1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,040 G'day listeners. In this podcast we talk about creating small town happiness, creating an 2 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:13,680 environment around yourself which is reflective of the beautiful atmosphere you get in small towns. 3 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:19,920 It's based on our experience staying in Griffith when Michelle was doing her TEDx talk and how we 4 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:26,560 received probably the best customer service we've ever had at any of the hotels. And we talk about 5 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:34,160 how you can create that same sort of atmosphere in your village. Enjoy. Why did it count backwards? 6 00:00:34,160 --> 00:00:40,240 Oh no, we're now recording. What? Hello captain. What do I do? 7 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:51,280 Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly. What are we going to talk about? I don't know. 8 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:56,720 So leadership, life and everything else. Yeah. 9 00:00:59,920 --> 00:01:07,440 And we're live and excited. Oh we're live. Oh we are. Cool, you finally admit it. We're live 10 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:14,960 and recording. I'm excited because your TEDx talk is coming up very soon. It is. Not coming up as in 11 00:01:14,960 --> 00:01:21,680 being released very soon. Yeah, yes, yes I got a text from Sarah. Yes, can't wait for it to be up. 12 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:29,520 I'm kind of, I have to admit I am a tad nervous because it's this thing that I've done and then 13 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:34,160 now it's been, you know, it's got to go through approval and editing and everything and now 14 00:01:34,960 --> 00:01:41,440 because it has been a while I've been enjoying the fact that I'm a TEDx speaker but no one's 15 00:01:41,440 --> 00:01:47,360 actually seen it, including me. I don't think you should be nervous. I was there and it was amazing 16 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:53,200 Michelle and I can't wait for everyone to have access to watch it. I'm sure that they're going 17 00:01:53,200 --> 00:02:00,240 to be just as blown away as I was. Thank you. But it reminded me of a podcast I wanted to do with you 18 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:07,040 about our experience in Griffith when we were down there for you to do your TED talk and we both 19 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:13,600 travel a lot. We've both stayed in lots of hotels and I haven't experienced such warm and friendly 20 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:21,680 service as we did in Griffith and we stayed at the Quest apartments in Griffith. Yeah. This is not a 21 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:28,080 paid advertisement. This is giving credit where credit is due. When we arrived we'd driven from 22 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:34,160 Sydney to Griffith. With the kids. With the kids. It was a long drive and it wasn't always 23 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:42,080 un-stressful. No. And we got there and the welcome that we got and the service that we got, 24 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:47,280 not just from the front desk but from the cleaners who were cleaning the room just before 25 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:54,960 we arrived, just before you typically check in, was extraordinary. It was beyond anything I've 26 00:02:54,960 --> 00:03:01,520 experienced in five-star hotels around the world. Yeah. And it got me thinking that what were they 27 00:03:01,520 --> 00:03:09,040 doing right that all these other large hotel chains can't necessarily always do? Well, I think 28 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:17,840 when we drove into Griffith there were orange trees everywhere and vineyards and at the front desk 29 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:23,760 there was a huge, I'm going to call it a bushel, like this huge container of oranges and it's like 30 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:28,320 take as many as you want and of course you know there are lots of oranges in the town but just 31 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:32,640 even having local produce that most people would have seen. And they were beautiful oranges. But 32 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:38,240 every time the kids would take some and I was taking some they'd go, oh have as many as you 33 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:43,920 want please. You know, it was like yeah, oh if you love the oranges take more, take more. But I just 34 00:03:43,920 --> 00:03:48,800 remember the welcome that we got at the reception desk which I thought was just extraordinary. 35 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:53,680 And then when we went to go to our room the cleaners were still in there and they were, 36 00:03:53,680 --> 00:04:01,680 oh we're so sorry we won't be long. They weren't pommies. I love putting accents on everything 37 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:07,280 just because it makes it fun for me. No, they weren't pommies. They were like, g'day mate. 38 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:13,120 No, they were down to earth Australian people. No, I mean there was just this beautiful group 39 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:18,240 of people and every single person there had the same energy. It was wonderful. I think what it was 40 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:25,200 was that it wasn't a job. It was like it was their own. They had skin in the game. It was their own 41 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:29,920 place. Do you think so? I do. The cleaners as well? I don't know if they did but it was, it felt like 42 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:35,440 that. Oh sorry, you're saying it felt like that. Yeah, it did. It did. And it just made me remember 43 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:41,040 what small towns are like. We both grew up, yeah, moving around the country and we both lived in 44 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:47,600 small towns. And small town hospitality, small town happiness is a thing isn't it? Yeah. Well, 45 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:54,400 yeah and I think it is a chain and we don't know the business structure of it whether it was family 46 00:04:54,400 --> 00:05:02,560 owned or not but it came across as family owned and just the little touches that yes it's a chain 47 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:08,800 and understandably the chain would want to replicate a certain look and feel across all of its 48 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:15,040 hotels but the little extra bits made it, yeah, if I go to Griffith again that's where I'm staying 49 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:21,680 and I would recommend other people go there because of it too and just being not so strict 50 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:27,360 on check-in, check-out, obviously they had the ability because the room was free to do that but 51 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:31,600 just you know do you want a coffee whilst you wait, have some water, asking us about our trip, 52 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:38,160 what we're doing, just little things which I know it doesn't sound like much but and people are busy 53 00:05:38,160 --> 00:05:44,800 I get that that you know they have a role to do, they have tasks to do not just address the people 54 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:52,400 that are in front of them but they stopped and really paid attention, they were curious. So 55 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:57,920 but why is it different in small towns and big towns? What's your thought? 56 00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:06,800 They could be, we could be relatives of someone they know, I don't know. Well my theory is just 57 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:13,680 simply the pace and hectic life of a big city, the challenges of getting from one place to another, 58 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:20,160 the obviously the traffic like we spoke about in the last podcast and you know just the pressure 59 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:26,400 of living in a big city there's so much more to have to negotiate and navigate whereas in a small 60 00:06:26,400 --> 00:06:31,120 town things tend to be a bit slower, tend to be a bit more friendly, you walk down the street and 61 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:35,920 people say hello to you and that was another thing I noticed in Griffith, thank you Griffith for the 62 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:41,520 warm reception we were getting just walking down the street compared to Sydney. How many people in 63 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:48,160 Sydney do you say hello to? Yeah true, I remember when I started uni I went to Wagga and to 64 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:56,160 Charles Sturt. How many Wagga's does it take to make Wagga Wagga Wagga? It takes two Wagga's to make Wagga Wagga Wagga and the first week I 65 00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:03,040 walked that's the main street of Wagga like I was in Sydney and people were like whoa what's your 66 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:09,760 hurry? Slow down girl. I wasn't even seeing people, I was just on a mission to get from here to there 67 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:17,200 and I just walked with a purpose and yeah probably realistically two weeks later I was ambling, 68 00:07:17,200 --> 00:07:23,200 I was taking in everyone, I was looking at everyone. Chewing a piece of hay going get a mower. 69 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:30,720 I had a similar experience in Noosa so I lived in Noosa for a year, had a bit of a sunshine 70 00:07:31,520 --> 00:07:37,680 you know getaway, escape yeah so I just spent a year up there and I remember the first day 71 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:42,960 I went for a walk and I just thought I'm gonna go for a stroll and just feel the atmosphere here 72 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:49,120 and I'm in Sydney mode because that's where I was living beforehand and I walked up to this crossing. 73 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:54,080 Now there was no pedestrian crossing, I did not have the right of way and I stood there and I 74 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:59,280 looked to my right there was a car coming so I just stared into space waiting for the car to go past 75 00:07:59,280 --> 00:08:07,920 and so I'm waiting and then I noticed that the car hadn't gone past so I turned to my right to 76 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:12,000 see where the car had gone to see whether I could cross the road again and they were sitting there 77 00:08:12,000 --> 00:08:17,600 staring at me, waving me across and I'm going no no you go you go you'll get the right of way 78 00:08:17,600 --> 00:08:21,760 the other car and they're going no you go you go and we look at each other waving waving waving 79 00:08:21,760 --> 00:08:26,400 and then they went to move a little bit and I went to move a little bit and then they stopped 80 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:31,120 and I stopped and we laughed at each other and then they sat back they took their hands off the 81 00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:36,080 steering wheel and they gave me this big wave across the windscreen going no it's your turn 82 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:40,640 and I walked past we smiled at each other they took off I got to the other side of the street 83 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:48,640 and I thought ah now I understand why I've taken a year off of the hectic pace of Sydney to come up 84 00:08:48,640 --> 00:08:55,920 here it was just yeah it was like you learning to amble I learned to learn to learn to be 85 00:08:55,920 --> 00:09:01,440 you know just expect that people will be present and think about others in a small tent. 86 00:09:01,440 --> 00:09:04,160 But where we live now everyone's very continuing. 87 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:09,680 Well that's what we've created hasn't it? Yeah yeah so one of the things we are so we sit out 88 00:09:09,680 --> 00:09:16,080 the front with a cup of coffee every morning and catch up and chat and our neighbours walk past 89 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:21,840 and now we when we say hello to them all and so whether they like it or not they might think 90 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:26,320 that we're stalkers we're Esme Watsons or was that her name Esme Watsons? Yeah yeah. Is it 91 00:09:26,320 --> 00:09:29,920 country practice or whatever? That's right. Yeah but we say hello to everyone and they stop and 92 00:09:29,920 --> 00:09:35,280 they chat and they talk and you know we've had a couple of busy neighbours go oh don't you have 93 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:42,080 the life and we always say yeah we create this we make this happen we choose to sit here and 94 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:49,360 slow down time and you know we also don't realise we're up at 4.30am exercising and doing stuff and 95 00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:52,400 taking a little bit of time. Yeah so we're having a break in our day because we've already 96 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:57,360 touched up in the morning. And they're already rushing on their way to work. But small town 97 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:01,520 happiness it's a real thing isn't it? It is yeah. Because they've learnt how to slow down and be in 98 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:07,520 the moment and be present and connect with people. Well our community where we live their shop owners 99 00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:13,200 talk to you so it's that a similar hospitality because it's community and maybe that's the small 100 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:18,080 town thing. That's the secret. Find a village within a city and turn it into a small town. 101 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:23,600 Or create your own. Create your own. That's a good idea. So how would people create their own 102 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:30,000 small town when living in a big city? Well my friend Julia when she came to stay with us 103 00:10:30,000 --> 00:10:34,480 we dragged her out the front. International opera style. Yes we dragged her out the front with us to 104 00:10:34,480 --> 00:10:41,760 have coffee and just you know chew the fat talk and say hi to neighbours and there Julia is very 105 00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:49,040 attractive. So there were some neighbours who were very amoured by her. Just her beauty. They 106 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:54,880 wouldn't leave. Yeah it's our turn to talk to her. Michelle hasn't seen her for a year or two. 107 00:10:54,880 --> 00:11:03,600 Yeah six years. Six years oh my goodness. But Julia before she left she said where she lives in London 108 00:11:03,600 --> 00:11:08,880 she it's very much everyone minds their own business and if you were to call out and say 109 00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:13,920 hello people would think oh what's wrong with you. Yeah who are you. Mind your own business. 110 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:22,320 And she's now thinking that she wants to seek or create a community similar because it's just that 111 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:30,800 that feeling of community. A feeling of connection. Yeah. Gathering around like like-minded people 112 00:11:31,520 --> 00:11:37,520 and also it just slows you down. Yeah you know one of my favourite moments Michelle we've created a 113 00:11:37,520 --> 00:11:42,400 lovely community around us but when we're sitting at the front having a coffee and this little 114 00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:49,200 smiling face pops its head over the fence they're standing on the tap that's on the other side of 115 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:56,160 the fence and they go hello. Such a beautiful moment and to hear them when they're coming back 116 00:11:56,160 --> 00:12:02,080 from school or whatever. But yes if you if you want to create a small town happiness you have to 117 00:12:02,080 --> 00:12:08,320 cultivate a community around you and treat it like a little village. Treat your street like it's 118 00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:14,000 a little village. Get to know your neighbours. Say hello slow down. We have the best street. We do. 119 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:20,720 That we missed Halloween but they closed the street and just had from reports. Amazing time. 120 00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:26,320 Yeah there's this. I can't wait for next year. Two families who have really taken upon themselves to 121 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:32,720 Daniel, Jess and Deb. Yes and they're committed to making Halloween an event in our street because 122 00:12:32,720 --> 00:12:37,600 we do Christmas really well in our street. We do. We close off the street. Yeah and so they're 123 00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:43,600 joining in in this this community atmosphere we have in our little section of our village. Yes. 124 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:52,720 I just quickly wanted to say because we were talking about happiness so much it reminded me 125 00:12:52,720 --> 00:13:00,240 about the movie I saw a few years ago Hector and the Search for Happiness. It's a bit of a I don't 126 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:06,640 know almost indie film but there is a scene where there's a lady with a delicious accent and she 127 00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:11,840 talks about happiness because Hector is searching for happiness. He takes a year off and goes and 128 00:13:11,840 --> 00:13:19,120 searches and she she's very funny and anytime someone says happiness I think back to this scene 129 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:26,640 to this scene and she says with her accent I am looking everyone is looking for happiness. 130 00:13:26,640 --> 00:13:33,040 I look for happiness every room I go in. I love happiness and it's just it's a bit rude but it's 131 00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:40,320 funny. Well if everyone acted more like a small town I think the world would be a better place. 132 00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:44,480 Yeah yeah with their dogs. With their dogs. More dogs. We need more dogs. That was a nice 133 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:50,320 short one. It was. All right. It's called 10 Happiness. Bye. Well that was fun. That was fun. 134 00:13:50,320 --> 00:14:14,080 You're such a clown. Lady Happy. And who's gonna listen to this? Maybe our moms. Thanks mom.