Billie’s story: Change the Story
Billie’s story: Change the Story
Billie’s story is one of challenging stereotypes and creating their own story. It’s about how having the right mindset and support can only lead to success. This is a story of following passions and fearlessly being yourself.
Video Transcript:
Will: Billie isn’t the most loudly spoken person, but often the strongest leaders are like that. When they do speak, people listen.
Billie: I identify as LGBTQ+ and non-binary. It can mean a lot of different things, but for me, I just don’t really feel any connection to gender or anything. I’m just me. My name is Billy. I’m 18, and I’m from Melbourne, Australia.
Billie: In the queer community, there are a lot of challenges. Just trying to be seen and respected can be very difficult a lot of the time. I try to advocate for the community as much as possible, as much as I can, to help.
Will: Even the strongest of advocates do need support. Initially, Billy was very quiet, so it took a little time for us to build a rapport, but I think we started working pretty quickly together. My name’s Will Martin. I work in Disability Employment Services as a customer experience coordinator for Youth Projects. My role is essentially the entry point to our Disability Employment Service Program, so I help the young people with the aggression into finding employment. The one thing that me and Billy always had in common is we’ve both had a similar path with how we battle mental health. I’ve been quite open about having specific challenges myself. I think I can be relatable to a young person. I’ve always made it clear to Billie that if you want to do something, there’s nothing stopping you from doing it. There might be a longer path, but it doesn’t mean that path wasn’t it. It just means it’s just about leading the way to go.
Billie: I was placed in a four-week program where I got to train at Good to Go in the city. I got to work five days a week for 25 hours a week, and I got to learn how to make coffee, smoothies, and toasted sandwiches. Customer service was all really good experience.
Will: Good to Go is our social enterprise cafe where we use it as a launching point for young people to gain real-time work experience in a professional environment. Their primary responsibilities are to serve coffees, but also the daily schedule of getting up and knowing what employment feels like. Getting out of bed, going to work, being on time, and they get the practical experience of what working is like.
Billie: I think Good to Go has been a great fit. I really like the whole experience there. I really enjoy working with customers, getting to make coffee, and talking to people.
Will: Billie exhibits all of the traits that you want in a good employee. They have a very strong desire to work. They also have a really strong desire to make sure everyone around them is comfortable and would be the best employee you could ever ask for, to be honest with you.
Billie: I just want to follow whatever makes me happy and whatever I feel passionate about, whether that’s helping others or advocating. I just hope I’m happy in the future.
Will: I think the future holds anything for Billie. Billie can do whatever they want to do. It’s one of those rare gifts. Whatever Billie is going to be passionate about in their life, they’re going to just absolutely do it.