A career job with a purpose

I started with HELP Enterprises on the 9th June 2015, and I guess today marks 2 months with this fabulous organisation.

HELP Enterprises marks a first for me ... the first employer I've worked for who hasn't been seeking profit for profit's sake, profit to line the shareholders' back pockets, or profit to keep the board well funded.

In a nutshell, HELP Enterprises' drive for profit is all about "enhancing the lifestyle and independence of people with disabilities", pure and simple.

I've never experienced anything quite like it, and relishing the environment within the organisation I work for.

Let's be clear though, HELP Enterprises' various divisions are there to make profit for sure, but it's what the profit is used for makes all the difference ... "enhancing the lifestyle and independence of people with disabilities".

Now, if you slightly alter HELP Enterprises' mantra to "enhancing the lifestyles and independence of people with disadvantages", it makes perfect sense to me, why HELP Enterprises won 3 jobactive contracts (Brisbane North (Somerset), Brisbane South East and Gold Coast), leveraging from & building on the experience in Disability Employment Services.  A logical step forward.

To support our 3 jobactive contracts, HELP Enterprises now has 37 jobactive sites throughout South East Queensland, and 3 Business Development Managers (one for each contract's region). As the BDM for Brisbane South East, Employment and Training, my role is to introduce HELP Enterprises to the medium to large enterprises / corporates / organisations and have a conversation.

There are no specific pre-conceived outcomes sought in having these conversations, just an intent to keep it open and honest.  Of course, as you would expect from my job title, Employment and Training are a key part of the conversation I bring to the table, but there are some amazing divisions of HELP Enterprises, underpinning what we do, that are also introduced:

• Manufacturing (including MailSafe, BinSafe, Traditional Awnings)
• Training (Qualifications, unaccredited programs and short courses, VET in Schools)
• Schools: Hospitality, Technical Studies, Community Services & Business
• Fison Food Factory
• Wholesale Nursery
•  Logistics
• Packaging & Assembly Services

HELP Enterprises has been referred to in the past as "Brisbane's best kept secret" and that's changing, one conversation at a time.

I am proud to be a part of the HELP Enterprises' family and assist with the growth and recognition of a fabulous organisation, that since 1968, has been "enhancing the lifestyle and independence of people with disabilities".

I am open to a conversation .... are you?

Thomas

homas Skennerton, Business Development Manager, Brisbane South, Employment & Training, HELP Enterprises

M: 0405 240 239 | E: thomas.skennerton@helpenterprises.com.au | 

W:http://helpenterprises.com.au

Marriage and my best friend

Here I am, on yet another flight (I do on average at least 4 a month, and have done so for the past 13 months), and take this golden opportunity to write another post (or pen to paper, as I like to refer to writing blog posts).

This weekend marks one of the rarer moments in my normal home surroundings... my wife was away for the weekend. She has taken a well deserved short break back home in Fiji, and this is a break I know she sorely needed.

My normal calendar month at work consists of two consecutive weeks in our Melbourne office and the balance in our Brisbane office (Priority Management http://prioritymanagement.com.au). Apart from a fair bit of travel, I spend two working weeks away from my wife. Luckily, Priority Management is forward thinking and caring enough to send me home for the middle weekend, to be with her.

I came home last Thursday night, in order to spend a night with my wife, prior to driving her to the airport Friday morning for her flight to Fiji. That night, I came home to an empty house, and this is the rare moment: I would spend the weekend in the house alone.

I refer to our home as the "house" simply because one of the main reasons it is my home is because of my wife.

My wife is Fiji-Indian and I believe true to her heritage, beliefs and upbringing. Apart from being breath takingly gorgeous, she carries herself in almost a regal sense, and for me, she lights up my world.

That said, she has strong opinions and is always totally upfront with me, no matter what. And this can be a little confronting at times, but for me, providing I keep this in mind, ensures the strong conversations can take place, solutions or negotiations can be worked through, without fear of retrospective actions, and never a grudge to be held. Certainly, I am thankful that emotional blackmail is not a part of our relationship or marriage.

She is a self made woman, who has made her mark on this world, without a man by her side (apart from her father, who left this world around 3 years ago, prior to my coming onto the scene), and really, owes no one, anything. Words can't really do justice to my respect for what she has achieved, and for me, she is my daily inspiration.

As a woman who is herself, she didn't enter our relationship as someone who was needy, or dependent; rather, first and foremost, we were able to develop a friendship and love based on two individuals who chose to come together in a relationship, but also, neither of us losing our sense of self.

Not only is she my wife, but also very clearly, my best friend. And that makes me one very lucky and blessed guy.

This weekend (that I just spent alone), made it perfectly clear just what value she adds to our home life, and how the sum of all she does and I do, and all of our interactions, turn the "house" into our "home".  And yes we have been texting, calling and skyping, but the spontaneity of the simple happenings and interactions are missing.

I am very lucky and fortunate to be a part of a deep friendship and a truly positive relationship with my partner; to be married to my wife is a place second to nothing else here on this earth.

The weekend has served me well; it has reminded me of just how lucky I am, and what a great life I live. And my wife's singular importance won't be forgotten.

Paying it forward with a BlackBerry... it happened to me

Rushing around last Saturday morning, I did not have a chance to go through my regular RSS feeds received onto my BlackBerry Bold via the Viigo application, so had no idea what had happened... someone had leaked / released BlackBerry Messenger 5.0 to the wider market, apparently in beta format.

So what you might say, and fair enough, and I understand your lack of interest here if you are not a BlackBerry user. If however, on the other hand, you are, BlackBerry Messenger 5.0 is quite simply quite exciting (compared to the existing ones in use, virtually unchanged for it seems, ages):

• pictures as avatars
• share locations
• share music you are listening to
• lots of smiley emoticons
• patriotic flags
• etc

So, here I was, a BlackBerry user (or abuser) who is normally on top of applications that are released / leaked, not knowing this amazing update had surfaced.

Arrived at the Brisbane International Airport to meet my mother-in-law and sister-in-law (not to mention little nephew Daman) and received a BlackBerry Messenger from @JMarkyBB asking me my thoughts on BlackBerry Messenger 5.0 ..... boom! I was floored.

Paying It Forward:

Mark obviously thought enough of our friendship to bring this amazing piece of BlackBerry software to my attention.... in other words, he paid it forward.

I was then able to install BlackBerry Messenger 5.0 and start playing, but more importantly, was able to help others with the same .... I was able to pay it forward, as a direct result of Mark's paying it forward action.

If you get the chance, I would encourage you, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem, to pay it forward.

Thomas

Another....paying it forward twitter style... a successful outcome

I talk (tweet?) to a diverse range of people on twitter, something I am really proud of. No two of my twitter friends are the same, which is just brilliant for me, as one of my initial main reasons for signing up to twitter in the first place, was to simply learn from people... something I am pleased to say, happens many times every single day.

As you may well know, I use a hashtag quite a bit, and that one is #payingitforward and i have explained my views on paying it forward and how I try to pay it forward in this blog.

One morning, I was DM'd on twitter by a gentleman in the United States with a proposal that he thought I may be interested in, and let's be honest here, how many of these are simply "not my cup of tea" (I am sure you know what I mean)? Anyway, as is the case of the majority of these, I read them, check out any links and have a think. Yes or no, good or bad, interesting or not, they were the decisions to be made.

This one caught my eye... he was looking for a way to promote/introduce Australian artists in America, and whilst I didn't have a clue as to how to do this, or even where I would start, I immediately thought of one avenue....

You see, I know people within a government department whose job it is is to promote the export of Australian goods/services/talent to overseas markets. Perfect!

So I asked him to forward me a quick outline to my gmail account & I passed it onto my contacts.... paid it forward.

That was a couple of weeks ago, and today got notification that yes the government department would love to assist and contact was made.

Regardless of the outcome, I know from within myself, I have paid it forward.

So as I sit here and type away (on a keyboard that is way bigger than my BlackBerry Bold's qwerty keyboard), I feel a nice warm glow descend over me.... i have made a difference to someone else, and it literally cost me about 30 minutes of my time.

So, if ever you get the chance, go on, try paying it forward.

TferThomas

Paying it forward...using twitter (it's happening right now)

So a small group of us went out to a movie on Saturday night (saw Angels & Demons) and after it we went to a little cafe for so delightful crepes and hot chocolate, where the conversation took an interesting turn... and I could pay it forward.

One of our friends (a small time film maker, embarking on a documentary) had enlisted the assistance of a prominent Australian muso, but had now lost contact with him, and could not get a further response.

I may have a solution, or at the very least, an avenue to pursue... from my BlackBerry Bold, I opened up SocialScope Lite and DM'd one of my good twitter friends, and asked if there was a way to contact the muso in question. Hey, it couldn't hurt, and I had a good feeling.

Within half an hour, the reply was back (received on the drive back to the CBD)... there were two ways contact could be made, both very successful in the past.

Our film maker now had a way to get the project back on track, all because of a social media network called twitter, my positive helpful friend on twitter, and my BlackBerry.

Where the story is at....

A draft email is currently being penned, which will be forwarded from our film maker friend, to my twitter friend, for forwarding to the muso, whose help with the project will greatly assist 1. the project but more importantly, 2. some needy individuals.

Don't underestimate the power of paying it forward.

I shall update this as the story unfolds.

Until later,

TferThomas

Paying it forward... simply put

One thing that I can confidently say is on twitter (http://twitter.com), I am well known for promoting the concept of "paying it forward". Well, at least with my twitter friends, and my friends, colleagues and peers in person.



A common question people ask when interacting on twitter, is how do I "pay it forward"? Hmmm, good question, and one that I shall now try to cover off here.



Firstly, paying it forward is never something you could say is pre meditated. Instead, you pay it forward, when the moment grabs you.... or spur of the moment, totally off the cuff. So being in tune with your inner self is important. Some call it your higher self, others refer to it as your sixth sense, but whichever it is... listen carefully to it. It is normally right.



Secondly, a paying it forward action should never have real negative implications for yourself. For example, putting some loose change into a parking meter (something I have done) is not really going to tax your overall position financially, where as spending $5,000 on a random someone just may. Paying it forward comes from someone who "can" to someone who possibly "can't".



Thirdly, paying it forward is done without having to think "what will I get out of this?" The very point of paying it forward, is to do it when you get the opportunity, done randomly, and with zero expectations to receiving anything in kind. Rest assured though, when you are in need, pay it forward comes full circle.



So the next time you get a feeling to help someone out, listen to that feeling, run with that feeling, and pay it forward.

A little village in Fiji can show the world leaders a thing or two in racial relations and paying it forward

This Christmas marks a couple of milestones for me... my first overseas trip, my first Christmas without my biological family and Christmas Fijian-Indian style.

I am in a little village outside Nausori, which in turn, is outside of Suva (which I am sure everyone knows of), and staying with my partner's family (Mum, older brother, his wife, and their little son) and are here for ten days.

A little bit of background of the village. It is a village, consisting of houses, grog shop, DVD store, general convenience and petrol store, Police Post and community centre (to which the grog shop is attached). From what I can tell, the residents are either Fijian or Fijian-Indian background. One family owns the grog shop, DVD store, and convenience store... and that's my partner's family (Fijian-Indian).

Their house is more than 100 years old, and has been through 3 generations of their family (originally built by my partner's great grandfather). In fact much of the immediate land was, or still is, in the family name (no longer farmed by the family, mostly on agistment with other farmers).

Sam (my partner's father) built the convenience store, DVD store, grog shop and community centre. The Community Centre consists of a room, amenities, covered large open room and lean-to for more room, and has a pool table.

It was by his influence within the local government that he was able to get the main road from his store to his neighbours bitumen (when asked why he didn't continue with the bitumen from his store to the main road (Suva - Nausori) he replied simply that he only got the bitumen done where his customers come from.

His lasting legacy (he passed away about 2 years ago) was not the bitumen road, but the Community Centre, and more importantly, the pre-Christmas get together, to celebrate Christmas within the little community. Basically, every parent provided a present for each of their children, which would be given out by Santa. In the meantime, lots of Christmas music would be played over the speakers, and Kava flowed freely.

This year, of course, was the first time I experienced the pre- Christmas community get together, and I noted the following:

• The Christmas music was both loud and very happy (no escaping it within the village)
• A good solid mix of Fijians and Fijian-Indians were present, and sat amongst each other, not segregated
• The MC of the event conducted a communal prayer (Christian based), ensured a Fijian chant was done, but most importantly explained to the children the importance of community spirit, respect for your neighbours, and helping each other.... in other words, he paid it forward.
• Santa had an amazing tan, a wicked pair of Oakleys, and 2 missing teeth :)
• Santa arrived on a back of a ute, in convoy with a couple of cars
• Santa liked Kava
• Every adult male was offered Kava by the local Fijians, and I had a couple of coconut shells worth (yes, it does taste like muddy water, it doesn't make you sleepy like say beer, and t does numb your mouth)
• The level of respect my partner, her older brother, and most importantly, their Mum (Sam's widow) received by all and sundry was truly incredible, and a sight to behold. As a tag along, I too was offered and given great respect; something totally unexpected. It was very obvious that Sam's presence was still very much among them all.
• I knew I was safe having some Kava with the locals, even with a well known ability of not holding my own with alcohol
• I tried to learn some of the customs with Kava (saying Bula first, clapping the hands (cupped) once, drinking, and then clapping cupped hands twice)
• Every child had a present (my partner made sure we had purchased a number of presents for some of the less advantaged families' children)... yep she understands the concept of paying it forward
• A few families (Fijian and Fijian-Indian) provided the curry chicken and rice for everyone
• The store provided the lollies for Santa to hand out
• The night went on to 10:30pm with lots of music, and beer (the Kava ran out early evening) but promptly stopped so as to not annoy the neighbours with children.
• The following day, a group of locals cleaned up the community centre, and life returned to normal.
• This little aspect of life in a village is one that our world leaders should take heed of when dealing with the international and localised problems:
• Two races interacted with each other, in the same way long term friendly neighbours do (and of course that's just what they are)
• Religion did not impede on the day's events, with both Christians and Hindus peacefully enjoying their day together (yes, I know Hinduism is more a way of life, but you get my drift)
• Regardless of wealth, or lack thereof, a community, with the right spirit and sense of respect, can be both wholesome and fun to be a part of.

So, on this Christmas Eve, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and a safe, rewarding and relaxing break.

Please take some time to pay it forward to someone else...

You never know where it will lead.