Despite the great job boom, it seems many Aussies are afraid to take the leap into a new role, though experts say now could be the prime time to do so. But if you are asking yourself what you want to do next, these unusual professions could offer some wild inspiration- if being a professional bridesmaid; giving people electric shocks; or tasting chocolate is your idea of a dream job.
Professional Bridesmaid
Kerstyn Walsh was in her mid-20s when she started a wedding co-ordinator business called ‘Hire a Bridesmaid’.
“(The business) was operating mostly at friends’ and family’s weddings, when a lovely gentleman called and asked if I could be a bridesmaid for his wife-to-be,” Ms Walsh told news.com.au.
Walsh says the man had fallen in love with a woman in Russia eight years prior, and the two of them had moved to Australia and were getting married. The problem was, she didn’t speak English and didn’t know anyone here.
“(He hoped) that I could support her through wedding planning, while he played translator. And we hit it off right away.”
Walsh tends to have a lot of people assume she just gets paid to “wear the bridesmaid dress”.
“It couldn’t be further from the truth. Even when we’re hired as a bridesmaid, we do so much planning and preparation before the day even arrives,” she says.
“On the day itself, we’re the ones who do all the last-minute running around and look after everybody – it’s a wonder I’m not dripping sweat by the time the ceremony starts.”
The 32-year-old says clients often try to keep the arrangement quiet from wedding guests.
“We offer to sign a nondisclosure agreement for our clients so they can feel assured that their secret is safe with us.
“We do come up with a little backstory about how we know each other and how we met, but we try to keep it simple to avoid complications when conversing with family and friends on the day.”
Giving people electric shocks for a living
Sigrid Chambers spends her days “electrocuting people”. Though, she admits, “I don’t advertise it as that because otherwise I wouldn’t have any clients.”
Chambers is the co-founder of Exolt, an Electric Muscle Stimulation (EMS) studio.
“I use specialist medical grade equipment, which delivers electrical impulses to different muscle groups in the body at different levels,” she says.
“And so I control those impulses and get the clients to perform specific exercises while they are having stimulations put into their muscles.”
Chambers says she grew up involved in elite gymnastics, but after working in a corporate job, she suffered a neck injury from “sitting 10 hours a day.”
“That’s when I discovered EMS. So I used it to rehab and try to get out of doing surgery … And after I discovered that I just didn’t understand why people in Australia weren’t doing this.”
After becoming enamoured with the technology, Chambers decided to open her own EMS studio, but “it wasn’t an easy switch.”
“I spent five weeks in Spain and Germany, meeting with quite a lot of people who are deemed the experts in this industry … And then I bought it over here to Australia.”
“Each session might involve setting up all the EMS technology for each person that’s in the session and getting all the settings right, planning the exercise programs, getting all the suits connected to each person, and training them for 20 minutes, while making all the adjustments to the simulations.”
Chambers says EMS attracts many who are “time poor”, as 20 minutes of training with the electric stimulations is equivalent to a full three hours of regular exercise. But she says her favourite clients are those who have “injuries or nerve damage, or neurological disorders, where the connection between their brain and their muscle just is not what it used to be”, as that’s where they see the “best results”.
Chocolate Guide
Kelly Osbourne taste-tested, showcased and sold chocolate at Junee Licorice and Chocolate factory for four years before undertaking a career in nursing. But soon enough, she circled right back around and returned to the factory, saying she was “treated like a part of the family”.
Osborne spends her days tasting chocolate and giving factory tours, but it’s not all as sweet as it sounds.
“I did get concussed by a licorice ball once. It got thrown off the balcony and hit me on the head, (I) had to go to hospital. That was interesting.”
The incident occurred during a game of “vertical licorice bowling,” which involved customers throwing a licorice ball up an old shoot in the factory, to knock down as many skittles as they could.
“When you throw the ball up, sometimes it goes up on the second level, and it would land up where the gift shop is- before we put wire there to stop the ball from going up … So one of the kids ran up there and decided to throw it back down, but didn’t tell me … It just bonked me on the head.
“I literally had to go to hospital. Neil, the owner, called an ambulance. And he came to the hospital with me … It was totally fine. But yeah, wow, it was all fun.”
The former nurse says people assume she mustn’t be able to stomach chocolate outside of her work life. But they couldn’t be more wrong.
“I eat chocolate every day. I need to get a new pair of pants. But you know, it’s definitely a myth when they say you’d get sick of it.”