Mike Williams: Nurse > Truckie > Podcaster

In-depth

27 Sept

On The Road Podcast: When Talking the Talk IS Walking the Walk

‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’ was the name of a famous book by John LeCarre. Mike Williams may not have been any of those, but his life has been just as varied.

So let’s substitute tinker, tailor, soldier, spy with Nurse, Truckie, Time & Motion Management, Political Animal, Nurse (again), truckie (again) and Podcaster.

Today, Mike Williams is the voice behind On The Road Podcast – the second episode of which has just hit the airwaves. To understand what led Mike to this venture, we had to delve a little deeper.

Mike has held a trucking license for a long time but he didn’t get behind the wheel seriously until his late 20s.

“I went to university and did a nursing degree. I was still working as an Operating Theatre nurse when I bought my first truck in the late ‘90s. I developed psoriasis which put an end to the Op Theatre side of the profession so I got moved sideways into Anaesthetic & Recovery nursing. The psoriasis progressed and I was moved sideways again into management, which was not where I wanted to be.

“So I left and moved into what they called Time and Motion Management. Some may call it a one man razor gang. It was the American model of tearing the fences down, where basically I went into a business and played the bad guy. I would sack the people they wanted sacked, change the things they wanted changed. Finally they would listen to the outrage of the staff and they would finally sack the bad guy – that being me.

“I did that three of four times until the thought of being universally hated got the better of me so I moved up to North Queensland and worked in remote nursing for a while in aboriginal communities – a much more satisfying and fulfilling role.

“Following on from that came a bit of agency work consulting to mining companies. Then I decided it was time to come back into the real world and I took a job managing the operating theatre of a private hospital in Campbelltown, New South Wales which is where I met my current partner, Rose some nine years ago.”

“In the interim I’d had a trucking company and went back into that industry when I finished up at Campbelltown. Rose gained her MC licence and we did two-up across to Perth for 3 ½ years. With all our time spent on the road we were missing out on family and grandchildren experiences, so Rose went back to work in the medical field while I went to work for Unanderra Tanker Hire at Port Kembla. I have been with them for coming up to 3 years and it will be a cold day in Hell before I leave, such is the quality of this company.”

Somewhere along this path Mike became a bit of a political animal.

“I always had a bit to say, not only about politics but also about trucking. Back in the early 2000’s, you may remember, 60 Minutes did a story where they followed one of Harker Transport’s guys up the highway doing 120 km an hour or something like that. Typical sensationalist journalism, they hunted around until they found the one bad egg in the basket. I was based in Warrnambool and owned a few trucks at the time. It was the usual story – we all speed, we all take drugs, we all do the wrong thing all the time. They fired this bloke, who was a dead set nob-jockey, but mud sticks.

“I wrote an email to the producer telling him how many things they got wrong in that story and I think that was probably the start of it for me. They ran a forum the following week and I flew up to attend it. I got to say my bit which surprisingly most of which they put to air. However, that was my first media lesson where what you say isn’t necessarily what gets reported. Editing has a wonderful way of twisting the truth.

“That led me to believe that the only accurate way to get a message across was to do it yourself. And yes, you have to develop a bit of a thick skin because not everyone is going to agree with you, and that’s fine. At least my truth is getting out there.”

“I gained a little bit of a profile when I did a water run while back. I didn’t do it for any recognition but simply because I was pissed off that the woman didn’t have any rainwater. I had a tanker and I thought why can’t I take some to her? It was as simple as that. When I decided to do my own pod cast, On The Road, I had people who were willing to help as they knew that I would walk-the-walk, not just talk-the-talk.

“So here we are today with Episode two of On The Road out there for all to listen to. Amongst other things we talk about Razorback with Barry Grimson who was heavily involved. I was amazed when I mentioned it in episode one, that a number of people came back to me asking me what Razorback was! We also talk about the North Connex Tunnel which is creating a bit of heat, and plenty of other stuff. Hopefully people will come along for the ride.”

On The Road Podcast will be aired thrice weekly on the Big Rigs Podcast show. You can find it on Soundcloud or at www.ontheroadpodcast.com.au where you can hear Episodes 1 & 2.

Here is Episode 3:

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