Inspire Resource

my life where I knew that being transgender I can be
whoever I want to be and not listen to what everyone
expects the transgender community to be, only
good for certain things, because it was rare to hear a
transexual / transgender person as a manager, doctor,
lawyer, entrepreneur etc... We were always the bottom
of the chain. So after graduating with my diploma I
decided to study a bachelor in business majoring in
marketing and management at AUT university. Being
in class was a little intimidating because everyone was
smart and I was the only transgender person in class
so that motivated me to study smart to reach my goal
in achieving a BA in business. While studying I also
had a part time job at Sky City to make ends meet in
which I was a bartender from 2009-2013. I graduated
with my degree in business in 2013 to which was a
surprise to some of my transgender peers and people
in general because of my party life and the image I
portray as being overly sexual (lol). So in saying that I
broke the stereotype of being transgender and doing
well academically but also people judging you for
your appearance and not knowing there was a brain
underneath all that hair and makeup. As part of my
degree I was a social marketing coordinator for the
New Zealand Aids Foundation in which I helped
coordinate Big Gay Out as well as the Pride Parade
in 2013. I am now currently working as a sales and
service consultant for IAG which is an Australian
insurance company and is the main insurance
company in NSW and one of the biggest in Australia.
I have been working there for a year now and getting
my foot in the door was my goal as the company
I work for are always looking to promote staff into
senior roles such as human resources and recruitment
which is something I see myself doing in the future.
At the moment I also do work with the FAFSWAG
brand which promotes positivity and creativity within
the LGBTQI community where I collaborate with
artists in the community and modeling their work
which interprets elements of traditional Pacific Island
culture and making it modern with an urban twist. In
the future I would like to do my masters in commerce
or maybe branch into another field of study such
as communications and would like to work in a
managerial role and travel the world. My message
to the youth would be to follow your dreams, stay
in school as education is the key to success and to
not follow what your peers are doing because you
think trans people are only good for doing particular
roles but be yourself and make your mark on the
world. You can be whatever you want to be just put
your mind to it, transgender or not it’s time for us to
break the stereotype. If I can do it, you can to. I am
the perfect example of a transgender with a lot of
ambition and determination.
Don’t wait for the future, do it now.