07 - 01:06:28:11
Unknown
Underrated.
01:06:28:13 - 01:06:40:11
Unknown
Cause I'd lose my job if I said overrated.
01:06:40:13 - 01:06:51:10
Unknown
Controversial. I think it's overrated.
01:06:51:11 - 01:07:16:06
Unknown
I think there's better for me. I wouldn't want, like, I don't think a snake can provide the same comfort as my dog can. Are they cool? Absolutely. But I love when I'm sad. I cuddle my dog, not my snake.
01:07:16:08 - 01:07:29:15
Unknown
Oh. Overrated. Yeah.
01:07:29:17 - 01:07:40:16
Unknown
Oh, underrated. Absolutely.
01:07:40:18 - 01:08:05:16
Unknown
Well, that's their main source of food. A lot of times, especially with, invasive mouthpieces that perfect. It's just it's hard when people poison the pest species, and then our native wildlife ingest it. But if they're not, then it's perfect for them. So it can also that question could also be in the middle, I guess, because of human humans.
01:08:05:17 - 01:08:24:12
Unknown
Yeah.
01:08:24:13 - 01:08:31:17
Unknown
What is a question? I guess it would be.
01:08:31:19 - 01:09:00:07
Unknown
Are you actually passionate about doing this or. And willing to communicate with people about the animals? Or do you just love the animals? I think especially working in the demonstrator industry, I think a lot of people come into it. The lady I used to work for, I think she didn't enjoy working with children very much. You just loved the animals and I think if you you don't do with people very well and just the animals have plenty of avenues for you to go into.
01:09:00:07 - 01:09:27:02
Unknown
But if you are going to be educating and going out there to the people, you need to love people as much as you do. The animals, then would be a question like if you wanted to go in my sort of direction, what you'd need to ask yourself.
01:09:30:07 - 01:09:36:06
Unknown
Because you're asking some really deep ones the best advice?
01:09:36:06 - 01:10:04:08
Unknown
I guess it would be to. Well, I if I could give advice to my younger self, it would be to slow down sometimes. Do quality work over quantity, and take break. Otherwise, you're going to hate this job really quick or hate any job quick. If you just constantly, constantly, constantly going, that would be the main thing.
01:10:04:08 - 01:10:31:09
Unknown
Just knowing your limit but still going for your goals as well.
01:10:31:10 - 01:10:34:00
Unknown
Thank you very much. No, that's why I do it. I love it.
01:10:34:00 - 01:10:47:01
Unknown
Thank you for watching or listening to today's episode. I hope you enjoyed it. If you'd like to find more information on today's guest or more information on the podcast, you can find those details in the description below.
01:10:47:01 - 01:10:51:04
Unknown
Otherwise, I hope and look forward to seeing you in the next one.