1 00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: I'd like to begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of 2 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:07,160 Speaker 1: the lands on which we've recorded this episode, and also 3 00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:10,399 Speaker 1: pay respect to the elders and communities of the many 4 00:00:10,520 --> 00:00:14,520 Speaker 1: lands where you, our listeners, are joining us today we 5 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:25,320 Speaker 1: honor the continuing connection to country culture and story. Welcome 6 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:28,800 Speaker 1: back to Find and Tell. I'm Mondanara Bales and this 7 00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:32,360 Speaker 1: is the podcast where First Nation storytellers take the mic 8 00:00:32,760 --> 00:00:35,839 Speaker 1: and tell it like it really is. Each episode we 9 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:39,239 Speaker 1: follow a theme and our storytellers take us wherever that 10 00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:44,239 Speaker 1: theme leads. This episode, our theme is the road less traveled, 11 00:00:44,600 --> 00:00:47,479 Speaker 1: and no one walks that path quite like Aliah J. 12 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:48,280 Speaker 2: Bradbury. 13 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:52,680 Speaker 1: Aliah's story starts in a plumbing supply store and ends 14 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:56,120 Speaker 1: with her becoming the first Tres Strait Islander woman to 15 00:00:56,200 --> 00:01:01,040 Speaker 1: win an international Emmy. But this isn't a fairy, it's 16 00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:05,160 Speaker 1: not overnight, it's not clean, it's raw, it's funny, and 17 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:08,920 Speaker 1: it's proof that sometimes the scariest thing you can do 18 00:01:09,560 --> 00:01:12,600 Speaker 1: is listen to the voice that says you were made 19 00:01:12,720 --> 00:01:15,200 Speaker 1: for more. Let's get into it. 20 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:22,040 Speaker 3: I didn't know a single thing about plumbing, not a 21 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:24,800 Speaker 3: bloody thing. Like if you were to ask me what 22 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:27,440 Speaker 3: a flange was. Back then, I'd probably would have said 23 00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:32,120 Speaker 3: something dirty. But there I was, hair in a please at, 24 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:34,440 Speaker 3: don't talk to me, but still caps on my feet, 25 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:39,400 Speaker 3: name badge, sharp, serving trades, counting washes, filling out order 26 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:42,560 Speaker 3: forms like I knew what I was doing, and for 27 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:47,520 Speaker 3: a while I kind of did. I got good at it, 28 00:01:48,040 --> 00:01:52,000 Speaker 3: too good. I started anticipating people's knees, knowing which pipe 29 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:55,040 Speaker 3: thread they would ask for even before they walked through 30 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:55,440 Speaker 3: the door. 31 00:01:56,320 --> 00:01:58,800 Speaker 2: And worst of all, I had the game. 32 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:04,640 Speaker 3: One of the boys and for Aladikia and a rubum 33 00:02:04,720 --> 00:02:08,040 Speaker 3: le girl who grew up in redfern with dancers, drag 34 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:13,480 Speaker 3: queens and dreams of cinema. That was wild because deep 35 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:17,040 Speaker 3: down I wasn't a plumbing girl. I was a two 36 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:22,840 Speaker 3: thousand and six hundred generations storyteller trapped in a supply store. 37 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:26,400 Speaker 3: My best friend at the time, she was built for 38 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:29,680 Speaker 3: that world second gen trade, grew up with blueprints on 39 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:33,760 Speaker 3: the fridge. Me I grew up dreaming about film sets, 40 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:38,240 Speaker 3: fairy tales. I was a glam world building leo, raised 41 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 3: by a long line of fierce indigenous women, and yet 42 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:47,160 Speaker 3: there I was fitting in where I didn't belong, becoming 43 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:50,320 Speaker 3: fluent in a language of pipe fittings and product codes 44 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:55,880 Speaker 3: while forgetting how to speak my own story. I don't 45 00:02:55,919 --> 00:02:59,360 Speaker 3: remember the exact day it happened, but I remember the feeling, 46 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:03,560 Speaker 3: that sharp little ache in my chest that whispered, this 47 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:09,360 Speaker 3: life is swallowing. You can a girl working in a 48 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:14,480 Speaker 3: plumbing supply store really become an Emmy winning filmmaker? 49 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:17,800 Speaker 2: Well, spoiler avert. 50 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:22,600 Speaker 3: Yeah, but it took a clog pipe, a divine intervention, 51 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:30,840 Speaker 3: and a hell of a lot of courage. There was 52 00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:32,960 Speaker 3: a time in my life I could tell you the 53 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:36,160 Speaker 3: thread count of a tapwasher. I knew the difference between 54 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:39,720 Speaker 3: a male thread and a BSB, and I could locate 55 00:03:39,840 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 3: a forty millimeter slipcap blindfolded. I didn't want to know 56 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:49,000 Speaker 3: any of that, but I did, because at some point, 57 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:53,120 Speaker 3: without realizing it, I got really good at being someone 58 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:57,600 Speaker 3: I never meant to be, That someone worked in a 59 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:04,240 Speaker 3: plumbing supply store. Now listen, there's no shade, God bless 60 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:09,560 Speaker 3: the pipes. But me. I came from a long line 61 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:15,280 Speaker 3: of storytellers, two six hundred generations of rhythm, drama, oral histories, 62 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:19,920 Speaker 3: spirits and creativity in our blood, And somehow I found 63 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:22,920 Speaker 3: myself in still caps, a Reese Polo and a name 64 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:29,720 Speaker 3: badge that said Aliah Bradbury sells support if we're honest. 65 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:32,400 Speaker 3: I took the job because I needed it and because 66 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:34,279 Speaker 3: my best mate at the time worked there. 67 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:38,760 Speaker 2: Yeah that's fine, but it really wasn't for me. 68 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:45,960 Speaker 3: It started as survival, then it became routine, then became 69 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:51,120 Speaker 3: weirdly addictive, like Stockholm syndrome, but make it trade core. 70 00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:54,080 Speaker 3: I'd wake up early, put my hair up in a 71 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:57,360 Speaker 3: tight bun, put on my black jeans, and I'd walk 72 00:04:57,400 --> 00:04:59,799 Speaker 3: in there like I was born to self FLEXI hoses, 73 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:04,120 Speaker 3: I anticipated customer needs. I built relationships with old blokes 74 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:07,040 Speaker 3: and I said things like yeah, we can price smatch 75 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:11,719 Speaker 3: that without flinching. There was a moment where they were 76 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:15,200 Speaker 3: all eyeing me for a promotion, wanted to give me 77 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:20,000 Speaker 3: the responsibility because I was a natural leader, and I 78 00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:23,560 Speaker 3: smiled and I nodded, and inside I felt like I 79 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:30,120 Speaker 3: was drowning in navy blue. And just like that, I 80 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:35,440 Speaker 3: stopped being curious. I stopped watching films. I stopped talking 81 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:39,800 Speaker 3: about the future. Like I remember this one day when 82 00:05:39,839 --> 00:05:42,800 Speaker 3: somebody asked me what I did for fun. 83 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:44,800 Speaker 2: And I literally just. 84 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:50,960 Speaker 3: Blanked. My brain kind of just went blue screened. I 85 00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:54,640 Speaker 3: didn't know what to say, because who was I the 86 00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:58,560 Speaker 3: world builder, the girl who daydreamed on buses, the one 87 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:01,880 Speaker 3: who used to sneak into the theater during intervals just 88 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:05,000 Speaker 3: to watch the last act of the play. She was 89 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:12,800 Speaker 3: come on, or at least quiet. And that's the weirdest part. 90 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:15,640 Speaker 3: I wasn't even sad about it. I was just fine. 91 00:06:16,360 --> 00:06:20,000 Speaker 3: That kind of numbness is scarier than sadness because it 92 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:24,200 Speaker 3: feels like peace, but really it's kind of just grief. 93 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:30,120 Speaker 3: Wearing a high vis vest, I started doing things like 94 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:35,440 Speaker 3: doing the stock take, counting pipes a Mandarin. I don't 95 00:06:35,480 --> 00:06:38,040 Speaker 3: even know how to speak Mandarin. I just know how 96 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:39,080 Speaker 3: to count to ninety nine. 97 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:40,440 Speaker 2: But it made me. 98 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:46,320 Speaker 3: Feel clever, like I wasn't living in groundhog Day. I 99 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:50,240 Speaker 3: used to whisper to myself in the aisles, this isn't forever. 100 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:54,239 Speaker 3: You're not supposed to be here. It's going to get better. 101 00:06:56,360 --> 00:06:58,680 Speaker 3: But I didn't know how to leave or where to go, 102 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:03,000 Speaker 3: or if I'd miss my chance. And that's the scariest part, 103 00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:05,680 Speaker 3: not knowing if the dream is still waiting for you 104 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:08,800 Speaker 3: or it packed up and left while you were just 105 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:17,200 Speaker 3: busy being responsible. There was this routine I had with 106 00:07:17,240 --> 00:07:22,280 Speaker 3: my best friendly every Thursday, Shark Beach, tucked into Nelson's 107 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:26,960 Speaker 3: Park in Sydney's East. It's quiet, a little hidden, perfect 108 00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:30,240 Speaker 3: for two emotionally chaotic people who needed to pretend they 109 00:07:30,240 --> 00:07:33,800 Speaker 3: were fine just for the hour. We'd grab a couple 110 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:36,120 Speaker 3: of drinks, maybe a couple of snacks, and we'd sit 111 00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:38,320 Speaker 3: on the sand and watch the sun melt into the 112 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:44,920 Speaker 3: water like butter. He was going through his spiritual awakening phase, 113 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:49,920 Speaker 3: which meant I was unofficially being dragged into it. We 114 00:07:50,040 --> 00:07:56,440 Speaker 3: talk about everything fate, masculinity, healing, and of course Rhianna's discography. 115 00:07:56,960 --> 00:07:59,640 Speaker 2: But this one Thursday hit a little different. 116 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:05,200 Speaker 3: Liam brought his taro cards and I was like, oh, 117 00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:09,040 Speaker 3: oh no, because I'm black and I don't really mess 118 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:12,840 Speaker 3: with spirits like that. But also, to be fair, I 119 00:08:13,040 --> 00:08:15,920 Speaker 3: kind of was a little bit desperate. Something in me 120 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:19,600 Speaker 3: was craving an answer. I'd been in this slow motion 121 00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:23,360 Speaker 3: free for and I just needed something to catch me, 122 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:27,080 Speaker 3: even if it came in the form of a flimsy 123 00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:30,160 Speaker 3: card and a sword wielding woman on a horse. 124 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:33,280 Speaker 2: So there we were two. 125 00:08:32,880 --> 00:08:37,240 Speaker 3: Sun kissed widows on a beach, reading taro underneath a 126 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:42,839 Speaker 3: pink sky, and as he laid the cards down, I. 127 00:08:42,800 --> 00:08:44,200 Speaker 2: Felt the shift. 128 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:49,600 Speaker 3: I don't remember all the cards specifically, but I do 129 00:08:49,720 --> 00:09:06,520 Speaker 3: remember the feeling, the full, the tower, and the wheel. 130 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:10,480 Speaker 3: Each one felt like a version of me. I'd been avoiding, 131 00:09:12,679 --> 00:09:18,840 Speaker 3: a mirror, a sign, a dare. It wasn't dramatic, but 132 00:09:18,920 --> 00:09:22,760 Speaker 3: it was kind of clear. I was at a crossroads 133 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:28,600 Speaker 3: two paths, one made of certainty and the other endless possibilities, 134 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:34,280 Speaker 3: and deep down I already knew which one was mine. 135 00:09:36,280 --> 00:09:38,560 Speaker 3: I think I just needed a permission, or a push, 136 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:41,240 Speaker 3: or someone to look me in the eye and say, 137 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:48,920 Speaker 3: you don't know anyone. Your smallness for someone who spent 138 00:09:48,960 --> 00:09:52,680 Speaker 3: their whole life telling stories, I'd somehow forgotten I could 139 00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:57,360 Speaker 3: write my own. And that was the moment. That was 140 00:09:57,400 --> 00:10:01,960 Speaker 3: the moment I realized I wasn't trying. I was just 141 00:10:02,000 --> 00:10:07,280 Speaker 3: afraid to make the first sentence count. I looked at 142 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:11,800 Speaker 3: Liam and he smiled like he already knew He's always 143 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:16,320 Speaker 3: been magic like that. I remember walking back to the 144 00:10:16,360 --> 00:10:20,679 Speaker 3: car that night, thinking, this life I'm living isn't the 145 00:10:20,679 --> 00:10:24,080 Speaker 3: only version that exists, And if I don't choose differently. 146 00:10:24,200 --> 00:10:27,559 Speaker 2: Now I might forget I ever. 147 00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:33,680 Speaker 3: Had a choice. That beach became a turning point. Not loud, 148 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:39,520 Speaker 3: not big, but undeniable. That's how change happens, I think, 149 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:44,000 Speaker 3: not with a bang, but with a quiet voice in 150 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:46,479 Speaker 3: your chest whispering. 151 00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:50,560 Speaker 2: Hey, what if it could be better than this? And 152 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:52,560 Speaker 2: just like that, the. 153 00:10:52,480 --> 00:10:55,360 Speaker 3: Girl in the race uniform started to remember the artist, 154 00:10:55,800 --> 00:10:59,439 Speaker 3: the dreamer, the world builder, the fem fairy warrior from 155 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:01,920 Speaker 3: Redford who always believes. 156 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:02,520 Speaker 2: She was made for more. 157 00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:07,079 Speaker 3: Next thing, I knew I had it in my resignation, 158 00:11:07,840 --> 00:11:11,520 Speaker 3: and suddenly the tap turned into a film. 159 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:19,400 Speaker 1: Real Welcome back to Find and Tell, as filmmaker Aliah 160 00:11:19,480 --> 00:11:24,040 Speaker 1: Jade Bradbury tackles the topic the road less traveled. Let's 161 00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:26,560 Speaker 1: get back into it, as Aliah Jade shares how a 162 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:29,720 Speaker 1: single moment by the water changed everything. 163 00:11:31,080 --> 00:11:35,880 Speaker 3: So, yeah, I left the job finally, And honestly, I 164 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:39,640 Speaker 3: thought once I left, the universe would open up like, welcome, 165 00:11:39,679 --> 00:11:42,320 Speaker 3: creative girl, here's your four million dollar budget for a 166 00:11:42,360 --> 00:11:44,680 Speaker 3: film or a job on euphoria. 167 00:11:45,679 --> 00:11:45,959 Speaker 2: Yeah. 168 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:49,320 Speaker 3: No, it didn't quite work out like that, but I 169 00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:53,320 Speaker 3: will say I had made the right decision, even when 170 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:57,000 Speaker 3: the paychecks within even when I was just somebody's assistant again, 171 00:11:58,040 --> 00:12:00,720 Speaker 3: Even when I had no idea what I was doing 172 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:04,080 Speaker 3: and I was googling what is a showrunner at two 173 00:12:04,120 --> 00:12:07,959 Speaker 3: am in my sharehouse bedroom, I knew I was on 174 00:12:08,040 --> 00:12:11,800 Speaker 3: the right path because finally I was back in motion. 175 00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:15,920 Speaker 3: Finally I could feel my brain coming alive again. I 176 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:18,480 Speaker 3: had things to say, worlds to build, people to make 177 00:12:18,559 --> 00:12:22,880 Speaker 3: cry in the cinema, of course, in equipment, and over 178 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:26,600 Speaker 3: time those tiny choices started stacking up. One day I 179 00:12:26,720 --> 00:12:29,400 Speaker 3: was volunteering at a screen event. The next day I 180 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:32,560 Speaker 3: was doing a mental ship. Then came a production job, 181 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:39,520 Speaker 3: then another, then another, and just like that, my first 182 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:43,679 Speaker 3: real break came in the form of the documentary, A 183 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:48,480 Speaker 3: documentary about an indigenous sized skater and his young Russian 184 00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:55,600 Speaker 3: pair skating partner. It was Harley A Katchier, and somewhere 185 00:12:55,640 --> 00:13:00,199 Speaker 3: between deadlines and rejection emails and can you just do 186 00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:06,040 Speaker 3: one more draft please, I found myself nominated for a 187 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:12,600 Speaker 3: freaking International Emmy. It felt like the air around me shifted, 188 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:17,440 Speaker 3: like all these years of dreaming suddenly folded in on themselves, 189 00:13:17,960 --> 00:13:21,280 Speaker 3: like the young girl in the plumbing shop uniform with 190 00:13:21,360 --> 00:13:23,240 Speaker 3: her hair in a please don't talk to me. Bun 191 00:13:23,760 --> 00:13:29,040 Speaker 3: had been seen, and let me tell you, for a 192 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:36,280 Speaker 3: split second, it felt magical, sparkly, like something out of 193 00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:45,200 Speaker 3: a montage. Until I didn't get invited to the ceremony. Yeah, 194 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:50,240 Speaker 3: I was nominated and I had won, but I wasn't there. 195 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:58,439 Speaker 3: No red carpet, no media, no moment, just me in 196 00:13:58,480 --> 00:14:02,880 Speaker 3: Sydney getting a bunch of oh my god, congrats texts 197 00:14:04,040 --> 00:14:05,800 Speaker 3: before I even knew what happened. 198 00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:08,280 Speaker 2: Shout out to my. 199 00:14:08,240 --> 00:14:12,400 Speaker 3: Friend Kayleen, the true oracle, who messaged me first and 200 00:14:12,559 --> 00:14:14,120 Speaker 3: was like, did. 201 00:14:13,960 --> 00:14:16,880 Speaker 2: You see boss? You freaking did it. 202 00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:21,080 Speaker 3: I had to Google it to confirm it. Actually one 203 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:25,240 Speaker 3: I was standing in a production office holding my phone 204 00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:31,560 Speaker 3: like it was radioactive. And then I cried because it 205 00:14:31,800 --> 00:14:36,440 Speaker 3: was so surreal, because I was proud, because I was tired, 206 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:44,960 Speaker 3: because I made history and still wasn't invited to the party. 207 00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:49,680 Speaker 3: But you know what, that's okay, because I still won. 208 00:14:50,760 --> 00:14:54,640 Speaker 3: I still made history, the first Tory straight Islander to 209 00:14:54,680 --> 00:14:57,800 Speaker 3: win an Emmy, the first Aboriginal and Toro straight Islander 210 00:14:57,840 --> 00:15:03,080 Speaker 3: woman to do it, the first Melonie. Even even if 211 00:15:03,080 --> 00:15:08,360 Speaker 3: the world didn't see it, I did, and my community did, 212 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:12,480 Speaker 3: and my family did, and somewhere. I think the version 213 00:15:12,520 --> 00:15:16,080 Speaker 3: of me who stayed at the plumbing store is doing 214 00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:21,760 Speaker 3: a little victory dance in still caps and glitter. This industry, 215 00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:26,360 Speaker 3: it's shiny, yeah, but it's also chaos. It's built on 216 00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:30,240 Speaker 3: determination and a little bit of madness and a hell 217 00:15:30,440 --> 00:15:34,200 Speaker 3: of a lot of heart. And I've got that. I'm 218 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:37,040 Speaker 3: not here because everything was perfect. I'm here because I 219 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:40,880 Speaker 3: kept it going, because I chose the uncertain path, because 220 00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:44,960 Speaker 3: I remember that I could write my own story, and 221 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:51,080 Speaker 3: then I did. And if I could do that, maybe 222 00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:56,520 Speaker 3: someone listening can to. So Yeah, it turns out the 223 00:15:57,000 --> 00:16:00,120 Speaker 3: girl at the plumbing counter she had an Emmy in 224 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:03,840 Speaker 3: her future, not because she had it all figured out, 225 00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:08,040 Speaker 3: not because she knew it was coming, but because she 226 00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:13,400 Speaker 3: dared to say, this isn't the whole story, this isn't 227 00:16:13,480 --> 00:16:17,560 Speaker 3: where it ends. I used to think the only people 228 00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:20,880 Speaker 3: who dreamed big were the ones born in the spotlight. 229 00:16:21,400 --> 00:16:25,480 Speaker 3: What I've learned, sometimes the most powerful kind of magic 230 00:16:25,560 --> 00:16:30,360 Speaker 3: happens when no one's watching. Sometimes the award doesn't come 231 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:34,560 Speaker 3: with a red carpet. Sometimes it's the quiet decision to 232 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:40,000 Speaker 3: not shrink, to take the risk, to show up for yourself. 233 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:44,520 Speaker 3: So this is my message to you, whoever you are, 234 00:16:44,600 --> 00:16:47,080 Speaker 3: wherever you are, if you're sitting in a job that 235 00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:48,800 Speaker 3: doesn't fit, if your soul has. 236 00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:50,360 Speaker 2: Been whispering, there's more. 237 00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:56,520 Speaker 3: Don't wait for permission, don't wait to feel ready, because 238 00:16:56,560 --> 00:17:00,840 Speaker 3: maybe your plumbing supply store moment is the prog not 239 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:04,400 Speaker 3: the plot to us. And maybe you don't need a map, 240 00:17:05,119 --> 00:17:07,159 Speaker 3: You just need the courage to leave the counter and 241 00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:11,240 Speaker 3: start walking. It won't always be clear, it definitely won't 242 00:17:11,280 --> 00:17:16,359 Speaker 3: always be glamorous, but if you listen close enough, you'll 243 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:21,840 Speaker 3: hear it. That tap turning, that real beginning to spin. 244 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:32,080 Speaker 3: That first frame of your story. 245 00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:38,360 Speaker 1: That was Aleah Jade Bradbury storyteller, filmmaker and proud Larikia 246 00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:41,919 Speaker 1: and Miriam murv woman showing us what it means to 247 00:17:41,960 --> 00:17:46,160 Speaker 1: step into your power even when no one's watching. Her 248 00:17:46,200 --> 00:17:50,440 Speaker 1: story reminds us that the roadless traveled isn't always glamorous, 249 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:53,480 Speaker 1: but it is where the magic happens, where you find 250 00:17:53,560 --> 00:17:59,679 Speaker 1: your voice, your courage, your people, yourself. Next episode, Micah 251 00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:03,159 Speaker 1: Kick is back, but this time he's not on stage. 252 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:05,920 Speaker 1: He's on the road with his uncle Roger, heading back 253 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:10,160 Speaker 1: to the mission. It's a powerful yarn about family memory 254 00:18:10,359 --> 00:18:14,560 Speaker 1: and reclaiming the stories that were almost lost. So hit follow, 255 00:18:14,840 --> 00:18:17,480 Speaker 1: share the love and join us next time for another 256 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:21,600 Speaker 1: intimate and unforgettable story. I'm Ndan Arabos and this is 257 00:18:21,680 --> 00:18:25,280 Speaker 1: Find and Tell. Find and Tell is a co production 258 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:30,240 Speaker 1: between iHeart Australia and the black Cast podcast network. Black 259 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:34,320 Speaker 1: Cast empowers First Nations people and people of color to 260 00:18:34,359 --> 00:18:38,800 Speaker 1: reclaim their narratives, strength and cultural identity and contribute to 261 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:44,680 Speaker 1: a more inclusive Australia by showcasing exciting emergent talent from 262 00:18:44,720 --> 00:18:45,960 Speaker 1: Australian communities.