Aspiring Plumbing / Gallium

I started my apprenticeship with Shane from Aspiring Plumbing and Gallium. When Aspiring Plumbing went quiet on residential new builds, Shane would take me on his new adventure into Gallium, a company building portable water treatment plants. We built tanks that we ended up installing at Rockhampton State School for their new aquatic learning centre. These filtration tanks cleaned water in multiple ways — aerator treatment, UV treatment and chemical treatment — all in one portable system. I was genuinely interested in building these new treatment plants, but we ended up going our separate ways.

Alternative Plumbing

Continuing my apprenticeship, I joined up with Mick Misuraca from Alternative Plumbing. This is where my plumbing really kicked off. Nicknamed "Junior", I was the young star of the show while the old boys showed me how the ropes go. We worked on multi-million dollar homes on Hedges Avenue, commercial factories in Yatala, and commercial restaurants out at Nobby's Beach — we did Lars Bar and The Oxley, as well as all the sushi and clothing shops along the strip there.

I was 22 working with boys no younger than 58. Those blokes in their 60s really showed me how hard yakka should be done, inspiring me to go harder and never give up. The trade tricks I learnt working with the older fellas are tricks and memories I'll never forget. Getting to work with a team of very knowledgeable blokes is something I'll always be grateful for. I moved on wanting to find a crew closer to my own age and a role where I could take on more myself.

LFF Plumbing and Gas

I finished my apprenticeship up with Frank from LFF Plumbing and Gas. Frank has given me a great opportunity to step my solo game up and get in on the action without someone holding my hand. I always appreciate a little help, but to learn properly you've got to do the rough yards yourself, and Frank lets me do that. He sends me the site plans and lets me mark things out instead of just watching someone spray paint the ground. He lets me do the job start to finish off the plans, which gives me a chance to actually use my brain a lot more than previous employers.

I've done great finishing up my apprenticeship with Frank, and I've proved myself enough that he can trust me to get the job done right without needing to stress about it. Day to day that's rough-ins, fit-offs and drainage on new builds, mostly working on my own.

Security Guard — Gold Coast & Brisbane

I've worked for multiple companies across the Gold Coast doing security in a variety of venues. From Burleigh — the Pink Monkey, Lockwood, Nightjar and the Burleigh Hotel — up to Surfers at nightclubs like Cocktails, and normal pubs like the Beer Garden. In Brisbane I've done security at pubs like the Paddington Tavern; after the Broncos games those places are action packed and I always had to be sharp.

I've worked for Direct Protection and BRISK, and currently I'm with BEST Security at RQ's Tavern in Robina every Friday and Saturday. I've chosen to stay at that pub because it's a lot calmer than the other venues I've worked, which helps a lot after a long week of plumbing.

Why waste my weekends going out spending money when I can use them to make money? I've been doing security for about 2 years now to keep ahead in this day and age. 💪