Feature

by Claire Radbourne

In April 2020 I launched my own business, which in many ways was a little unbelievable. People called out of the blue to ask for my thoughts and opinions, they listened – really listened and valued what I had to say. I’ve learned more about myself in the last couple of months than in the previous year. But the truth is that my career journey has not been conventional. At times I felt simultaneously lost and found, I’ve failed more times than I care to remember, there have been late nights and early mornings, failed attempts, technical failures and just all-round disasters. This is a story of discovery and exploration. I’m 35, and moved to Melbourne from London in 2001 with zero friends, having just failed every exam possible at high school. Traditional education did not work for me and I had a really hard time at school. I arrived in a new country with really no dreams, no plans and feeling pretty lost. I was too young to go into higher education, so I went to high school in the western suburbs of Melbourne for about six months. Moving to a new school, aged 17, and

knowing you only have six months until you finish was tough enough. Add to that the pink hair and being the only non-Aussie at the school and you have a rough picture of the next six months. Post-completion (if you can call it that) of my Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE), I started a one-year advanced Diploma in Business, Legal. In all honesty, this was the last course on my VTAC list and was a five-minute walk from my house. Knowing how much I had struggled at school I didn’t see the next 12 months going particularly well but jumped in the deep end anyway. My first day I fell in with a great group and we stuck together for the next 12 months, working together on projects and studying together on weekends and after classes. I finished the year off as one of the course’s top performing students and was offered a direct entry into a Bachelor of Laws which I accepted. That was the leap of a lifetime – first year law is tough enough, but standing in that courtyard on day one with 150 other students who had attained the 90+ ENTER (Equivalent National Tertiary Entrance Rank) score was intimidating and I’m not ashamed to say I was terrified. I felt bound for failure. Above all odds and keeping friends close, I settled in relatively well and after a bumpy start (read as “failed Tax Law”) I got into the swing of things. Reflecting on it now, asking for help at the library in the first week was a smart move. I signed up to every extra workshop or class there was, learning how to reference and access support services if you needed them. I knew that I wasn’t going to find the academic side easy, so I figured getting ahead in other areas was a good start. My biggest mindset shift at university was understanding self-motivation. There was no one to encourage or check in on you if you didn’t hand things in on time or you were struggling – this was your journey and you had to grow the hell

up and own it! I lived about an hour away from campus in the CBD and spent the train ride both ways studying, making the use of the downtime. I knew full well I didn’t have the academic smarts, so I needed to be really disciplined and focused. Once I’d realised there was a direct correlation between how motivated I was to achieve something and the results, I knew I was on to a good thing, powering through a four year degree in just over three. I can’t say I was ever really passionate about being a lawyer; as a child I had wanted to be a flight attendant, a forensic scientist and run the Melbourne Fashion Festival. But once I started, I became particularly interested in the philosophical, ethical and historical elements of study, understanding why and how the law was created. Three years later I graduated valedictorian. During my degree I was employed part- and then full-time, working as a librarian for some time, then working for Victoria University as a Recreation Officer, initially as a short term secondment and progressing over a number of years. I also took on a number of additional voluntary roles to challenge myself, both personally and professionally. I was State President for Tertiary Recreation and Entertainment Victoria (TREV) and then National President for Australian Association of Campus Activities (AACA). These volunteer roles led me to being identified for a role with oOh!media. I’ve been with the business for five and a half years and my current role is Commercial Client Experience Director. I’ve always been passionate about pushing myself and seeing what I could achieve, so in early 2020 I was accepted into a start-up accelerator and launched my own business, TheXword. Fully acknowledging my academic smarts weren’t going to get me to the place I wanted to be, I took on various volunteer and internships over the years. One in particular that will always stick with me was with a lawyer specialising in Wills and Probate. This was in the early 2000s, and I recall he had no filing system at all – just wall-towall paper folders and had no idea how to use a computer. In truth, I’ve always been a big fan of the word “yes”. I’ll say yes to pretty much everything if I think I can learn something new. This has led me to build broad and deep networks which have exposed me to a wide range of industries and experiences. Earlier in the year I volunteered to host a live stage at Pause Fest (the world’s leading festival for business and creativity), where I made some incredible connections both nationally and internationally. I launched TheXword earlier in the year. We aim to educate and empower small business on the benefits of Customer Experience (CX) and how it can be leveraged to improve customer loyalty. I predominantly work with big business in my fulltime role, so I could see the progress that these industries were taking to level-up their CX, putting Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME) at a real disadvantage. TheXword aims to close that gap. For many small businesses, the concept of client experience is a real unknown. There is a perception that customer service is the same as customer experience. The real challenge at the moment is around education – I’m really passionate about upskilling small businesses with the tools and understanding to really upgrade their customers experience with their brand. Looking back I’ve been fortunate to have some incredible mentors in my life. I’m passionate about personal development, so I’ve always valued someone willing to ask me the hard questions. I had a mentor some years ago who really pushed me to connect with people currently employed in roles I could see myself in. That was a game changing experience for me – I learned a lot about what (I thought) I wanted and built some incredible networks. Every experience I’ve had has informed who I am as a person, changing and evolving every day. My university experience (not just academic) pushed me to a place of purposeful, self-motivated work that makes a difference. If I had to give graduates one piece of advice… on the journey of life, take the path less beaten. The well-trodden track is safe and simple, but it won’t get you to the best views.

* * * From high school misfit to Law Valedictorian, Claire Radbourne is the Founder behind awardwinning client experience start up, TheXword. Fiercely determined to achieve anything she sets her mind to, Claire is passionate about empowering and enabling others to champion their pathway, through personal discovery and networking. https://thexword.com.au/