Hello and welcome to my short Auto Biography 1982-2009. I have purposely tried to leave out people's names and to keep it reasonably short I have not gone into great detail. Over time I may update this with more details but for now this will give you a pretty good idea about me.
My name is Luke Nathan Hayes, I am 29 years old and this is a quick autobiography. I was born in Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia in 1982. I was the 6th of 7 children for Dad and the first of 2 for mum who was dads second wife. I was lucky enough to be raised by both parents in various suburbs of the Moreton Bay Council Region. Dad was a fitter & turner who made the switch to Automotive Repair and Suspension Tunning and mum was a Registered Nurse and mobile Pathologist. I attended Beachmere Primary School until grade 3, Grade 4-7 at Morayfield East Primary School. High School I attended Grace Lutheran College in Redcliffe, completing yr 12 with an OP of 13 after studying Biology, Chemistry, Technology Studies (design & manual arts), Technical Drawing, Maths B, English, Physical Education and Christian Studies.
Outside of school I participated in additional extra curricular activities including Music - Electric Organ & Keyboard (Grade 4 Trinity College, London), Drama/Acting, Singing, Tennis and Cricket. I had many outlets that gave me strong skills in Communication, Adaptation, Public Speaking, Team Work, Concentration, Creativity and many more. My 2 main passions though were, and still are, Bodyboarding and Computers which allowed me to channel my frustrations so that it rarely disrupted my focus.
After High School I was accepted into The Sunshine Coast University to study a Bachelor of Science with all intentions of specialising in Environmental Science. This was more a choice which I made to live up to parental expectations that I should go to University rather than following my own intuition and gut feelings. Before the end of semester 1, year 1 however, I had decided that the course structure and University were not for me at this stage in my life. I had an undeniable urge to experience more of the world and it's people before I returned to full-time study.
By this stage I was already working and in my second job working for Woolworths. My first job was 1 month cleaning toilets and stocking fridges at the local Mobile Fuel Station, not a fun job. I worked for Woolworths for 2 years at Burpengary for a year and Buderim for a year where I had multiple responsibilities and my first brief taste of management through the guidance of workmates. I left Woolworths to work with dad when he opened his own Automotive Repair Workshop, and completed a Certificate II - Automotive (underbody), CPR and First Aid. I gained much organisational and small business experience as at this stage dad was completely computer illiterate so as well as my workshop duties I was responsible for invoicing, filing, marketing, teaching dad how to use the computer, as well as liaising with trade customers and suppliers.
Mum and dad had now separated and I was living and working with dad which was hard on us both by the end of the first year, so I moved to mums place. I worked with dad for just over 2 years, completing my traineeship before deciding I had had enough of Australia. I turned 21 and then 2 months later, in Feb 2004 I found myself flying Solo to the UK for my first overseas experience with a one way ticket, a backpack and $1,800 AUD to my name.
Oh What a Feeling of Freedom and Adventure! I recommend a solo travel adventure to get in touch with your inner self and learn how to summon the courage and confidence to get through those dark days when the world seems to be against you. I learnt an amazing amount during those 10 months in the UK. At first I lived in Acton Town, London for about a month and a half where I had 2 short term jobs the first was 2 days at a greeting card distributor. The second was short term labour hire, demolishing the inside of high rise offices near the top of Tower 42, which at the time was the tallest or second tallest building in London. This was more fun and because of my ability to understand how things work very quickly, I was soon directing other men on the quickest, easiest and cleanest ways to remove most of what was required.
From here things got pretty WILD after I went for a job with Wing & A Prayer Marquee and Event Services. With no prior experience and a lot of intense competition for the available positions, my charisma and first aid certificate got me the job. What a God Send.
From here on in, I had no fixed address and lived in hotels, B&B's, tent's and caravans while I toured the countryside with a super friendly group of people from all over the world. The work was hard labour so I was fit as a fiddle with a wicked tan in balmy old England. Needless to say, with my Aussie accent, the worlds greatest job and a whole heap of money, opportunities, new friends and women seemed to find me wherever we toured.
Highlights included working at Homelands, Glastonbury, Leeds, Download, BBC Radio One, V North, Regent Street F1 Street Circuit Display and the Cardiff University Summer Ball. As the end of the summer season approached I also go the opportunity to work for a few of my bosses friends for a few weeks as well. This involved setting up temporary stables for the National Horse Dressage Championships and also some temporary storage tents for Sainsbury's and Tesco's Winter Stock.
I ended my time with the marquee company after I was hit in the eye by a workmate with a block of wood causing some loss of sight and 3 internal, 2 external stitches in my right lower eyelid. I had been squirting him with a pop top water bottle as he tried to dry himself after a freezing swim in Seaford, Sussex, UK when he grabbed the wood to apparently try and knock the bottle from my hand. A likely story from an Alpha Male South African with a history exposed to violence in his youth. Not long after this I returned home to Australia for my Birthday, Christmas and the Big Day Out Music Festival on the Gold Coast. Since my first attendance in 2000 I have been to this festival every single year. If you couldn't tell, I don't mind the odd festival. L.O.L
I returned to work for dad again briefly but my heart wasn't in it any more. I'd had a taste of the world and I needed to learn a greater variety of job skills as I was intending to do more overseas working holidays. I worked for Moreton Exhibition & Event Services based in West End, Brisbane where I again led hired labourers in most of what I did. Unfortunately the pay for this kind of work in Australia was far less than in the UK so it didn't last. I did a couple of short stints in Paving & Sheet Metal Roofing with friends of the family before securing an apprenticeship as a maintenance Power-Linesman on the Brisbane City Rail Network through the Electrical Trades Union (E.T.U) with Queensland Rail (QR) .
This was interesting at first but I quickly realised this was also not for me as the learning curve and workload (being a Government job) were not challenging enough. I did however gain skills in Pole Top Electrical Rescue, Rigging, Working at Heights, the Union Movement, Driving a HR Truck with a Heavy Duty Tree chipper trailer, Level 2 Chainsaw + Concrete Cutter operation/maintenance and Track-side Safety Observer. It sounds like I was learning a lot but I learn quite a bit faster than the average person, that's if I am interested enough to apply myself. The lack of learning and responsibility coupled with the inherent waste of time, money and resources by the Government and contractors which I saw first hand, I decided this job was not for me. I didn't want a career where I wasted away my body and mind like many of the other overweight people taking advantage of the system.
After 11 months I handed in my resignation and moved to Darwin to live with some old friends. Three brothers, identical twins who had just left the armed forces after returning from Iraq & Papua New Guinea and their older brother, a talented boilermaker who was working his way up in the chain in the mining industry. At first I was living in Palmerston which is on the outskirts of Darwin in a nice new house, partying hard with my friends in the Armed Forces & backpackers. I worked with 5 employers during my year & a half in the Territory, the first being a labourer and truck driver for a tree lopping and landscaping business. This was pretty cool but I soon found that I had and allergic skin reaction to the sap of some felled trees I was cutting up and chipping. Obviously I didn't want to continue putting myself through the irritation so I left and got a job as a trailer mechanic for Semi-Trailers and Road Trains. Unfortunately the workshop was a freaking pigsty and only the owner, an utterly messy perfectionist immigrant from Belgium could find where anything was. Another month and I was out of there as I had gotten a job through Skilled, at Humes Concrete.
It was at this job that I established a friendship with 2 great guys that would entice me to leave Darwin about one year later. I was working with one other guy welding wrought iron reo bar for pre-cast concrete culverts that were used in causeways for roads. Easy but boring! I learnt all I could then I moved on again. I was sick of labouring by this stage and I wanted to get back into customer service and work with some women again. Funny looking back in time sometimes and recalling the reasoning behind life changing decisions.
My next and longest job was working for SkyStar Airport Services at Darwin International Airport who were the contract operator for the JetStar International Flight from Cairns to Singapore via Darwin and back. Because of my vast skill set and versatility I was one of 2 people chosen to train as both Customer Service Manager and Airside Services Manager. This job was great fun even though the pay was horrible and I had to regularly work split shifts because we only had the contract for one flight in one flight out. I successfully obtained my ASIC Airside Security Clearance and went on to get licensed in airside vehicles such as belt loaders, baggage tugs and the Airwalk Bridges. I also had plenty of time to examine and understand the baggage conveyor system in a small Airport where it was easier to comprehend. But by far the most interesting experience was being required to do the Plane Walk Out. Have you ever been by the window seat and noticed a guy walking beside the plane with a headset plugged into the underbelly of the plane as it starts it's engines? Well that was one of my responsibilities. Essentially we talk through the engine start-up and take off procedure with the control tower and the Pilots before we disconnect the Push-Back Tug and Towbar and give the all clear to the pilots to make their way to the runway for take-off.
As for my work inside the terminal, well that's a whole different world. We were all thrown into the deep end with a brand new check-in system that we pretty much had to figure out on the fly as there was no time for comprehensive training. Needless to say the first 2 days were a little tricky but we made it through without major incident. Other responsibilities I had were selling tickets, checking in customers, liaising with customs, the AFP, Airport Management as well as other airline staff. Every role had its interesting moments. Worst was when we had to introduce the miserable liquids policy of Evil PM John Howard. What a waste of time and money that was, as well as the HUGE inconvenience to customers.
While I was working for SkyStar I learnt a lot from the people I worked with in both departments, as well as the customers. We created an awesome team that could control the most unstable situation with what seemed like minimum effort, even when the stress levels were pumping at maximum. This was my first real test in what I call "Clutch" moments in the working world. I found it easy to handle the pressure from my years of experience playing tennis and bodyboarding. I'd just stay calm and remember how I focused in tennis, the Brisbane School boys Metropolitan Tennis Final 1996. 2 team mates had lost their singles and because of their scores, I had to win to keep us in the match, going into the doubles. I was 1 set down, 5 - 2 in the second with Match Point against me at 40 - 15 in the biggest game of my life. I found that quiet place in my mind where I save those special strengths for when I need them most. I went there that day and I came back from the dead to win, inspiring the team onto our school's First Ever Metropolitan Tennis Win. It was also the first time our school had even had a team make the finals series.
I can trace this skill back even further to my early days of bodyboarding. Myself and my 2 best mates would Scream each other into 6ft+ cyclone swells when we were barely in high school. For those who don't know much about measuring wave heights, when you're on the edge of a 6ft wave, that means the Back of the wave is 6ft. So when you are about to drop into a 6ft wave you are actually dropping into a 10-15ft face of the wave depending on whether you are surfing over sand or rock/reef. At any age this is quite an accomplishment and it gives you the skill of being to be able focus your thoughts and your movements with precision in times of extreme stress. Your life is Literally on the line every time you paddle in. Although not as dangerous, in the fast paced business world with complex problems, deadlines and high stakes this skill is just as useful.
Okay, back on track, where was I? That's right I was about to say that the boys and I moved house from Palmerston to Nightcliffe, which was a fair bit closer to the action in Darwin and right on a picturesque beach. We managed to talk a rich old gay man into privately renting us his 2 storey, 6 bedroom waterfront mansion which was apparently built by the chief magistrate of Darwin not long after cyclone Tracy. What a BLAST we had here! The place had an in-ground pool in the front yard, as well as a sauna and we were a stone's throw from the Beach Front Hotel where I also got some part-time work pouring beers and being a glassy. I held the lease with one other friend and then we simply sub-let out the other rooms to whoever seemed like fun and had a secure job. Needless to say we had quite a few applicants to pick from every time a room would become available.
We moved out of that place after about 9 months and into a unit, walking distance to the city's pubs and clubs but I was only there for about 2 months before I decided it was time for another change. My friends from Skilled, who had left Darwin for Mackay nearly one year earlier, dropped in to say hi and boast about their huge incomes working in various mines around the Bowen Basin coal fields. The money, the adventure and the split shifts for SkyStar all contributed to me wanting to leave and enabled me to secure finance for a new 2007 Hyundai Getz.
One last thing had to be accomplished before I could leave, I needed to get 1000KM on the Getz for my first service before I made the long drive to Mackay over the Shocking north Queensland roads. This could only mean one thing, it was time for me to finally get out to Kakadu National Park for a bit of a look around. O.M.G that place is Incredibly beautiful, I would love to have the opportunity to fly over it in an ultra light plane or helicopter. After a days walk around the most well known national park in Australia and a look at a significant amount of Aboriginal Cave Art, my friend and I went back to Darwin for a few days. Before I could leave Darwin I had to stay for NT Independence Day, known Australia wide as the only day NT people can Legally buy and set of Fire Crackers. My first experience with them and oh what fun, no injuries for our group but a few were noted in the following weeks news.
So from here I moved to Mackay, one of my friends had set me up with a place to stay until I completed my pre-requisite Mine Site Safety Training and got a job. This took a couple of weeks because of paperwork I had to get from Brisbane and a waiting list for training. I eventually got a job working with my 2 mates from Darwin working for AusBlast as a trade assistant Painter & Sand Blaster. We would work for 4 to 15 weeks straight, on major Mine Shut Downs. We got contracts to clean, sandblast and re-paint Draglines, Shovels, Wash Plants and above ground Ore Conveyors. I had to do regular drug and alcohol testing, as well as at least one different safety induction for every site we worked on.
While on holidays between jobs I continued to further my education and job skills by completing my confined space training & safety observer certification. I also renewed my working at heights and first aid/CPR certification. Some of the mines I worked on include Goonyella Riverside, Blackwater, Hail Creek, Mooranbah & several other's that were only for a few days.
I returned to Brisbane a few times in the 11 months I worked for AusBlast, at about the 10 month stage I did my basic Scaffolding and basic Dogging courses with all intentions of returning to the mines to work for a different branch of AusBlast where I would earn more money. At this point I was working for a site manager running the Painting & Blasting job I was on, who I did not get along with at all. He was an alcoholic and a bad manager with even worse manners. Anyway I'd had enough of his crap and was thinking about leaving so I hit the town with a couple of the other boys including the manager's son, the owner's son and a few others. Long story short the owner's son & I were the worst who attempted to go to work the next morning after a big breakfast and plenty of water but still feeling a bit shady. Wouldn't you know it, lucky me gets the breathalyzer test where I return a positive result and am disallowed access to the mine. Needless to say I was on the receiving end of quite a serve, the bosses son got on site but was picked out and kicked off site as well.
So we wait 10 minutes and I do another reading, getting closer. Another 10 minutes I'm borderline but it's obvious that I'm not drunk and that the reading is almost at 0.05 and I just thought fuck it. I wasn't happy where I was, sure the money was good but the lifestyle was shit, living in tiny rooms with nothing to do accept drink or work out and the ratio of attractive women to men was something like 1 : 10,000. I jumped in my car, left for camp, packed my car, notified the owner and left for Brisbane.
Once I got back to Brisbane I moved back in with mum at her house in Caboolture while I looked for work. I did some more sheet metal roofing as well as a bit of trade assistant work for the same family friend doing renovations. When the work dried up here I had to begin looking for work again and I registered with centerlink for the first time. It was also at this time that I received correspondence about an operation I had requested several years earlier to surgically remove the two Ptyerigiums growing on both of my eyes. A few weeks later I was on the chopping block again, looking around while a doctor was scraping and cutting my eyeballs so that I no longer had bright red, irritated eyes. I was in excruciating pain for another 3 weeks, applying gunk and anti cancer drops to my eyes to prevent the Pterygiums from growing back. It was all worth it though because I could now finally escape the constant accusations of being stoned.
While I was healing I got accepted into the Government's New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS) which entitled me to a free Certificate IV in Small Business Establishment & Management as well as 12 months of $500 per fortnight to assist me in establishing my business. This was the point in my life where I decided it was time for me to get back to full time education. The thing was though I didn't want to get myself tied down by another DEBT for my education so I began to look for other alternatives that didn't cost Anything. I found out that Apple iTunes had a section called iTunes-U which was all about universities and other educational institutions uploading free lectures, tutorials, seminars, videos, podcasts, conversations etc. I also started to learn about Peer to Peer file sharing and how it was branching out from music to other resources and information. Now that I had these resources at my disposal I immersed myself into the digital world of self directed education with a focus on building a global organisation.
For the rest you'll have to wait until the next blog post.
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