Success is rarely a straight line and your past does not determine what you can build next.

In the first episode of The Hard Hat Stories, our host shares his own journey from leaving school at fifteen to completing two apprenticeships, entering the construction industry and eventually establishing his own business.

It is an honest introduction to the experiences behind the podcast and its greater purpose: helping young people recognise that success can take many different forms.

In this episode:

• Feeling disconnected from traditional education
• Leaving school and starting an apprenticeship
• The lessons construction can teach beyond the classroom
• Learning through mistakes, setbacks and self-doubt
• Why Australia’s tradespeople deserve to have their stories heard
• Creating better awareness of careers in construction
• Why your beginning does not have to define your future