Year 12 students around Australia are celebrating finishing a significant chapter of their lives and for many, it’s a time where graduates are plagued with the question, “what do you want to do now?”
Many might not have realised that giving out hugs, swinging around obstacle courses, and writing wedding vows could be the answer to their query. But in fact, these odd jobs and more are proving to be the career some Aussies say they would never regret.
Professional cuddler
For Bethany Heap, hugs aren’t just reserved for family and friends – they’re also her profession. The owner of Cuddle Therapy Australia, Heap spends her days managing 28 therapists around the country who offer platonic touch as a therapeutic service.
Some of their clients include people with sensory issues who want to learn to be comfortable with touch, while others are bereaved individuals; aged care patients; or people with disabilities who might not have friends or family around to offer a hug when they need it.
But Heap says Cuddle Therapy’s most important clients are first responders.
“They go through incredibly traumatic experiences. And sometimes they don’t have anyone to decompress with. Or, sometimes they just don’t want to take that trauma home,” she says.
“So they’ll come and see a cuddle therapist, decompress, and then they can go home a little bit fresher, … with the weight off their shoulders.”
However, the former relationship coach says cuddle therapy is often misconstrued as a lewd service.
“Some people question the legitimacy of cuddling as a therapy. However, when you think about the very first act when a baby is born, what do we do? We hold it.”
She says the need for touch, while we learn to live without it a little less, is still felt as an adult. Studies have shown touch to reduce stress, promote physical health and generate oxytocin which makes us feel happy.
The fact that some adults don’t have access to a hug in their everyday lives is “heartbreaking”.
“Everybody deserves a warm hug,” Heap says.
Cuddle therapy normally pays between $100-$200 for an hour session, and how that session looks is entirely “client focused”.
“If a client falls asleep on you, you’ll let them rest … Some people will want to change it up. They’ll want to lie down for a little bit, they’ll want to sit up. Maybe you have a cup of tea, and hold hands and talk.”
An unregulated industry, there are no qualifications required to provide cuddle therapy services, however Heap strongly recommends completing a course in the Cuddle Academy to have the knowledge and support needed to provide the best and most professional service possible.
National Ninja Master
Mitchell Bird has gained his title designing dynamic courses for Ninja Parc locations across Australia, and testing out the ropes on hit show Ninja Warrior. Based in Newcastle, NSW, Bird kicked off his career young, running his own martial arts centre at just 17 years old. After running “four or five” of those centres, he delved into personal training at 19.
“I was always into physical fitness and just love that space and love training myself … And then that kind of just evolved into taking higher roles in that space,” he says.
After owning a gym for a period of time, he accepted a role at Ninja Parc.
“I always had quite a big interest in things like gymnastics, and callisthenics. And a lot of movement based training … So it was kind of an easy transition for me.”
Bird’s prominence in his field soon led him to be chosen as a course tester on Ninja Warrior.
Testers for the extreme obstacle course are people who can “physically do the course but they might not apply to the show.”
“It’s really how they make sure that the course is tough enough, easy enough and balanced enough so that, you know, at least a decent amount of people can get through it.
“It’s quite fun, you get to play around and see what the experience is like without actually being on the show.”
The role of the Ninja Master is varied, Bird says, “whether that’s creating obstacles or thinking up new programming, new activities, we get quite innovative.”
And he says he “couldn’t create a better job” for himself.
“What got me to where I am now is don’t be afraid to take new opportunities and to try new things and to really spend time working out what gets you out of bed in the morning”.
Wedding vow writer
Anita Stevens makes her living writing strangers’ marriage promises for them.
In what started as a copywriting business, the mum of two was approached by a gentleman to write a best man’s speech. He had been seriously ill and as a result had no time to prepare his speech. He was distraught, and Stevens was struck with an idea.
“Wedding speeches might be the only time that they ever do any type of public speaking, and it’s not something that comes natural for people,” she says.
So, she decided to pivot. Now, Stevens writes vows for couples that are “unique to them”, and speeches for mainly “men who are struggling to find the right words, to put it together.”
“They’ve got so much that they want to say, and then it’s hard to kind of get it out. So I help them kind of stitch it together … so it’s gonna make sense” she says.
However, it’s not all good intentions and sweet memories that clients always want to get across.
“I did have a politician who wanted to give a speech at his daughter’s wedding. And there was nothing to do with the couple. It was all key points to do with the campaign. I was like ‘no, you actually need to say something about your daughter,’” she says.
“And he said ‘I’ll have a think about that,’ and I didn’t really hear back from him.”
Stevens says “helping people be able to express what they want to say on probably one of the most important days of their life is rewarding”.
“It’s been something that was actually quite accidental. I’ve pursued something that I probably would never have thought of.
“I enjoy the writing. I enjoy helping people. I like working with lots of different people. So it takes a lot of boxes for me … (I) absolutely don’t regret it.”