Masti: Cobar was a complete unknown for me really. I was concerned that people would find
me too different, whether clients would trust me, being different, coming from a different
place.
What was your sense of your own difference that informed that concern? Was it being
German?
Masti: A little bit, in that I am not Australian born and don’t talk like an Australian. Although
it was more that I was so long in the Northern Rivers area with it’s very particular kind of
culture, which is very ‘new age’. So coming to Cobar, which I thought at its core would be
quite conservative, with mining and farming. I was concerned that people would look at me
and see someone who was too ‘new age’, too different.
It actually wasn’t at all the case. I was really surprised. When I arrived in Cobar I was embraced
by the community. There was a lot of trust placed in me very quickly, which touched me a
lot.
There was actually a positive reaction to me being different. People in Cobar were happy
to come to me because I was not from Cobar. I wasn’t part of the gossip circle and also
because they were looking for new input. Common feedback was “.the way you work is
really different and it’s great”. So there was actually openness to me and my difference.
What qualities do you think you brought that helped you build those connections?
Masti: That I see somebody as a human being. When someone comes in I don’t see what
their race is, what their work or social background is. Yes, we have different preferences,
we like to eat different things, we like to dress differently, we like to socialise with different
people but our core issues with life are all very similar. So I feel that approach helps me tune
in – to work out how to access that person, and their reality.
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