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All things education, highs, lows, laughs.. it has it all.
Good afternoon, good morning, good evening, whatever part of the world you're listening from. I know we've got some international listeners. Thank you for tuning in. Welcome to the free agency podcast. Free agency education recruitment.
Speaker 1:We absolutely love what we do, and we're here today to talk to you about a bit of a new project that we're doing. And it's and it's gonna be something we're gonna be trying really can be consistent with. It's called coffee connection and chats. I'd like to welcome today Bashir Riachi. Now Bash, I'm gonna as you're affectionately named by most people, Bash, welcome on welcome to our podcast.
Speaker 2:Thank you, Timmy. Thanks for having me. I'm privileged to be here, mate.
Speaker 1:No worries. Excited too. The the backstory you are excited. I'm excited, mate. I'm a bit nervous actually.
Speaker 1:This is great. Mate, the the backstory to to free agency podcast, it's all started off the back of we're doing some podcasting in schools. We're doing some podcasting with businesses, and we're doing one for ourselves. And it's a really important tool that we found to be able to connect with people. People don't regularly listen to their new to read a newsletter or the pick up a paper or so but they will listen to a podcast, especially if we keep it short and sharp and stay on track, which we're not real good at.
Speaker 1:But the free agency podcast with the coffee connection and chat this term, Bash, what are
Speaker 2:we gonna do? We're gonna turn up to a school. We're gonna sling some lattes. We're gonna offer some coffee. Say thank you to the wonderful teams and schools that are doing an amazing job with our children.
Speaker 2:But also, we're gonna talk about some some conversation topics that are relevant, whether it's, you know, finding solutions to problems, thanking individuals, you know, community connection.
Speaker 1:So principals, teachers, integration aid staff, school nurses, you are on notice. We might be coming to your school. We will be coming out and making an effort to get out once a week. And this is also very thankfully supported by BoRock Brew. So BoRock Brew mobile coffee van, which is your business bash.
Speaker 1:Now, bash, you're also not only you're good mate of mine, which is why perfect opportunity. You look like George Clooney. You sound like Tom Hanks. This is this is a magic opportunity for us to get together, but you also we didn't we haven't known each other that long. Story is only short.
Speaker 1:Do you remember how we met?
Speaker 2:About a about a year ago, actually. But no. Close to eighteen months.
Speaker 1:And how many games of golf since then?
Speaker 2:Probably had half a dozen I reckon. Yep. Felt like a lot more. We should be doing more.
Speaker 1:There's lot of golf shots had though.
Speaker 2:Well, have. You haven't. So we connected through through your agency. I I got out of a corporate career and and decided to get a coffee van. While I was waiting for the van I needed to get out of the house and play less golf.
Speaker 2:So registered with your agency and within a few weeks of doing some relief work we had the fortunate opportunity to connect and since then we've had many many coffee conversations and lots of big picture discussions but I think what we have in common is the sense of community. Think of adding value. Both have in business for a long time. How do we give back and how do we do something that's meaningful?
Speaker 1:We talked about being spontaneous. Do want to elaborate on that
Speaker 2:a little bit? I think there's something exciting and energy generating when you just turn up somewhere unannounced and then ad lib. I think and that sort of to me it resonates a lot because a lot of teachers yes they have plans and yes they have curriculums and yes they have lesson ideas and structures but you don't know what's going to turn up to you every day. What are the children going to bring to the classroom, what events they've dealt with in the previous twenty four hours and you're on your spot, you're troubleshooting. So this is kind of in paying homage to our friends and family in schools, and then we're gonna put ourselves in an uncomfortable position, turn up, have some coffee, and see where the conversation takes us.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. And, mate, the most important thing for us to recognize above all else, our principals, our teachers, our education support staff, our school nurses, our business managers in particular, the backbone of schools. They're not just they're not just education professionals. They're people. And I wanna hear about what our people have to say, what the people on the ground have to say.
Speaker 1:I wanna hear a bit about their story. Example, bit of a crazy example yesterday. We showed up to a school in in that surprise and spontaneity sort of moment. Robin and I were out out having a chat to a school in Doncaster, and we were just around the corner from another one of our schools. So what we do, we went through the Macca's drive through, mate.
Speaker 1:We got 30 cheeseburgers. We showed up to a school and said, hey, guys. We're here. We've got cheeseburgers in the front office lady just smiled and went, what are you doing? So there's a principal in the AP around.
Speaker 1:I'd love to have a chat. They say, oh, she's they're in a meeting. I said, it important? They said, probably. That's not as important as cheeseburgers.
Speaker 2:Come on. Come on.
Speaker 1:Go grab the great man for me and and Steph. And so sure enough, I opened the door and said the lady was a bit mixed. She's like,
Speaker 2:there's a guy here to see you.
Speaker 1:He's got bags of cheeseburgers and Reese popped his head out and gone, hey. What are you doing here? The biggest smiles, the biggest laughs, my jaw is still hurting from our conversations yesterday. Reese, like, the staff just loved it. Like, we might the text I got was that you absolutely know how to make someone's day, and that's the whole purpose of this.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Not only that, but the video that came back later during the day where they tried to film a video to say thank you and it ended up being a minute and a half of bloopers and laughs and cheeseburgers being eaten and people's biting me out. It was very, very funny. So I'm gonna name you out there. Templestowe Heights Primary, we love our relationship with you.
Speaker 1:We're so grateful to Reese and Steph plus your whole team and what you do. Our staff love going to you. And thanks for being our little test yesterday. We will probably be back out to see you because we know it always be very well received. Schools are busy places, Bash.
Speaker 1:If you could give any advice to someone who's coming into education
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:What advice would you give them? Be ready. Be ready?
Speaker 2:Be ready. Be be be ready to be surprised and delighted. To me, going back into a classroom after twenty years hiatus, I was nervous as hell on that first day and what I noticed after doing a number of days last year over a couple of terms with your agency's help is a lot of things haven't changed in teaching in twenty years but a lot have. I think what hasn't changed is the hard working people. Teachers making a difference, having a crack.
Speaker 2:What discovered the change, obviously technology has a big part of play in schools these days. So adapting to change, being ready to be surprised. There's a lot more complexity in teaching now than ever was, I believe. So be ready to be surprised because every day is going to be different. Every day is going to be a challenge.
Speaker 2:Every day is going to be something new that you'll have to work through.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. And further to that, kids are kids. Let's not forget that the kids are kids. Kids are allowed to be kids. Kids will do things.
Speaker 1:They're learning their way through life. They're only that might be the first interaction they've had where they've said something silly or they've done something. Be prepared to be firm, compassionate, fair, friendly. You never know, but being able to read a room in a classroom and read a room in a school and and and and build relationships with your audience. We talk about relationships all the time.
Speaker 1:Be prepared to build relationships and be prepared to put your set your best form of yourself on show every time you go into a school. Every day is a job interview. Like when you showed up to work for us, Bash, and do a few days, the feedback we got off you was extraordinary. The schools were ringing us. We want Bash back.
Speaker 1:We want Bash back. He's brilliant. Now feedback's great. I'm gonna give this guy a call. Wanna know bit more about him.
Speaker 1:I rang you. I spoke to you. I learned that you've come from a corporate world. Why are you back teaching? And you're doing it because you love the kids, you love the classroom.
Speaker 1:You wanted to get back into something you enjoyed and you found yourself and you found a happier version of yourself being able to step out of that corporate world. You love the corporate world. Don't get me wrong. I know you get you get moments where you you go back in and you do things there, but you've done a brilliant job of being you and you've done a brilliant job of supporting our brand. You come and do coffees for our team every Wednesday through Bo Rock Brew at our office and we absolutely love it.
Speaker 1:Bash, I'm so excited to do this.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Me too. Thank you for the for the shout out firstly, but secondly, thank you for the opportunity to be here. I'm genuinely, there's no script to this. I think you know, this morning you rang and said, hey, let's do a podcast.
Speaker 2:And I was like, hey, yeah, let's do it. And here we are, we're doing it right. I think I'm really excited to take this type of energy into a school setting and provide that surprise and delight experience to our friends and families who are doing it day on day in these environments. When we did the Tatikoff event last year sorry last term to a school that was programmed, that was obviously organised and we were going to shout the team a coffee but what I think you and I took away from that was the conversation that was generated around the coffee van with some of the key stakeholders in the school was really brilliant right. We got a really sense of some of their challenges and some of the things that was making them really happy and the connection.
Speaker 2:And I walked away mate from that
Speaker 1:so happy because I learned stuff about people that I didn't know. I learned that their leadership team down there and others in their team loved golf. They're coming to our our Play Free Foundation Golf Day. So our charity's having a golf day on the November 28, and these guys have they're all they've all committed. They're all coming.
Speaker 1:They're all there to support what we're doing now, and it's and it's from that it's from being present in schools. I went down to Hampton Primary School yesterday and had a really good chat to Josh Sheffield and Cam Azer and Amanda Howe down there, their their leadership team. It was brilliant just to get in and see the smiles on the kids' faces just to see the way these schools are operating. You can't underestimate the value of connection. So we're gonna wrap that up there for this one.
Speaker 1:We'll keep it short and sharp. Thank you for listening. Please, if you are interested in in having us come out and do coffee at your school, surprise your staff, please reach out to me, to Tim and let me know or to our team at Free Agency and let us know. We would love to make your staff stay and love to have a chat with you and if you feel like you've got a message you want to share with with the education community we're going to try and spread this far and wide and thank you for having us thank
Speaker 2:you Bash and also we can't forget our good friends at McDonald's who looked after us yesterday and we're looking to do a bit more surprise and delight experiences in schools for any businesses out there.
Speaker 1:Get some more cheeseburgers? Some more cheeseburgers. I reckon we probably should too.
Speaker 2:We'll have to also balance it with some healthy options too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's healthy, it's got pickles in it. Oh beautiful, yes, yes it
Speaker 2:is.