WEBVTT - Shaynna Blaze’s second act 0:00:06.480 --> 0:00:09.480 Hello, and welcome to Something to Talk About, the Stella Podcast. 0:00:09.560 --> 0:00:12.639 I'm Sarah Lamarquin, your host, and every week I sit 0:00:12.720 --> 0:00:14.680 down with some of the biggest names in the country, 0:00:14.760 --> 0:00:17.880 because when Australia's celebrities are ready to talk, they come 0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:22.599 to Something to Talk About. Shana Blaze is a very 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:25.960 busy woman. She's one of the country's best known interior 0:00:26.000 --> 0:00:29.760 design experts, a television personality who's been a judge on 0:00:29.800 --> 0:00:33.040 the Block for twelve years, and a regular homes columnist 0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:36.680 for Stella. But last year she surprised everyone when she 0:00:36.720 --> 0:00:39.840 appeared on the Mass Singer. Turns out, the woman who 0:00:39.880 --> 0:00:43.320 once moonlighted as a jazz singer had quite the hidden talent, 0:00:43.840 --> 0:00:46.440 and now she's ready to pursue it even further with 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:49.600 an upcoming ep of new songs and a series of 0:00:49.640 --> 0:00:53.479 cabaret shows in the works. The thing about Shana is 0:00:53.720 --> 0:00:56.200 she doesn't like being put in a box, and she 0:00:56.400 --> 0:00:58.360 certainly doesn't like being labeled. 0:00:58.720 --> 0:01:01.440 When I will get men and women that will say 0:01:01.480 --> 0:01:05.560 to me, act your age, wear the clothes for your age. 0:01:05.959 --> 0:01:10.200 You're too old to wear that, and I go, well, 0:01:10.240 --> 0:01:12.800 I know I'm not. But at the same time, only 0:01:12.840 --> 0:01:15.000 I have the right to say how I act and 0:01:15.040 --> 0:01:17.560 what I wear, so what you say around me has 0:01:17.600 --> 0:01:20.920 no power to me. On today's episode is Something to 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:25.240 Talk About, Shana reveals why she keeps reinventing herself, how 0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:27.280 landing her job at the Block was one of the 0:01:27.280 --> 0:01:30.840 most bizarre moments of her life, her return to music, 0:01:31.319 --> 0:01:35.360 and why she refuses to act her age. Before we begin, 0:01:35.680 --> 0:01:38.880 heads up that this conversation briefly touches upon the subject 0:01:38.920 --> 0:01:42.120 of domestic violence. If you're someone you know needs help, 0:01:42.160 --> 0:01:44.639 you can find a number to call in our show notes. 0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:49.160 Shana Blaze, Welcome to the Something to Talk About studio. 0:01:49.760 --> 0:01:51.320 Thank you, Oh boy, do we have a lot to 0:01:51.360 --> 0:01:51.800 talk about? 0:01:51.880 --> 0:01:52.240 We do? 0:01:52.400 --> 0:01:54.200 You do have a lot to talk about. 0:01:54.560 --> 0:01:57.320 I wanted to talk a little bit, Shane, about the 0:01:57.360 --> 0:02:04.040 most recent incarnation of your very well celebrated career, which 0:02:04.280 --> 0:02:09.000 is music. You released your single Warrior in May of 0:02:09.040 --> 0:02:13.160 this year. I'm sure that the apt nature of the 0:02:13.200 --> 0:02:15.760 title of that song will be something that pops up 0:02:15.760 --> 0:02:18.960 throughout the course of our conversation. And you're also going 0:02:19.040 --> 0:02:22.480 to be doing a couple of live shows in Melbourne 0:02:22.760 --> 0:02:26.440 next month. Let me begin by asking what's a response 0:02:26.840 --> 0:02:28.800 to the fact that you have an ep on the 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:32.040 way you were on the Mass Singer last year, so 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:34.519 of course that was the first big reveal where everyone 0:02:34.560 --> 0:02:34.799 was like. 0:02:34.760 --> 0:02:36.120 Oh my gosh, you SHANEA. 0:02:36.160 --> 0:02:39.720 Blaze could sing a year on. What's the reaction now 0:02:39.760 --> 0:02:40.480 from the public. 0:02:41.320 --> 0:02:42.520 It's actually really kind. 0:02:42.600 --> 0:02:44.360 I think that's the thing, you know, when you're in 0:02:44.400 --> 0:02:47.280 the public eye, and I felt like for me Mark 0:02:47.320 --> 0:02:50.600 Singer was the best way to introduce it because otherwise 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:53.280 they see you and they judge you before you even 0:02:53.360 --> 0:02:56.040 do anything, and so the fact that I was on 0:02:56.160 --> 0:02:58.360 Mass Singer, they wouldn't have a clue who it was, 0:02:58.440 --> 0:03:00.720 so then they could just hear me for me, which 0:03:00.760 --> 0:03:04.040 I was really happy about. And the reception has been 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:07.280 the same since, in the fact of like, oh you 0:03:07.320 --> 0:03:10.280 actually can sing, and please sing more. So people have 0:03:10.400 --> 0:03:13.880 been really excited to hear more. And I could not 0:03:14.040 --> 0:03:16.720 ask for anything better because I think that's the thing, 0:03:17.240 --> 0:03:19.800 you know, when you love something so much, you want 0:03:19.840 --> 0:03:23.160 to one do it, you want to share it, and 0:03:23.200 --> 0:03:23.600 you just. 0:03:23.560 --> 0:03:24.720 Hope people are receptive. 0:03:24.880 --> 0:03:28.320 So I've got to say I wouldn't have gone this 0:03:28.400 --> 0:03:31.120 far if I didn't feel like that it was something 0:03:31.120 --> 0:03:33.040 that was going to make other people happy, just not. 0:03:33.080 --> 0:03:36.200 Me, And I hadn't really thought about that at such 0:03:36.240 --> 0:03:39.440 a good point that coming into it with total anonymity 0:03:39.640 --> 0:03:43.800 on the mask singer, let people judge you as a 0:03:43.880 --> 0:03:47.839 singer and a performer on your merits. Of course, when 0:03:47.880 --> 0:03:51.920 you're doing your two shows in November, I'm guessing, Shana, 0:03:51.960 --> 0:03:55.200 there won't be any crazy mass singer costume. It will 0:03:55.240 --> 0:03:58.040 be you, Shana Blaze. How are you feeling about that? 0:03:58.800 --> 0:03:59.040 Look? 0:03:59.040 --> 0:04:01.640 I have to say I have done a whole show 0:04:01.720 --> 0:04:03.920 for such a long time. Like earlier in the year, 0:04:03.960 --> 0:04:08.000 I did a launch party for friends and media which 0:04:08.120 --> 0:04:10.600 was five songs, and that's the most I'd done in 0:04:10.640 --> 0:04:13.640 one go on stage for a long time. Whereas this is, 0:04:13.920 --> 0:04:16.760 you know, over an hour. It's a cabaret show that 0:04:17.040 --> 0:04:21.960 I have co written with a fellow theater person called 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:25.200 Martin Cruz, and I've written half the song, co written 0:04:25.279 --> 0:04:27.920 half the songs with Gary Pinto, who I wrote Warry with, 0:04:28.640 --> 0:04:32.720 and then we're doing our own version of other songs 0:04:33.200 --> 0:04:35.640 or within a storyline. So it's just not a few 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:38.600 songs and telling a story. It's actually telling a story 0:04:38.920 --> 0:04:39.599 with songs. 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:43.040 And what about the experience of getting into the recording 0:04:43.160 --> 0:04:46.719 studio to record Warrior, and the rest of the EP 0:04:46.960 --> 0:04:49.919 asked you a little bit around the nerves and the 0:04:49.960 --> 0:04:54.440 confrontational nature of performing a live show. How was it 0:04:54.520 --> 0:04:57.479 when you first got into the recording studio and it's like, 0:04:57.560 --> 0:05:00.880 this is this is real, this is getting recorded, and 0:05:00.920 --> 0:05:03.960 this is going out there for the audience. 0:05:04.520 --> 0:05:08.520 You're laid pretty raw because that was sort of during 0:05:08.600 --> 0:05:13.160 COVID time where all the musicians were overseas or they 0:05:13.160 --> 0:05:16.240 were in another studio and in another state, so it 0:05:16.279 --> 0:05:19.400 was all recorded separately, and then it was time to 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:23.000 do the vocals in the studio and it's really just 0:05:23.040 --> 0:05:25.360 like you and I sitting here in the fact that 0:05:26.040 --> 0:05:29.040 the voice is deadened. You can't have any effects, and 0:05:29.800 --> 0:05:33.000 you sing the whole song. But then you literally sing 0:05:33.279 --> 0:05:36.920 line than word and sometimes a note. So there is 0:05:37.040 --> 0:05:40.200 one hundred percent focus on the tone of your voice, 0:05:40.240 --> 0:05:43.280 the strength of your voice, the timber, the fact of 0:05:43.360 --> 0:05:46.640 can you do this? And I hadn't pulled apart my 0:05:46.760 --> 0:05:49.719 voice so much ever in my whole entire life, so 0:05:50.279 --> 0:05:53.159 I felt that quite confronting, and it really did take 0:05:53.200 --> 0:05:56.960 a few days to really go, oh. 0:05:56.839 --> 0:05:58.719 They're not just pulling it apart, because I can't do it. 0:05:58.720 --> 0:06:00.480 They're pulling it apart because that's what you do. 0:06:01.160 --> 0:06:04.000 Because I've recorded before, but not to this end degree. 0:06:04.279 --> 0:06:07.279 So I think it was one of those things. By 0:06:07.279 --> 0:06:10.160 the end of like you know, a few days and 0:06:10.240 --> 0:06:14.039 a week, it was like, oh, I'm a musician again. 0:06:14.680 --> 0:06:17.840 And that's what it took. It was the fear, the excitement, 0:06:18.040 --> 0:06:22.080 the doubt all coming in right to that end part 0:06:22.200 --> 0:06:27.360 going not just I've got this, I'm a musician and 0:06:28.040 --> 0:06:28.920 gee that felt good. 0:06:29.360 --> 0:06:32.080 Let me ask you a little bit about the again 0:06:32.440 --> 0:06:36.239 in I'm a musician again, because a lot of people listening, 0:06:36.279 --> 0:06:40.159 most Australians would of course know you through your work 0:06:40.320 --> 0:06:44.440 as a television host, a presenter of course on the block, 0:06:44.960 --> 0:06:49.359 as one of the best known interior designers in the country. 0:06:49.839 --> 0:06:53.600 That's a certain profile, a certain attachment that people have 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:59.440 to you. Obviously, again implies that there's a backstory. You 0:06:59.480 --> 0:07:02.200 didn't just decided a couple of years ago. Hey, I 0:07:02.240 --> 0:07:05.839 think I'm going to start dabbling in music to talk 0:07:05.920 --> 0:07:09.159 us through a little bit about your journey with music 0:07:09.240 --> 0:07:12.280 before you became SHANEA. Blaze, the person we know today. 0:07:12.800 --> 0:07:15.240 I think the thing is that music and design was 0:07:15.320 --> 0:07:18.720 never separate because when I was young and growing up, 0:07:18.920 --> 0:07:22.960 you know, there was always musical theater tapes in the background. 0:07:23.000 --> 0:07:24.880 There was those big real to reels like you know, 0:07:24.920 --> 0:07:29.480 you think of Her Jesus Christ Superstar. All those sorts 0:07:29.480 --> 0:07:32.080 of plays, musical theater were on in the background. My 0:07:32.200 --> 0:07:34.920 mum was, you know, in love with Shirley Bassie. There 0:07:34.960 --> 0:07:37.520 was always Shirley Bassi. There was Tom Jones. There was 0:07:38.080 --> 0:07:41.280 all that sort of fun sort of entertainment in the background. 0:07:41.720 --> 0:07:45.120 And my dad was very hands on with craft and 0:07:45.240 --> 0:07:48.400 very hands on with tools and making, so there was 0:07:48.440 --> 0:07:52.480 always like music playing while you're designing, while you're creating things, 0:07:53.040 --> 0:07:55.800 or you create something and then play music. So to me, 0:07:55.880 --> 0:08:01.080 it was always intertwined. And I was doing design school 0:08:01.280 --> 0:08:04.240 and then I was singing, and so then. 0:08:04.120 --> 0:08:05.960 I got too heavy in. 0:08:07.480 --> 0:08:10.720 Design and I had to give up music, which was 0:08:11.000 --> 0:08:14.200 fantastic in the fact that I had a design career, 0:08:14.360 --> 0:08:16.320 and then put that to the side for a little bit. 0:08:16.800 --> 0:08:20.280 And then I started having babies and then stopped working 0:08:20.320 --> 0:08:22.920 for a while, and because I was flying around the 0:08:22.920 --> 0:08:24.920 country with my job and it was just too hard 0:08:24.960 --> 0:08:28.920 with two little babies, and there just isn't the support 0:08:29.240 --> 0:08:31.520 of a working Mum's what there is today, whether you're 0:08:31.520 --> 0:08:34.840 a single mum or a married mum. You know, krash 0:08:35.000 --> 0:08:37.679 was there, but you were expected to be the person 0:08:37.720 --> 0:08:39.720 to pick them up, drop them off. You were the 0:08:39.760 --> 0:08:42.920 full time care You did everything. It literally was you 0:08:42.960 --> 0:08:46.160 can have a career and you can have children, but 0:08:46.200 --> 0:08:48.320 don't talk about it, and don't tell us how hard 0:08:48.360 --> 0:08:50.720 it is, and don't show it. 0:08:51.440 --> 0:08:55.760 So you had to put on your shoulder pads, because. 0:08:55.480 --> 0:08:58.760 I was saying that late eighties, early nineties, put on 0:08:58.800 --> 0:09:02.719 your shoulder pads, put on your smile, and be the 0:09:02.760 --> 0:09:06.920 power woman that we all wanted to be. But if 0:09:06.960 --> 0:09:11.400 you show slight cracks, you're not a good You're not 0:09:11.440 --> 0:09:15.000 a good working mum. So the cracks were starting to 0:09:15.040 --> 0:09:17.080 show with me that it was just too hard to 0:09:17.080 --> 0:09:18.240 do it all myself. 0:09:18.320 --> 0:09:19.760 So I stopped. 0:09:19.360 --> 0:09:22.320 That want to be with my kids, still in a 0:09:22.360 --> 0:09:24.040 marriage one to be with my kids. But at the 0:09:24.080 --> 0:09:26.160 same time it was a case I just couldn't fly 0:09:26.240 --> 0:09:30.080 around the country, have this really great job and be 0:09:30.200 --> 0:09:32.480 there for them, which I really wanted to. So it 0:09:32.559 --> 0:09:36.120 was a real push and pull, and after about a 0:09:36.200 --> 0:09:38.040 year of stopping doing that. 0:09:38.360 --> 0:09:39.040 I was bored. 0:09:39.200 --> 0:09:41.679 I was really bored, really bored, and I went, oh, 0:09:41.720 --> 0:09:43.560 look I've just I want to dabble and get back 0:09:43.559 --> 0:09:46.480 into music. So I started doing that more as a 0:09:46.600 --> 0:09:49.720 free time thing. A few gigs, and then it just 0:09:49.800 --> 0:09:52.240 picked up from there. And then my marriage broke up 0:09:52.800 --> 0:09:57.000 and I was already singing in pubs at that stage, 0:09:57.559 --> 0:10:00.440 and then it just went on from there. It was 0:10:00.520 --> 0:10:03.720 easier to just keep that going because the kids were little. 0:10:03.800 --> 0:10:06.360 I'd read them a story, sing them a lullaby, pop 0:10:06.440 --> 0:10:09.040 them to bed. Mum and Dad would come over get 0:10:09.080 --> 0:10:11.480 home about one in the morning. They'd wake up five 0:10:11.480 --> 0:10:14.720 o'clock and lose my voice every week for months, you know, 0:10:14.880 --> 0:10:18.120 seeing tell them stories like this because you had to 0:10:18.160 --> 0:10:22.679 go and speak. So look at was a fun time. 0:10:22.840 --> 0:10:25.000 It wasn't a lot of money. It was great. I 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:28.880 absolutely loved it. I played in so many different bands, 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:33.920 from covers to corporate to funk to acid jazz to indie, 0:10:34.320 --> 0:10:37.880 and you know, I think one of the great things 0:10:37.960 --> 0:10:40.600 is the friendships I still do have from those times, 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:44.840 which is pretty incredible. And they get such a blast 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:47.640 thinking that, you know, they were there when Carlie and Jess, 0:10:47.679 --> 0:10:51.280 my kids were you know, anywhere from two from one 0:10:51.280 --> 0:10:53.600 of the friendships I have and now my kids have kids, 0:10:54.040 --> 0:10:56.360 so you know, it's really nice having those long term 0:10:56.400 --> 0:10:59.000 friendships that you've had music with. And you know a 0:10:59.040 --> 0:11:01.560 few of them were actually at that launch this year 0:11:01.640 --> 0:11:03.960 and they're sitting there going, wow, we saw you thirty 0:11:04.040 --> 0:11:07.120 years ago doing this and it's just it's quite bizarre. 0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:10.120 But you know, you get to a stage where you know, 0:11:10.160 --> 0:11:13.520 that was sort of once my daughter started going to 0:11:13.840 --> 0:11:16.680 high school and so they've hit that teenage time and 0:11:16.760 --> 0:11:20.240 you go, oh, I need to be around at nighttime. 0:11:20.240 --> 0:11:22.480 M because you know, you need to be there for the. 0:11:24.400 --> 0:11:26.920 Yes and go to bed y as you know, you 0:11:26.960 --> 0:11:30.679 don't have control anymore exactly. So it wasn't a case 0:11:30.720 --> 0:11:32.560 of like I had to give up music. It was 0:11:32.559 --> 0:11:35.600 a decision about, Okay, what's going to be best for 0:11:35.960 --> 0:11:38.600 my family and myself. And that's when I got back 0:11:38.600 --> 0:11:42.680 into working sort of during the day. Couldn't find my 0:11:42.760 --> 0:11:45.800 way in design because I became a dinosaur. So you know, 0:11:45.840 --> 0:11:51.040 I used to design showrooms all around Australia's design products. 0:11:51.080 --> 0:11:53.640 You used to work in corporate and by the time 0:11:53.720 --> 0:11:57.360 i'd been out of design for maybe five years, CAD 0:11:57.440 --> 0:11:59.680 was the big thing so you had to be this 0:11:59.800 --> 0:12:04.320 incredible skilled person at CAD and I missed that boat, 0:12:04.520 --> 0:12:08.240 so I had to re educate myself on that, and 0:12:08.280 --> 0:12:10.920 then I started painting, and so I went in a 0:12:10.960 --> 0:12:14.040 really slow way. I went back to painting and drawing 0:12:14.280 --> 0:12:19.480 and doing commission artwork, which eventually got me into homes 0:12:19.600 --> 0:12:23.439 and then back into design, and then sort of slowly 0:12:23.480 --> 0:12:26.400 went through that. And by the time I'd had my 0:12:26.480 --> 0:12:29.440 own business and taken it out of the home into 0:12:29.640 --> 0:12:33.079 a warehouse, that's sort of when TV started happening. So 0:12:33.200 --> 0:12:36.679 it was a real high low high low. But they 0:12:36.720 --> 0:12:39.760 all intertwined, yeah, when they needed to. 0:12:39.960 --> 0:12:44.120 When they needed to. There's so many fascinating intertwined. 0:12:43.480 --> 0:12:45.160 And trends of that story. 0:12:44.840 --> 0:12:48.320 To unpack, so many, from the shoulder pads through to 0:12:48.440 --> 0:12:52.439 the you know, calling yourself a dinosaur, for instance, after 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:56.520 five years away. I think a lot of people listening 0:12:56.880 --> 0:13:01.079 that working particularly fast moving industries, feel that way, especially 0:13:01.080 --> 0:13:03.760 with technology changing a bit, where like, oh my goodness, 0:13:03.800 --> 0:13:06.920 I was out for a few years and I can 0:13:07.000 --> 0:13:09.480 never get back in. I'd love to talk a little 0:13:09.520 --> 0:13:12.920 bit about that, Shane, because I think that's so interesting 0:13:12.960 --> 0:13:18.080 and inspiring, but also one of these intertwining threads about 0:13:18.080 --> 0:13:21.079 reinvention and maybe having a moment where you think, oh 0:13:21.120 --> 0:13:24.520 my gosh, what now, or that's a bit daunting, but 0:13:24.640 --> 0:13:28.560 clearly you've always found something in you to go back 0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:31.680 or discover a new skill, pick up something that you 0:13:31.760 --> 0:13:35.760 thought was buried. Would you say reinvention is a big 0:13:35.800 --> 0:13:36.840 part of your story. 0:13:37.160 --> 0:13:38.040 Yeah, it is. 0:13:38.240 --> 0:13:43.840 It's something I really embraced because one I lead, This 0:13:43.880 --> 0:13:44.840 is why I love design. 0:13:45.120 --> 0:13:46.400 I lead with curiosity. 0:13:47.080 --> 0:13:52.640 It's a case of if you can't find something immediately, 0:13:52.800 --> 0:13:54.640 then you go down the rabbit hole to find out 0:13:54.640 --> 0:13:57.400 where you need to go, and if there's a barrier there, 0:13:58.280 --> 0:14:01.120 you need curiosity to go left, right, above or below, 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:04.319 because most of the time, in any sort of career 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:06.839 or decision or trying to find a design, there's always 0:14:06.880 --> 0:14:07.320 a block. 0:14:07.840 --> 0:14:09.520 Well how do you get around it? What do you do? 0:14:09.840 --> 0:14:12.800 And I think that's the thing with not just a 0:14:12.840 --> 0:14:16.480 major career decision of feeling like a dinosaur, it's more 0:14:16.520 --> 0:14:21.640 of a case of like really finding moments in your 0:14:21.640 --> 0:14:24.480 life where people are telling you you can't do that, 0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:28.080 or you shouldn't do that, or you can only do 0:14:28.280 --> 0:14:32.600 or be one thing. And I always thought about those 0:14:33.160 --> 0:14:36.640 moments in my life where it wasn't a case of well, 0:14:37.560 --> 0:14:39.280 damn you, I'm going to do it anyway. If you 0:14:39.280 --> 0:14:41.440 say I can't do it, I'm going to do it. 0:14:41.440 --> 0:14:43.800 It was more like in my mind, you know, I 0:14:43.880 --> 0:14:46.240 never sort of stood up and went I'm going to 0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:48.920 do that, because I actually, you know, would feel sick 0:14:48.960 --> 0:14:51.920 and embarrassed thinking, oh am I thinking too much for myself. 0:14:51.960 --> 0:14:53.320 Can I do it? Can't I do it? 0:14:53.360 --> 0:14:57.000 But it's like I always had, well why can't I, 0:14:57.160 --> 0:14:57.960 Why can't. 0:14:57.720 --> 0:14:58.200 I do that? 0:14:58.880 --> 0:15:01.520 And I do. I feel a little bit of that 0:15:01.560 --> 0:15:05.560 comes from my dad in the fact that he wasn't 0:15:05.560 --> 0:15:09.200 your typical male Like my dad knitted, my dad did 0:15:09.240 --> 0:15:13.120 stained glass, my dad made Massapan flowers for bridal cakes. 0:15:13.600 --> 0:15:17.160 So there was no gender issue in our house because 0:15:17.320 --> 0:15:21.880 craft was craft, and so on top of that, like 0:15:22.760 --> 0:15:24.840 I had drills in my hand, you know, when I 0:15:24.880 --> 0:15:27.800 was fourteen fifteen, I was drilling things in working for 0:15:27.880 --> 0:15:32.480 my dad, changing taps because I was interested and it 0:15:32.560 --> 0:15:34.600 was never an issue of you know, your brother should 0:15:34.680 --> 0:15:37.680 do that, or it was just what I was interested in. 0:15:37.800 --> 0:15:41.720 So I think it definitely comes from that. So reinvention, 0:15:41.840 --> 0:15:44.520 I feel like, is something we talk about now, but 0:15:44.560 --> 0:15:47.600 back then it was I look at it as a 0:15:47.680 --> 0:15:50.920 life of curiosity that if something isn't working at the time, 0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:55.360 it's not about trying to just go I've got to 0:15:55.400 --> 0:15:57.320 fix that. It's about going, well, how can I do 0:15:57.360 --> 0:16:02.160 it differently? What can I do? And a career is 0:16:02.240 --> 0:16:04.960 something that I feel I will have till I'm one 0:16:05.040 --> 0:16:08.680 hundred and ten because I get bored too easily. But 0:16:08.720 --> 0:16:12.520 I get too excited about changing and learning and growing. 0:16:13.240 --> 0:16:15.640 And you know, I think the skill sets that you 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:18.760 have when you're a teenager will always come back in 0:16:18.840 --> 0:16:21.520 some way as an adult. And that's what I love 0:16:21.560 --> 0:16:28.120 about the intertwining of my career and the fact of painting, drawing, singing, 0:16:28.560 --> 0:16:32.520 running bands as a businesswoman, running design as a businesswoman, 0:16:32.720 --> 0:16:35.560 is that the skills that you have in one part 0:16:35.600 --> 0:16:38.200 of your life will transfer to another. And I've heard 0:16:38.280 --> 0:16:42.280 quite a few people these days, interestinglyly enough, especially with 0:16:42.320 --> 0:16:46.880 technology in AI's just like my skills aren't transferable anymore 0:16:47.120 --> 0:16:51.480 because it's going to a whole different navigation. And I'm like, 0:16:51.760 --> 0:16:54.240 well they can. We just haven't thought of a new 0:16:54.280 --> 0:16:57.720 way of transferable. It always used to be, well, you know, 0:16:57.760 --> 0:17:00.760 you could do transferable skills on a document. Okay, well, 0:17:01.160 --> 0:17:03.320 you know you run a business here, what are the 0:17:03.360 --> 0:17:05.960 threads in that business to run for another business? And 0:17:06.520 --> 0:17:09.080 we're doing things differently now, So I sort of feel 0:17:09.080 --> 0:17:12.239 like those transferable skills have to be looked at in 0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:16.320 a different way as an emotion as a person, because 0:17:16.960 --> 0:17:19.479 I feel like I've really gone on a whole different tangent. 0:17:19.520 --> 0:17:21.280 But I feel like we've taken the person out of 0:17:21.280 --> 0:17:25.200 the job and the person out of reinvention. It's not 0:17:25.520 --> 0:17:28.679 just about the skills of what you've got on hand. 0:17:29.720 --> 0:17:34.159 And also, at this point in our culture, know that 0:17:34.280 --> 0:17:36.679 people will stay in the workforce for a lot longer. 0:17:36.960 --> 0:17:40.399 I mean, we have said treasurism, said you're all going 0:17:40.480 --> 0:17:43.240 to keep working well in the seventies, those days of 0:17:43.359 --> 0:17:46.520 you know, the golden handshake, you know, and had sixty 0:17:46.600 --> 0:17:51.240 long gone. But also that people are going to undergo 0:17:51.560 --> 0:17:54.000 different career shifts in the course of their career. And 0:17:54.040 --> 0:17:57.239 again that's been a change that has probably crept in 0:17:57.280 --> 0:18:00.320 over the last generation or two. So those two things, 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:03.600 intersecting the fact that the average person will try their 0:18:03.600 --> 0:18:06.520 hand at quite a few different things, will often as 0:18:06.560 --> 0:18:08.920 we've talked about won't have any say in the matter 0:18:08.960 --> 0:18:11.840 because their job will be completely outsourced and they have 0:18:11.920 --> 0:18:13.640 to look at transferable skills. 0:18:14.080 --> 0:18:15.119 And also, if. 0:18:14.960 --> 0:18:17.920 We're going to be working until our seventies, most of 0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:20.159 us are going to want to try a few different things. 0:18:20.760 --> 0:18:24.560 I love when you said, Shana, how you've always pushed back, 0:18:25.280 --> 0:18:28.000 consciously or otherwise about the notion of being told you 0:18:28.040 --> 0:18:30.879 could be one thing, and for you it never felt well, 0:18:30.880 --> 0:18:32.760 why do I have to choose? Why do I have 0:18:32.840 --> 0:18:38.000 to choose between music and craft, between designing and between performing. 0:18:39.119 --> 0:18:39.640 I think this. 0:18:39.840 --> 0:18:42.640 Happens a lot even as people. We tell people you're 0:18:42.720 --> 0:18:45.560 dominated by the left brain or the right brain, You're this, 0:18:45.840 --> 0:18:49.720 you're that. I'd love to hear a little bit of 0:18:49.720 --> 0:18:53.400 what your advice might be or your own experience about 0:18:53.440 --> 0:18:56.280 how all of us can push back against this notion 0:18:56.400 --> 0:18:57.240 that we're one thing. 0:18:57.480 --> 0:19:00.919 I think the start is how society puts labels on 0:19:01.000 --> 0:19:05.120 us because it's safety. You are the boss, you are 0:19:05.359 --> 0:19:09.560 the worker, You are an ares, you are a LEO, 0:19:09.920 --> 0:19:13.159 you are a gen X, you are a millennial. We 0:19:13.240 --> 0:19:16.200 put people in boxes because it makes us feel comfortable 0:19:16.200 --> 0:19:19.119 about how we look at those people. But by doing that, 0:19:19.160 --> 0:19:21.880 by putting, and I call them boxes, not just labels. 0:19:21.920 --> 0:19:23.560 We have a box and we put a label on it. 0:19:24.160 --> 0:19:26.840 All of a sudden, that person feels like they can't 0:19:26.880 --> 0:19:30.080 move beyond that boundary because that's how everyone looks at them. 0:19:30.240 --> 0:19:32.160 And I've had many moments in my life. 0:19:31.960 --> 0:19:35.000 Where i feel like I'm screaming because I've been put 0:19:35.000 --> 0:19:38.120 in a box and it's very hard to break out 0:19:38.119 --> 0:19:40.399 of that because the more you try and break out 0:19:40.480 --> 0:19:45.439 of the box, the reaction is actually tenfold. So I 0:19:45.480 --> 0:19:48.600 think the thing is that for me, the advice for 0:19:48.680 --> 0:19:53.120 people of wanting to change, to reinvent, to break out 0:19:53.160 --> 0:19:57.000 of the mold that they have put on themselves, or 0:19:57.119 --> 0:20:00.280 society is put on themselves, or that's actually worked to together, 0:20:01.400 --> 0:20:07.000 is that, really it comes down to you. You've got 0:20:07.040 --> 0:20:09.920 to make that step. You can't blame society, you can't 0:20:09.960 --> 0:20:14.119 blame everyone around you. All you can do is trust 0:20:14.160 --> 0:20:17.760 yourself to know that that is not who I am. 0:20:18.240 --> 0:20:20.520 So what comes down to it is that it's up 0:20:20.520 --> 0:20:23.600 to you to find out who you are. And that's 0:20:23.640 --> 0:20:26.280 soul searching, and not enough people want to do that. 0:20:27.040 --> 0:20:30.160 And I've done a hurl of a lot of soul 0:20:30.200 --> 0:20:33.840 searching because I've come up against a lot of blocks 0:20:33.840 --> 0:20:37.159 and a lot of things. And until you do the 0:20:37.240 --> 0:20:41.200 deep work to work out who you are and where 0:20:41.240 --> 0:20:43.760 you want to be, you may not know the answer, 0:20:43.760 --> 0:20:47.840 but at least you've got an idea. When you have that, 0:20:47.840 --> 0:20:51.080 that's when you're able to not worry about what other 0:20:51.200 --> 0:20:55.320 labels get put on you, because it becomes your little 0:20:55.320 --> 0:20:58.280 force field in the fact of like not a problem. 0:20:58.320 --> 0:21:00.560 You say that's who I am. And it comes down 0:21:00.600 --> 0:21:03.080 to a lot of social media that you say that's 0:21:03.080 --> 0:21:06.479 who I am. I know I'm not that, so you 0:21:06.520 --> 0:21:09.040 can't you can't tell me that's who I need to be. 0:21:09.160 --> 0:21:12.800 And you know, one little tiny thing, and I'll put 0:21:12.800 --> 0:21:15.679 it in a simple way of social media when I 0:21:15.720 --> 0:21:18.040 will get men and women that will say to me, 0:21:19.200 --> 0:21:22.480 act your age, wear the clothes for your age, You're 0:21:22.520 --> 0:21:26.639 too old to wear that, And I go, well, I 0:21:26.680 --> 0:21:29.480 know i'm not because inside I'm thirty six. 0:21:29.880 --> 0:21:30.360 Hello. 0:21:31.000 --> 0:21:34.000 But at the same time, only I have the right 0:21:34.080 --> 0:21:36.760 to say how I act and what I wear, So 0:21:36.880 --> 0:21:39.879 what you say around me has no power to me. 0:21:40.520 --> 0:21:43.120 And so that's just a little simple way of advice 0:21:43.320 --> 0:21:47.200 of until you do the deep work of truly believing 0:21:47.240 --> 0:21:49.840 that that's me, that's not me going You can't tell 0:21:49.880 --> 0:21:52.159 me what to do because that becomes across his anger. 0:21:52.560 --> 0:21:54.679 But I'm so self assured that I know who I 0:21:54.720 --> 0:21:58.600 am for me, no one else has to believe it. 0:21:58.680 --> 0:22:01.399 That doesn't matter. I believe it and I know it, 0:22:01.440 --> 0:22:03.200 which empowers me to move forward. 0:22:03.200 --> 0:22:05.880 Of the labels that people put on me, is this 0:22:05.920 --> 0:22:08.120 something that has evolved with wisdom? 0:22:08.400 --> 0:22:08.760 For you? 0:22:10.480 --> 0:22:14.800 Oh the age thing? My kids will laugh about this one. No, 0:22:15.320 --> 0:22:18.720 I think I think it came down to in my twenties. 0:22:19.040 --> 0:22:21.240 You know, I had my kids when I was early twenties, 0:22:21.800 --> 0:22:24.199 and I wanted to be a career person, and I 0:22:24.200 --> 0:22:27.439 felt like I hadn't achieved what I wanted to by 0:22:27.480 --> 0:22:30.200 the time I hit thirty, So I felt like I 0:22:30.240 --> 0:22:32.920 hadn't done things. But you know, meanwhile, I've raised two 0:22:32.920 --> 0:22:37.159 incredible kids basically by myself, kept them alive, kept me alive, 0:22:37.800 --> 0:22:40.080 and you know, still worked on. 0:22:40.080 --> 0:22:42.200 A career, bringing up a music a career. 0:22:42.680 --> 0:22:45.960 But then once I crept into my thirties, I had 0:22:46.000 --> 0:22:47.959 the notion of where I wanted to be and who 0:22:48.040 --> 0:22:51.600 I wanted to be, and I just wasn't there. So 0:22:51.720 --> 0:22:55.960 by the time I hit my late thirties, I did 0:22:56.000 --> 0:22:58.920 my little midlife crisis, a bit of a spiral of like, 0:22:59.000 --> 0:23:00.760 you know, turning thirty ane and going. 0:23:00.960 --> 0:23:04.160 Well, is this it? Like I literally did is this it? 0:23:04.800 --> 0:23:09.840 And basically wasted a year of my life? And I 0:23:09.880 --> 0:23:13.720 went wow, I made myself. I made myself feel horrible. 0:23:14.280 --> 0:23:17.159 I woke up the morning of my fortieth and the 0:23:17.160 --> 0:23:19.399 birds were chirping and the sun was shining. It was 0:23:19.440 --> 0:23:22.680 a bit Disney, and I looked out the window. I went, ah, 0:23:22.880 --> 0:23:26.679 the bomb hasn't gone off. I've just wasted twelve months 0:23:26.680 --> 0:23:31.119 of my life. So how I felt? Then after a 0:23:31.160 --> 0:23:34.000 little while, I, you know, I felt like I was 0:23:34.000 --> 0:23:34.920 in my mid thirties. 0:23:34.960 --> 0:23:36.200 So why can't. 0:23:35.920 --> 0:23:38.480 I say I'm in my mid thirties because internally I 0:23:38.520 --> 0:23:41.040 feel that way. But then on top of that, and 0:23:41.080 --> 0:23:43.760 I think this is really poignant in the fact that 0:23:43.840 --> 0:23:46.320 between my forties and fifties I lost a couple of 0:23:46.400 --> 0:23:50.720 girlfriends to disease and then lost a couple of friends 0:23:50.800 --> 0:23:52.960 to some sad circumstances. 0:23:54.080 --> 0:23:55.720 And it makes you realize. 0:23:55.320 --> 0:23:59.200 The value of your body, the value of your family, 0:23:59.320 --> 0:24:02.400 the value of your friendships, the value of life itself, 0:24:02.760 --> 0:24:05.040 and the value of the great life that we have 0:24:05.160 --> 0:24:07.200 in front of us, because you get to make the 0:24:07.280 --> 0:24:08.840 choice whether you want to have a good day or 0:24:08.840 --> 0:24:11.399 a bad day, no matter what shit has been thrown 0:24:11.440 --> 0:24:15.720 at you. That I really decided in my early forties 0:24:15.800 --> 0:24:19.600 that a number is nothing. And so when people would 0:24:19.600 --> 0:24:21.600 say my number and whatever, I go, oh no, no, no, 0:24:21.640 --> 0:24:24.520 that's not my number. And so it is a little 0:24:24.520 --> 0:24:27.840 bit of denial, absolutely, But I don't feel that number. 0:24:28.240 --> 0:24:30.240 So why should I have to be that number. I 0:24:30.280 --> 0:24:32.639 have the spirit of a thirty year old. I have 0:24:32.640 --> 0:24:35.440 the energy of a thirty year old. So in my mind, 0:24:35.440 --> 0:24:38.360 that's who I am. And if people think that's denial, 0:24:38.440 --> 0:24:40.600 I have no issue with that. But I get so 0:24:40.800 --> 0:24:43.520 much out of life because I believe that I have 0:24:43.680 --> 0:24:46.440 the youth and the energy to do whatever I want. 0:24:48.600 --> 0:24:52.440 Coming up, how answering an ad in a newspaper changed 0:24:52.560 --> 0:25:02.280 Shana Blazer's life. Woke up that morning of your fortieth birthday, 0:25:02.400 --> 0:25:06.240 Disney birds chirping me. Did you sing a little Disney melody? 0:25:06.359 --> 0:25:06.840 By the way? 0:25:07.280 --> 0:25:11.119 Not quite No, maybe at the live show next month. 0:25:12.200 --> 0:25:15.760 Let me ask you then about your public career and 0:25:16.520 --> 0:25:21.480 why most Australians know your name is because of your 0:25:21.480 --> 0:25:25.199 television work, and that started in your forties. You're a 0:25:25.240 --> 0:25:28.840 co host on Selling Houses Australia back in two thousand 0:25:28.840 --> 0:25:32.840 and eight. What are your first memories of working in television? 0:25:32.880 --> 0:25:36.399 But I suppose specifically about the chapter that that was 0:25:36.480 --> 0:25:39.119 going to introduce you to in terms of bringing all 0:25:39.200 --> 0:25:44.040 of those different skills, your design skills, your performing skills, 0:25:44.080 --> 0:25:47.479 and bringing into this whole new genre of your career. 0:25:48.359 --> 0:25:53.400 It's quite funny in the fact that you know, answered 0:25:53.400 --> 0:25:57.840 and ad in a design newsletter, and I had done 0:25:58.240 --> 0:26:01.159 a professional writing course as well before that because I 0:26:01.200 --> 0:26:05.440 wanted to write books. And once I had that audition, 0:26:05.800 --> 0:26:09.240 and you know, Sonya Harding, who was our EP the 0:26:09.280 --> 0:26:12.320 whole time, the most amazing woman that gave me the chance, 0:26:12.560 --> 0:26:18.280 and she wanted me mainly because I was the performer. 0:26:18.480 --> 0:26:21.760 It wasn't about being a presenter. It was about the 0:26:21.760 --> 0:26:24.480 fact I wasn't nervous to just put myself out there 0:26:24.560 --> 0:26:28.159 and I had the design skills. So it was a 0:26:28.200 --> 0:26:33.560 case of me feeling like, oh, this is where it 0:26:33.560 --> 0:26:36.680 all comes together. Because we were writing our own lines, 0:26:36.880 --> 0:26:38.960 we were writing what the story was going to be. 0:26:39.800 --> 0:26:43.879 We were able to put together designs. 0:26:44.520 --> 0:26:46.359 I was able to perform while I. 0:26:46.280 --> 0:26:50.240 Was doing things, and they became little tutorials in the 0:26:50.359 --> 0:26:53.760 end of how it was done. So I taught interior 0:26:53.840 --> 0:26:56.119 design too, so it was like, oh, this is just 0:26:56.200 --> 0:26:57.920 like teach so I used to teach that at tape. 0:26:58.359 --> 0:27:01.000 So all these things came together and it was like 0:27:02.400 --> 0:27:04.000 it was a case like. As I said, when I 0:27:04.000 --> 0:27:06.360 stepped on that stage, you know, earlier in the year, 0:27:06.400 --> 0:27:09.600 I felt like, oh, I'm back. I felt like that's 0:27:09.600 --> 0:27:13.199 where I was always meant to be. And what I 0:27:13.240 --> 0:27:16.520 don't think people understand is that when you do selling houses, 0:27:16.560 --> 0:27:19.080 and even on the block, you're on a building site. 0:27:19.359 --> 0:27:21.960 The only time you ever get glammed up is for 0:27:22.040 --> 0:27:24.840 the promo shoot except the block. 0:27:24.880 --> 0:27:26.680 You know, I get dressed up, have the best time 0:27:26.720 --> 0:27:27.000 on that. 0:27:27.520 --> 0:27:30.560 But selling houses was a building site and that's the 0:27:30.600 --> 0:27:33.919 only way I ever saw it. And we would do 0:27:33.960 --> 0:27:36.720 a couple of Foxtel events a year and we would 0:27:36.760 --> 0:27:39.520 do a promo shoot. Other than that, it was eight 0:27:39.560 --> 0:27:42.879 months of a hard grind of the most amazing team 0:27:43.080 --> 0:27:46.040 and it was a family. And I have to say 0:27:46.160 --> 0:27:49.919 those first few years, I felt like I was exactly 0:27:49.960 --> 0:27:51.720 where I was meant to be. All the hardships of 0:27:51.760 --> 0:27:53.679 trying to work out who I am and what I 0:27:53.920 --> 0:27:56.560 was had come to this moment and I feel like 0:27:57.400 --> 0:27:59.760 I have been growing and celebrating and being. 0:27:59.600 --> 0:28:01.560 Grateful four ever since. 0:28:02.480 --> 0:28:04.800 And then the Block, of course, so he started there 0:28:05.040 --> 0:28:07.760 in twenty twelve. I mean, it's been one of the 0:28:07.800 --> 0:28:13.680 most iconic shows on Australian television. So that also catapults 0:28:13.720 --> 0:28:19.160 you to a whole other level of visibility and fame. Yeah, 0:28:19.200 --> 0:28:22.760 how has that experience been this past twelve years? 0:28:23.200 --> 0:28:25.880 I have to say that was weird to start with 0:28:26.040 --> 0:28:29.359 because the Block was something that we all knew and 0:28:29.480 --> 0:28:32.320 love and Scottie and you know, and it had come 0:28:32.359 --> 0:28:33.680 to Melbourne, it was in Richmond. 0:28:33.800 --> 0:28:36.080 It was like wow, And in my mind, I'm. 0:28:36.000 --> 0:28:37.840 Thinking, oh, maybe I could go on the Block, you 0:28:37.840 --> 0:28:40.560 know as a contestant. I'm like, why, Yes, that was 0:28:40.840 --> 0:28:42.560 just in the back of my mind. I haven't really 0:28:42.560 --> 0:28:44.600 said that much before, but that was sort of like, oh, 0:28:44.680 --> 0:28:48.440 maybe I could, but I thought, I'm selling houses, I can't. 0:28:48.560 --> 0:28:51.760 But I was in Alice Springs in the middle of nowhere. 0:28:51.800 --> 0:28:54.840 We just finished an episode of Alice Springs and we 0:28:54.880 --> 0:28:56.800 were just looking going for a hike a few of us, 0:28:56.840 --> 0:28:58.960 you know, before we get on the plane and my 0:28:59.080 --> 0:29:03.239 manager rang me in said, look, don't get excited. How 0:29:03.240 --> 0:29:05.000 would you feel if you were a judge on the Block? 0:29:06.440 --> 0:29:09.000 I mean in the middle of Red Earth in Alice Springs. 0:29:09.080 --> 0:29:11.360 Go h yeah. 0:29:11.960 --> 0:29:14.640 So I raced home on the Thursday. I had a 0:29:14.680 --> 0:29:17.800 meeting on the Monday morning. Didn't realize I'm walking up 0:29:17.800 --> 0:29:22.320 the stairs with the EP Julian Cress and the marketing 0:29:22.440 --> 0:29:26.720 you know, marketing manager Sarah, and it was Sarah Armstrong 0:29:26.760 --> 0:29:27.880 and we're chatting up the. 0:29:27.840 --> 0:29:28.840 Way, blah blah blah. 0:29:28.840 --> 0:29:30.280 And we get there and we sit on the desk 0:29:30.320 --> 0:29:32.000 and all of a sudden, Oh my god, they're in 0:29:32.000 --> 0:29:34.720 the room with me. And then I realized it's them, 0:29:35.360 --> 0:29:37.160 and my manager walks in and they know each other. 0:29:37.240 --> 0:29:39.560 I'm standing going, I don't even know what's happening, but 0:29:39.600 --> 0:29:41.160 I'm having a meeting and I have to fly out 0:29:41.160 --> 0:29:45.280 tonight to our next another episode. And they proceeded to 0:29:45.280 --> 0:29:46.760 tell me how great it would be to have a 0:29:46.800 --> 0:29:50.719 female judge on the Block. And I'm sitting there going, oh, 0:29:50.760 --> 0:29:52.880 they're selling it to me. I'm not selling it to them. 0:29:53.800 --> 0:29:56.880 And it was this that's possibly one of the most 0:29:56.880 --> 0:30:00.960 bizarre moments in my TV career, the fact that they 0:30:01.000 --> 0:30:04.520 had come to tell me that they wanted me to 0:30:04.520 --> 0:30:06.400 be on the show, not for me to tell them 0:30:06.600 --> 0:30:11.880 and beg for one of these amazing opportunities. So two moments, 0:30:11.960 --> 0:30:15.040 you know, the one with Sonya Harding picking up the 0:30:15.080 --> 0:30:18.000 phone when I answered that ad, and then sitting at 0:30:18.000 --> 0:30:21.520 the table with Jules and Sarah, they were life changing 0:30:21.560 --> 0:30:24.640 moments to me. More than being on a set or 0:30:24.680 --> 0:30:27.480 being on a photoshoot, being at the logis those two 0:30:27.480 --> 0:30:31.440 moments where these people believed in me, and they believed 0:30:31.440 --> 0:30:31.720 in me. 0:30:31.720 --> 0:30:32.960 Because of the work that I did. 0:30:33.360 --> 0:30:36.680 They didn't believe in me because they saw something that 0:30:36.720 --> 0:30:40.320 could be molded. They wanted me because of me. And 0:30:40.480 --> 0:30:43.240 that goes right back to what I was saying to 0:30:43.240 --> 0:30:45.440 you at the beginning, that I was at that stage 0:30:45.440 --> 0:30:48.200 in my life where I believed in myself and I 0:30:48.240 --> 0:30:51.040 didn't need validation because I knew what I was doing 0:30:51.560 --> 0:30:54.239 made me happy and I was good at it, and 0:30:54.280 --> 0:30:57.080 I was good at it because I loved it. And 0:30:57.520 --> 0:30:59.920 I think that's the moment when you realize that they're 0:31:00.080 --> 0:31:02.840 the life changing moments that you can saw because you've 0:31:02.840 --> 0:31:06.000 got in there without any falsehoods of who you are 0:31:06.000 --> 0:31:06.440 and what you. 0:31:06.440 --> 0:31:09.400 Do, and even all those times where you would never 0:31:09.480 --> 0:31:13.240 have foreseen that all of these different skills you're developing 0:31:14.080 --> 0:31:16.520 that one day they're going to lead to these certain 0:31:16.520 --> 0:31:19.680 moments where you're like, Wow, I've got this really unique set. 0:31:19.880 --> 0:31:23.080 Did you ever tell them that you had even considered 0:31:23.120 --> 0:31:26.040 maybe applying to be a contestant on the show? 0:31:26.640 --> 0:31:28.640 I think I've showed them this podcast because I've never 0:31:28.720 --> 0:31:29.160 shared that. 0:31:30.680 --> 0:31:34.840 Oh, thank you for opening up about that. Obviously everything 0:31:34.880 --> 0:31:37.680 worked out exactly how it was meant to be because you, 0:31:37.800 --> 0:31:39.600 as I say, have been a judge on the show, 0:31:39.640 --> 0:31:43.000 and it's hard to imagine the show without you. There's 0:31:43.400 --> 0:31:46.240 was talk early this year, late last year that you're leaving. 0:31:46.480 --> 0:31:49.960 You're not anything to anyone that's panicking that there's going 0:31:50.000 --> 0:31:52.560 to be the Block minus shanea Blaze in future. 0:31:53.360 --> 0:31:56.200 No, I love it. I just it is a family. 0:31:56.280 --> 0:31:56.440 You know. 0:31:56.480 --> 0:31:58.920 I'm so lucky with two shows of selling houses on 0:31:58.960 --> 0:32:00.960 the Block that we were a fan family the whole time. 0:32:01.280 --> 0:32:04.520 We supported each other through all the hardships of what 0:32:04.560 --> 0:32:06.720 you do on these shows. You know, they're not easy, 0:32:07.440 --> 0:32:11.560 and I absolutely love it. And each week I go 0:32:11.640 --> 0:32:14.080 in there, I go there with excitement, going, Wow, what 0:32:14.240 --> 0:32:16.440 is going to happen? Because we don't know what goes 0:32:16.440 --> 0:32:18.520 on during the week. We don't see anything. We don't 0:32:18.560 --> 0:32:20.760 know any of the dramasun till we see it on TV. 0:32:21.440 --> 0:32:23.000 And that's why I love it so much because I'm 0:32:23.000 --> 0:32:24.840 not caught up in any of that. I'm caught up 0:32:24.880 --> 0:32:29.360 in the rawness of these people that have created a 0:32:29.400 --> 0:32:33.000 miracle every week. They've thrown themselves in with no sleep, 0:32:33.360 --> 0:32:37.719 lack of budget, lack of ideas and producing something that 0:32:38.120 --> 0:32:42.120 is phenomenal. And you know, they don't just do it 0:32:42.160 --> 0:32:44.240 by themselves. They have an amazing build team, they have 0:32:44.360 --> 0:32:49.080 amazing sponsors, they have amazing producers. There's runners behind making 0:32:49.160 --> 0:32:51.840 toasties to make sure that they're eating. You know, there's 0:32:51.880 --> 0:32:54.360 all those things that are happening. So it's not just 0:32:54.400 --> 0:32:59.440 a machine. It's a beautiful family of you know, I'm 0:32:59.440 --> 0:33:02.040 not going to joy, but it's a family that brings 0:33:02.080 --> 0:33:06.120 something together that makes it so successful now because everybody 0:33:06.160 --> 0:33:10.120 in there really cares. And you know, anybody that's in 0:33:10.240 --> 0:33:12.040 being able to work on the block will be able 0:33:12.080 --> 0:33:12.600 to tell you. 0:33:12.520 --> 0:33:16.840 That you're also a homes columnist to Estella and have 0:33:17.000 --> 0:33:19.320 been for about four years now. 0:33:19.800 --> 0:33:21.560 Wanted to ask if people. 0:33:21.320 --> 0:33:24.880 Approaching you, is there something in particular that they want 0:33:24.920 --> 0:33:29.400 to ask about with your professional design hat on? Is 0:33:29.440 --> 0:33:33.320 it bathrooms, kitchens? I mean for me, I really always 0:33:33.400 --> 0:33:36.840 love when you write about storage solutions because I'm like, great, 0:33:37.320 --> 0:33:40.040 the amount of like storage hacks I've picked up from you. 0:33:40.120 --> 0:33:43.440 Over there, there's one of those just about to come up, brilliant, 0:33:43.560 --> 0:33:43.920 love it. 0:33:44.000 --> 0:33:45.280 Okay, watch this space. 0:33:46.640 --> 0:33:46.880 Wow. 0:33:47.160 --> 0:33:49.640 You know it used to be at the beginning, it 0:33:49.720 --> 0:33:50.640 used to be about color. 0:33:51.080 --> 0:33:52.960 You know, what color do I paint this? What's the 0:33:53.040 --> 0:33:54.000 right white? What's there? 0:33:54.120 --> 0:33:57.160 And I keep you know, I tell people it depends 0:33:57.160 --> 0:33:59.719 on the light. It depends what it's reflecting. It depends 0:33:59.720 --> 0:34:01.840 with that it's cool, whether it's got yellow. It's just 0:34:01.920 --> 0:34:04.760 picking the right paint color is hard. It's not easy. 0:34:04.800 --> 0:34:06.680 So I would say, if you don't know, get a 0:34:06.720 --> 0:34:09.800 color consultant, because I can't tell from your iPad because 0:34:09.840 --> 0:34:12.759 that's got a blue light underneath, you know what I mean. 0:34:13.200 --> 0:34:15.600 So there's all those sorts of things. Color is definitely 0:34:15.680 --> 0:34:19.200 something storage. I think people tell me how proud they 0:34:19.239 --> 0:34:21.880 are of their storage. They don't ask for the solution. 0:34:21.960 --> 0:34:23.960 They want to show they wouldn't boast about it. 0:34:24.000 --> 0:34:27.640 Okay, that makes me very happy. And then there's a 0:34:27.680 --> 0:34:29.719 lot of husbands that want to tell me how I've 0:34:29.800 --> 0:34:32.640 ruined their life because their bid has twelve cushions, And 0:34:32.719 --> 0:34:35.560 I say to them, where have I ever given advice 0:34:35.600 --> 0:34:38.040 that you need twelve cushions? You need to take that 0:34:38.160 --> 0:34:40.640 up with your wife and power to her. So there's 0:34:40.640 --> 0:34:45.080 those sorts of moments. So a lot of people aren't 0:34:45.120 --> 0:34:49.200 really asking me for advice anymore. They're actually telling me 0:34:49.480 --> 0:34:52.359 how much what I've been able to do has empowered them. 0:34:52.480 --> 0:34:53.920 But you know what, the great thing is at the 0:34:53.920 --> 0:34:57.520 moment that I have kids coming up and telling me 0:34:58.239 --> 0:34:59.000 what they think. 0:34:59.200 --> 0:35:00.759 Well, I'm not sure about this. 0:35:00.880 --> 0:35:02.560 What about you know, I think they should have done this, 0:35:02.880 --> 0:35:05.920 and kids solving it because they are so immersed and 0:35:05.960 --> 0:35:08.600 they're not afraid to look at mistakes. And I look 0:35:08.640 --> 0:35:11.080 at them and I go, oh, that was me. And 0:35:11.239 --> 0:35:13.680 you could be anything and go anywhere and believe it. 0:35:13.719 --> 0:35:16.319 But get solutions and don't just say it off the 0:35:16.320 --> 0:35:17.839 top of your head. If this is what you want 0:35:17.880 --> 0:35:21.759 to do, go down the rabbit hole, be curious, make 0:35:21.800 --> 0:35:24.479 sure things work and functional, you know, learn the rules 0:35:24.480 --> 0:35:28.000 before you break them. And so there's all these savvy, 0:35:28.040 --> 0:35:32.720 savvy kids that you know, we're going to have amazing houses. 0:35:32.719 --> 0:35:35.319 But I'm hoping those savvy kids will also look at, 0:35:35.520 --> 0:35:41.600 you know, sustainability and design solutions for multigenerational So all 0:35:41.600 --> 0:35:45.319 these bits and things that are coming through, and I 0:35:45.360 --> 0:35:48.160 feel like I love the fact people are sharing with 0:35:48.239 --> 0:35:51.319 me what they have done, because what they've learnt, and 0:35:52.120 --> 0:35:53.720 you just go, oh, my job's done. 0:35:54.000 --> 0:35:57.640 And it's that emblematic that it's a real relationship. So 0:35:57.800 --> 0:36:00.400 they see you through the screen or the page, however, 0:36:00.400 --> 0:36:03.680 they're interacting with you, and for them it's a two 0:36:03.760 --> 0:36:07.239 way street, which is very lovely. You've also used your 0:36:07.239 --> 0:36:11.520 profile over the years on very substantial and serious issues. 0:36:11.560 --> 0:36:14.600 You've just talked about some of the sustainability issues for instance. 0:36:14.640 --> 0:36:20.160 But a slight gear change though, about amplifying the voices 0:36:20.200 --> 0:36:24.000 of survivors of particularly violence against women, which has been 0:36:24.920 --> 0:36:28.360 a really big issue in this country and I think 0:36:28.520 --> 0:36:31.280 finally is starting to get some of the mainstream attention 0:36:31.520 --> 0:36:35.200 that it deserves. You have a charity, Voice of Change 0:36:35.239 --> 0:36:39.120 that's founded to amplify the voices of survivors. Regular listeners 0:36:39.120 --> 0:36:41.680 are something to talk about. No, this is an issue 0:36:41.719 --> 0:36:46.520 close to our heart here, Shana, you are a survivor 0:36:46.680 --> 0:36:51.279 of violence in a relationship, but also you had an 0:36:51.280 --> 0:36:53.560 incident a couple of years ago that actually went to 0:36:53.600 --> 0:36:58.040 court where you were assaulted by a stranger. Can I 0:36:58.040 --> 0:37:01.800 ask you a little bit about why you have chosen 0:37:02.040 --> 0:37:04.879 to be so generous and brave? Which is a word 0:37:04.920 --> 0:37:07.520 we overuse, but it's very much the word when a 0:37:07.560 --> 0:37:08.799 survivor speaks up. 0:37:09.280 --> 0:37:11.040 And have you started to. 0:37:11.000 --> 0:37:14.440 Feel a little gratified or hopeful or maybe not at 0:37:14.480 --> 0:37:17.040 all about if there's any progress we're making. 0:37:17.400 --> 0:37:19.279 There's a lot in there. There really is a lot 0:37:19.280 --> 0:37:19.640 in there. 0:37:19.920 --> 0:37:22.680 And I think the thing is the big thing I'm 0:37:22.760 --> 0:37:25.799 ungrateful for is that the change is that we are 0:37:25.880 --> 0:37:28.279 talking about it. Five years ago, we never would have 0:37:28.320 --> 0:37:31.920 had this conversation. Even when I was on Celebrity Prentice 0:37:31.920 --> 0:37:36.120 and I won, the media didn't know how to use it, 0:37:36.880 --> 0:37:41.480 and they utilized the and they were brave in saying that, 0:37:41.520 --> 0:37:43.640 you know, I won the money for this charity Voice 0:37:43.640 --> 0:37:46.160 of Change, in the fact we're talking about family and 0:37:46.160 --> 0:37:50.600 domestic violence, and some of the interviewers didn't know how 0:37:50.640 --> 0:37:54.680 to treat that, and it was dismissed a little bit, 0:37:54.760 --> 0:37:57.120 and it was only because it was uncomfortable. It wasn't 0:37:57.160 --> 0:37:58.799 because they didn't want to talk about it. It's like, 0:37:58.800 --> 0:38:01.880 how do we talk about in the public without people 0:38:01.920 --> 0:38:05.319 turning off? So I think I'm very grateful for what 0:38:05.360 --> 0:38:07.319 has happened in the past few years in the fact 0:38:07.360 --> 0:38:10.200 that we are talking about it now. For some reason, 0:38:10.400 --> 0:38:14.120 it is worse. The numbers of not just the deaths 0:38:14.120 --> 0:38:17.480 of women and children, it is the abuse that's going 0:38:17.520 --> 0:38:21.680 on is quite frightening. And that is a big societal 0:38:21.840 --> 0:38:23.640 change that we have to do, and that's something that 0:38:23.719 --> 0:38:26.000 voice of change. We've stepped back a little bit so 0:38:26.040 --> 0:38:29.640 that we can help help with help work with other 0:38:29.840 --> 0:38:31.759 companies that are trying to do the same thing, so 0:38:31.800 --> 0:38:34.319 we can make change. So if people are looking at 0:38:34.320 --> 0:38:37.120 what we're doing, it looks a bit quiet, but it 0:38:37.160 --> 0:38:40.200 really is because we need to come out as a strength, 0:38:40.520 --> 0:38:42.960 a voice. Because the government has put a lot of 0:38:42.960 --> 0:38:47.440 money into making change of you know, stamping out family 0:38:47.440 --> 0:38:52.239 and domestic violence by twenty thirty this generation, we're not 0:38:52.280 --> 0:38:54.160 looking good for that one. So what do we do. 0:38:54.360 --> 0:38:58.279 We can't bury our heads. It's a societal change and 0:38:58.400 --> 0:39:00.479 one of the big things is that you know, we're 0:39:00.480 --> 0:39:03.799 women talking about things that are happening to women. So 0:39:03.840 --> 0:39:06.920 we are talking with men about how they can be 0:39:07.520 --> 0:39:11.520 the solution to the problem because most of the violence. 0:39:11.719 --> 0:39:14.879 You know, yes, somebody will say, but women do too, 0:39:15.040 --> 0:39:18.280 Yes they do. But if you look at the violence 0:39:18.480 --> 0:39:22.440 against anybody, men against men, and men against women and 0:39:22.480 --> 0:39:26.879 men against children, it is right up there. So we 0:39:26.960 --> 0:39:30.279 need the men that say it's not all men to 0:39:30.320 --> 0:39:33.440 come together and be our alt allies and be the solution. 0:39:33.800 --> 0:39:36.120 So we need that round table of women not talking 0:39:36.160 --> 0:39:38.319 about it. We need that round table of not men 0:39:38.400 --> 0:39:40.880 talking about it. We need that round table of women 0:39:40.920 --> 0:39:45.000 and men coming together as a society with cultural shifts 0:39:45.040 --> 0:39:47.080 in how we talk to each other in the community, 0:39:47.360 --> 0:39:51.160 on social media, in our corporations, and it is a 0:39:51.200 --> 0:39:55.120 case of not putting up with bad patterns of behavior 0:39:55.320 --> 0:39:57.840 and just really simple things of calling people out in 0:39:57.920 --> 0:40:01.160 bad patterns of behavior of hey, you speak to somebody 0:40:01.239 --> 0:40:02.840 or how they speak about their partner. 0:40:03.560 --> 0:40:05.200 We've accepted. 0:40:06.239 --> 0:40:10.200 Hate for so long and since COVID and Trump our 0:40:10.280 --> 0:40:13.040 hate and please don't write to me about Trump because 0:40:13.320 --> 0:40:14.520 it's just a hate speech. 0:40:14.800 --> 0:40:16.080 It's not a political thing. 0:40:16.600 --> 0:40:21.120 So we have accepted hate towards a fellow people. The 0:40:21.200 --> 0:40:24.160 lack of empathy, the lack of kindness, the lack of 0:40:24.320 --> 0:40:28.400 compassion is a real problem in our society that allows 0:40:28.760 --> 0:40:31.680 people to get away with treating people badly, and that's 0:40:31.680 --> 0:40:32.640 what we have to change. 0:40:33.960 --> 0:40:35.920 So a beautiful answer, and I know it was a 0:40:35.960 --> 0:40:38.960 really big question, and thank you so much for distilling 0:40:39.040 --> 0:40:42.040 so much information and I think really important. 0:40:42.160 --> 0:40:45.120 Powerful message is it is and we all have something 0:40:45.160 --> 0:40:48.920 to do, from the kids to the grandparents to everybody 0:40:48.920 --> 0:40:49.520 in between. 0:40:49.719 --> 0:40:54.120 It's not just a generation. It's everybody's business. 0:40:54.480 --> 0:40:57.600 I can't finish up without asking you about your family. 0:40:57.680 --> 0:41:01.600 You have mentioned your children, Jesse and Carlor, and you're 0:41:01.600 --> 0:41:02.560 also the grandmother. 0:41:02.840 --> 0:41:05.520 Well, no, I'm a gg. I can't say that word. 0:41:05.520 --> 0:41:07.200 I can't be thirty six with that word, and. 0:41:07.200 --> 0:41:13.160 I know at thirty six you're a gg GG. How's 0:41:13.200 --> 0:41:17.520 that experience being again on another huge question, but obviously 0:41:17.640 --> 0:41:22.600 you've talked about, you know, the joy and the challenge, 0:41:22.600 --> 0:41:24.879 and there's only so much that even a big pair 0:41:24.920 --> 0:41:28.960 of shoulder heads and buffer you from Shana on being 0:41:29.080 --> 0:41:31.880 a mom and a single mom and a working single mom, 0:41:32.040 --> 0:41:34.680 how's experience of being. 0:41:34.400 --> 0:41:36.640 A Gg, Oh, can I tell you as you say, 0:41:36.719 --> 0:41:40.879 my chest is so tight because I just, oh, it's 0:41:40.880 --> 0:41:42.680 about the only thing makes me weepy at the moment. 0:41:43.040 --> 0:41:45.600 I have so much pride and so much love, and 0:41:46.480 --> 0:41:51.080 you know, to when my son and daughter in law 0:41:51.120 --> 0:41:53.040 told me they were pregnant was probably one of my 0:41:53.080 --> 0:41:56.440 happiest moments. And you know, as a family, we were 0:41:56.440 --> 0:41:59.560 going through a pretty tough time and to have this 0:41:59.600 --> 0:42:03.960 little babe be our symbol of joy in our family 0:42:04.160 --> 0:42:07.320 was just the most amazing thing. And so little Olive, 0:42:07.320 --> 0:42:11.920 who was on Country Home Rescue, she became our little 0:42:12.000 --> 0:42:15.560 unit that brought us all back together. And she's just 0:42:15.719 --> 0:42:17.719 the lart of my life. And now we've got little 0:42:17.800 --> 0:42:20.719 Darcy as well. My son's had a little boy too 0:42:20.760 --> 0:42:24.399 in the meantime. And to have these two grandchildren call 0:42:24.440 --> 0:42:26.920 me Gg, their eyes light up when they see me 0:42:27.640 --> 0:42:30.400 more Darcy than all of Old's a bit, you know, shy, 0:42:30.760 --> 0:42:35.239 but it's just it's just the most I just don't know. 0:42:35.280 --> 0:42:37.120 And then you sit back and you watch your your 0:42:37.120 --> 0:42:40.000 son be a parent and do it so well, and 0:42:40.000 --> 0:42:43.239 the fact that he has made his own way as 0:42:43.280 --> 0:42:46.880 a father and he's got the most amazing partner and 0:42:46.920 --> 0:42:50.719 they have an equal relationship, and so I sit back 0:42:50.760 --> 0:42:51.320 and go. 0:42:51.239 --> 0:42:55.000 Wow, my job is done in a really beautiful way. 0:42:55.040 --> 0:42:57.640 And so now I get to enjoy it and to 0:42:57.719 --> 0:43:00.160 see their equal partnership and when they have problems as 0:43:00.200 --> 0:43:03.040 they work it out. So it's not just the grandchildren, 0:43:03.080 --> 0:43:07.640 it's watching them as parents navigate this new world and 0:43:07.800 --> 0:43:11.239 share it. And they're not doing it because I told them. 0:43:11.680 --> 0:43:12.279 They're doing it. 0:43:12.239 --> 0:43:15.040 Because they believe it, and that's who they are as people. 0:43:15.160 --> 0:43:17.279 And it's a beautiful generation. And now they have a 0:43:17.280 --> 0:43:20.439 little girl and a boy that they're becoming these incredible 0:43:20.560 --> 0:43:24.399 role models too, and it's amazing, it really is. 0:43:24.800 --> 0:43:27.279 It is amazing and really hopeful. Especially I think with 0:43:27.320 --> 0:43:31.520 our previous topic, it's about, you know, involving men and 0:43:31.560 --> 0:43:34.960 everyone in the conversation and how we as a society 0:43:35.000 --> 0:43:39.200 in a country do progress forward with every generation. You 0:43:39.280 --> 0:43:42.000 may tell me to bud out here, that's okay. By 0:43:42.040 --> 0:43:46.680 the way, you don't like to talk about your personal 0:43:46.680 --> 0:43:50.799 life in terms of romantic life, but anything that you 0:43:50.840 --> 0:43:54.200 would like to share or just even more broadly about 0:43:54.239 --> 0:43:57.799 the experience of dating in your early sixties. 0:43:58.920 --> 0:44:00.800 I haven't even got to the earl bit yourself. 0:44:02.760 --> 0:44:07.000 Look, I think I think for me, you know, the 0:44:07.160 --> 0:44:09.720 LT I am as much as I'm in the public, 0:44:09.760 --> 0:44:13.279 I am a really private person and I've never really 0:44:13.320 --> 0:44:16.880 put my personal life on any immediate platforms, and I 0:44:16.920 --> 0:44:18.799 don't talk about in that way. And I like to 0:44:18.880 --> 0:44:21.839 keep with that because it's for me. You know, our 0:44:21.840 --> 0:44:24.120 little conversations and who we are and what we do 0:44:24.320 --> 0:44:26.920 is so important, and you know, I think we've got 0:44:27.000 --> 0:44:28.719 to learn to you know, we can give and give 0:44:28.760 --> 0:44:31.200 as much as we can of ourselves, but we've got 0:44:31.200 --> 0:44:34.040 to hold those little parts private. And I think that 0:44:34.239 --> 0:44:36.879 is the hardest part of you know, when you're looking 0:44:36.920 --> 0:44:39.640 at dating, when you're in the public eye, is that 0:44:40.440 --> 0:44:42.799 you're exposing yourself in a way that you shouldn't have 0:44:42.880 --> 0:44:45.120 to because well, what if that person talks and what 0:44:45.160 --> 0:44:46.160 if that person does this? 0:44:46.320 --> 0:44:49.280 And so it is. It is a bit of a tricky. 0:44:48.960 --> 0:44:51.719 Thing for me. It's not an age thing. I think 0:44:51.760 --> 0:44:57.720 it's that vulnerability of the public knowing your private life, 0:44:57.719 --> 0:45:00.399 and that's something I've always guarded private les so when 0:45:00.600 --> 0:45:05.600 I have been invaded without my permission, I find really 0:45:05.719 --> 0:45:10.080 quite distressing. So I think that's that that, you know, 0:45:10.120 --> 0:45:13.000 that's why why I like to keep it private because 0:45:13.000 --> 0:45:15.799 it's more of a case of you know that you 0:45:15.840 --> 0:45:18.920 should be allowed to say this is my private life, 0:45:19.200 --> 0:45:20.359 and people respect that. 0:45:20.600 --> 0:45:24.160 And I'm not saying that you're asking that it is. 0:45:24.360 --> 0:45:27.320 It is one of those things that those little nuances 0:45:28.280 --> 0:45:32.040 are mine should be mine in a great way. And 0:45:32.560 --> 0:45:37.920 I think dating at the moment, and I'm seeing, you know, 0:45:37.960 --> 0:45:41.920 the age of like people my age are dating people younger. 0:45:43.239 --> 0:45:45.600 I don't know about who you speak to or whatever, 0:45:45.640 --> 0:45:49.000 but I think we're in that world of the crash 0:45:49.040 --> 0:45:53.360 of online dating because no one is to be believed anymore. 0:45:53.640 --> 0:45:57.200 And I think meeting somebody online. 0:45:56.960 --> 0:46:00.399 Used to be a really beautiful solution, but again, there's 0:46:00.440 --> 0:46:02.880 so much deception going on that I don't think anyone 0:46:02.880 --> 0:46:06.640 believes anybody anymore. So I feel like the world of 0:46:06.760 --> 0:46:10.279 face to face is the way to go. And you know, 0:46:10.360 --> 0:46:13.200 how nice would it be to meet somebody at a restaurant, 0:46:13.320 --> 0:46:15.120 or meet someone at a bar, or go to a 0:46:15.160 --> 0:46:18.359 party and meet somebody how we used to do it 0:46:19.600 --> 0:46:22.240 in the fact that you can actually be around people 0:46:22.320 --> 0:46:24.480 that maybe are a few of their friends are around them, 0:46:24.520 --> 0:46:26.160 so you sort of, oh, they're the sort of people 0:46:26.200 --> 0:46:29.000 there with that, you know, it's not sort of sneaking 0:46:29.080 --> 0:46:32.520 around corners and sneaking around back alleys and so it's 0:46:32.560 --> 0:46:33.800 you know, if you choose to do that, I have 0:46:33.880 --> 0:46:38.440 no problem, but I just I just feel the world 0:46:38.440 --> 0:46:42.480 of dating online is such a dark, cloak and dagger 0:46:42.560 --> 0:46:46.080 experience that I've never gone down that road because I 0:46:46.080 --> 0:46:47.000 don't trust them. 0:46:48.440 --> 0:46:50.879 I completely agree, and you do hear like a lot 0:46:50.920 --> 0:46:54.000 of bad story, yeah about. You know, I just think 0:46:54.040 --> 0:46:56.880 all data online is a little bit problematic at the moment, 0:46:56.960 --> 0:46:59.440 isn't it. So anything that you're going out on the 0:46:59.520 --> 0:47:02.239 leem or fear vulnerable with I should clarify as I 0:47:02.239 --> 0:47:06.160 ask my final question, Shana did only turn sixty last year, 0:47:06.200 --> 0:47:08.840 so I definitely shouldn't be rounding up to early sixties. 0:47:08.840 --> 0:47:09.960 Sorry about That's like, I'm. 0:47:10.200 --> 0:47:12.480 Yeah, break, I'm thirty six, and you make you turn 0:47:12.520 --> 0:47:13.359 on the numbers. 0:47:13.040 --> 0:47:15.319 Around as a fellow thirty six year old woman. I mean, 0:47:15.360 --> 0:47:19.160 so when my sons call me a boomer, I mean, 0:47:19.160 --> 0:47:23.000 that's great, labor love boomers, but I'm like, I'm not 0:47:23.160 --> 0:47:25.960 a boomer. Like it's just this rounding up things like 0:47:26.040 --> 0:47:29.560 come on, kids, you know, I'm like, oh, by cusp, 0:47:29.600 --> 0:47:32.560 of millennial or Gen X down slightly. 0:47:32.600 --> 0:47:34.719 But you know what I'm saying. I know exactly what 0:47:34.840 --> 0:47:35.200 you say. 0:47:35.760 --> 0:47:38.920 My final question is really just pulling together maybe some 0:47:38.960 --> 0:47:43.160 of these intertwining threads we've spoken about, pushing back against 0:47:43.200 --> 0:47:45.960 that notion you can only be one thing, the reinvention 0:47:46.800 --> 0:47:50.520 second act, maybe it's the third or the fourth act. 0:47:51.200 --> 0:47:55.600 What would your advice be to anyone listening who's thinking, Oh, 0:47:55.680 --> 0:47:58.600 I think I could be that, but I haven't tried that, 0:47:58.800 --> 0:48:01.680 or I tried. Maybe it is singing and someone said 0:48:01.680 --> 0:48:04.880 be quiet, or maybe I'm not that good at cooking, 0:48:04.960 --> 0:48:06.560 or I just feel like I need to stay in 0:48:06.600 --> 0:48:09.480 my little box as he said with the label on it, 0:48:10.160 --> 0:48:14.960 not in a good storage solution way, a bad conversation 0:48:15.080 --> 0:48:18.960 around labels and boxes. Any final parting words. 0:48:19.200 --> 0:48:22.000 I developed a thing called a five year plan, and 0:48:22.040 --> 0:48:24.600 that's just through what I did for myself to be 0:48:24.600 --> 0:48:27.279 able to move forward in a career. So what I 0:48:27.280 --> 0:48:31.040 would say to people is, if you don't know where 0:48:31.040 --> 0:48:33.080 you are what you want to want to do, how 0:48:33.080 --> 0:48:35.080 about you think where do you want to be now 0:48:36.160 --> 0:48:39.080 in five years? So don't worry about the bits in between. 0:48:39.160 --> 0:48:42.799 So from now in five years time, who are you 0:48:42.920 --> 0:48:44.239 and where do you want to be and who is 0:48:44.320 --> 0:48:47.880 surrounding you? And how do you feel and where you 0:48:47.920 --> 0:48:50.440 are now? Does that marry up? It doesn't mean you're 0:48:50.480 --> 0:48:53.799 exactly the same person that things are there, But you know, 0:48:53.880 --> 0:48:56.880 if you're forty, then you're going to be forty five. 0:48:56.960 --> 0:49:00.080 Well, god, that's five years. That's a long time. Do 0:49:00.120 --> 0:49:00.520 you want to be? 0:49:01.040 --> 0:49:02.319 You know, what do you want to have? Do you 0:49:02.320 --> 0:49:04.440 want to be living a different lifestyle? Do you want 0:49:04.480 --> 0:49:06.520 to have more holidays? Do you want more connection? Do 0:49:06.520 --> 0:49:08.320 you want to be in a different relationship? Do you 0:49:08.360 --> 0:49:12.160 want to start a relationship that way? You can actually 0:49:12.239 --> 0:49:15.560 go Okay, well now this is today and in five 0:49:15.680 --> 0:49:17.840 years I really want to be there. 0:49:18.480 --> 0:49:19.960 Whether I achieve it or not is one thing. 0:49:19.960 --> 0:49:22.000 I probably could achieve more by the time I get there, 0:49:22.000 --> 0:49:24.560 But this is my starting point. 0:49:24.920 --> 0:49:26.759 What do I have to do to do that? 0:49:27.080 --> 0:49:29.799 And it's not a case of you know, okay, I 0:49:29.800 --> 0:49:31.440 need this amount of money, I need to do this, 0:49:31.520 --> 0:49:32.960 I need to do that, I need to have a house, 0:49:33.000 --> 0:49:35.120 I need to get this. It's a case of like, 0:49:36.280 --> 0:49:39.120 who am I as a person when I'm there? And 0:49:39.160 --> 0:49:41.040 what are the skills I need as a person? To 0:49:41.080 --> 0:49:43.399 get there, which is part of what we're saying before 0:49:43.440 --> 0:49:45.480 about are you a dinosaur? Well, what skills do you 0:49:45.480 --> 0:49:47.640 have to learn? So if you want to be in 0:49:47.719 --> 0:49:50.560 five years a person that is going to be the 0:49:50.600 --> 0:49:53.520 best at AI technology and at the moment you can't 0:49:53.560 --> 0:49:56.719 even open your iPhone, well the first step is to 0:49:56.800 --> 0:49:59.640 learn how to open your iPhone, do a few courses. 0:49:59.280 --> 0:49:59.759 And get that go. 0:50:00.000 --> 0:50:02.480 I mean that's just a really simplistic thing, but it 0:50:02.560 --> 0:50:05.239 is one of those things of like, you can't be 0:50:05.480 --> 0:50:09.120 different if you're not willing to find out ways to 0:50:09.200 --> 0:50:12.920 make that happen. And one it has to come from internal. 0:50:13.239 --> 0:50:15.759 Then you have to learn external skills. And then you 0:50:15.800 --> 0:50:18.000 have to look at your environment that will allow you 0:50:18.040 --> 0:50:20.600 to get there. And you won't always be around the 0:50:20.640 --> 0:50:22.920 right people that will want you there, So you have 0:50:23.000 --> 0:50:26.239 to make a decision about those friendships and relationships. Are 0:50:26.280 --> 0:50:28.840 they going to be the right people around you to 0:50:28.920 --> 0:50:31.000 get you there? Are they the people that are going 0:50:31.040 --> 0:50:33.319 to say to you which has been said to me, 0:50:33.960 --> 0:50:35.840 oh so you're going to be a writer? 0:50:36.000 --> 0:50:36.320 Now? 0:50:37.880 --> 0:50:40.160 Are they the right people to get you to where 0:50:40.200 --> 0:50:42.120 you want to be in five years? Doesn't mean you 0:50:42.160 --> 0:50:43.759 have to go now and just slash and burn all 0:50:43.800 --> 0:50:46.919 your friendships and relationships. But it might be a case 0:50:46.920 --> 0:50:49.239 of widening your circle. It might be a case of 0:50:49.320 --> 0:50:51.920 actually not relying on your friends to build you up. 0:50:51.960 --> 0:50:54.240 You might have to get a secondary circle of people 0:50:54.280 --> 0:50:56.760 you don't know, just so that you can tell the truth, 0:50:56.960 --> 0:50:58.960 so that they don't know anything about you and they 0:50:58.960 --> 0:51:01.840 can't judge you because I don't know you before. So 0:51:03.080 --> 0:51:06.840 it really is up to you to want to change yourself. 0:51:07.280 --> 0:51:10.480 Because I've learnt from people that I've tried to help 0:51:11.120 --> 0:51:14.239 that you can try and help somebody as much as 0:51:14.239 --> 0:51:17.160 you want, and they may want your help, but if 0:51:17.160 --> 0:51:20.000 they're relying on your help to get it, they will 0:51:20.040 --> 0:51:20.680 never get it. 0:51:21.080 --> 0:51:23.040 And if they don't get it, it's your fault. 0:51:24.400 --> 0:51:28.560 So don't let your not getting to five years be 0:51:28.680 --> 0:51:29.680 someone else's fault. 0:51:29.760 --> 0:51:30.799 It can only be your own. 0:51:31.800 --> 0:51:34.120 Shana. I cannot wait to sit down again with you 0:51:34.200 --> 0:51:36.640 in five years, when we'll both be what we're thirty 0:51:36.680 --> 0:51:38.560 two now, so we'll be what thirty three if we. 0:51:38.520 --> 0:51:41.960 Go, Oh my god, we'll be swinging from chandaliers. 0:51:42.719 --> 0:51:46.200 Shanna Blaze has been so lovely to speak to you today. 0:51:46.200 --> 0:51:48.720 Thank you so much for coming you to the studio. 0:51:49.239 --> 0:51:52.360 You can find out more about Shana Blaze's upcoming music 0:51:52.440 --> 0:51:55.560 release and cabaret shows at the link in our show notes, 0:51:55.880 --> 0:51:58.280 and of course you can also see Shana on Sunday 0:51:58.400 --> 0:52:01.279 Nights on the Block on nine. Thank you for your 0:52:01.360 --> 0:52:04.239 company today. If you've enjoyed this episode, make sure you're 0:52:04.280 --> 0:52:07.439 following us because we'll be back with another exclusive guest 0:52:07.560 --> 0:52:09.400 on Something to Talk About next week.