Ellie Cole's Couch - Bree talks breaking down barriers

Breaking barriers down and raising people up

At four years old, Bree was diagnosed with moderate hearing loss. Before that, her mum thought she was just a ‘really naughty kid’.

Until one day, everything changed while Bree was watching football.

"The footy was on the TV and it was on mute, and I lip read what the player said," Bree said.

"And my mum was like, ‘hang on a damn minute’. She took me to the doctor, and they did the testing because they never did it back at birth."

Today, Bree is an employment consultant with APM in Newcastle.

Her personal experience with disability has had a major impact on the way she relates to the people she helps — those seeking employment, and the businesses looking for staff.

When employers don’t have experience employing people with disability, Bree enjoys the process of helping them see the benefits.

"The best part of my job is breaking down that barrier and just watching the employer go- ‘Oh, okay, we can work with this — we've got the skills and the resources from you guys [APM] that we need to help this client. It's not as scary as we thought it was’."

And her experience with disability makes relating to the people she deals with much easier.

"In this job with APM you're dealing with a lot of vulnerable people, and I feel like I've got that ability to be able to empathise with them and put myself in their shoes.

"Having a disability really gave me the secure foundation to say, you know what, I'm in your corner."

APM consultant Bree in a black top speaking into a microphone

Bree, as part of APM in Newcastle is also now embedded in the community, raising awareness and building relationships.

"We do a lot of disability expos, so we're obviously quite known there. And I've worked really hard on a relationship with Jenny's Place in Newcastle.

"They are a women's owned run organisation that focuses on the support for domestic violence and homelessness for women…and if you think about partnerships like that, it enables better communities as well to have that community support there."

Ellie Cole’s Couch

In this incredible series, Ellie sat down with team members from across APM to discuss how their own experience with disability motivates and inspires them to support people with disability.

See more of these conversations and how APM’s diverse and dedicated team members deliver on our shared purpose of enabling better lives, on the Our people page.