[00:00] Ellen Brown: Everybody has potential inside of them, and it’s almost like they need that special key to unlock their own potential. I like to think that everybody has this brilliance that they’re born with.
[00:11] Amanda Rose: The number one skill is effort. You know, effort in all areas.
[00:15] Ellen Brown: Just because things are a certain way doesn’t mean that’s how they have to be.
[00:19] Amanda Rose: Don’t walk away from the things that are hard, because they’re the ones that are probably going to teach you the most.
[00:24] Ellen Brown: It’s a bit too easy with AI summaries of things these days.
[00:28] Amanda Rose: It is. Don’t let that fool you. You’re losing the ability to use critical thinking if you don’t read things for yourself. The more you rely on others for validation and acceptance, the more it’s going to impact you if they reject you.
[00:43] Narrator: Welcome to the Future Learners podcast, the home for parents and students thriving with homeschooling in Australia. Your hosts, Brett Campbell and Ellen Brown, are the co-founders of Euka Future Learning, Australia’s largest online K-12 homeschooling provider. Join them as they guide you from uncertainty to complete confidence. Let’s get into it.
[01:05] Ellen Brown: Hi and welcome to the Euka Future Learners student podcast. Today we’ve got a fantastic speaker who’s going to be really helpful to listen to. It’s Amanda Rose. Now, before we start, I’m going to tell you a little bit about Amanda before she tells us so that you can feel confident that this is going to be worth your time listening to. So Amanda is a keynote speaker, a mentor, a media commentator, and founder. She appears on 2GB. She’s also on Sky News and on the Today show. She’s the founder and owner of Entrepreneurial and Small Business Women Australia and Western Sydney Women. She’s the director at Women in AI Australia, named a Women’s Agenda Woman to Watch in AI in January 2026. She runs The Future is Bright Confidence Workshops in high schools, and she’s a lifelong learner. She’s done lots of degrees: Master of Communications, Graduate Certificate in Educational Leadership. She’s currently studying a Master of Business Law. I think there’s even more things that she’s already done as well, but that just gives you enough context to know that Amanda’s got a lot to share that’s going to be really valuable for you. So welcome to you, Amanda.
[02:22] Amanda Rose: Hello. Thanks for having me.
[02:24] Ellen Brown: So when people say to you, “What is it that you do?”, how would you answer that question?
[02:31] Amanda Rose: You know, I actually like to use the term I’m a facilitator of success, right? Because whatever it is that you need assistance with, I try and find the gap, fill the gap or break ground, do something new. A lot of my businesses are obviously filling a gap in the market to help people, to facilitate people’s opportunities to reach whatever they’re meant to reach, you know. So there are a lot of people in my community who are hugely successful because it’s like all they needed was an extra bit of encouragement or just a door opened, or advice, or to hold an event or things like that. So regardless of what it is that I do in all my businesses, that’s really my goal.
[03:15] Ellen Brown: Oh, fantastic. Well, we’ve got plenty of students here that, you know, might just need those little tips and help along the way. But let me ask you, what were you like as a teenager? Were you always a confident person?
[03:30] Amanda Rose: I was always confident, but I didn’t know how to channel it. And I think that’s really important. So, you know, I had an issue with people. I questioned a lot of things, you know, and I’m like, well, why is that? And I was very ambitious, and I was like, well, that’s not fair. I didn’t like injustice. I had a real problem with injustice, which is why I actually studied legal studies and wanted to be a lawyer. That was always my goal. I wanted to do that. But yeah. So it was very much ambition and questioning things, which was seen as bad, you know, you can’t question things. In fact, as a woman in particular, as a young girl, you’re too ambitious and you’re doing too much. And, you know, I love sport and I loved study. And I wasn’t quite studious in the sense I couldn’t sit for eight hours straight and study, but I enjoyed it. But I’d have to break it up and I’d have to try different, you know, different ways of communicating. I love presenting, but I hated sitting still. So, you know, it was a mix of things, but I definitely wasn’t a cookie cutter style, but I was highly, extremely ambitious, just didn’t quite know which path to take in doing that.
[04:42] Ellen Brown: Yeah, absolutely. One thing that I think we both agree on is that everybody has potential inside of them, and it’s almost like they need that special key to unlock their own potential. I like to think that everybody has this brilliance that they’re born with. And you see that some people find that early and then some people, it can take many, many years to find that.
[05:06] Amanda Rose: I agree with that. Yeah, I agree with that. And I think we all have a purpose. Right. And often we don’t get the opportunity to try different things to see what it is that clicks, that we’re good at. So whether it’s sport or music or study or, you know, helping people or, you know, whatever your career is. And a lot of people never get the opportunity to try different things to see what it is that works. You know, my mum put me in a whole bunch of different things to see what I liked, and I tried different things, which you can still do, you can still do without needing any money. You can volunteer at places which I encourage adults to do as well. But it’s true. You’ve got a skill, you’ve got a natural born skill, right? Everyone does. And it could be a range of different things. And often also you need to be careful because a lot of people will try and stop you from utilising it. So people will say, oh, you’re not very whatever or you’re not very good at that, and then you start to believe them, but you can’t because you’ve got to realise, oh, hang on a minute, I know I’m good at that, or I might be good at sport, or I might be good at encouraging people or whatever it is. We’ve all got one or more skill sets that we need to nurture.
[06:20] Ellen Brown: I really like that you mentioned there two very different things. You said I might be good at sport, which is obviously that kind of a skill where it’s a physical skill and it’s something that we often will hold up as an important skill, especially because people could be successful in that. But you also said, I might be good at encouraging people, and those social skills are often things that we don’t even notice about ourselves. But then people go on to become a psychologist or, you know, work as somebody who’s in that social sector. So, recognising potential in different areas is important. I was going to ask you, what does it mean, realising your potential? What do you think that means?
[06:58] Amanda Rose: It means giving yourself the opportunity to do well. Right. So, giving yourself a life, an environment. Giving yourself a chance. To be honest, I think, you know, you question yourself. People question you. You might say I had a hard time or a hard year or a hard month or hard this. And I’m like, well, yeah, but you can still realise that potential at any time, at any day and any week. And I think it’s there. And I think the second you give up on yourself, you’re giving up on that potential. Right. And it also doesn’t end. So your potential isn’t like you realise it today and then it goes. So it’s not like you achieve something this week and then it stops and that’s the end. And it also isn’t always quick. Sometimes realising your potential can take a decade.
[07:49] Ellen Brown: What does it mean to realise your potential?
[07:54] Amanda Rose: Actually, it means a lot of things to different people. But the reality is it’s who you’re meant to be, right? So everyone has a purpose. Everyone has a skill set, but it’s like realising the potential of who you are and it doesn’t stop. And I think it’s really important that you don’t just reach an end goal, you don’t just win something or achieve something and go, “That’s it, I’ve realised my potential.” No, no. It’s ongoing. It doesn’t mean that you should be perpetually striving and never enjoying it, but that we all have potential because we all have potential to grow. It’s kind of like the friends that you realise, “I don’t really fit with my friends anymore”, because you’ve realised your potential and you’ve grown up and they haven’t. And so you can’t let that stop you. You’ve got to keep investing in yourself, keep trying new things, keep, you know, moving forward essentially because, you know, the saying is that once you stop, you’re going backwards.
[08:42] Ellen Brown: Yeah, I love that. And I love that because, you know, there’s the Euka students listening, but there’s also Euka parents listening. So I know for you parents out there as well, you know, it’s about helping our students. And we’ll talk more about how parents can help their student. But it’s also about yourself as a parent. You know, that’s one part of your life, and you’ve still got other things to achieve beyond that as well. But if you were speaking to a 15 year old who wasn’t really sure, you know, to work out what they’re good at. You know, what advice would you give that student?
[09:15] Amanda Rose: Try different things. Firstly, start with what you like doing. So a really good indicator is you enjoy doing it. So it doesn’t mean you have to be good at it. And I think that’s the trick. So you might not be good at it yet. But everything starts off with “I don’t know” and “I practise”. Like, you know, soccer stars don’t start with, “Oh, I’m really good, I was born good.” Well, no, there’s a skill that they nurtured, right. So what do you enjoy doing? What actually… And don’t think it has to be anything that everyone else is doing. It could be something old fashioned. It could be like, I like using my hands. I like building things. Or it could be I like using my mind. So I want to think about strategy. It could be I want to speak, it could be I want to knit, it could be whatever it is. It’s like, what do you enjoy doing? And test different things. Volunteer at different places. Go and experience it. You’re not stuck anywhere. I will say this though, once you try something, persevere. Don’t give up because achieving something, accomplishing something is such a powerful component of building your confidence. Once you’ve achieved something, you will feel more confident. And even if it’s micro-achievements. Finishing your knitting, you finish one row. I’ve achieved it. You finish a square, I’ve achieved it. You know little things build up your confidence, but you can’t give up halfway because you get into a pattern of doing that. You’ll never feel satisfied that you’ve achieved anything.
[10:34] Ellen Brown: Oh, I love that. Because, you know, quite often when you try something new, you’re new at it. It is new. And if you don’t get that immediate “Oh, this feels good”, because anything new doesn’t feel good, does it? Yeah, it’s always uncomfortable.
[10:47] Amanda Rose: And social media wants you to get instant gratification and anything worthwhile isn’t instant.
[10:53] Ellen Brown: Yes, for sure. I love also that you mentioned about trying different things, because one of the things that our students find that they do have is time. They can get through their lessons in two hours a day, and they’ve got lots of extra time to be able to try those new things. And volunteering is definitely a great one because I tell you what, there isn’t enough volunteering that happens these days. And from my own children, every place they volunteered, they were told, “When you want a job, if you want a job…”, you know, because people just love that initiative, that it shows that you’re somebody who can go and try something new.
[11:30] Amanda Rose: Yeah, and it keeps you grounded.
[11:32] Ellen Brown: Yeah. So what skills do you think that young people could show employers? What are they looking for?
[11:38] Amanda Rose: Okay, so the number one skill is effort, right? So you know, effort in all areas for example, effort in responding. Right. Even if you’re nervous or you just think, oh, it’s not for me, or, you know, I’m going to suck at it. Whatever. Well, you know what? That’s for them to sort out and to work out, not you. You just got to put in the effort. My rule of thumb is you do your best and that’s all you can do, right? Regardless of what that is. You’re going to be better in some things than others. But put in the effort. Effort in how you dress, effort in how you speak, give them eye contact, effort in responding, respectful. And again, effort is respect. It’s a sign of respect, being there on time. Don’t be late. Don’t mock people. So often when you feel insecure, you kind of laugh and be silly and things like that. You know what? They respect you enough to invite you to the opportunity to have the discussion. You need to respect them in return. And the reality is that they want you to succeed. And I think you need to understand if there’s any opportunity out there when it comes to work. People want you to succeed in that job. They want you to succeed as a person. They want you to succeed for the company. It’s a win-win, right? But the number one thing is effort. You don’t have to have the experience. You don’t have to even have all of those things up. You just have to look smart, put in the effort. You don’t have to be expensive clothes. Just clean, fresh, on time, respectful, talk to them, eye contact. Things like that straight away say this person is mature enough to be able to do this job.
[13:15] Ellen Brown: Well, honestly, that is really gold right there because I think things like eye contact and being there on time and those things, you know, you think, oh, well, you would know that, but I find that quite often, young people kind of forget that or they get nervous and they look down and they don’t realise how powerful it is when you look somebody in the eye and say your name or you know, or you confidently, you know, show that you’ve heard what somebody is saying and you’re trying it. Those things are small things, but they’re absolute gold. Yeah. The other thing you mentioned was something that I. And I don’t want to just say it’s only girls. But I think what I have seen sometimes, working with young people, girls can sometimes do that thing where you said they kind of get all giggly and almost it’s almost like a way of… because they kind of feel a bit insecure and it’s like, well, if I’m just being silly or I guess boys can do this too. But I do see sometimes girls almost dumbing themselves down a little bit, you know, because they feel a bit…
[14:20] Amanda Rose: Boys end up with a smart mouth, and the girls end up acting silly. When I run workshops all the time, I see it. Like, you just feel uncomfortable, right? But the thing is, the second you do that, you’ve actually brought the attention on yourself that wasn’t already there.
[14:36] Ellen Brown: Right, right. So just being quiet’s probably a really good way of handling it.
[14:41] Amanda Rose: But the thing is, don’t feel like… adults do it too. Like, I’ve run corporate workshops with adults, and I just say, “What’s funny?” And they kind of stop because often it’s a behavioural thing. Yeah. So you’re getting into this habit of doing it and I’m like, “What’s funny?” And they kind of stop and I’m like, all right, let’s get back to having the conversation.
[15:02] Ellen Brown: Yes, yes, we certainly don’t want that to happen to us. So it’s a good thing to measure yourself if you’re feeling uncomfortable.
[15:08] Amanda Rose: That’s why you practise. Go to practice.
[15:11] Ellen Brown: Yeah. Then you can think, what can I do in this situation? Silence. Yes, sounds like a good one. Now, when we talked about all the things that you’ve done, I noticed that you’re still studying now. And I know that some of our Euka students will be listening. They may have had a negative experience with school, and now here they are. They’re getting on. And a lot of our students finish with Euka and they go off to uni again. But it doesn’t matter whether it’s at uni or you know, last week I went and learned how to make dry stone walls. You know, it doesn’t matter what it is that you’re going to go and learn. What do you think about “learning never stops”?
[15:48] Amanda Rose: So I think it’s important that you’re constantly learning something of value, right. So a skill set, a soft skill. It could be, you know, how to write better. Or it could be how to present better, or it could be coding, or it could be all these different things. But also, the caveat is don’t just study something or learn something because you think it’s easy to do so. Go for the things you want to learn. Go for the things that might be hard. But let me tell you, I’ve been there, so I’ve done TAFE. I’ve been to uni and I’m first to go to uni. First generation to go to uni on both sides of my family. And my mum used to say to me, and I say to people all the time, “They can do it, you can do it,” right? So I got a little hooked on uni, and enjoyed it. Mind you, first degree I did, failed all the first year, repeated multiple times the same subject. But, you know, things happen. But the thing is, I persevered. I wasn’t going to give up. I finished it. Took me four years instead of three. But I finished it and I kept going. But I did things I wanted to do. I did things I was interested in And, you know, just go, “Oh, but that’s uni.” Right? You can do it. Like have faith in your ability to learn. You’re not supposed to turn up and know it. You’re supposed to turn up and learn it.
[17:07] Ellen Brown: Yeah. And I think sometimes what happens when you’re a student and you’re in school, you have to learn a lot of subjects that you don’t like or that you’re not even slightly interested in. And just remember that once school’s finished and you’re into a new phase, or even while school’s on, the opportunity to learn something that you’re interested in is totally different. You know, and you’re interested in things, or you want to learn something because you need it for that other thing that you want to learn. Yeah.
[17:33] Amanda Rose: That’s right. And so the whole idea of school is to give you a taste of all different things to see what you’re good at and what you like. And uni is kind of the same. There are going to be things that you like and don’t like. TAFE will be the same. Anything that you learn, there’ll be things that you like and don’t like. Don’t walk away from things that are hard because they’re the ones that are probably going to teach you the most. They’re the ones that are probably going to prepare you the most. So every subject I did that I thought was an absolute “you’re kidding”, so logistics and insurance contracts and things I did my best at because they were the ones I hated the most, but I ended up liking it.
[18:05] Ellen Brown: Oh, there you go. That’s interesting how that works. And, you know, I started a degree at one point in my life and it was really hard and I didn’t end up finishing the degree. But what I learned is, oh, I got really surprised, actually, because I when I was at school, I would just think, oh, there were smart people and people who weren’t smart. I didn’t understand that it’s actually the work that people put into things. And so I discovered that I actually have some control over my own success. And I didn’t know that, like when I was going through school and learning, I just didn’t realise I’m the key to my own success. If I want to do well, I study more. And it was just a revelation. You’d think that makes sense, but it never. I just thought there were smart people and not smart people. Especially kids like we’ve got, you know, you students that have been to school and if you’ve been at school and you’ve missed some school, you’ve had some stuff going on in your life and you’ve missed some school, and all of a sudden you’re like, oh, I’m dumb at maths. I hear that all the time. I think you’ve missed lots of the building blocks that you would have needed to be successful. So you can’t say you’re not good at it. It’s just you’ve missed some building blocks, so don’t start shortchanging yourself.
[19:21] Amanda Rose: Well, that’s true. And the thing is, there could be a range of things. You also could have a poor teacher. Sometimes that can happen, right? But even if you did miss out, right, There are people that start, undergrad degrees in their 50s. So you missing out on a couple of years is no big deal. And you just play catch up, right? Because to be honest, you can. But it’s true. But also don’t forget, I think society’s, you know, really kind of set the tone of, if you’re rich, you’re smart, and if you’re poor, you’re not very smart, right? It was kind of like this, and I was raised working class. Uni wasn’t… it was like, you go to TAFE. I’m like, how about I want to do what I want to do, right? Which I ended up doing, right? And that’s the thing, regardless of what it is, you can do it. And if you’re interested in it, you can learn it. And once you get there, you actually start to meet people and realise they’re just like me. You know that, yes, they might live a different life to me and have different whatever, but they’re all here to learn. They’re interested in what they’re learning. And I think learning something in person, if you can, helps you build what I call an education life. So no matter what happens in your life, your education is like freedom. It’s like your little bubble. So you can go to TAFE, go to uni, hang out and learn and have that little bubble of success. No matter what happens, you end up with that qualification. You end up with that diploma, you end up with that degree no matter what. That will always stick with you and stay with you and help you.
[20:50] Ellen Brown: Fantastic. Another thing that will be really helpful for all of us, but especially for our Euka students, is building resilience. So is resilience something that can be learnt?
[21:04] Amanda Rose: Yes, absolutely. So you’re probably more resilient. I’ll tell you right now, guys and girls, you’re more resilient than most people, right? Because you just don’t give yourself enough credit for it. And I think resilience means going through stuff, not letting it stop you from progressing in life. Right? That’s resilience. So often when people go through a hard time, whatever it is, whatever you consider a difficult time and you go, that’s it, I’m done. I’m not doing anything anymore. You don’t build resilience. But you go through it. Yeah, it sucks. What can I learn? What can I do differently? What other opportunities are there for me? I’m going to go and do something. I’m going to grow and learn a skill. I’m going to add value to my life. And then the next time something bad happens to you actually don’t react as much, you know? But it’s important that you progress. If you keep stopping things halfway. Giving up on things, your confidence will be impacted. You won’t be as resilient to handle difficult situations moving forward because you’re not accomplishing things. So the more you move forward even as slow as a snail, you know, in quicksand. But as long as you’re moving forward, you will. Because the next thing that happens to you’ll go, oh, that happened to me last year. But last year I had a meltdown over it. But this year I’m like, right, because my focus is what I’m doing next. My focus is what I’m achieving. And I’ll add to this. Your resilience will also build. The more you help others go through what you went through. Right? So if you see someone going through what you went through and you just reach out and go, “Hey, you good? Are you okay?” Or you help them or you give them a connection, or give them a tip or a bit of encouragement that would build your resilience because you’re now the person helping someone going through it.
[22:46] Ellen Brown: Yeah, I really love that. I know we have a really good Facebook group, like a closed group for the Euka families, and maybe that’s a tip for some of you senior students. You know, if you want to jump on there and share something at any time for other students, that might be a really great platform to be able to do that. Something you’ve learnt or, you know, an encouragement to other people that might be really great to do that. But how would you help young people to handle criticism or rejection? You know, a lot of the students have had that going on, and you can’t get away from that these days, can you?
[23:26] Amanda Rose: You never will. Nothing new. Until the day you die, you’re going to have people that are mean, reject you. Look, the more you rely on others for validation and acceptance, the more it’s going to impact you if they reject you, right? So people pleasing, for example, wanting everyone to like you. Trying to please everyone. Trying to get validation from everyone you know. I need that group to accept me. I need that person to smile at me. I need that person… As soon as you do that, If their emotion changes that day, so does yours. If that person is in a bad mood, so are you. So what you’re doing is you’re putting all your future, your happiness, your contentment that day on how that person’s going to treat you, on how that person sees you. Flip it. Right. So it’s like, no, I like me. I’m happy with who I am. Now, if that person’s going to be mean today, I’m not going to hang around them. If that person’s going to reject me, I won’t put myself in that position to be rejected again. Doesn’t mean you have to hate them, doesn’t mean you have to retaliate. You don’t know what they’re going through. It doesn’t mean you have to hang around. Right? But accept the fact that if you’re relying on someone to make you feel wanted, the second their mood changes, you feel rejected, right? And their mood change could simply be they had a bad day. And you don’t need to go and find out. You can be a friend, and that’s fine. But the thing is, get on with your stuff and just lead by example. Be an example of how you should respond to things, but don’t rely on others. You know, you walk into a room and someone looks at you funny, oh no, and your whole day is ruined. Let them look at you funny. Get on with it. Get on with your goals. Get on with your day. You can choose not to let that get to you.
[25:04] Ellen Brown: I love that. Now, in our reading about the things that you’ve shared before, you talk about something called the power of silence. Can you tell us a little bit what that is?
[25:13] Amanda Rose: Yes. Get comfortable in silence. And the reason why I say that is usually the person that’s yapping on the most is trying to cover something up or trying to, you know, hide something or get you to spill your guts on something or, so just stay silent. And when you’re silent, you can observe. And when you’re observing, you can learn a lot about people. You can learn a lot about how people react to things. And it’s just so powerful for you. It’s like an empowering thing, just like in an interview, when you answer a question. Stay silent. What it says is I’m confident with what I just said. When you’re in a group and you don’t agree with something and you’re like, and you stay silent. So for example, if someone’s saying dirty jokes or you know, they’re horrid or whatever it is and you go, I don’t like this, you don’t have to speak up and go, I don’t like this. Shut your mouth. You can just sit there in silence. Right. And often I do. And I get the whole, “Gee, Amanda, you’re silent. What, don’t you think it’s funny?” And I say, “No, I don’t.” That’s it. I don’t need to judge you. I don’t need to say… I just said, “No, I don’t.” And then I’ll move. I’ll walk off. But silence is powerful.
[26:21] Ellen Brown: Yeah, I love that. So let’s just take a minute to have a chat to the parents who are listening as well. How can a parent build confidence in their kids without pushing them too hard?
[26:34] Amanda Rose: I think it’s a balancing act of making sure. And like the number one thing is have a goal. They’ve got to have ambition. They’ve got to have a goal. No matter how small that goal is. Right. So it’s sitting there and having a chat. What do you want to do? What do you like? You know, and they always go, “I don’t know.” You know, everything’s “I don’t know”, right? I have grown women saying, “I don’t know.” I’m like, well, you do, but you’re probably scared that you’re not going to reach it, so you don’t want to say it in case you don’t achieve it. Right? But if it’s in a safe place, I’m like, well, you know what? Let’s just pick a goal. Break it down. How can we achieve it? What do you want to do? And it could be learning to cook. It could be starting to run. It could be, you know, going to uni and whatever it is. What’s your goal? Right. Having a goal is powerful because if not, it’s like, well, what do you want to do with your life? It can be overwhelming to say, where do you want to be in 10 years? Because I still don’t know. Right. Like, you know, it evolves, but have a goal now. Right. So what’s your goal for this week or let’s have a fun goal. So I usually say have like a serious goal and a life goal. So a serious one could be like education based or I want to get a job or I want to save a certain amount of money to buy a car. Things like that. But it’s like I’ve got to put in the effort. I’ve got to go to a job. I’ve got to apply for a job and then a life goal. So it could be I want to be nicer to my sibling. I want to cook once a week and learn how to cook. You know. And the thing is, I don’t believe in pressuring, but I also believe in forcing to some capacity. So it’s kind of like, well, you need to pick three. Pick three, right? And if they’re going to be smart about it and pick three ridiculous things, hold them to it. Okay. We’re going to go and climb that mountain. We’re going to start training for it. But it’s just little things, you know, learn to bake. But you have to stick to it. So put a time frame. They have to stick to it to the end. Then they can change it.
[28:30] Ellen Brown: Yeah. I love that. And I mean obviously you senior students. That’s something you could do for yourself. And you may already be setting goals, but for parents who’ve even got their younger kids, there’s probably no age limit. You can start with goal setting even when they’re really young.
[28:45] Amanda Rose: Yeah, just little ones. And because we’ve been told, “Sometimes you’re too ambitious” or, you know, or you’re so serious or and I’m like, what do you want me to do with my time? Right? You know, like, I want to enjoy what I do, and I enjoy it more when I’m accomplishing things and learning things. And, you know, it doesn’t have to always be school and uni. There’s so many things out there you can learn.
[29:07] Ellen Brown: Yeah. Look, here’s another one that might be helpful for parents or even for students themselves. But what can we do at home? Like we often think, oh, well, I won’t be presenting or I won’t be speaking. I’m just going to do a job. But everyone has a situation where they’re with a group of people and they need to share something like, what can we do at home? Maybe. What can parents do with their kids? Or what can us as students do at home to help us with our presenting skills or speaking skills? How can we practise?
[29:38] Amanda Rose: Well, I’d have a rule. No phones in the family room and in the kitchen type of thing. When you’re down with us, it’s eye contact. It’s communication. It’s using the words. There’s no distractions. And I think that is step one. And I think we’ve lost that step. I think we took that for granted before and now it’s gone. So it’s being able to communicate, looking, eye contact. Getting comfortable with that. Having conversations without being distracted by something. Because you do need to be able to hold that attention when you’re presenting, whether you’re presenting with friends or whether you’re presenting at work or even talking one on one in a meeting. So I think it’s good practice. So it’s asking questions as well, saying not just, “How was your day?” So, “Could you read that recipe for me?” Right? And they say, “Okay.” And they read it out and they’re not on their phone. They don’t pick up their phone straight after they read it because the phone’s not in the room. They read out the recipe, and then you look at them and say, “Okay.” And you involve them in something. Okay. What’s next? Okay, so no phones. It’s what happens in the workplace. What’s happening in meetings, what’s happening in presenting: eye contact, communication, using your words, reading things. Old school, one-on-one. Think old school. Connecting with humans. That’s important because then they’re comfortable. So if someone came in like a friend you know parent friend will come in. They start talking. They’re looking at them, you know, eye contact, not, “Oh, hi, how are you?”
[31:01] Ellen Brown: Yes. I love it because the advice that you’re giving is such practical, achievable things that we can be doing in our family. And you as a teenager, can be doing yourself. You know, you can challenge your parents. No phones in there, you know, because sometimes parents, it’s easy to do.
[31:19] Amanda Rose: Oh, yeah, that works both ways.
[31:20] Ellen Brown: You’re cooking dinner and you’ve got some music playing. It’s very nice. But then that’s blocked you off from everybody else and everything else. So. Yes. You know, if you’re a parent listening, you can think, okay, well, let’s try doing a little bit of that. Even if we grow the time that we have.
[31:34] Amanda Rose: Just think it’s the 1990s and we’re communicating and we’re cooking together and everyone’s got a role. Someone’s got to read something. Someone’s got to talk about something. And every now and then you could say, stand up and read it to me instead.
[31:47] Ellen Brown: Yeah. That’s so good. That’s excellent. All right. We’ve got some rapid-fire questions here. One book that every teenager should read. Or if you would rather, you can even make it a parent book if you prefer.
[32:01] Amanda Rose: Goodness. Well, I’d say the Bible, personally. So that’s the one book I would say Proverbs for the parents on wisdom and how to handle things. That’s my go-to when everything blows up and especially in business. And what to do when people are mean and that’s my… And then outside of that, I would say whatever it is that you’re studying right now, make sure you read the related book to it. Don’t try and get away with it.
[32:28] Ellen Brown: Yeah, it’s a bit too easy with AI summaries of things these days.
[32:32] Amanda Rose: It is. Don’t let that fool you. You’re losing the ability to use critical thinking if you don’t read things for yourself.
[32:39] Ellen Brown: Yes. Yeah. And that’s actually a really good point. It’s something I hadn’t planned for us to talk about. But being that I know that AI is something that you’re quite into, and, oh, who isn’t into it? It’s a wonderful tool. But I don’t want to be in a situation where it’s like, oh no, worry about the AI. Like, I don’t want to make it about that, but what are some hints and tips that you can give us so that we can get the most out of the tool and not have it get to the point where we’re relying on it for everything.
[33:08] Amanda Rose: Yeah. Don’t start with AI. Start with yourself. Whatever it is that you do. I want a piece of paper and a pen, even. Don’t lose the ability to write. Mind map things. Jot down just words, ideas, whatever it is that you’re trying to think. And then type it up. Write it down. Whatever it is, no matter how stupid you think you sound with your first one pager of an assignment, we all sound just as stupid, regardless of how many degrees we’ve got. We look back and go, huh? But write it down, right. Write down your ideas. Elaborate a little bit more. AI is simply a tool to assist. So, you know, look up some articles for me please, on this and then read them. Read the article. Skim read it. You know, read the article. Yeah, I like that one.
[33:57] Ellen Brown: So important, isn’t it? Because AI is a wonderful tool. But you’ve got to know enough about the topic to know whether how you’re using the AI is actually giving you something that’s worth it. So that’s a really good tip as well. Awesome, fantastic. All right. Best piece of advice you ever got?
[34:15] Amanda Rose: Oh, best piece of advice I ever got. Lead by example. And also, I’ll add to that: forgive.
[34:27] Ellen Brown: Yeah. That’s great. Love that. Yeah. I think one of the ones that I got was somebody who once said to me, just because things are a certain way doesn’t mean that’s how they have to be. And that was a big shocker for me, because I’d always just gone along in life thinking, well, this is the way it is. Like, that’s not at all…
[34:48] Amanda Rose: Nope. I’m a pioneer. Yep, I will knock things down, build things.
[34:53] Ellen Brown: Yeah, I like that. Which skill do you wish you had learned earlier?
[34:59] Amanda Rose: Learned earlier? Financial literacy.
[35:04] Ellen Brown: Right. Oh, we’ve got financial literacy as part of the Euka program.
[35:08] Amanda Rose: Really important, really important.
[35:10] Ellen Brown: Really important. Because there’s nothing worse than you’re finishing school, and then you’ve got to buy a car. And then what? What on earth is registration and how am I paying the bills? So, understanding those practical life skills…
[35:24] Amanda Rose: Even if it’s $5 a week, start now.
[35:26] Ellen Brown: Yeah. Fantastic. I really love that thing too. What’s one thing a student listening should do this week? If you could recommend something.
[35:36] Amanda Rose: Learn something or do something that requires you not to have your phone. So something new that requires you not to involve your phone. You can research it on your phone, but whatever it is, go and learn a new skill that doesn’t require your phone. So whether it’s a sport, a craft, cooking, running anything that’s not phone related.
[35:58] Ellen Brown: Fantastic. That’s really good. All right. Last question. What does success look like to you now at this stage?
[36:08] Amanda Rose: Success for me is actually being content with what I have. And helping people.
[36:17] Ellen Brown: Yeah. Great. Love that. Thank you so much for being with us today, Amanda. And, you know, like I said last week, your life story is still being written. Be brave, believe in yourself. And never underestimate the difference that you can make in the world. See you next time.
