In this week’s episode, Geoff is talking to Alexandra Craig who was a Winner in the 2021 Northern Territory Young Achiever Awards.
I am the winner for the 2021 Northern Territory Young Achiever Awards. I am a native title and Aboriginal Land Rights Lawyer working in central Australia. I am a tribunal member for CAAFL, a residential support worker for Alice Springs Youth Accommodation Support Service and a community sports med trainer for CAAFL. I am originally from Adelaide but have called Alice Springs home since early 2019.
Having completed her undergraduate double degree in Law and Business (Marketing) at the University of South Australia (February 2019). Alex successfully completed her Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice and was admitted as a solicitor/barrister to the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory in July 2019; she is proudly and gainfully employed by the Central Land Council; working with, and empowering our first nation Australians.
Alex finds value and has a strong passion for contract, property and criminal law, native title, social justice and the application of justice within communities and at an international and domestic level; advocating without prejudice.
Having previously represented the University of South Australia at the 2015 International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Colloquium at Atma Jaya University in Jakarta, Indonesia presenting a co-written paper on ‘The effectiveness of the participation principle in protecting marine diversity in South Australia’. Alex is also fiercely passionate about the environment.
In this episode:
- We heard how passionate Alex is about helping those who may have slipped through the gaps
- And how Alex sees her anxiety as her super power!!
- What was Alex’s ethos? Get involved, take on challenges and assist those less fortunate
Links
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Check out Alex on LinkedIn
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Want to nominate someone? (It can take as little as 2 minutes to recognise someone making a difference)
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Transcript
[00:00:05] Annette
Welcome to the Inspirational Australian’s podcast where we check the people making a difference in their communities
[00:00:10] Alex
and in the lives of others. And here is your host for today. Geoff Griffin.
[00:00:21] Geoff
Welcome to the inspirational australian’s podcast stories of inspiring achievements
[00:00:26] Geoff
and community contribution. Every week we will celebrate an award program category Winner or finalist. We hope you’ll be inspired and encouraged to know that Australia is in good hands, together with our corporate partners and not for profit partners, Awards Australia, showcase ordinary people from right
[00:00:48] Geoff
across Australia. Doing
[00:00:50] Geoff
extraordinary things. If you enjoy hearing the stories of our inspirational Australians, please subscribe. Write us and review us.
[00:01:00] Geoff
We really appreciate it.
[00:01:02] Geoff
My guest today is passionate about working with and empowering our first nation Australians.
[00:01:07] Geoff
She completed her undergraduate degree in law and business
[00:01:11] Geoff
in marketing
[00:01:12] Geoff
in Adelaide,
[00:01:13] Geoff
and also has a strong passion
[00:01:15] Geoff
to contract property in criminal law, native title, social justice, and the application of justice within communities. It’s a mouthful and she does a lot. You’ve got to love it, so stick with us. Her significant community and professional contribution to first nation people. Alex Craig was awarded
[00:01:35] Geoff
mcdonald’s into career achievement award in the twenty twenty one twenty
[00:01:40] Geoff
young achievement Awards which was held earlier this year
[00:01:44] Geoff
in the Peach casino resort. It’s such an honor to have you on the podcast, Alex, welcome.
[00:01:51] Alex
Thanks, Geoff. That was a very kind introduction. It’s great to be here.
[00:01:57] Geoff
Well, you are a powerhouse you’ve done so much
[00:01:59] Geoff
so much once you’ve won the career achievement award and
[00:02:03] Geoff
what you do also is so purposeful,
[00:02:06] Geoff
meaningful and makes the difference.
[00:02:09] Geoff
Then not all of us have the ability to say what we might my so it is such a thrill to talk with you. And I’m going to unpack some of your career. Why? Certainly by starting
[00:02:25] Geoff
with what led you to an undergraduate degree in law and business in the first place. I
[00:02:35] Alex
am the I come from a long line of
[00:02:37] Alex
lawyers. I am the sixth generation of lawyer in my family
[00:02:42] Alex
and proudly the first female. But
[00:02:44] Alex
when I was 12 and kind of agonizing about what to do, I had a conversation with my dad was a lawyer and said I’m thinking about doing law and he said don’t do it, don’t do it. You hide it, just don’t do it. And I said, yeah, I thought long and hard about that. And then I had a gap year and I went to work at a commercial law firm in Adelaide for a year to see how I liked it and it definitely didn’t put me off. So I hit the books and the full scope, so
[00:03:18] Alex
yeah it was just the combination of the business degree and the law degree made sense.
[00:03:25] Geoff
So just an aside, how many times when you were growing up, did you say
[00:03:30] Geoff
to your dad when he told you what to do with your mum for that matter? I object and you cross-examine and we could
[00:03:42] Alex
no, I don’t think that was any of that. I think it was more so
[00:03:46] Alex
like friends of ours that would come over.
[00:03:50] Alex
I mean where that was we had no point of reference. That was just the normal us dad going going to Court sometimes being on the news because the client then. Yeah, that was, it was all very normal. So yeah, there wasn’t too much of that.
[00:04:07] Geoff
They should had some grounding. But what was to come in, you know, I’m sure at the University of South Australia represented at the uni, at the twenty fifteen International Union for the
[00:04:20] Geoff
conservation that’s called totoday.
[00:04:24] Geoff
We present to the current Piper, didn’t you? Can you
[00:04:26] Geoff
tell us about
[00:04:27] Geoff
the Piper, the trip and your passion for the environment?Yeah.
[00:04:33] Alex
So I undertook an elective at University for environmental law. And I had a fabulous lecturer at the University who really took me under her wing.
[00:04:45] Alex
And we wrote this the concept of the tyko is basically like under the South Australian marine parks act, there was provision for community participation in the declaration and management of the marine parks.
[00:05:04] Alex
And basically we were looking into objectively, how
[00:05:08] Alex
effective community participation is in protecting marinediversity.
[00:05:16] Alex
So that was the paper
[00:05:17] Alex
and it was basically about the no fishing zones
[00:05:21] Alex
and South Australians are very passionate about fishing and the interaction about how the community’s involvement can achieve.
[00:05:33] Alex
Basically conservation for these really important.
[00:05:36] Alex
Yeah. Like the biodiversity, I guess the trip we were lucky enough that we were given an opportunity to go to Jakarta, to present the paper. And that was my first time overseas with the University
[00:05:50] Alex
was unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. I think the,
[00:05:54] Alex
the academic world is one like
[00:05:57] Alex
no other.
[00:05:59] Alex
We presented the paper at the colloquium and there were people that obviously this is before covid, people there from all over the world. And as a
[00:06:08] Alex
student, just lapped it up. So
[00:06:12] Geoff
would have been such an experience. Yeah it was.
[00:06:16] Geoff
After completing your degree you move to the Northern territory and you accepted a casual contract
[00:06:23] Geoff
with the central Australian women’s legal service whilst
[00:06:26] Geoff
completing you graduate the legal practice. How did you find the transition to the territory, the work you are doing
[00:06:34] Geoff
and the additional scrutiny?
[00:06:36] Geoff
Managing all that at once?
[00:06:39] Alex
Yeah, I remember it being a very busy time of
[00:06:43] Alex
my life. But one that I look back with fondness I think
[00:06:48] Alex
the central Australian women’s legal service.
[00:06:51] Alex
They’re a fantastic organisation in Alice Springs with only female practitioners. And I was assisting with the community legal education program.
[00:07:00] Alex
Yeah, I just remember being very, very busy but I’m still living in Alice Springs. So all of that doing all of that at once didn’t put me off. I still hear
[00:07:12] Geoff
clearly very clearly the universality of it there and such a beautiful
[00:07:17] Geoff
place. Alice, in the territory, it’s such a beautiful place. I love my visits to the territory and it’s so good.
[00:07:26] Geoff
Yeah.
[00:07:27] Geoff
And after successfully completing your diploma and of course admission as an officer of the Supreme Court of the Northern territory and also the high Court of Australia. Congratulations. By
[00:07:37] Geoff
the way. Thank you. Now look at the central land
[00:07:42] Geoff
council aclc. Can you tell us about your role, what’s involved as well?
[00:07:48] Alex
Yeah, so
[00:07:50] Alex
the central land council is an indigenous commonwealth statutory body. My role at the say is as a regional
[00:07:59] Alex
lawyer for the South East of Alice Springs. So
[00:08:04] Alex
I do predominantly native title
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and Aboriginal land rights act. So I provide legal advice to native title holders, community
[00:08:14] Alex
residents and traditional owners about many things. But the main things
[00:08:21] Alex
are mining matters. If a mining company
[00:08:25] Alex
wants to mine on Aboriginal land we provide legal advice and assist to negotiate those agreements
[00:08:32] Alex
and then
[00:08:34] Alex
assisting and advising in relation to economic development on Aboriginal land. And I basically advise from the acquisition, use and occupation and management of that land. So
[00:08:47] Alex
it keeps me busy but it means I’m very lucky
[00:08:50] Alex
that I get to visit some really remote Aboriginal communities and meet some really incredible people.
[00:08:59] Geoff
Yeah it would be fascinating and beautiful to see this native landscape the beautiful people.
[00:09:06] Geoff
Yeah, I can only imagine how wonderful it would be, but it must be a little bit complex as well as some of this law
[00:09:11] Geoff
would be very involved and complex.
[00:09:14] Alex
I think that’s one of the
[00:09:15] Alex
things that I really love about work in the field say no two days are the same every, every day is different. But I think I take the most enjoyment from navigating complex legal situations or matters for people in our community. Who are
[00:09:33] Alex
AFL, I mean,
[00:09:35] Alex
yeah, I think that’s, that’s why I do what I do.
[00:09:39] Geoff
And clearly you do well. You’ve been in the territory and
[00:09:44] Geoff
particularly Alice Springs now for a while.
[00:09:47] Geoff
What are some of the other things you get involved in? I know you’re involved with the community sports as a community sports made, trying to see the AFL. Tell us about that and what else are you up to?
[00:10:01] Alex
So yeah, I do. Some sundaes. Go down and support the community football program. So that’s all the remote
[00:10:08] Alex
communities they come in and play footy
[00:10:10] Alex
on a Sunday. So I assist with sports sportsmen.
[00:10:14] Alex
So that’s just prevention management of injuries. What it looks like is someone
[00:10:20] Alex
maybe doing typing first aid on the football game. I’m really passionate about football in the center because I think the
[00:10:31] Alex
benefits of football last a lot longer
[00:10:35] Alex
after that final siren goes. I think it really has
[00:10:40] Alex
an incredible purpose here.
[00:10:42] Alex
The other thing that I do with AFL until the seeWAFL
[00:10:48] Alex
up here is that I’m a tribunal
[00:10:50] Alex
member. That something that kind of came about through doing sports, made it on the tribunal and sit on matters where players the charged with
[00:11:02] Alex
various offenses. And I think that experience has been incredibly formative. What else can I do?
[00:11:09] Alex
I am a residential support
[00:11:11] Alex
worker at the Alice Springs youth accommodation support service.
[00:11:15] Alex
I got involved with that
[00:11:16] Alex
organization because I think
[00:11:19] Alex
sometimes it feels say we’re dealing with bigger picture things that I think the thing that I love most about myself is when I
[00:11:27] Alex
get to Liaise with clients and have that client
[00:11:31] Alex
contact and build that relationship. And so that’s why I kind of got involved with ASICs. I mainly assist with the moms and Bob’s house, so
[00:11:42] Alex
that’s a home that they have. And it’s the 12 to twenty year old
[00:11:47] Alex
Northern territory females who are pregnant or expecting.
[00:11:52] Alex
And really that’s where they go when they’ve got nowhere else to go. So it’s about providing a
[00:11:56] Alex
roof over their heads, meals structure, making sure they go to school
[00:12:02] Alex
if that’s what they want to achieve. And
[00:12:04] Alex
yet I found, you know, moving to the territory, the territory territory is being quite
[00:12:11] Alex
new. But I think what’s made the transition really
[00:12:16] Alex
easy or easier has been to get involved
[00:12:19] Alex
as much as I can. And that’s what I’ve tried to do here.
[00:12:23] Geoff
Well, it sounds very rewarding and very, very important as well. What do you actually enjoy most about your work in the broader picture?
[00:12:33] Alex
Well, I’ve just come so lost weight. I’ve just come back from a four day Bush trip. We were
[00:12:41] Alex
at remote doing a native title authorization
[00:12:45] Alex
because I’m still still learning the ropes and I’m still what they would classify. A baby lawyer I haven’t been practicing for for a very long time, probably three, three or four years. I’m still really enjoying learning, like I think every day
[00:12:59] Alex
I’m thrown into situations where I’ve
[00:13:03] Alex
never experienced those matters before and I’m just enjoying learning
[00:13:10] Alex
and just the challenge. I think it’s been really, really interesting.
[00:13:15] Geoff
Just a little tip. We’re always learning
[00:13:18] Geoff
stuff, but I think it’s probably a bit more interesting learning new around you a little bit of what you already know. Yeah,
[00:13:32] Alex
I think it’s a combination. Yeah. The combination of being able to go to a really remote places in Australia
[00:13:38] Alex
and then dealing with really interesting parts of the law.
[00:13:43] Geoff
Yeah. That would be a very fascinating and beautiful to see it all come together and to meet new people and particularly those that you’re making a difference for. So that would be pretty cool.
[00:13:55] Geoff
I mentioned earlier you won the twenty twenty one mcdonald’s entry career achievement award.
[00:14:00] Geoff
Congratulations, by the way on. That
[00:14:03] Geoff
must’ve been a real
[00:14:03] Geoff
thrill to
[00:14:05] Geoff
to win that award.
[00:14:08] Alex
Well, on the night I won the award. I actually had gastro so I couldn’t fly up to Darwin. Probably a good idea and
[00:14:17] Geoff
not be on a plane. I to be nasty.
[00:14:22] Alex
So it was definitely a thrill.
[00:14:27] Alex
Yeah, no, I was really honored to win, not what it was really unexpected. But I really firmly believe that
[00:14:35] Alex
those Awards
[00:14:36] Alex
are recognition not just of
[00:14:39] Alex
the
[00:14:40] Alex
finalist, but of the organizations that they work and involved themselves with
[00:14:46] Geoff
a hundred percent that’s spot on. And I say to people
[00:14:50] Geoff
all the time,
[00:14:51] Geoff
it’s not just the person that wins an award, it’s the collective,
[00:14:55] Geoff
the people that work with those around them those that
[00:14:58] Geoff
support them. And the people that help in whatever it is that they’redoing
[00:15:03] Geoff
such a broad impact.
[00:15:05] Geoff
And appreciation for, for the achievements and we never do things on our own. All of our achievements are never an individual thing that
[00:15:14] Geoff
often a collective
[00:15:16] Geoff
can be a small or large collective of people supporting and making a difference and contributing in some way. So yeah,
[00:15:24] Geoff
one hundred percent. Right. And more with the
[00:15:28] Geoff
Awards nominations for the current program. We’re closing soon.
[00:15:32] Geoff
Would you encourage our listeners to nominate someone and if so, why?
[00:15:37] Alex
Yeah, absolutely. I think
[00:15:39] Alex
because of the reasons you said, I mean it’s the collective it’s about providing recognition to someone in the community who’s doing really important work, but also shining a lot on the people they work with and for
[00:15:57] Geoff
Yeah absolutely. If any of our listeners would like to find out how to nominate someone or more about sponsor partnership opportunities, check out the Awards Australia dot com website
[00:16:11] Annette
for interrupting this weekly dose of inspiration to tell you about a new initiative that we’ve launched for people to join our tribe in supporting inspirational Australians just like Alexandra. It’s our Awards membership. How does it work well for 50 dollars a year now I’m told by a reliable source that only 14 cents a day. You can get involved and become an Awards member. And the best part is 100 percent of the proceeds go toward prize grants for our winners. Again, just like Alexandra, it gives people a chance to directly contribute to the community champions that we celebrate for the community achievement Awards. And the young achiever Awards. As a member, you get first access to our notifications about the Awards and new announcements. Plus we give you some shout outs to social media in our quarterly newsletter and throughout the year on this podcast. So I’m super excited to acknowledge our inaugural Awards members. Now we’ve just launched this and right away we’ve had two incredible people jump on and support it as soon as we launched it. So a huge shout out to Don Evans of developing potential Australia. She’s in tazi, developing potential Australia is a wonderful organization to provide all the corporate training that anyone could possibly want. And I daughter as well, has been a judge for a number of years on our young achiever Awards and tazi, the Venky Donna and secondly, Judy purkiss. Thank you, Judy for coming in a board member as well as supporting the community champions and also the young people that we celebrate for the Awards that we run. So to Donna and Judy, thank you, and I can’t wait to see who is going to be the next Awards member here to award Australia dot com slash up to see more details and super easy sign up process. I want you to join outdrawn. Now back to today’s podcast
[00:18:09] Geoff
I, what’s something we might not
[00:18:10] Geoff
know about you?
[00:18:13] Alex
What’s troubling you? I not know about me.
[00:18:15] Alex
I have lost my partner, and I bought a house in l’esprit.
[00:18:20] Geoff
That’s exciting.
[00:18:22] Alex
Yeah, so that’s been very exciting.
[00:18:26] Alex
That’s one thing I guess
[00:18:27] Alex
and the other thing is I’m quite a big nerd. I’m impartial to what of the rings star like? Guilty pleasure. Right. And I think
[00:18:40] Geoff
So you bought a house with your partner that’s. That’s very exciting. Yeah. Like all these nerdy type shows. That’s pretty cool.
[00:18:50] Geoff
Tell it what else to do in your spare time Besides watching TV shows come on
[00:18:58] Alex
I play Netball here in Alice Springs, we are renovating the house that we bought
[00:19:04] Alex
So that’s been really exciting.
[00:19:07] Alex
And just spending a lot of I think it’s important because I
[00:19:12] Alex
am quite busy in my professional life it’s a thing I found and, and to have that downtime. So that might be
[00:19:20] Alex
taking a walk with the dogs or
[00:19:22] Alex
going to the gym with a girlfriend or listening to a podcast. So I do really enjoy my downtime.
[00:19:29] Geoff
I think there’s something valuable there for everybody. When you’re busy in your life, you really need some time to yourself, whatever that means, whether it’s you and your partner, whether it’s to buy yourself,
[00:19:43] Geoff
whether it’sa
[00:19:44] Geoff
fitness regime, whatever it is, you need to find something that will help you to step aside from the anxiety the stress and busyness of daily life. I think that’s, that’s awesome. To hear, definitely that you’re around all those records, you need to be in your job. It would be high stress. Yeah.
[00:20:07] Alex
It is but I think I’m very lucky. We’ve got a very good work culture. I remember when I first started there
[00:20:14] Alex
and I sent an email on a Saturday, and my manager came up to me. She’sa
[00:20:21] Alex
very strong intelligent lady. And she said, why are you sending an email on a Saturday? She was like, we don’t do that, we don’t need to do
[00:20:30] Alex
that. And I think there’s,
[00:20:33] Alex
you know, people that I went to law school with, but I feel, yeah, I feel
[00:20:39] Alex
sad for them and sorry for them that I mean, across our industry. I mean, I think I’m one of the fortunate ones, but it’s not always the case and I think
[00:20:49] Alex
there needs to be more
[00:20:51] Alex
leaders in our industry that create those boundaries. So that others practitioners, we do get that time to recuperate and recharge,
[00:21:02] Geoff
recouping and recharging are really important as we say that however you do that. Whatever works.
[00:21:10] Geoff
You need to find that way and make sure you really take time to do it
[00:21:15] Geoff
because it is critical as life becomes busier and busier with technology, you remember because you probably weren’t born, but that technology ideally was there to give us more time to ourselves. But it’s actually been the opposite that
[00:21:33] Geoff
we
[00:21:33] Geoff
an escape from emails and the expectation that we will respond. So
[00:21:40] Geoff
I think boundaries is a fantastic principle. What are the driving passions that makes Alex tick?
[00:21:50] Alex
One of the driving. That’s a great question.
[00:21:53] Alex
I think I
[00:21:53] Alex
grew up in a family that took a lot of pride and placed a lot of weight on life. I know that I’m extremely fortunate to have gone to school to have graduated from University and to now be working. And I think that how lucky I am was never
[00:22:17] Alex
I never didn’t know that I was lucky. And I think because I am, I’ve grown up
[00:22:21] Alex
in a privileged situation where we’re always taught that there’s an obligation on those of us that come from that privilege to
[00:22:31] Alex
see those in our community who are
[00:22:34] Alex
less fortunate, who have slipped through the cracks. And I think, well, definitely in my, in my profession you encounter people
[00:22:44] Alex
that Yeah, they have slipped through the cracks, but they’re still someone’s son someone’s brother, someone sister
[00:22:51] Alex
and everyone has a story. And that story deserves to be told that that’s what makes me tick. I guess because I’m passionate about advocating for those who are less fortunate.
[00:23:04] Geoff
What’s a good reason to take because they’re all very purposeful. And it’s great principle to live by. And you’re right and everybody, you know, our motto is to make a difference, but
[00:23:16] Geoff
we can’t.
[00:23:17] Geoff
If we can’t, everybody in the world would be such a nicer place to be a part of and we would all feel much more confident happy about ourselves as individuals.
[00:23:28] Alex
Oh absolutely. Yeah. I think that’s absolutely true.
[00:23:33] Geoff
But there must be times when it all gets a little too much. You’re feeling a bit low.
[00:23:37] Geoff
What do you do to help sit
[00:23:40] Geoff
back and recharge yourself?
[00:23:43] Alex
Oh, absolutely. I haven’t really spoken about this publicly too much but I do suffer from anxiety. And there’ve been
[00:23:53] Alex
periods in mylife
[00:23:55] Alex
where I’ve been quite sick with anxiety and I don’t think I
[00:23:59] Alex
recognized it at the time. But I think as I’ve gotten older and my support network has really shown up for me, I think I’ve been able to manage it and now I manage it quite well
[00:24:13] Alex
on my own. And I feel like the things that have assisted Managing my
[00:24:17] Alex
anxiety and both have been exercise one,sleep
[00:24:22] Alex
spending quality time with the people that I
[00:24:24] Alex
love. Yeah. Whether that be
[00:24:27] Alex
yes as I said before, like a walk with the dogs or a coffee with a girlfriend ora
[00:24:33] Alex
time with the family. They’re all things that I know now that recharge and my batteries when I’m feeling
[00:24:41] Alex
fine. But I also think it’s quite normal. So I think it’s really normal to have those ebbs and peaks and troughs in your life. And I think we’re not meant to be happy all the
[00:24:54] Alex
time. And I’m really passionate about being really honest about my experience. So that
[00:25:04] Alex
others feel more comfortable or you know, they don’t feel abnormal or they don’t feel that
[00:25:10] Alex
because they’re battling a mental illness or feeling
[00:25:15] Alex
not quite themselves that that’s OK. But it’s taken me I’m twenty eight, twenty eight in a couple of days. Taking me twenty eight years to feel comfortable saying that
[00:25:29] Geoff
Yeah, it’s a tough one, isn’t it? And the problem is we don’t feel comfortable, we feel ashamed. We feel embarrassed. Whatever it is. And it builds up and all the things that you talked about that you do to help relieve that stress. And that anxiety,
[00:25:45] Geoff
thanks for sharing that with us.
[00:25:47] Geoff
Our old tried and tested and brilliant ways, all of them or some of them for all of us to take on board and utilize. And if you don’t have a network around you that you can talk to, there’s always a
[00:26:03] Geoff
lifeline. And
[00:26:05] Geoff
just pick up the phone and chat to someone even if it’s not about your problems, your anxiety, whatever it is that’s getting you low, just chat,
[00:26:15] Geoff
just talking sometimes
[00:26:17] Geoff
or listen to someone else’s problems. Is a help as well. And the thing that I hear from most of our young achiever finalists and winners is that they’re so inspired by the fact that there are others like them that are working so hard to make a difference. But they all have their moments, their highs and lows and to know that there are others like them in the same position is really helpful. It’s really comforting, but also motivating. So it’s great to be able to tell your story. And I think we’d all be surprised how many people for exactly the same position and you’re right. It’s. Yeah, yeah. So it is nice to think that we could be happy all the time. It’s probably not a reality.
[00:27:11] Geoff
But we need to deal with how we
[00:27:14] Geoff
cope with those online moments and how we set out, reset ourselves. It sounds like, yeah, yeah.
[00:27:22] Geoff
You got your head screwed on pretty good.
[00:27:26] Alex
Thanks Geoff. Yeah, I mean the flip side of having anxiety is it’s kind of, I think it is a bit of a superpower. An anxious mind is thinking about all the possibilities of what could go wrong. So in that sense, I feel like that always overprepare.
[00:27:47] Alex
And I think that’s one of my strengths as well as one of my
[00:27:50] Alex
weaknesses. But
[00:27:52] Alex
I know that you know, that is me. And I’ve, I’m comfortable with saying that.
[00:27:59] Alex
Yeah, I live with anxiety and I manage my own body. Yeah. As you said there are many of us out there
[00:28:07] Alex
that do exactly the same. So
[00:28:10] Alex
I think it’s all about letting,
[00:28:12] Alex
letting people know that they’re not alone.
[00:28:16] Geoff
100 percent
[00:28:17] Geoff
anxieties caused from stress and we all feel stress. It’s how we deal with that stress
[00:28:22] Geoff
that defines the outcome at any particular time.
[00:28:27] Geoff
We were designed to have stress and I guess,
[00:28:31] Geoff
going back historically, fear is an important fact in our lives to be able to deal with the situation. And we’re still faced with it every single day, multiple times. How we deal with that is, is really critical to how we, how we grow and live within a given situation.
[00:28:54] Annette
So
[00:28:54] Geoff
what’s next for Alex?
[00:28:57] Alex
What is next? I see so I’m really loving my time in central Australia.
[00:29:05] Alex
I have no plans to move at the moment. I
[00:29:10] Alex
have enrolled in a masters of law at the Australian National University so I’ll be starting that next year. And I’m saying that I’m here so that I’m accountable.
[00:29:22] Geoff
Exactly. We’ll come back and find out.
[00:29:26] Alex
Yeah I guess it’s a bit of a bit of an unknown but I think as long as I keep living my ethos which is get involved
[00:29:37] Alex
take on challenges and assist those who are less fortunate. I think I think the future is bright.
[00:29:44] Geoff
I think you could well be right.
[00:29:48] Geoff
Do you have any words of wisdom you’ve already given us many,
[00:29:51] Geoff
but
[00:29:51] Geoff
you have any other words of wisdom from listeners?
[00:29:56] Alex
And I think going back to what you said before, I think
[00:30:00] Alex
the main thing is
[00:30:01] Alex
and it sounds really cliche
[00:30:04] Alex
is just be kind I think be kind be on a
[00:30:09] Alex
trusted gut and start writing with a big list person. I think if it’s written on a leaf, forget what you’re doing and I think it lists a great goal setting and taking things off and
[00:30:23] Alex
on and making things happen. So
[00:30:25] Alex
I guess there might be four words of wisdom of little
[00:30:31] Alex
bits of advice.
[00:30:33] Geoff
They’re good bits of advice or at least
[00:30:36] Geoff
it gets too long
[00:30:38] Geoff
to procrastinate, but I’m not,
[00:30:41] Geoff
not admitting to that.
[00:30:42] Geoff
And the list goes too long. So I think I’m not going
[00:30:46] Geoff
to be stressful and depressing.
[00:30:49] Alex
But how does it feel when you take those things off the list? I
[00:30:55] Geoff
transferred from one Patrick mcgorry to the next,
[00:30:58] Geoff
which doubles my workload. But
[00:31:00] Geoff
now it is very good when you’re it off. I
[00:31:03] Geoff
couldn’t agree more. And I always
[00:31:04] Geoff
ask people who are a bit old fashioned to keep a hard copy diary so they can take
[00:31:09] Alex
interesting, hard copy hard copy diary all the way.
[00:31:13] Geoff
Yeah, I’m not the only one. I’m not the only one is a young one that does the same It’s not just for us out of this. Where, where
[00:31:25] Geoff
can our listeners connect with you online or get involved in some of the things that you do?
[00:31:30] Alex
I would welcome any listeners to contact me on LinkedIn or via my Instagram handle, so it’s Alexander Craig on the school and of course, and feel free to write chat there.
[00:31:44] Geoff
So I
[00:31:44] Geoff
signed with the LinkedIn, Alexander Craig,
[00:31:48] Alex
I think so. I’ll give it
[00:31:49] Geoff
to you and we can put it in the photo. OK.
[00:31:54] Geoff
Well, Alex, it’s been an absolute pleasure to chat with you today to have you on the podcast has been a true inspiration for many,
[00:32:02] Geoff
including myself.
[00:32:03] Geoff
Thank you. You’re an amazing young woman. You have a lot to give and to do that
[00:32:09] Geoff
you’re balanced.
[00:32:12] Geoff
None of us are perfect, but your
[00:32:14] Geoff
balance as you can be,
[00:32:15] Geoff
and you’re a great role model to so many so
[00:32:19] Geoff
thanks so much for sharing some of your story with us today.
[00:32:22] Alex
Thanks Jack. It’s been wonderful to come on here and have this chat with you today.
[00:32:27] Geoff
Good luck with your future for all that you’re doing to help make a difference in the lives of people in
[00:32:34] Geoff
the territory and Beyond. I’m sure one day
[00:32:38] Geoff
and into next week I hope everybody’s really enjoyed listening
[00:32:42] Geoff
to my chat with Alex today and remember, please be kind and together we make a difference. I hope you enjoyed today’s interview as much as I have. We would love you to subscribe to our podcast, that you won’t miss
[00:32:58] Geoff
an episode showing us each week as we talk
[00:33:01] Geoff
with ordinary Australians. Achieving extraordinary things.
[00:33:06] Geoff
Did you know that Awards Australia is a family owned
[00:33:08] Geoff
business that proudly makes a difference in the lives of those that make a difference for others? And we thank our corporate not for profit partners to making award programs possible. Do you know someone that’s making a difference or maybe your business might like to sponsor an award? Contact us through our Instagram page, inspirational dot Australians,
[00:33:32] Geoff
head to our website.
[00:33:34] Geoff
Awards Australia dot com. Would be great if you could share the site with your network. Because who doesn’t like a good news story, and please write and review us.
[00:33:45] Geoff
We would really love to hear your thoughts
[00:33:47] Geoff
until next week.
[00:33:49] Geoff
Stay safe.
[00:33:50] Geoff
And remember together we make a difference.
[00:33:55] Alex
Thanks for joining us today on inspirational australian’s podcast.
[00:33:59] Annette
We hope you enjoyed listening
[00:34:00] Annette
and have been inspired
[00:34:02] Annette
by ordinary Australians Achieving
[00:34:04] Annette
extraordinary things.
[00:34:06] Annette
So it’s goodbye for another week. Remember, together we make a difference.
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