Substation33 employee, Cian, points at a red car in the parking lot next to the industrial bins.
“That car down there motivates me. It’s my dream car – I bought it broken and I’ve fixed it.”
It’s the latest goal in a list that began when the 21-year-old started working at the social enterprise as a teenager.
“My first ever bit of motivation was to buy a $3,000 PC. Coming to work and seeing that on my mind, that just motivated me. I thought, I’m gonna make this happen, and I’m gonna prove everyone wrong who doubted me. I got that, and then I just had to look for the next thing.
The next thing was a BA Falcon, then it was the rental property he moved into with his brother. Now it’s doing up the red car, and Cian is also putting money aside to buy a house.
The list of achievements is made even more impressive by the fact that not so long ago, Cian wasn’t able to motivate himself to get to work.
“I started on the Substation33 rail trail project doing all the whipper-snipping. At the same time, I was still at home playing PC all day long, so I barely showed up. It was a six-month course, and I rocked up for about a month and a half.
“After the course ended, I was at home. From the moment I woke up, which was normally around 6am to about 10 or 11 at night, I was just gaming 24/7.”
But unable to afford any of the in-game purchases he really wanted, and sick of sitting around all day, Cian decided things had to change.
“I thought, I’ve got to move out. I’m about to be 18. I need to sort my life out. I’m an adult now.”
Cian got in touch with Tony again, a year after he’d first been employed to work on the Rail Trail. Tony gave him a second chance, employing him at Canstation. Going back to work wasn’t easy.
“In the early days, I was very socially awkward. I didn’t speak to anyone for my first two months of working. I didn’t even speak to the people I was standing next to all day long.”
But over time, he began to feel more comfortable.
“I started talking to Ty – he’s a really loud, happy guy – and then I started talking to more people, and it felt good.
“Now after four or five years, I can go over to Canstation and I can be like – Hey, how are you doing? – to someone new and not just be stuck in myself going: What if they don’t like me? What if they judge me?
“Tony helped out a lot with that because he’d always just pull me aside to have a chat and see how I was doing mentally and make sure I was okay.”
Cian’s dream is to be an interstate multi-combination truck driver. Through Substation33 he’s been able to get experience operating machinery including truck driving. He’s also gained his forklift ticket.
However, when asked what skills he’s developed at Substation, Cian references different attributes.
“I went from rarely showing up to showing up half an hour early every day to make sure my truck’s good and make sure everything else is set up so there are no faults during the day.
“Now, I’m here bright and early enjoying work and enjoying making money, and I never have the thought: I just want to game all day. I have so much work ethic I didn’t know I had, and Tony brought that out.”
Cian was first employed by Substation33 in 2021. While he’s worked elsewhere since then, what keeps him coming back is the people.
