KEEP IT IN THE PHAMLY

Sometimes I feel I spend all my attention on detail at work and, as a result, my personal life descends into oblivious chaos. When I received my building pass for the new job, I knew the basic, pleb, navy lanyard was just not going to do. No, I had to get something bright, something pink, something that would make my office outfits pop.

And so I found myself on the Yarn website (https://www.yarn.com.au/) browsing their lanyards section. Yarn is owned by non-indigenous people but works to provide a marketplace for Australian Aboriginal Indigenous designers and producers to sell their wares. I fell in love with the Kangaroo Dance Lanyards by artist Charlie Chambers Jnr. (Aboriginal Jarowair man) and ordered one online. I took so long to publish this post that all their lanyards are now sold out. Here's a link to Alperstein Designs aboriginal art products including lanyards, which also support original Australian design. 

Lo and behold when the parcel arrives, I discover I have indeed ordered 1 pack of 10 lanyards. Oops. Faced with the fact I only have one neck and, therefore, only need one lanyard I decided to pimp the other 9 lanyards out to my team at work. I expected to get rid of a few but they were surprisingly popular and were gone within a few days.

Next followed a fun couple of weeks of trying to get people to deliver the lanyards interstate as part of their work travels. Some forgetful types carried the lanyards to Sydney and back to Brisbane. But eventually, with a little help from my work friends and Australia Post I got all the lanyards out to colleagues along the East Coast. It was fun to see people's faces light up over receiving a tiny gift, and the team bonds it built to have a cluster of us rocking the same pink and blue kangaroo art lanyards. We are our own lanyard gang, with an origin story that makes people giggle to remember I am a dope despite appearing super organised at work.

I was very happy and very glad to make it to Melbourne for a whirlwind trip in June this year. I was there for 48 hours and made zero other plans (sorry any Melbourne friends reading this) besides the 90th birthday and conspiring with my cousin to surprise my Aunty on my one free night. 

I stayed with childhood bestie, B (back when I used to have best friends, now you're either a good friend or not a friend) in her mum and the Birthday Boy's house in inner-city Melbourne. Their glorious two storey old Victorian home is where I spent most of my time when I wasn't at school or at home. The sights and smells brought back nostalgic memories of many years in my child to teen-hood. I hadn't realised until I stayed here again (this time in the guest room instead of B's bunk bed... partially because I'm an adult but mainly because her bunk bed is no longer around) that this house was my childhood sanctuary. The feeling of calm and nurturing that little me would have been too oblivious to observe and appreciate did not go over my head this time. 

Kitchen where I spent many hours of my youth

Birthday Boy was like surrogate father to younger me. He'd take care of us after school, made sure we did our homework and had snacks. When we got to high school because neither of my parents drove or had a car, he'd carpool Little Sissy Pham and me to school. He was always generously looking out for us growing up. I didn't clue on to the fact he needed us kids just as much as we needed him. 

The Maritime Union of Australia hosted Birthday Boy's big bash. It was a momentous occasion where they acknowledged the wrongs of the past that saw Birthday Boy ousted from the union and no longer employed. The timing happened to align with B bringing home a few kids from school who Birthday Boy took under his wing as part of his full-time stay at home dad duties. 

I was honoured and humbled to get an invite to his birthday, along with a function room full of other guests he'd positively impacted over the years. I wouldn't risk a COVID-19 lockdown and quarantining for many people, but Birthday Boy and B are extended Phamly. Worth the trip. Wish I could have stayed longer but I had a postponed 2020 wedding to fly to Cairns for. That saga will be another blog post. 

The always well-stocked fruit bowl from where I tasted nectarines and peaches for the first time

Temp desk before moving offices. Tad cramped.

In May 2014 a lady named Giselle contacted me about my 2012 Scrabble Letters post, asking to buy JADE off me for a room in her house that has a feature wall dedicated to scrabble words using the letters TYPO sold in 2012. Gisele collected them on eBay and Gumtree, and stumbled upon my blog on her hunt to build more words on her wall.

At the time, I had the letters decorating my desk. They were a gift from Little Sissy Pham and had sentimental value. Over the years, the letters have moved with me from office to office, and desk to desk until finally this year when I moved to desk too small to fit my standing desk and the letters. So I felt ready to finally say goodbye.

I reached out to Giselle on the off chance that 7 years on she may still want the letters and wouldn't you know, she did! In the spirit of Buy Nothing, I gifted the scrabble letters to Giselle. She lives interstate so it had to be shipped which is not in the spirit of Buy Nothing that aims to reduce environmental impacts by keeping items in your local area. But I figured it'd be better the scrabble letters continue their life in a home where they'll make someone happy, rather than go into storage and probably eventually landfill once I inevitably move desks again.

Hot pink blazer gifted from my local Buy Nothing group

Mother Not In Law got me into the Buy Nothing Movement when she was here over Xmas/New Years. The idea behind Buy Nothing is to give and share locally to reduce waste and reuse items that some one else no longer needs. It started as an experiment in Washington, USA and it's managed to make its way to Australia. 

Back in the day at an old workplace, I got myself a posse of interns and found a rare gem I wanted to hire. So I did. She was young, jumped into the workforce straight out of high school, and hadn’t bothered with a degree. I admired her go-getter attitude.

She was looking for regular, paid work that would complement her true passion to become a full-time DJ when she applied for an internship in the fashion company I was in, which led to a full-time, permanent role. At the time I described to management my reason for wanting to hire her was a spark that I saw in her. A spark I identified with because I had that same hunger to succeed despite little to no experience when I was her age.

Now I have nearly two decades of workplace experience, I recognise that spark is the difference between someone who has cares about what they commit to doing, and someone who is looking for their next suitable position description to adhere to.

We’ve stayed in touch over the years, and it’s been a blessing to watch her grow into the successful person she is today. She credited me for giving her a break into a professional field, proper training and the foundation for a better life. While I did give her a chance at the beginning of her, I can’t take credit for the strong, independent woman she is now.

I’ve watched her DJ adventures in club circuits, at festivals, overseas in exotic party places like the Maldives. Makes me want to get in touch with people who gave me a go over the course of my career - catch them up on some of the highlights they helped make happen either directly or indirectly. How about you? Have you had any people in your life you want to credit with boosting your career or improving your personal life? Consider reaching out and sharing the love or paying forward their kindness by helping a young up and comer get a leg up.

I love other people’s happiness so much I asked to make it my official duty at work. I even got a budget for it and everything. By “budget” I mean I have a challenge to buy something for everyone from Daiso. Boy, there are some fun and bizarre items on the shelves there.

We tend to celebrate the achievements of people who work on projects and campaigns because look! Something new and shiny! We don’t always acknowledge the people who work to keep the business running daily in the same way.

I wanted to level the playing field, and celebrate the achievements of all team members so I came up with an idea: Work Birthdays! Celebrating people’s achievements over the past year on their anniversary. Team members come and go so it’s worth celebrating those who remain by recognising another year of a job well done.

In the context of work, an anniversary is better than an actual birth date because every chump alive was born - their parents did the heavy lifting there; not everyone can progress their career and personal development - that needs to be earned.

It means a bit of extra work for me on weekends to buy work birthday gifts, and coordinate messages with team leaders, which I then hand write in cards I’ve hoarded over the years. We then present the gift and card to team members in our weekly group meetings, and then on their actual anniversary day I send an email of what we wrote in their card.

It’s corny but I don’t care. It makes other people happy and lets them know that they are appreciated. Happy work birthday!

I don't give gifts because I want or expect gifts back, but other people's social guilt has delivered some excellent return or retaliation gifts. During our team break up lunch over Xmas, the Work Pham surprised me with two photo mugs.

The sneaky bastards had gotten our social media gal to lie about taking behind the scenes pics for a story when she snapped us playing Uno on one of our daily brain-breaks. While I feel betrayed and will never trust anyone at work again, they couldn't have gotten a pod photo otherwise. The thought counts for something I suppose.

The second mug is my favourite though. Instead of lying to my face, they hid behind my back. They waited until I was away from my desk and window that looked on onto the park so I wouldn't see them out there wearing matching outfits doing a photoshoot on the swings in the playground. The shoot went exceedingly well. Now, whenever I make a cup of tea or coffee, I see their gleeful faces smiling at me. It's going to be sad when we boot one of the guys out of our pod because my team's expanding. But at least I have something to remember him by. And also, I will see him over the divider.

When I moved back to Brisbane after Mum's passing, I was pretty broken and broke. Dad Pham took money out of this mortgage to buy me Luigi, a Hyundai Getz. Luigi was pummeled to death by hailstones and I got Luigi II thanks to RACQ insurance. And my desk buddy thinks insurance is a scam - tsk.

The Luigis helped me set up my life - going to job interviews, my daily commutes, moving houses, and now take Dad on his weekly grocery runs, and many a road trip up and down the Coast with friends. I've had some fun times with Luigi, but with my not so little eldest niece about ready to get her licence, it's time to pay Dad's good will forward to the next gen PhamLe.

For her birthday, I promised her my car once she gets her Ps because it's mainly P-platers and the elderly who drive the Getz. I'm too middle aged for my car. Now it's eldest niece's turn to set up life in this zippy, reliable little vehicle; and time for Aunty Jade to level up her car game.

So.... Any suggestions for a vroom-vroom?

Not all of my gifts are joke gifts. Some of the time they are thoughtful and meaningful. Not this one though. This gift idea stems from pure selfishness. I needed an excuse to take photos of my camera-averse Boyfriend every day and now I finally have it.

When I lived in Melbourne I'd visit The Phamly 3-4 times a year and talk on the phone with Mum Pham every couple of days. Boyfriend's mum lives in Perth, which is about as far away from Brisbane as you can get within Australia so quarterly visits aren't so easy. They talk regularly, but for his first year in Brisbane his mum could only visit us once. She got to see where he lives and meet me and Dad Pham, but it's hard to learn what someone's life is like in one weekend.

When her birthday was approaching... then came...then went, and Boyfriend had only called her to wish her happy birthday because their family don't do gifting, my brain started to tick. We had to do something for Xmas. Life is too short not to show people you love that you appreciate them.

What would Mum Pham have liked if we lived far apart and we hardly ever got to see one another? Lightbulb! 'A year in the life of' photo project about Boyfriend for his mum. I pitched the idea as a daily calendar so it's sort of practical but mainly so she can learn more of his Brisbane life. We could send her prints in monthly packs so the moments captured would be recent and relevant. It's something she will look at every day to remember that a) she has a son and b) he loves her and misses her.

Boyfriend normally yells no to gifts, but he was fully behind this idea. He got to designing the calendar pages, while I took on the difficult task of photographing my favourite human going about his life. We found an iPad holder (like a compact cookbook holder) at Kmart which fit prints in size 6" x 8" nicely. He sent the iPad holder and photos for the month of January. She opened it today for Christmas, and it made her cry - hopefully, they were happy tears and not because I didn't think to set my phone camera to the highest quality for better prints. Oops.

Merry Christmas everyone, hope you have the best time showing your loved ones how much you care!

It finally happened. I'm a senior team member. Not because of career progression, but because I've been alive so much longer than most of my colleagues I have more work and life experience, which makes me appear more grown up and responsible. Doesn't mean I am though.

I like me a quirky office antic like Work Bestie, Tuna Breath and Corny Chips. So when this year's office Xmas party delivered unto me the happiest team photo I've ever seen or been in, I just had to do something with it for the team.

Enter Vistaprint - I've never used the site before, but Little Sissy Pham loves a good, thoughtful photo printed mug so I knew they are decent for a budget printing business. I couldn't do something classy like a mug for the boys in my Development team though. No, they don't use mugs. They live on a well-balanced diet of kombucha, Pepsi Max and beer - all of which come in bottles and cans.

Instead, I opted for photo printed mouse pads because it's somewhat practical, and relevant for our computer-life team. I thought they'd laugh the gift off and eat the accompanying chocolates only, but all the boys are using their mouse pads with glee. Even the guy who isn't in our team but made it into the photo loved the mouse pads so much that I gave him my one. Don't you worry, I'm getting myself another print of the photos - this time on a mug because I drink tea like an adult whose body would shut down if I drank a can of Pepsi Max a day like my Work Pham.

Life has a weird sense of humour. I, Jade Pham, serial gifter and enabler of other people's happiness, am dating a boy who hates receiving gifts. In his bizarro world gifting is a product of a consumerist society and yada yada yada - I stopped listening to that rant because I've heard it so many times. But I did listen to his rules about gifts being wanted, practical and meaningful.

They're allowed for things like that time he flew across the country to surprise his close friend of his birthday, or that time he printed photos of him and a friend with The Doppelgangaz at their Perth gig, sent the photos to the US with return postage so the rappers would sign the photos for a birthday present. So some presents are allowed as long as you follow the rules. I do like rules. I like following rules a lot. But what I like even more than following rules, is finding ways to bend them to the point of breaking.

Which is why for his Christmas present, I spent an hour peeling and chopping garlic to put in a big jar with olive oil. He likes eating garlic but he hates chopping it up because of the stank. I, on the other hand, have spent the past however many years with stinky garlic hands every other weekend because I bulk cook for Phamly gatherings so it ain't no thang.

The gift went down well...ish. At first he was mad that I got him a present but when he realised I made it myself and it was practical, he calmed down... a little. Then for his birthday, I got him one of my favourite books because he churns through novels the way I churn through honey jars, and again he was mad but he got over it. So then for a housewarming gift when we moved in together, I got him the riskiest gift yet: a Nintendo Switch. I've never seen anyone so angry about receiving something they've talked about for half a year - he thought about breaking up with me, but by then it was too late because we are both too lazy to move house again so soon. I haven't gotten him anything big since then because he very loudly complained about the Switch for the first many hours he sat there playing Zelda. But now the memory of that is fading, I'm about ready to find another awesome gift that he'll hate accepting.

It probably is for the best that the man for me isn't a taker because I would give more than I should and burn out like I've done with so many takers in the past. He's infuriating as hell, but right for me.


UPDATE 11/01/2020: I no longer pre-chop garlic because bacterial infection is a real risk. Instead I buy giant jars of crushed garlic that's loaded with preservatives to keep it safe.

I was sad to bid goodbye to Corny Chips last year, and devastated to farewell my work bestie soon after. I farewelled another colleague a few weeks ago, and another one just today at lunch with two more long-termers bowing out in the next few weeks. I realise I've never really stuck around any workplace long enough to farewell more than one person, or worked in a company big enough to have such a high turnover rate. It's sad to see good people go. It's much easier when you're the one leaving for exciting new things, not left behind to miss everyone. There's only been one person who I've been happy to say goodbye to (for now).

Rachel Burke of Apomogy, Tinsel Town and @imakestagram fame. This ray of sunshine brought such positive and proactive vibes to the office every day. I'm not even mad at her for leaving to pursue her creative dreams full-time because it means she can share more happiness with the world. Rachel makes every day life more vibrant and fun and creative with her larger than life vision. Since stepping out on her own she's released a new collection of apparel, did a pop up studio at a shopping mall, and also making custom orders for celebrities and artists around the world. Amazing!

To honour Rachel on her last day in the office I dressed up in a special jacket she gifted me at her Tinsel Town art exhibition, and glittered up my face because fabulous is the only way to look and feel in a Rachel Burke creation. I couldn't happier for this crazy talented lady. Her happiness leads to Other People's Happiness. It's a wonderful thing. I can't wait to see what she gets up to next. Follow Rachel Burke in her creative world at @imakestagram - it's a good time.

Some of you may remember that I pranked Tuna Breath on his birthday by getting the whole team to buy him a tonne of tuna tins. He promised revenge, and put 3 calendar reminders into his computer to make sure he didn't forget. Well, guys, he delivered.

I arrived at work to find multiple types of chillies on my desk, in the tackiest, pinkest, most glitter covered bag and birthday card. He found out that I am obsessed with chilli - I have 3 types of hot sauce in my desk, pickled chilli in the fridge and sometimes fresh chilli too. Sweet Cakes was in on the prank too - she made me a beautiful birthday cake, with a side of minced chilli in a jar. Too cute. Tuna Breath nailed it. I'm going to be feasting on these chillies for months.


After work for Single Ladies Valentine's Day Birthday, I went for dinner with gal pals - 100% of whom were on loan from their boyfriends so my Single Ladies Bdays very not single these days. You're welcome, guys, most of you were off the hook for Valentine's Day - the most awkward days for going on dates, because romance is dead and people my generation and younger don't know how to cope with feelings. It makes for great people watching on the night, but from the looks of things not many great dates. The heat wave and everyone's face melting probably didn't help the looks of despair I saw on some lovebirds.

This year was my first birthday free from online dating horror stories since I quit Tinder and consequently dating. It meant I didn't have any hilarious / awful stories to share so instead we talked about travel plans, careers, hobbies, media, entertainment. It was fun!

Dinner was at Popolo in South Bank - one of my special treat places. You know, where the prices aren't cheap but the food is amazing, and the service exceptional so you go there only for special occasions. The awesome team at Popolo surprised me with a free cocktail, and free dessert. In your face Valentine's Day daters - I got freebies 'cause I was born. Bet you wish you were sad, alone, and born on Valentine's Day like me now, hey? Yeah, be jealous.

Most mornings on the way to work, I drive by an old, retro matte black Volkswagen buggy. It makes me grin to myself because I can't help but think someone driving that buggy with its retro esky and surfboard on the roof rack must be living their best life. You don't pack that much personality into your car if you're into conforming and keeping up with the latest trends. This person is clearly, unashamedly themselves. I love it.

I've been meaning to leave a 'yay you!' letter on their dashboard for the longest time to express my appreciation and admiration. But being me and living on the other side of town from work, I am always stuck in traffic and running late (but refuse to get up earlier than 5am to get in my morning walk/jog before work) so haven't gotten around to it. That is, until Xmas came around and traffic started to die down and I was in the spirit of giving (even more so than usual) since it's the season to think of Other People's Happiness.

I finally wrote, sealed and delivered a little note on Dec 27th, 2017 when the roads to work were nearly empty because non-retail industry types get to holidaze. I had that extra 5 minutes to pull over, tuck the note under their windscreen wiper and head off to work.

I hope whoever owns the Buggy doesn't think their car has been hit or they've gotten a fine when they see a note on the front. I wrote Happy Holidays in black on the outside so hopefully they realise it's a positive note before they open it. Wishing you a happy life, whoever you are!

Mondays used to be a struggle because there is the weekend comedown, and getting back into the work routine with general tiredness and not enough sleep. Mondays were the pits until Groove Therapy came along, and with it the spirited, positive vibes of Wanida Serce.

I've been going to Groove Therapy every week since it launched in Brisbane earlier this year (except for my Europe holiday). Each week Wanida, without fail, brings bright and bubbly energy to class even when she's nursing an injury or cold. Her teaching style lifts my mood, and gives me something to look forward to on Mondays (I know, unheard of). Not only that, my dance floor moves have improved - I even had a somewhat drunk colleague tell me "I want to dance like Jade!" repeatedly at this year's Office Xmas party. If you want to dance like Jade, come to Groove Therapy. GT makes dancing fun!

I wanted to give Wanida an end-of-year thank you, Xmas gift that would show her how much I appreciate her - something that she could use. She's always wearing rad sneakers to class so I got her a pair of pink New Balance 247 kicks because dancers always need good shoes, and pink because she runs the empowering Pink Matter girl gang. See? So many positive vibes. I insta-stalked her pics to make sure she didn't have sneakers similar to this already, and then got her shoe size from a stylist at work but it seemed wrong 'cause we're meant to be the same shoes size but I swear her feet look smaller. Cue me standing awkwardly next to her after class to compare our feet, and they were definitely a bit smaller. So then I insta-stalked her boyfriend, found his email, and asked him to confirm her size. She's a half size smaller than me, but can wear 7s when there aren't 6.5s. Huzzah!

Alas, Wanida had rehearsals the night of our the last Groove Therapy class so I had to pass on her gift to her fill-in teacher and friend. Wanida messaged me soon as she opened her gift, and she was super stoked so YAY to Other People's Happiness! Couldn't think of anyone more deserving. She has honestly perked me up this year, helped me feel empowered and gotten my mind off some personal issues because I'm not moping about at home at the start of each week.

The aptly named Groove Therapy classes start up this Monday 8th January, 2018 in Brisbane & the Gold Coast (her boy Benny Garcia teaches GC), Tuesdays in Sydney, and Wednesdays in Melbourne. See y'all in class!

I don’t like embarrassing people unless it’s to delight them at the same time, ‘cause otherwise that’s just mean. My latest office prank-practical present was for a team member who eats a can of tuna for lunch every day. You read that right, a single can of tuna a day every day, unless he’s super hungry and then he may have two.

Tuna Breath doesn’t like to make a fuss over his birthday though, so I didn’t know the special day had arrived until I rocked up to work. I sent him a smart ass birthday email - this year I told him he’s by far my favourite person over the age of 100, and wished him a wonderful day. But somehow, this didn’t feel like enough.

So, I pitched an idea to the team - let's get Tuna Breath a comical amount of his favourite tuna, and surprise him when he munches down on a @cake.letters birthday cake. The team got on board, and oh boy was it glorious.

I stacked a poster tube with 14 tins, then taped it up with eBay tape to make it look like an online order. Then got a fancy looking gift box to make it look like we got him something sincere. Then, as a third and final joke, got him a single carrot that I individually wrapped for dietary balance (you should eat your veggies, kids).

The unboxing was perfect. He turned red as soon as he saw the tuna in the poster tube. Then, we deliberately put the nice, gift box on a table instead of handing it to him so he wouldn't feel the weight of it; he just needed to lift the lid and uncover the tissue paper, then BAM! more tuna tins. He nearly died when saw the 21 cans in the box. He could barely keep it together, and I was nearly pissing myself laughing from his reactions 'cause I'm a jerk.

Then he tried to walk away but I surprised him with the carrot - nicely wrapped to look like a pen box so again he was disappointed by our insincerity. His reaction was priceless - so much outrage and appreciation all at once. Ah, it was fun. He hated it at the time, and has put 3 calendar reminders to get me back on my birthday but I heard him telling his sister about it all when she called so I know he secretly loved it.

I never thought my work bestie would be a bit of a jerk whose mind was chaos and creative was genius. I am the complete opposite. I am (too) nice, my mind is orderly and my creative is controlled. Our areas of expertise meant we were desk buddies though, and in no time we bonded over our get shit done work ethic - if not our polar opposite approaches. We unintentionally did the good cop/bad cop act on all shared projects.

Work bestie left the team for the opportunity of a lifetime in Victoria a couple of weeks ago. To make his last day memorable, I plotted with Sweet Cakes to make sure he knew he’d be missed by the team because Other People's Happiness makes us happy. She's a kindred spirit like that.

In the morning, we gifted him his favourite fancy Moleskin diary - but in the financial year so he could replace his calendar year diary and start his new life with a clean slate. This was a genuine gift and totally what he’d expect from me (not that he expected any gifts but, well, have you met me?). This gift also acted as a handy misdirect to make him think this was all he was getting.

When we went for team lunch, I left everyone to their meals long enough for Work bestie to think it was an ordinary team lunch. And when everyone was settled, I stood up and made a big deal to embarrass him then presented him with an “Uninstall Guide” - a parody of the Install Guides he did for the company.

Instead of instructing people on how to install the latest campaign in stores, I instructed people on how to remove him from the company, featuring everyone’s favourite stories and photos of him from the past four years. The surprise worked a treat and he spent the rest of lunch reading the guide and cackling while he shared moments and photos with the crew.

And THEN when he thought it was all over again, I sent a faux Memo to the entire office to action the Uninstall Guide at close of business. And the folks who couldn’t make it to team lunch got a chance to share a laugh with Work bestie.

Then at the end of the day, the whole office gathered to say farewell. It was the perfect send-off.

The other day, I was in Inala doing my weekly Phamly dinner grocery shop with Dad Pham when I saw a little African boy begging and pleading with his mum for a box of Yan Yan in the store. Now, Inala if you recall is the Brisbane suburb where Struggle Street was filmed - it’s not known for wealthy residents with money to burn. I could tell when his Mum repeatedly said no, the way Mum Pham used to tell us no, was because money is tight and she needed to make the most of what she had - not because she didn’t want him to have sweet, sweet sugar.

Watching his shoulder slump as he tried and failed to get his Dad to say yes reminded me of the time I had a full on tantrum - throwing myself on the floor, thrashing about because Mum wouldn’t get me a pink and white jewellery box that was super expensive - $18 - what a brat I was. Dad ended up going back to the shops to get it because I wouldn’t stop crying, but now I’m older I realise she could feed our family for half a week for the price of that dumb (though much beloved, I played with it for years) toy box.

It upset my tummy to see parents who love their child not being able to justify $1.50 for a biscuit and chocolate treat. So I paid the cashier for the tub the little boy was still gripping while his Dad was telling him to put it back, and got an extra one for his brother who was sitting in a pram outside. As I left the shop, I handed the second box to his Dad and told him I got them both for his cute little boys. His dad’s face lit up and when he told his son he could keep the Yan Yan the boy was so happy it nearly made my heart burst. Other people’s happiness, it’s the best.

My acts of Other People's Happiness are usually small things to brighten up some one’s day. They're often temporary bursts of happy, not lasting effects on someone's life. I recently learned one of my small gestures made a difference when I finally met the stranger I’d helped years ago.

This year a project I was working on called for young, inspirational Australian talent. I couldn't think of anyone better than Nasir Sobhani, The Streets Barber, who gives free haircuts to the homeless on his days off from work. It had been years since we'd been in touch, but when I contacted him he was happy to take part.

On the day he flew to Brisbane, I'd considered going on-set to say hi but didn't want to crowd the team so decided to leave them be. A colleague at the shoot told me Nasir wanted to meet me and thank me in person so I made the trek over. I'm so glad I did because I learned how he's gotten his life into an amazing place the past few years.

When I introduced myself, Nasir gave me a big hug and told me he wouldn't have done this project if it wasn't me who had asked. He said yes because he wanted to return my good karma from way back when. My heart nearly burst when he told me. What a kind soul! He flew interstate and gave up his day for me because of one small act years back.

Years earlier I'd reached out to a stranger whose inspirational story moved me to take what little action I could. I was watching The Project on TV when they interviewed a young man who was recovering from addiction, trying to get his life together and walking the streets of Melbourne giving free haircuts to the homeless so that they could have a clean start like he did. He was also looking for paid barber work.

I found his contact details on Instagram and asked if he'd like an introduction to my former employer, who had a barbershop in their store. It was the only thing I could think to do. I couldn't guarantee a job but it was worth a shot. Would you believe it was Nasir's dream to work there? He, being super talented and humble, of course got the job and that's where our story ended. Until recently.

At the shoot, I learned that Nasir finished his studies, and the work experience he got with my old employer helped him get sponsored by another barbershop so he could stay in Australia (speaking of, this Canadian has just been nominated for the 2017 Australian Of The Year Award). Wow! I love when life gives back to good people who do so much for others. Nasir told me he's got exciting things on the horizon that will spread the love and good karma even further than he ever imagined. If you want to follow his journey like I do, check out his Instagram @thestreetsbarber. His posts serve as a reminder that there are good people in the world doing good things, inspiring others to do the same. I feel blessed to have played a small part in his journey, and can't wait to see what this remarkable human does next.

"We may know who we are or we may not. We may be Muslims, Jews or Christians but until our hearts become the mould for every heart we will see only our differences" - Rumi #thestreetsbarber #cleancutcleanstart

A post shared by Nasir Sobhani (@thestreetsbarber) on Dec 25, 2016 at 10:27pm PST