Why Would Anyone Want to Listen to Me?

I want to share with you a little bit of a background story because I’ve been thinking “Why would anyone want to listen to me?” 😊 So why am I here? What do I know?

What Do I Know?

What I do know is that we do have a lot of shared experiences, so I thought I'd give you a little bit of my background story, because I know that you will all be able to relate to either all of it or some of it, depending on where you are in your journey at this point.

I thought if you could relate to it then you would know that you were on the right path or you'd know that it's your time to move forward!

So obviously I wasn't born an auditor or a trainer - the first thing I thought of when I was going through my background was “how did I get here”.

Before I go on, I’d better explain what 'here' is, hadn’t I?

HERE is – I am a certification auditor for Quality, Environment, and OH&S. I also train in those three disciplines as well as holding a Lead Auditor qualification. We have awesome online training for all of those disciplines to don’t forget!

So how did I get to this point?

How did I learn about Quality, Environment, and OH&S?

How was I exposed to auditing?

Firstly was getting experience. I worked in so many different industries – timber milling, construction, retail, petroleum, legal, service station commission agent, software development – you name it I did it.

I worked in a variety of industries and I suppose at that point, I didn't really know where I wanted to head. I always knew I wanted something bigger and I always moved towards that by gaining experience and continually learning. It was just about being exposed to as many experiences as possible.

If you're at that stage, keep doing it. I always say to people, if you're not completely happy with what you're doing, look at it from an internal perspective, what have YOU personally got to gain from it? What transferable skills can you gain from being employed or conducting these tasks or this role at this present time - what's in it for you?

If you look at it, from this perspective, that will keep, you going and if you're not happy, always be looking. However, always be present with what you're doing currently and look at it from a position of what skills can I learn or take away from here to take me further.

How did I get here?

Secondly are opportunities. Opportunities will always come up for you and if you just keep working, gaining experience, networking, talking, enjoying what you're doing these learning opportunities will pop up when you least expect it.

The first big opportunity that came my way was when I was working as a commission agent for a petroleum company. It was essentially my business. I was paid commission based on sales and I employed my own staff. We had actually put in a few years earlier a point of sale and back-office software system.

I was very familiar with the operations of the system and with the business as well.

I didn't just work in the back office. I was on the console as well at times.

The opportunity came up when the software company that built the point of sale and back-office approached me to come and work for them. They wanted me to provide (what they called) First Month Support to new clients in setting up and using their system.

This is a great example of experience meeting opportunity.

Did I want to be in a service station forever? No!

But I gave it 110% and worked with the systems I had.

I learnt everything to the best of my ability.

I exposed myself to that experience and here was this amazing opportunity to go and work for this software company in an amazing role!

There was no better way than having a person that knew how it all worked and had been through the process.

This was my first huge opportunity!

Then a second opportunity came up within that same company, which was to implement a quality management system.

Oh, so what was this standard - ISO 9001 that I'd never heard of? If you've read my previous stories you know that I was now in heaven.

So again, here was another opportunity I'd placed myself into and gained more experience. I then went on to become the quality manager there and honestly it just grew from there.

Training came into it again as obviously as the quality manager there was a certain amount of internal training also. I knew that training was where I wanted to head as well.

I love sharing.

I love getting people excited about learning.

I love getting people excited about management systems and the benefits that it can have for their businesses or the businesses that they work for.

I knew that's where I wanted to head.

This leads me to the final part of where or what you need to be aware of to move forward – this is PEOPLE.

This is what has taken me to where I am now is - the people I have met along the way.

I love sharing and getting people excited about learning.

If it weren’t for the people that I'd contacted or been in contact with, worked with along the way I wouldn’t be where I am. They have been pivotal in getting me to where I am now.

Even following my dream of training, I walked straight into a training contract with a training provider. This was classroom training way back when, and you know what - I was petrified. I actually thought I was going to be sick the first time that I facilitated a course.

I was sick to my stomach. I was so nervous, so anxious, but I knew it was something that I wanted to do, and I’d love.

So, I just pushed myself through it.

If you are at those crossroads now, just reflect on what I've covered so far.

EXPERIENCE - Look at the experience that you're gaining or where you are. Look at yourself and see what you can take away from it. Those transferable skills.

OPPORTUNITIES - These can be scary, can’t they? If it's something that you really want to do, I encourage you to push through. I encourage you to take that step. If it's something that you've always dreamed of, or it's been in the back of your head, take that on board.

And then finally please stay in contact with the PEOPLE that you meet along the way. They might need you one day as well, but you also might need them. This is invaluable to us. Stay in contact and learn from each other. I’m one of these people don’t forget! If you’re not sure or if you’re scared, let me know and I’m here to help.

To finish up I would like to encourage you to use your experience and turn it into a career and make some money out of it along the way!

Why don't you take that first step?

Have a look at our courses and if you've got any questions about them, you can contact our support team here.

Use your experience and take advantage of those opportunities! Even if it is scary!