Episode Sixteen - The Constable Turned Childcare Educator

0:00:04 - (Nicole): It's time to bring your kid to work.

0:00:07 - (Nicole): Hey everyone, it's time to bring your kid to work. It's the podcast that explores the world of work through the eyes of parents and their kids. Each week we interview one parent and their child to chat about what they do for work, what they like, what they don't like and how they got there in the first place. Let's find out who we're talking to today. This is our last episode in season one of the show, but it's a cracker.

0:00:32 - (Nicole): Our guests today are Sandi and her grownup son Ahrie. For 19 years, Sandy Trembath has been a constable in the Queensland Police Service. As a single mum, she managed the challenge of policing while parenting by becoming an adopter cop in schools. She likens her role in community policing to that of a social worker. Except, unlike a guest we'll have next season who is a social worker, Sandi had to carry a gun. But after 19 years, Sandi is in full transformation mode, taking extended leave to pursue a new passion education. Sandi's training to be an early childhood educator with a view to become a teacher. She brings with her her grown up son Ahrie. Ahrie's aiming to become an Olympian. Training and weightlifting while studying exercise physiology and being a personal trainer.

0:01:23 - (Nicole): These two are a busy, very driven and special pair who clearly believe in each other. You're going to love hearing how this mother and son support one another to achieve their dreams. I wish you'd been in the room with me to see them together, but we've captured it all in audio for your listening pleasure. So let's get on with the show.

0:01:42 - (Nicole): Welcome to bring your kid to work.

0:01:44 - (Nicole): This episode is called the Constable Turn Childcare educator and I'm really, really excited to welcome two fantastic guests. I'll get my guests to introduce themselves.

0:01:53 - (Sandi): Hi, my name's Sandi Trembath and I policed in West End for about eight years but was with the police for almost 20 years. I'm currently on long service leave and have decided to transition into a new career that is very exciting.

0:02:12 - (Nicole): And so you brought with you your grown up kid. So it's Bring your grown up kid to work today.

0:02:18 - (Sandi): He's still my baby.

0:02:21 - (Ahrie): My name is Ahrie. I am the 23 year old baby. Just Mum and I kind of growing up and I'm keen to hear Mum's story a little bit more in this setting and tell a little bit about my experience and have a good conversation.

0:02:34 - (Nicole): Yeah, I'm excited to do that too. Sandi, you were just saying you were a police officer for a long time, but you are now moving in, transforming your.

0:02:43 - (Sandi): Technically, I still am. I still am a sworn officer because I'm on long service leave. Yeah. But I've taken a role as a traineeship to become an early childhood educator. And I'm doing my Cert three. And so I work and study and I work at a childcare center. I'm just working my way through it. But it has been really tough. It's probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I knew it would be hard, but it has been really tough.

0:03:09 - (Sandi): The analogy I used recently was, could you imagine having a newborn baby at 50?

0:03:16 - (Nicole): No, thank you.

0:03:16 - (Sandi): Yeah, right. That's kind of what it feels like. So you've got this beautiful gift that you've given yourself and you look at that beautiful little baby and your heart fills with love. You're like, oh, my goodness, this is so wonderful. But so hard. Yeah, so that's kind of how I feel.

0:03:33 - (Nicole): That is a really fun and just challenging in a really good way experience, I think, for people to understand that you've been a police officer for so long and yet you've still got dreams and goals and things that you want to do that are completely different.

0:03:50 - (Sandi): I’m just 49 now. So I thought, well, if I'm going to change, I should do it now.

0:03:55 - (Nicole): Because in three years time, you'll be 52. Whether you are an early childhood educator or whether you're still a police officer, that time will still go. Ahrie, you've obviously been with your mum for her entire career in policing. What do you see as the positives from that job that she got out of it?

0:04:12 - (Ahrie): People know my mum's a police officer and then they'll ask me, are you going to be a police officer? And I say, no. I think it's funny how some careers like that, people just assume, oh, your parents did it, so you'll do it. I think it's been really good. Mum and I had a tough time when I was first born, so it gave Mum security and structure when it was just her and I, which was really good. Mum would probably say she always knew she wanted to be a teacher, but she's just taken the longer route to get there.

0:04:39 - (Ahrie): And I think this experience will make her even better than if she started when she was in her 20s. She has so much life experience and she's taught me so much, especially policing in West End. She's educated me a lot about indigenous peoples in the area, how to police. And I think a lot of people my age kind of see the news or see social media and it seems to be very trendy at the moment to hate on the police.

0:05:07 - (Ahrie): Having a parent in the police force gives you such a close connection to realise how hard that job is and how thankless it is. I'm really glad my mum has been a police officer, but it's taken a toll on her and I'm excited to see Mum become a teacher and have a bit more positivity.

0:05:25 - (Nicole): It's really pretty heavy

0:05:26 - (Sandi): And I don't regret it.

0:05:28 - (Nicole): Good, because we're so grateful that you did it.

0:05:30 - (Sandi): Oh, thank you, Nicole. And honestly, the eight years I was in West End is I'm really proud of what I did and what I achieved and I sometimes reflect about people I helped. Proud of that. And I tried to add a different flavour to how policing was done. And often I would say, look, I'm really a social worker, yes, without a degree, but I've got a gun.

0:05:54 - (Nicole): And so you were in West End for eight years. And the reason that I know you is because every time I dropped off my kids at school, I would see you there. And you were telling me that the kids had a name for you when you were a police officer at West End.

0:06:07 - (Sandi): It actually started before that. When I joined the police, Ahrie was four. So how I got to still police and be part of Ahrie's school is I would be an adopt a cop. So I've been in that World, you know, my whole career. When I was Working in South Brisbane, a lovely volunteer worked with me and her grandkids couldn't say constable. They would call me comfortable Sandi. Right. So the name Instead of Constable Sandi, I became Comfortable Sandi and it Just kind of stuck. But now, it's funny, at daycare, I've never really been a huge fan of my body. Like, I always feel like it's a bit big and a bit chunky. But at kindy, I'm a hit with the kids because I'm soft and squishy and they love to just put their hand on your leg or touch your arm because it's soft and it's like I really have become Comfortable Sandy, especially when they sit on me.

0:07:05 - (Nicole): That's the best. So, Ahrie, what is your job?

0:07:08 - (Ahrie): So I work at a Gym, I have a few hats, so I do personal training, I do remedial massage therapy and I'm currently at Uni studying Exercise PhySiology.

0:07:16 - (Nicole): When you're studying exercise physiology, what is that going to get for you at the end? What's your Plan for the.

0:07:23 - (Ahrie): It's been around for a little while now, but it's becoming more well known. So a lot of physiotherapists will deal with acute injuries such as like a sprained ankle, torn ligaments, torn muscles. But there wasn't any allied health practitioners that dealt with people who had heart attacks, people who had strokes, people who had Parkinson's. So doing exercise rehab for a lot of those people. But There's a lot of crossover. Learning how to prescribe exercise in a way that is beneficial and more than like a personal trainer though. So when I finish my degree, I'll take more of a gym, healthy population route. So some people do the degree and go in a hospital and, say someone's had heart bypass surgery, they'll be there with them. That's an exercise physiologist can do that.

0:08:01 - (Nicole): Got you.

0:08:02 - (Ahrie): But I'll do more of a gym role where my favorite people to work with are people around their thirty s to fifty s who have like some knee issues or hip issues and they want to try to improve their health for the long term. They realise they need to look after their body.

0:08:14 - (Nicole): because it's the only one they've got.

Yeah, exactly.

0:08:17 - (Nicole): Is that something you wanted to do when you were a kid?

0:08:20 - (Ahrie): I think when I was a kid I was off my own world. Mum would always say, I'm in Ahrie land. I was a bit of a daydreamer.

0:08:26 - (Nicole): I love it.

0:08:26 - (Ahrie): I was always very sporty, very active. I love Legos. I wanted to build stuff and wanted to be an astronaut and all that. But what I focused on when I got into high school was what things do I enjoy and I enjoyed fitness. So I did a Cert three in personal training. After that I did my remedial massage diploma because that only took a year. I didn't really want to go to uni straight away. I wanted to get a feel for the industry.

0:08:48 - (Ahrie): I think you said something that's really important, that a lot of people look up to these careers in movies, lawyers and doctors, but don't realise the day to day culture. So when I was doing PT and doing massage, I got a feel for the allied health culture and I thought, oh yeah, I belong here and this is what I want to do.

0:09:03 - (Nicole): Right.

0:09:04 - (Ahrie): So then I then committed to the uni degree.

0:09:06 - (Sandi): Yeah.

0:09:07 - (Nicole): So it was a little try before you buy. Almost.

0:09:09 - (Ahrie): Yeah. I highly recommend that if anyone's looking into a career in being a lawyer - try to be an admin person at a law firm, try to get amongst the culture in any sort of way, you can just be around it. And if you can spend a bit of time there getting to know the people, it also makes it way easier to get a job because is that who you know you can work there whilst you study?

0:09:28 - (Nicole): Yeah, that's brilliant advice, actually, because I think you're paying so much in hex and you're committing to that. You do want to test it out first and make sure that it's something that you want to do.

0:09:38 - (Ahrie): That's what Mum's doing with childcare.

0:09:40 - (Sandi): Yeah. You need to think about the environment you're going to be in every day and does that resonate with your soul? So for me, even though I did pretty well at school, but I knew I never wanted to be stuck in an office with gray walls and plural lights and those little cube things, I'm just like, no, I never wanted to wear corporate clothes. I never wanted to be in that environment all day, every day.

0:10:06 - (Sandi): I love an environment where I can move, for one. When young people are thinking about what they want to do, they've got to factor in some of these practical things. Certainly with education and childcare, that's one thing I'm drawn to, which is similar to policing, in that you're not stuck inside. And what I love about the childcare and education environment, you walk into a very colorful environment. There's paint and drawing and it's fun.

0:10:32 - (Ahrie): At uni, you only really start to get an idea about what you're doing till the end of the degree. If we could do a lot more prax and placements at the start of your degree so you can just be around and just shadow. I had the opportunity to do that early in my career at a gym. I think that made all the difference.

0:10:48 - (Nicole): Yeah. Because then you get a taste and you know, is this for me or is this not for me?

0:10:53 - (Ahrie): Yeah. You just even apply the stuff you learn in a better way. I've learned a lot about cardiac rehab, applying ECGs. If I had in my first degree met Joe Smith and Joe Smith had a heart attack and I saw it and I could relate a person to what I'm doing, that would have made the content later on a lot more palatable.

0:11:12 - (Nicole): Sandi, you've been a police officer for 19 years. Was that what you thought you'd do when you were little?

0:11:19 - (Sandi): No, not at all. What did you want to do when you were little? I grew up during the Bjelke Peterson era when there was police corruption. My dad was a barrister, so I grew up with my dad saying things about Queensland Police and corruption and we had nothing to do with police growing up. So to hear my dad, the last thing I would have thought of was being a police officer. I didn't really know what I wanted to be when I grew up.

0:11:45 - (Sandi): I knew I wanted to have a child or children. And I still think to this day, my best job has been a mum, hands down. And this one over here is my proudest achievement.

0:11:56 - (Ahrie): She’s a very good mum. One of the best.

0:11:58 - (Sandi): I'm so proud of him.

0:11:59 - (Nicole): Best one you've ever had, right?

0:12:01 - (Sandi): And I can say he's my favourite because I've only got one. Growing up. Look, I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I guess during high school you get to that point where you've got to sort of think about subject choices and if I had my way again, I'd do it completely differently. I would have done things I loved and enjoyed, where I put a lot of pressure on myself to get a high score and I did subjects. Some I liked, some I hated, but I was going to head towards physiotherapy.

0:12:27 - (Nicole): Yeah, right.

0:12:27 - (Sandi): Because I did a lot of sport. I'd had injuries, I was exposed to a lot of stuff in that area. But then it didn't happen and I ended up going to uni. I ended up doing a business management degree. Within that, I also left the degree and traveled overseas. I always worked in hospitality as well and I love that. I recommend anyone try and get into hospitality. I think you learn so many life skills. So worked in five, got into five star hotels and had a great time in the UK and came back and then settled in and worked in the city at the casino and the hotel side of things for a number of years. And that's where I met Ahrie's dad.

0:13:05 - (Nicole): Right.

0:13:06 - (Sandi): And then I went off on my alternative health route where I studied some massage therapy myself. Well, we decided we wanted to have a baby, Ahrie's dad and I. So I think I fell pregnant at 25. I decided I wanted to finish my degree. I remember being at uni pregnant. That was fun. So got through that and I still remember Ahrie was due in June and he was arming and arming about deferring my exam. I'm so glad I did because obviously he came right during exam block. I still remember giving birth and then two weeks.

0:13:39 - (Sandi): So when he was two weeks old, doing an accounting exam, I'm pretty sure I actually got a six. But I'm so glad I had him young because now that I'm 49, I can go out drinking with my friends and he can pick me up.

0:13:53 - (Nicole): Winning at life. See, you didn't realise you were making that whole plan. It's brilliant. I love it.

0:13:57 - (Sandi): What did you tell people the other day?

0:13:59 - (Ahrie): I joke around at gym that my mum's proudest moment was when I could drive her to the bottle shop.

0:14:05 - (Nicole): So you worked a lot in a lot of different places before you kind of got onto your policing path. But what was your first job Ahrie when you were a kid?

0:14:13 - (Ahrie): A bit of coaching for this martial arts school at Tingalpa. That was really fun. So the gym, it's called progressive martial arts. We had like a mini muscles kind of class, little kids. So I would do like an hour on a Saturday there. That's my first job .

0:14:26 - (Nicole): on a good day for you at work. What's a great day for you when you're at work?

0:14:29 - (Ahrie): I love working with people. A big goal of mine is to help empower people and help them connect their bodies. They just need a bit of guidance. So I love having three clients in the morning, three like 1 hour appointments, having a break during the day. I do my own training and I have my own goals for what I want to do. So I want to go the Olympics for weightlifting and I want to go the Commonwealth Games for weightlifting as well. So I get an element sprinkled in of that, of teaching that skill.

0:14:54 - (Ahrie): A great day for me in the afternoon would be then probably another three clients in the afternoon. So around six clients for a day and training and lots of food and maybe a little nap in between.

0:15:03 - (Sandi): And what about when you get home?

0:15:05 - (Ahrie): Food from Mum. Yeah, Mum's cooking. Mum's the best cook.

0:15:09 - (Nicole): So weightlifting?

0:15:11 - (Ahrie): Yeah.

0:15:11 - (Nicole): That's incredible.

0:15:12 - (Ahrie): Yeah. Thank you.

0:15:13 - (Nicole): What year are you aiming for?

0:15:15 - (Ahrie): I'd love to be able to do the 2026 Commonwealth Games. 2028 Olympics. 2030 Comm Games, 2032 Olympics. That's the kind of window I'm aiming for, to be world class by that age.

0:15:26 - (Nicole): We will get tickets. We will be there.

0:15:29 - (Ahrie): Awesome. It's a lot of work to get there.

0:15:30 - (Nicole): Of course it is. But your job actually helps you get to that. That's pretty darn cool.

0:15:36 - (Ahrie): Probably one of the most rewarding things about my job is people think they can't do something. People are scared and then I'm there to reassure them, support them, and then their body could do more than they ever thought they could.

0:15:47 - (Nicole): Yeah. On your best day at childcare. What does a great day at work feel like?

0:15:52 - (Sandi): The days go pretty quickly and there's never a dull moment. I think for me, the most rewarding thing is I like being there for the kids, but also like being there for the parent. And if you're there for drop off and the child's struggling, but you can help support them and reassure the parents. I really enjoy doing that. And then when the parents come to pick up their child and you can have a little chat about their day and what they did and they're doing really well. And that makes me feel really good and feel like you're doing something worthwhile. And the kids are always doing funny, beautiful stuff.

0:16:26 - (Sandi): I mean, it can be hectic. Don't get me wrong, I have to put my teacher voice on sometimes, but overall, they just melt your heart. And some of the things that come out of their mouths are just gorgeous. And every now and then you'll get, I love you, Miss Sandi.

0:16:41 - (Nicole): I mean, who gets to go to work and hear people tell them that they're loved? That's pretty cool.

0:16:46 - (Sandi): It's so lovely. And one little girl one day may cut out little heart shapes for me. And then. So I come home at the end of the day and all they'll do drawings for me and I come home at the end of the day and empty my pockets and I've got, like, drawings and all this random stuff.

0:16:59 - (Nicole): Sand. Brilliant. When you were policing, what was a great day policing?

0:17:07 - (Sandi): When I got the job at West End, it was a combination of, it's a community policing role with the intention to build better relationships in the community. The boss at West End at the time actually approached me and like, g'day, Trembath. I got this job, I want you to put in for it. I think you'd go all, gee, thanks, boss. So I put in and got the spot and just fully embraced it. But how I worked, because I'd come from crime prevention, which is all about analysing crime and patterns of behavior, looking at what's happening, but how it's happening and why it's happening.

0:17:42 - (Sandi): So there'd be an element of crime prevention. And I sort of had this memory. I'm a bit obsessed with jigsaw puzzles. So I would take all this information in and I'd be looking at pictures of people that were wanted, pictures of people who were trying to identify, and all that would go into my brain and often I'd go to do my patrols. So there would be an intelligence gathering component, a crime solving component.

0:18:04 - (Sandi): But then also the community engagement, but also the social work component. And with time, just developed ways to engage. By the end, when I'd go down and engage, and as I'd walk off, they'd say, we love you. Things like that.

0:18:21 - (Nicole): That's pretty magic.

0:18:22 - (Sandi): Pretty magic. So to be able to build those connections and First nations communities, they would talk amongst each other. So they'd go, that copper girl, she's all right. You can trust her. She'll help you out. And it's not just First nations people. It's when you've been traumatised and you're scared. The last thing you want to do is go to a place where you're going to be scared and more traumatised.

0:18:42 - (Sandi): It's not rocket science, is it? So my view was always to create an environment where people felt safe and felt safe to come. My office, which I was very privileged to have an office, always had essential oils in a vaporiser, plants, a salt lamp, artwork, drawings done by children, a toy caddy, chalk. And people would walk in and they'd go, it feels so good in here. And that was always my intention.

0:19:09 - (Nicole): And being out in the community in which you serve, you get to know people and you get to see patterns, and you get to build trust, and those relationships mean everything.

0:19:19 - (Nicole): And people tell you stuff.

0:19:21 - (Sandi): Yeah.

0:19:21 - (Ahrie): Wouldn't detectives come to you and be like, hey, Sandy, who's this person? So a lot of people would come to Mum to find out who people were, and they would show her a photo, and Mum would be like, oh, that's Joe Smith. And she would just know instantly. And he's probably here at this time. When Mum would do that, that was a great way at letting the detectives know where son was going to be and also facilitated their arrest in a way that decreased the likelihood of it being an incident.

0:19:51 - (Ahrie): It's funny because Mum's job is successful when there's less crime, but it's hard to show the stats for that.

0:19:56 - (Nicole): Yes, exactly.

0:19:57 - (Ahrie): But if you just thought about it for a second, it's pretty clear that Mum had a massive role and a pioneer in that kind of police work.

0:20:05 - (Nicole): Yeah. And so for you, in your mind, Ahrie, what makes a good job?

0:20:09 - (Ahrie): I'm very lucky that my job fulfills a lot of internal love, and I just love what I do. I don't know if everyone needs that. I don't think that everyone needs to have a job that they love, but hopefully people can find something that they do to earn some income that isn't super draining, isn't just like a really big toll in their life. I think certain things is underappreciated. Like, I think probably the most important job in Australia in the world would probably be a barista.

0:20:37 - (Nicole): Yes. They fuel the world

0:20:38 - (Ahrie): I think, you know, the doctors, the surgeons, the police officers, everyone. We couldn't function without baristas.

0:20:48 - (Nicole): Essential workers.

0:20:49 - (Ahrie): It's just funny. A lot of work is tied in the status and money, and it doesn't really always reflect the joy of what people want to do. Probably what I'd recommend for people to do is people have to go internal. I think people need to stop trying to seek answers from the outside. The best thing you can do is just try to sit and try. I just thought, what do I like doing? And I started that journey and then I just kept persevering. There were some times where I thought, should I be doing this? There was hard times like, oh, my God, am I good enough?

0:21:19 - (Ahrie): Can I do this? But I'm really fortunate that Mum facilitated an environment that she supported me.

0:21:25 - (Nicole): Yeah, a lot of kids are fulfilling parent dreams, so it's nice to know that you're fulfilling yours and that your mum is just supporting you.

0:21:32 - (Sandi): There's no point me telling him what to do because he will only do what he wants to do anyway. So I may as well just support that.

0:21:40 - (Nicole): Exactly. What's a good job for you then, Sandi? Because it seems like you're picking up elements of your old job into the new job as well, because that's inherently who you are.

0:21:50 - (Sandi): I think, you know, you bring a skill set. Well, I try to weave everything together and knit all my skills together and use all that. They have a good job look, I think you've got to like it most of the time. I think that's important. I love lots of variety and sort of busyness. Being bored, I'd rather be too busy than bored. There's got to be an element of joy and flow with whatever you're doing. The physical environment is important to me, but also the connections that you have with people at work. Like, I don't go to work. I don't want to be best friends with everyone.

0:22:27 - (Sandi): I think there's a bit of dying, a dying art in terms of exchanging pleasantries where I'm big, that when people arrive at work, you say, good morning, how are you? How you going today? How's your weekend? Or just the, you know, Mary Jane, I noticed you were looking a bit sad the other day. You okay? Or just those little things to create connection, I think are really important in any work environment. But there are some workplaces that you enter where that doesn't exist and I think it creates a bit of a toxic environment.

0:23:00 - (Nicole): People forget to be a human in the world.

0:23:02 - (Sandi): Just disrespect for people. Everyone's different and you've got to embrace differences because everyone brings something to the table. But I think if you think I'm going to have the perfect job and every day is going to be perfect, I feel that you do yourself a disservice. There is no perfect job. But if you like it most of the time, that's good. If you have a sense of purpose, that's good. And you might surprise yourself if you stick with it and work through the hard bits because you come out the other end a better person and it's character building.

0:23:36 - (Sandi): I'm so proud of Ahrie. One thing I love, I learn from him. I do. He designs his life, which is really interesting to watch. So his Instagram is amazing. No, it is amazing. Except my really gushy mum comments that I love to put on there.

0:23:54 - (Ahrie): Pumpkin, I love you so much. Thanks, Mum. 23 Love heart react on there.

0:24:01 - (Sandi): So he has all this stuff going on, but then he'll put a post up. I've got two PT slots at this time. On this day, I've got two massage slots. So he just generates the work himself. So instead of going, I go to work in these times, he goes, actually, I'm going to work here. And here puts it out there. Comes back net minute.

0:24:19 - (Nicole): Yeah.

0:24:20 - (Sandi): And I was so impressed one day when I saw his computer and the scheduling he does for everything. I'm like, wow.

0:24:28 - (Nicole): And that's what you do with the kids in your care, right? You help them to learn that they are capable, more capable than they even know. When it comes to what comes next Sandi, what are you most excited about?

0:24:40 - (Sandi): Oh, that's a tough one. Look, I think it's just important to have a life purpose. Work is important to me. And I bought this little book today. Did your grandma would have had one of these? And they're called Birthday book. And you look up the day you were born and it has a little saying in there. So for my birthday, this is what it says. You give unlimited concentration and enthusiasm to your work.

0:25:05 - (Sandi): You are a leader with your magnetic personality and strong character, sincere and trustworthy. You love as intensely as you were. So that is me. So for me, I don't stop thinking about work. When I go home, I get the feeling, Nicole, I'm not saying we were born on the same day, but I think you might be a little bit like this. As well. So when I policed and I'm dealing with homeless, vulnerable, mentally ill, I would go home and think about them and worry about them and think, how am I going to help? And felt somewhat powerless, especially in a housing shortage crisis.

0:25:41 - (Sandi): But I learned very quickly that now I work with children, I go home and I think about the children and what we're going to do tomorrow. So I'm learning that I love intensely and I work intensely. And so getting those two things aligning is important to me because I do become somewhat obsessive about my work. So I guess I'm looking forward to being obsessive about something that's positive.

0:26:07 - (Nicole): Yeah.

0:26:07 - (Sandi): And that I have a little bit more Control over in the sense of not feeling so powerless to help people, because when you're working with children, it's like, oh, you wet your pants. Listen, I can help you with that. Yeah. Right now you need to sharpen your pencil. I'm on it. You're having some big emotions right now. Come into my office. So I'm hoping that I am able to do a job that's colourful, has lots of variety.

0:26:33 - (Sandi): I can help people and have a little bit better work life balance and a little bit more power in how I can help them. The ability to actually do the thing.

0:26:44 - (Nicole): What does that mean at home for you guys? Bit different coming home.

0:26:47 - (Ahrie): I really wish for Mum that she can find a place with a bit more peace and a little bit less stress. I love supporting Mum, but, yeah, it's been pretty hard to watch her go through some of the heartache with policing. So I think when Mum has her own classroom and her own kids, obviously she has to follow the teaching guideline, but she can do it with her little bit of a flavor.

0:27:10 - (Nicole): Add the Sandi flair.

0:27:11 - (Ahrie): Yeah. Which so many people love. I do wish the police service would consult with my mum. Like, my mum has so much knowledge and understanding of this area and so much in her brain that she could put down and improve the service. She would need help to put that out there and put that on paper about the procedures she would do, where certain little things were, who she would talk to. If anyone is listening to this who is in a role in the police service, I think you should reach out to Sandi Trembarth, because she has a wealth of knowledge. Mum's a true trailblazer and got a lot of awards for what she's done and probably ahead of her time.

0:27:49 - (Ahrie): I think Mum would have kept doing the job if she felt a bit more supported. Is that fair to say

0:27:55 - (Sandi): To some degree, but also my sad bucket was full.

0:27:58 - (Ahrie): I just think my mum has so much skill in the area she was in. It was a whole different way of policing. She could talk about a person and be like, I need to get into contact with them because I know they need a place to stay. And then she would find a way to get them housed. I think Mum's changed the course of many people's lives. And that probably would have been on the streets now, but have been living in secure homes.

0:28:20 - (Ahrie): Or she found someone that was all the way from Gympie and then she got that person in contact with their family, so then they got the help. Mum doesn't always love talking about how awesome she is, but there's so much just knowledge in there that I think should be utilised. But just from a skill standpoint, I loved hearing about what she did.

0:28:39 - (Nicole): I think that's the thing as well. Like you said, with the crime prevention, it's not exactly tangible. The number of people who you have touched within your policing career and whose lives have been made better would be so high, and you won't see them again. They're not going to be able to give you an award, but they will know you and remember you for their whole lives. And I think that's the same thing with teaching. We all remember our favourite teachers because they did something that said that they saw us as a human being. And I think all the skills that you've had and your life experiences that are building up to this, those kids are darn lucky to be able to get you. I'm so pleased for them. And I just love how the two of you, even though you're doing different things and on different paths, you seem to have the similar purpose of caring, compassion, wanting people to grow and show them what they're capable of. And I just love that.

0:29:34 - (Sandi): For me, connecting with children and connecting with their inner world so that they have to help them have a voice and talk about what they're really feeling and thinking is really important, because I know how hard it was for me as a little person trying to navigate my life with a parent with mental illness. Working with children is about helping them, being seen and heard and advocating for them, which is really no different to what I've been doing on the street. So everything ties together.

0:30:00 - (Nicole): Yeah, it does.

0:30:01 - (Sandi): It all dovetails in nice. So you just got to look for it.

0:30:04 - (Nicole): That's it! Guys, we are at the end of our time, but I just wanted to thank you both so much for your time and your openness. I have really loved this chat, so thank you Sandi,

0:30:12 - (Sandi):thank you Nicole,

0:30:16 - (Nicole): thank you Ahrie,

0:30:18 - (Ahrie): Thank you.

0:30:19 - (Nicole): And I'm very excited to be able to cheer for you in 2026. So I'm looking forward to continuing to follow you on Instagram and see that journey unfold because that's really exciting. Thanks guys.

0:30:27 - (Ahrie): Thank you.

0:30:28 - (Sandi): Thank you.

0:30:28 - (Nicole): If you're playing along and you want to win that one litre Frank Green drink bottle, the code word that you need is gingerbread. Slide into the DMs and let me know that you heard the gingerbread and you're in with another chance to win.

Bring your kid to work was recorded in Meeanjin on the lands of the Jaggera and Turrbal people who've been sharing their stories for more than 60,000 years.

0:30:55 - (Nicole): Thanks for listening along to the great stories we've uncovered in season one. We're going to have a little break and be back fresh in the new Year for another season of Bring your kid to work. In the meantime, we'll be replaying some of our favourite episodes, and we may even have a cheeky bonus episode in there too. If you haven't already, make sure you give us a review on your podcast player of choice. It helps other people find the show and follow bring your kid to work and subscribe wherever you're listening now and send your favorite episode to a friend.

0:31:22 - (Nicole): These stories are too good to keep to ourselves. And don't forget to follow us on Instagram and TikTok at bring your kid to work and on Facebook at Bring your kid to work the podcast and did you know? You can join the conversation Join Bring your kid to work career conversations Community on Facebook for great career tips and conversations about the journey of work, workplace culture, and parenting while working.

0:31:45 - (Nicole): If you have an idea for someone for us to interview in season two, please jump online and visit bringyourkidwork.com to drop us an email or DM us through the socials. Thanks again for listening. Bring your kid to work is a Lioness media production. This episode was produced and edited by me Nicole Lessio. Our music is composed by Rikkuo with Graphics and design by Anastasia Mahkuka. Follow Bring your kid to work on your podcast player and all the socials and visit bringyourkidwork.com to see our blog transcripts from our episodes and to sign up to our newsletter for the latest updates.

0:32:20 - (Nicole): Talk to you soon.