Natalia Gomez · 46 min
A Colombian veterinarian who gave up her career, her health, and her comfort zone to rebuild her professional life from scratch in Australia, and now helps other overseas-trained vets do the same.
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Natalia Gomez arrived in Australia at 18 on a student visa and fell in love with the country. Back in Colombia, she had just finished her veterinary degree and started a small business, but something about her home culture didn't sit right with her. She saw machismo in the men around her, impossible beauty standards for women, and attitudes toward animals that troubled her. When she decided to stay in Australia permanently, she had to start from nothing.
For the first few years, Natalia worked pizza shops, coffee bars, cleaned Airbnbs, and eventually became an au pair. She kept applying for vet nursing jobs but got rejected repeatedly. After sending 77 resumes with only two callbacks, she almost gave up. Then she asked Dr. Ben, an Iranian immigrant vet who'd been through the same struggle, if she could volunteer one day a week. He said yes. That Monday volunteering position changed everything. Within six months of adding his name to her references, employers started calling.
Next came the Australian veterinary exam. While working full-time in emergency vet nursing, Natalia studied for months in a tiny apartment overlooking Bronte Beach, too locked into study mode to ever leave her desk. The intensity developed an autoimmune disease and weight gain, but she passed. Now she helps other overseas-trained vets navigate the same process through study courses she created with another Argentine vet. She's also adamant about one thing: migrants who stay only with people from their own culture, eating home food and speaking their home language, get trapped in a cycle where they never truly belong. Australia is home for her, no ambiguity. She wouldn't trade it for anything.
“I knew that I wanted to stay and I knew that I was going to do everything I could to stay here.”
“I was honestly depressed. I really had like a really sad moment in that time.”
“It's very sad to have a degree behind you and not do anything with it because you're scared of the journey. You don't know how to proceed.”
The hero, today
Natalia chose to learn English and integrate with local Australians in her first year rather than stay within a Spanish-speaking community, because she knew that staying comfortable with people from her own culture would keep her behind an invisible barrier she would never cross. Getting professional registration in a new country is difficult but not impossible, and the first step is to sit down and research the professional board's website, then collect paperwork, because most people procrastinate because they feel overwhelmed, not because the process itself is too hard. Dr. Ben, an Iranian immigrant vet who had been through the same struggle, offered Natalia a volunteering position when she asked, which changed everything because having Australian experience on her resume meant employers started calling her back immediately. Natalia developed an autoimmune disease and gained weight while working full-time and studying for the exam, but she does not wish she had done things differently because at the time she had no way of knowing how to structure a study plan or manage her ADHD around the intensity of preparing for the qualification. When Natalia felt burned out and questioned whether the exam was worth sacrificing her life for, a small book of motivational quotes reminded her that a hard moment does not mean the whole journey will be hard, and that one difficult week does not determine the next eight months. Natalia tells skilled migrants that if they migrate to another country only to spend all their time with people from home, eating home food, and speaking their home language, they will stay trapped in a cycle where they feel they do not belong, no matter how long they stay.
Yes. Natalia Gomez is a real person who shared their own story in their own words. Kintsugi Heroes is a not-for-profit that shares first-person stories of overcoming adversity, told with the person's consent.
Kintsugi Heroes, a registered Australian not-for-profit. Every story is shared with the hero's own consent and reviewed under Kintsugi Heroes' trauma-informed content standard before it goes public.
Natalia chose to learn English and integrate with local Australians in her first year rather than stay within a Spanish-speaking community, because she knew that staying comfortable with people from her own culture would keep her behind an invisible barrier she would never cross.
Getting professional registration in a new country is difficult but not impossible, and the first step is to sit down and research the professional board's website, then collect paperwork, because most people procrastinate because they feel overwhelmed, not because the process itself is too hard.
Dr. Ben, an Iranian immigrant vet who had been through the same struggle, offered Natalia a volunteering position when she asked, which changed everything because having Australian experience on her resume meant employers started calling her back immediately.
Emma Bellamy-Dodd (Host) · 00:15
Hello and welcome to From There to Here, the podcast where we get real about what it takes to build a new life far from home. I'm your host, Emma Bellamy, and today I'm joined by Natalia Gomez, who moved from Colombia to Australia about 8 years ago. Back home, Natalia was a veterinarian running her own pet rehab clinic, but when she arrived here, she had to start over, taking on jobs like cleaning, waitressing, and working as an au pair, all far from her original career. Determined to return to her passion, Natalia spent years preparing for the tough Australian veterinary exam. Now she's living her dream as a vet in Australia and helping other immigrants do the same. If you want an honest look at what it takes to rebuild your career and life in a new country, you'll want to hear this conversation. Let's dive in. Natalia Gomez, thank you so much for being on the show. I'm really excited to talk about your journey from Colombia to Australia, but as well more broadly about your path to reestablishing your career as a veterinarian and helping other immigrants do the same. Let's dive right into what caused you to leave your country. Can you share with us what motivated this decision?
Natalia Gomez (Guest) · 01:50
So I came to Australia to study English when I was 18 years old. I really wanted to go to a country with a beach lifestyle and more of, you know, the no worries mindset. I went to the Gold Coast for 6 months and I completely fell in love with the Australian culture and then also beautiful landscapes, the beaches, nature, animals. Yeah, so that's why I fell in love with Australia.
Emma Bellamy-Dodd (Host) · 02:23
So you were 18, then you came back to Colombia, and then what made you take the decision to come back? Because there is a difference between, you know, you experience it, you fall in love a bit as a tourist, but then to make the decision to leave everything behind and start over somewhere completely different is another.
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Natalia developed an autoimmune disease and gained weight while working full-time and studying for the exam, but she does not wish she had done things differently because at the time she had no way of knowing how to structure a study plan or manage her ADHD around the intensity of preparing for the qualification.
This conversation includes a teenager falls in love with australia, what she could not find in colombian culture, the jobs that kept her alive, twelve girls in one unit, seventy-seven resumes and one offer and locked into study mode.
Natalia Gomez (Guest) · 02:40
So it's very interesting. I always liked being overseas. There was something about Colombian culture that didn't really resonate with me. So when I was 13, I went to Canada for like 3 months to a summer camp and like study English. And I just loved the way things like are built overseas, how things are so clean on the streets, how you don't see any stray dogs, how there is not much robbery. I'm sure there is, but it's not like South America in a way that you have to be aware of what you have of your phone, of your bag all the time. You don't have this sense of freedom. So I realized that I really liked other countries other than Colombia. I just didn't like the culture. I went to Argentina as well to study cooking, and even though in South America they say that Argentina is the Europe of South America, I completely disagree with that. This is still South America, 100%. Didn't like it at all.
Emma Bellamy-Dodd (Host) · 03:44
I think that this is So interesting that you did not really vibe with your culture. There is something within your culture that you resisted and decided that you wanted to leave behind.
Natalia Gomez (Guest) · 03:56
So when I was growing up, just to give you a little bit of context, my biological father left my mom when I was like newborn baby, pretty much. He was just the type of guy that wanted to be with different women. In fact, I do have like 13 different siblings from different mothers with my biological father. So my mom raised me on her own. Unfortunately, when I was about 12 or 11, she went into a really abusive relationship with a very machista male. And for people that are not from South America, Machista is a strong sense of male dominance that is present in many Latin American cultures and also overseas places like the Emirates kind of culture. And the bad thing about South America or Colombia is that women actually support this behavior without even realizing they are doing it. So I realized at an early age that men were very machista in South America because of my mom, you know, she was always raising me on her own. She was luckily always super hardworking woman. But yeah, she ended up with this guy. They were together for a very long time, almost like 14 years. He was living in my mom's apartment. She bought her first apartment with money from her company and he was helping paying the groceries, but my mom was doing the other things because my mom always said to me, Never allow for a man to pay for absolutely everything. You need your own independence because if the guy will ever cheat on you and he's paying for everything, he's paying for the home, he's paying for the groceries, he's paying for everything, you have no way to say, by the way, you're cheating on me, and he will be like, what are you talking about? Like, I'm paying for absolutely everything. And you don't have the power as a woman to do that if you depend 100% economically on a guy. So my mom really taught me that from a very early age. And anyway, she was with this guy and he was just a clear example of machista. The other thing about Colombia is that women are hypersexualized. So what I mean by that is that there is a strong emphasis on physical appearance for women. The beauty standards are so high and plastic surgery is extremely common. I am not against it. The problem with plastic surgery in South America is that plastic surgery is expected for you as a woman. It's pretty much expected. So if you have a nose with a hook, shame on you. You get a nose job when you're like 15 years old, pretty much. If you have no boobs, again, shame on you. You need to get a boob job. In fact, if a guy from Australia or like, I don't know, Canada, thinking about a Latin American girl, they think about curves and all of those things. But yeah, it's ingrained in our culture. So those two things just really did not resonate with me. And then the other thing was the treatment of animals and wildlife. I understand that Colombia, South America, is a developing country and there are a lot of people that are poor, but the treatment or the attitudes towards animal welfare differ significantly in some parts of Colombia and not necessarily the poor areas. Also, you can see people with lots of money that don't care about the welfare of animals, and you see that they don't treat animals with care and respect. Of course, there's a lot of people that do. I'm not generalizing, but when I came to Australia, it clicked on me. I had that moment of realization that this is what I don't like about Colombia, because in Australia it's just completely different. So yes, those are the reasons why I pretty much just wasn't happy. Yeah, over there.
Emma Bellamy-Dodd (Host) · 08:03
Yeah. And you decided to stay. And I think there is something about leaving your country and exploring another one that allows you to question and challenge the norms within your own culture. It's a way of really finding your own voice because a lot of the culture is something that you passively receive. You don't really question it when you are in it, but then when you encounter another culture, you're like, wow, this thing about my culture is not something that aligns with my personal values. And I think there is this beautiful thing where you get to cherry-pick the elements of the cultures that resonate with you, that align with your values. And so by leaving to Australia, you probably had the, oh, I feel like the women are a bit more empowered. Beauty is perhaps a bit less emphasized than in the Colombian culture. Wildlife is more respected, this aligns with who I am more.
Natalia Gomez (Guest) · 08:59
Exactly.
Emma Bellamy-Dodd (Host) · 09:00
So you arrive in Australia and I know that your living conditions and your work situation were far from ideal when you arrived. Can you tell us a bit more about that?
Natalia Gomez (Guest) · 09:11
I think that's the case for the majority of people that move to Australia. So when I moved to Australia, I had started already a small company, a small business. And it was kind of doing well. And my mom thought that I was completely insane by the fact that I wanted to come back to Australia. So it wasn't easy to convince my mom, of course. I had just finished university and even though I had this little company, I still didn't have enough money to come to Australia. So I needed the support of my mom. I decided to sell the business. I gave all the money to my mom because she's the one that gave me the money to even start the business. And she used that money to kind of send me to Australia. And I knew that it wasn't going to be easy. I knew it from the beginning. I wasn't expecting another Australian holiday. Like, I knew that I wanted to stay and I knew that I was going to do everything I could to stay here. So I started work. My first job was in a pizza shop. That shop and I was cutting pizza ingredients and working as a waitress and taking phone orders, which was really difficult to take the phone orders because in that time, Uber Eats didn't exist actually. So when I was taking the orders, people will give you the address on the phone and they would tell you the different street names and it was just a constant struggle and people get very impatient on the phone. So I was like, oh, can you please explain spell Willoughby, and they were like, oh, W-I-B-L-O-U-G-H-B-Y. And I was like, oh, can you do it slower? And it was just, it was just terrible. But yes, so that was tricky. But anyway, I was working on the weekends. Then I moved off that job and I started working when my English was improving as a coffee all-rounder, called in that time. So you work in a coffee shop in the mornings. Um, you help with everything. You help doing the sandwiches, you help cleaning. I learned how to make coffee, taking orders on the till. So like just doing everything, right? And I kind of enjoyed that job quite a bit because it was more interactive towards people in the mornings. And I had multiple jobs. The list goes on and on. I then also worked as a cleaner, cleaning Airbnbs. Yeah, a friend tried to get me into working as a hostess in a bar at nighttime. So you go there and they give you like a table and you are with all of these beautiful women from South America or whatever. And you're kind of, they give you like, you know, alcohol. Like you have to pretend that you're partying and having fun. And that way more people or guys will come in. You have to be super friendly with the guys and smile with the guys. And I am just not that type of person. Like, I'm super friendly, of course, but with my friends. And there I was trapped in there without knowing they were going to pay me like $100 for being there like an hour and a half. I hated it with all my life. The guys were like, oh, come to my table, babe. We have this, we have that. And if you were not friendly, the people from the bar will say like, like, why are you not being friendly? And I was like, you know what, fuck this. And I left, left without even getting the payment. And I was like, this is just the most horrible job that a woman could do in Australia. Like, why on earth would you do this to yourself? I prefer to work as a waitress, cutting pizza ingredients, cleaning, than working on a bar at nighttime as a hostess pretending that I like all of these machista guys. That was just so horrible. Anyway, my life-changing job in Australia was realizing what an au pair was. And I feel like everyone that wants to migrate to Australia has to know that. I imagine you knew because au pair is like a French term, isn't it?
Emma Bellamy-Dodd (Host) · 13:07
Yes.
Natalia Gomez (Guest) · 13:07
Yes, exactly. I had no idea. No one told me about it. So in Australia, everyone knows that the biggest expense you have is paying rent, right? And when we arrived to Australia, we all went to live in a nice place where the beach is, where all the people are, the vibes. And I wanted to live in Bondi, of course, but renting Bondi was just so expensive. So I ended up living in a unit with like 3 rooms and we were 12 girls living there.
Emma Bellamy-Dodd (Host) · 13:38
Oh, wow.
Natalia Gomez (Guest) · 13:39
It was insane. Like literally one room had a double bed and a single bed. And I was sharing their bed with another girl, and they took the wardrobe away and they put another single bed in there.
Emma Bellamy-Dodd (Host) · 13:52
Oh my God.
Natalia Gomez (Guest) · 13:52
Crazy. Anyway, I was living in Bondi, and then I found out about au pair, probably like after 2 years of being in Australia, not even like in the very beginning. So what an au pair is, is you get a room and 3 meals a day, and in exchange, you work taking care of babies or little kids with a family. So I did that and I moved to a house in Tamaroma and that changed my life because then I didn't have the stress of paying rent or food as well. And it's such a chill job. Like, I remember when I was working with all the other jobs, I would get home and my feet were so painful because I would be standing up all day. I even developed like a type of tendinitis in the arch of my feet. It was so horribly painful. I had to go to a chiropractor. And the reason why I got it is because from the moment I woke up from 6:00 AM until the moment I got back home, I was standing up. And working as an au pair was just so refreshing. I really enjoyed that and it really, really helped with my mental health and my financial circumstances in Australia.
Emma Bellamy-Dodd (Host) · 15:12
When did you feel ready to re-embark on the journey of re-qualifying as a vet?
Natalia Gomez (Guest) · 15:19
Going back a little bit, when I graduated from my vet university, I didn't want to be a vet. I was like, yes, fine, I finished my degree, but I don't want to work as a vet in South America. But when I came to Australia again, the second time, I realized again of the connection that people have with wildlife, with dogs, with animals. And I just loved it. And I started to apply to jobs related to my profession. In that case was a vet nurse because I couldn't work as a vet because you need to do a bunch of things to get your Australian registration. And no one would give me a job. It was impossible because I didn't have experience in Australia. You send your CV, but it's all about South America. No one would call me and I kind of gave up easily, to be honest, at the beginning, because I was settling into Australia, trying to survive financially, trying to get other jobs, improving my English. Then after a year, when I was more settled working as an au pair, when I knew the dynamics of Australia and everything, I was like, well, first I really need to focus on my English, medical English, and I'm gonna literally apply to every single vet nursing job I see. And if I can get a volunteering position, I'll apply. So at that time, I remember there was the Taronga Zoo. They often have positions for volunteering. And I was like, oh my God, I'm going to apply. I am a vet. Of course they will give me the job. And I applied without realizing that it was incredibly difficult, the amount of people that apply to those jobs. Not the job, the volunteering position is insane. Anyway, I went through some filters in the interviewing process and I didn't get it. And I was devastated, Emma, when I didn't get that volunteering position because I thought that it was going to open up the doors for me in the animal industry. And I was so sure as well that I was going to get it. You know, my ego was super high. I was like, oh, I'm a vet. Like, of course they're going to, you benefit so much from me, they don't have to pay me. And my world just came down. I was just sad, depressed. I was like, I'll never be able to work as a professional in Australia. And I want to stay, but I don't want to stay working as a waitress. I don't want to stay working as a babysitter. Like, if I want to stay, I want to have a good life. I wanted to get some fulfillment as well for my career in Australia. And it was a moment that I gave up because applying for jobs is another job. You sit down and look and have to create cover letters for every single job. It's just another job. It takes so much time and energy and I was just so over it. And I was honestly depressed. I really had like a really sad moment in that time, but my partner, he was so supportive. He said, don't give up. I know that you you will eventually get a job, just keep looking, someone will eventually give you an opportunity. And he always was against me applying to that volunteering position in the zoo anyway. He says that it wasn't conducive to my professional goals, even though I thought so, and he was completely right. So in South America, there is a saying that is everything happens for a reason, like It all happens for some reason, and that is completely right. In that moment, I didn't understand, but now that I know how the dynamics of the zoo work, what do you have to do as a volunteer there, it would have been a massive waste of time and I would have been so disappointed. So it was actually really good that I didn't get it. And then I started again. And I remember that over the next kind of 3 months, I sent— I never forget this number. 77 resumes in total to different vet nursing positions, and I only got 2 calls back.
Emma Bellamy-Dodd (Host) · 19:21
Wow.
Natalia Gomez (Guest) · 19:22
One of them, I got a call back on an interview. I went there and even though I'm a vet, working as a vet nurse is completely different. We as veterinarians are hopeless as working as vet nurses. So the vet and owner of the practice asked me all of these questions. About specific vocabulary and procedures and protocols in Australia. I had no idea. So of course he didn't give me the job. And the other one that called me back, I went there. He also asked me the vaccination protocol in Australia and he took out some surgical instruments and asked me the names. And I was like, well, I know the name in Spanish, but I don't know the name in English. Anyway, I knew I was not going to get it. And then when the interview finished, I was like, his name is Dr. Ben. He's actually from Iran. And I was like, uh, Dr. Ben, I know I'm not gonna get the job, but I just want you to know that I'm very interested in even doing a volunteering position once a week. I'm very happy to help you walking the dogs from hospital or cleaning the cages or doing the washing. And then he looked at me and he's like, oh, you know that I went through the things you're going through. I was like, what do you mean? He's like, yeah. I am from Iran and I moved to Australia and I had to do the Australian veterinary examination to get my registration. But before that, I tried to get a job as a vet nurse and no one would give me a job as a vet nurse. And I was like, oh my God, I could not believe it because when I met him, honestly, he looked Australian to me. I didn't pick up on his accent. His English was really good. Maybe an Australian would have, but you know, I had been in Australia for a long one and a half years or something. I didn't pick up on his accent, so I just couldn't believe it. And then he didn't give me the job, but he did allow me to go to his practice once a week for a volunteering position. So I went there every Monday to help with, you know, silly things, but it was great. I loved it. And after 6 months, I updated my CV. On the references, I put his name and like the other nurses. And I got calls straight away. That was a life changer. And then I got a job in another practice and that was paid. And that's how eventually my career started to happen in Australia.
Emma Bellamy-Dodd (Host) · 21:41
Wow. I like that it started with an immigrant giving you a chance, because I feel that when you have been through it yourself, you become so much more empathetic toward people who are at the beginning of their journey.
Natalia Gomez (Guest) · 21:55
That is so true. Yeah, 100%.
Emma Bellamy-Dodd (Host) · 21:59
And so you started to have professional experiences, but on the side, at some point you decided to study for the Australian Veterinary Exam, and that was another game, right? It was a complete different challenge.
Natalia Gomez (Guest) · 22:14
100%. Yeah. So then when I was working as a nurse, I decided that I was going to start studying for the exam, and I didn't know how to. I started to get all the paperwork together. You send the eligibility assessment through, you pay for it because you pretty much have to apply to sit the exam. They don't accept everyone. You have to make sure that your university is on the list of world universities, and if it's not there, you can't apply, and you need to pay for the assessments. So I did that. And then they said to me, yes, you can sit the exam. And then I paid for the first part of the exam, which is a multiple choice question exam, but that's it. They don't give you anything in terms of resources or what you need to study. No, you just pay and that's it. They tell you, okay, the exam is on the 15th of April. Good luck. And you're like, wow, what do I do now? So it was very difficult. To figure it out, what to study, how to study. I was working full-time as a vet nurse in emergency, and I was living in Sydney with my partner and we needed to pay rent. And in Australia, I love that everything is about gender equality, right? And my partner was so supportive, but you know, we still needed to pitch in, half-half for things. So I was studying for the exam while I was working full-time, doing night shifts as an emergency nurse. That was very difficult in terms of organizing my time. I really had to give up on life outside work because I just didn't have enough time. I was living at that time in a shoebox in front of the beach at Bronte, literally a shoebox with my partner, but it was the most beautiful location. The most beautiful location right in front of Bronte Beach. You just had to cross the street and you will be at the beach. Our balcony was literally looking at the beach. It was amazing. And I remember that in that time I was studying for the exam and my study desk was in front of the balcony and I would look to my right and I would just see the beautiful day. And I just never had the time to go down there because I always had to study. And I have ADHD, so I mean, you're a psychologist, I'm sure you will understand. For ADHD, you're not like, oh, I'm going to study for 3 hours, then I'm going to have a 20-hour break and go to the beach, and then I'll come back and I study for another 2 hours, then I can cook lunch, then I study for another 5 hours. With ADHD, it's all or nothing. I knew that if I was sitting down, I can get hyper-focused. But then if I go to the beach, it's over. There is no way that I can just come back and sit down on my desk. I would probably see a friend or I would stay swimming or tanning, then I would go and get lunch. So for me, it was all or nothing. Unfortunately, you don't have that in your brain. Like you don't have that within you. So I would literally wake up, study for like 8 hours. And during the week when I was working, it was very difficult, but I would still kind of try to do 2 hours. But that's the thing, you know, on the weekends I needed to just smash it. So I really never got to go for a dinner on Friday night or do much exercise or go to the beach. And as a result, I developed an autoimmune disease. I developed Hashimoto's and I gained weight and I became grumpy and miserable, but eventually I passed the exam. Yeah.
Emma Bellamy-Dodd (Host) · 25:56
And that's a big sacrifice to pay, I think, when you have to study for something so intense and you see that your health is not doing well, but you think that that's the price to pay. When you look back at this, do you wish you had done anything differently?
Natalia Gomez (Guest) · 26:12
Yes and no. I guess very easily I can say. Oh, I wish I would have had a study plan to follow and schedule study time in your actual calendar, knowing what you're going to study. But that is not easy to do. Like I can say it now because I help overseas vets go through this journey and I know what things you need to study. I know how to create a study plan, but in that moment I had no idea. So even if someone would have said to me, okay, Natalia, please take your calendar, lock in every single day, what time are you going to study and select the topics that you're going to study? Like I would still, it's overwhelming to kind of get started. It's just so difficult. So there is no guidance for that exam and it's still the same right now. You pay and that's it. Good luck. We'll see you in April.
Emma Bellamy-Dodd (Host) · 27:08
Wow.
Natalia Gomez (Guest) · 27:09
Yeah.
Emma Bellamy-Dodd (Host) · 27:10
So tell us actually about the programs that you've designed to help all the overseas students who want to take the exam.
Natalia Gomez (Guest) · 27:18
Yeah. So when I passed the first part of the exam, I realized that there was kind of like a gap and that overseas veterinarians needed a hand and a help on, hey, this is what you need to study. This is a study plan. Focus on this, not on that, and do this, don't do that. Make sure you still lock in time for your mental health and go to yoga or do exercise because that's so important as well. So with another veterinarian from Argentina, I could have never done that on my own. We created the first Australian website with two different courses for people to prepare for the Australian veterinary exam, and you can You can pay a course with us and you have a 6-month course where we give you everything. We meet every 2 weeks online to keep you accountable. And we give people all the study plan, but also the study materials. And we'll also tell them where can you get additional information. And then there is another course where they can practice practice questions. So that's been really good. I'm super proud of that. It's a lot of work, but it has made a massive difference with a lot of overseas vets that want to do the exam. Because when I was working as a vet nurse, I met quite a few vet nurses from overseas that were vets, but they were so scared of the exam that they were like, nah, I'm never doing it. I just, I'm not going through that hell of a journey. I'm not doing it. Sadly, there's a lot of veterinarians that don't do it because they're scared of the journey. In South America, people think that registering as a professional overseas, like if you're a doctor, I'm sure a lawyer, like going through those exams to get your registration is the most difficult thing that a person can do in their professional journey. I would say it is true, but it's not impossible. People have this thing in their mind that it's impossible. And you have a lot of people that migrate to Australia that are doctors or lawyers or psychologists, and they're driving Ubers, they're working as a barista, or they are working as a cleaner. And I'm not saying that that is a bad thing to do, but it's very sad to have a degree behind you and not do anything with it because you're scared of the journey. You don't know how to proceed. I feel like if you are a professional living in Australia, you have to try hard to get your profession registered in Australia and work as a professional. And yes, it is difficult, but it is doable. If you really try, you can do it.
Emma Bellamy-Dodd (Host) · 30:15
Well, on that, do you have any advice or any words of wisdom wisdom for all of the skilled migrants out there who would like to requalify in Australia or overseas and have not yet taken the commitment to this journey because it's a process?
Natalia Gomez (Guest) · 30:33
Yeah. So I think that what I've seen with my students, the most difficult thing is to start because people say, oh yeah, I'd like to get my registration as a doctor. Oh, but like, I don't know how to do it. And people get so stressed. They don't know. The paperwork, they don't know how it works, and they just get so stressed that that feeling of stress and overwhelming makes them procrastinate because they're busy with their current jobs, they're busy at home, they have life commitments, they just procrastinate it and postpone it and postpone it and postpone it just because it's so overwhelming. It's actually not that hard to get started. The first thing that you need to know is, okay, I'm going to sit down, I'm going to dedicate the next hour on researching on What is it that I have to do? So every profession will have a board. So for example, veterinarians have the Australian Veterinarians Board Council. And if you go to the website, there's actually information and all the steps in the website on all the things you have to do. Grab a cup of tea, sit down and research and start creating notes on your phone. Collecting the paperwork takes so much time. This is something that people don't know. You need a lot of paperwork from your home country. It's insane the amount of time that it takes because English is not our first language. We need to do an English test and we need to get a very high score on all the sections, which is very difficult. I see that as an impediment as well for my students. People think that, oh, I've been living in Australia for 5 years, I'll be fine. And people don't prepare themselves for the English test. And they fail. The English test is expensive. They apply again, they fail, and then they give up because it's not about how good or bad is your English. It's about understanding the exam and knowing what they are expecting from you and knowing how the questions work so you pass because you need a very high score. It's like an academic score. So yeah, that's my kind of First step, like don't get overwhelmed about everything because you don't know and it seems too much. Just sit down, allocate time, start researching on Google and then collect the paperwork. It takes a lot of time and then focus on the English exam. That also takes a lot of time and that's how you start.
Emma Bellamy-Dodd (Host) · 33:01
Yeah. So I guess to sum up, it's taking it one step at a time, having clarity about all the steps that you need in order to get to your goal. And just focusing on one step at a time in a way that is not overwhelming.
Natalia Gomez (Guest) · 33:16
Exactly.
Emma Bellamy-Dodd (Host) · 33:17
And yeah, and putting all the preparation you can, understanding the rules of the game before you play.
Natalia Gomez (Guest) · 33:23
Yeah, exactly.
Emma Bellamy-Dodd (Host) · 33:25
Yeah. So do you have a book, a movie, or any other type of content that you would like to recommend to our audience?
Natalia Gomez (Guest) · 33:34
Yes, but it's a very silly book. It's not like philosophical book or anything like that. In fact, I may have it here. So when I was on all of this journey, studying for the exam, working full-time, there were a lot of the times that I felt like I had no energy to continue or that I couldn't do it anymore. I questioned if it was worth it. You start to negotiate a bargain with yourself. You start to be like, oh, at the end of the day, I have a good life. If I work as a barista, I would still be able to pay rent and afford things. In Australia, you can have a pretty good life with an average income. It's not that you need to be a millionaire to have a good life. So you kind of start bargaining with yourself and keeping up with the motivation is not easy. There was a time that I was particularly sad. I just didn't have the energies to continue. I burnt out in my vet nurse job as an emergency nurse. Too long hours. I was doing night shifts. I was always tired. I had already paid the exam and I wasn't able to study much because I was always exhausted. Before going to work, I stopped in a coffee shop in Bondi and they happened to have a lot of books and the line was massive. And I was waiting and then I was like, oh, I just saw a little book and it is this one. It's called You've Got This. I got this from Dominique. Bertolucci, and yes, I just started reading and it's about motivational quotes. And I read one that really resonated with me on that day. And it really filled me up with that motivation that I was lacking. And I realized that it was just a moment I was going through, but it didn't mean it was permanent. And because I didn't get the time to study on the past week, it didn't mean that it was going to be like that for the next 8 months. And then I bought the book and I loved it because every single day before studying, I would open it up and read a motivational quote. And that really helped me.
Emma Bellamy-Dodd (Host) · 35:37
I love that. It's really good advice, and particularly for those who don't have the time to read a book, because I imagine when you are studying, working at the same time, reading a book is a luxury you do not have. So having quotes like that, it's a very short format, but it gives you the motivation, I think is a really good thing to do for yourself.
Natalia Gomez (Guest) · 35:57
That book really boosts my confidence and that's what I was lacking in that specific time of my life.
Emma Bellamy-Dodd (Host) · 36:06
Do you have any guests you would like to hear on the podcast?
Natalia Gomez (Guest) · 36:09
I guess Dr. Ben would be amazing. He has two companies in Australia and he migrated as a vet like me and he is just such an inspiration. Inspiration to me, and I will be forever grateful with him. And I love to hear his journey because I really don't know his journey in detail. And another friend of mine, he's Colombian. He has been living in Australia, I don't know, for 14 years. He's an architect. He has a little bit of a similar mindset to me, like he loves Australia. He kind of agrees with my ideas about South America. So it's kind of very interesting to see that I wasn't kind of Crazy.
Emma Bellamy-Dodd (Host) · 36:52
Well, let's get in contact with them. I have two questions that I like to ask my guests at the end of the podcast. And the first one is, what does the word migrant evoke for you?
Natalia Gomez (Guest) · 37:04
I guess migrant for me, it's a person that leaves their home to look for better living conditions, or they look for better opportunities, even if means that it's going to be a hard journey, they still do it.
Emma Bellamy-Dodd (Host) · 37:23
So I guess if you had to sum it up in one word, it would be what? Courage?
Natalia Gomez (Guest) · 37:28
100%. I think it would be courage. Yeah, that would be a good word. A person that migrates has courage.
Emma Bellamy-Dodd (Host) · 37:35
Yeah.
Natalia Gomez (Guest) · 37:35
Even if they are leaving their country because of horrible conditions and abuse, they still need courage to leave, right?
Emma Bellamy-Dodd (Host) · 37:45
Yeah, definitely. And the second question I like to ask is about the Australian identity. And we've had, had this conversation before. I know that you feel like Australia is your home 100%. And so I wonder what you think made you feel so integrated within Australian society. And the reason why I ask that is I know many people don't feel the same way. So perhaps you've done something that they can try in order to feel like they belong here?
Natalia Gomez (Guest) · 38:16
So when I moved, I realized that every person from each specific country ends up hanging out with more people from the same country. So for example, Mexicans would be with Mexicans or Spanish-speaking people would be hanging out with Spanish-speaking people, Asians with Asians, Indians with Indians. Always. And I just, I just, I was, it just blew my mind. I was like, why would you move to Australia if you're going to hang out from people with your same country? And then I realized that because it's hard coming to Australia or to a foreign country, that is your comfort zone. Being with the people that grew up in your culture, your country, speak the same language, just feels like home. Away from home. But the problem with doing that, it's that the first 6 months to a year, it's critical for your adaptation into Australia and a new culture. English is super important to being able to blend in with the culture. And if you're always hanging out with people from your country, you will never pass that barrier. It's like an invisible barrier. That people have that a lot of people don't overcome. So I realized that, and I was like, okay, I moved to Australia, it's a beautiful country. Of course I would love to go to the Colombian supermarket and buy Colombian food, and of course I would love to go to the Colombian bar in the city. Of course I would love to go to a barbecue at the beach with all the South American people, but I am not going to do that because that means that I'm not going to learn about the local culture, learn about what locals speak like, what are the slangs they use, what are the things they like to do, why do they prefer on a Saturday to start drinking beers at 2 PM and they go to bed at 9:30 PM. Like, I want to understand all of that, and if I don't make the effort, to get out of that bubble, I will never be able to understand what life in Australia is like for a local. And when locals notice that you make that effort, they welcome you into their culture. Even if they hear you using slangs with your silly accent, Australia is a very welcoming culture, I find. And when you make the effort they welcome you in. But if you oppose, even by just hanging out with people from your own culture, you're destined to never, never ever being able to adapt to Australia, and you're always going to be missing home. Don't get me wrong, of course I get nostalgic sometimes and I miss home 100%, but home for me is also Australia, and I love it, and I would I would not trade it for anything else. And that's the advice that I would give to people.
Emma Bellamy-Dodd (Host) · 41:20
I like what you say in the sense that you have to be the first to initiate it. Otherwise, it's just not gonna happen. You can stay in this in-between for a very long time where you are physically here, but your heart is not here. The way you behave is still immersed with your previous culture. And that's not the way you are going to make a life here.
Natalia Gomez (Guest) · 41:45
To give you an example, so I realized, let's say you're Colombian like me and you join the English school, you have no friends and it's easier to make friends with those that speak your same language. It feels comfortable and natural. It just feels natural. You hear someone speaking your same language and you're like, ah, hi, where are you from? Like, are you from Colombia? Colombia, way easier, you connect faster, and all of a sudden you feel like you belong. And then on the break time at the English school, now you're hanging out with people that only speak Spanish, and then you're looking for a place to live, and then they're like, oh, by the way, I'm also looking for a place to live, do you want to come and live with me? And then all of a sudden now you're also living in a place that everyone speaks the same language, and then you are looking for a job, and then Of course, friends within that same bubble, they're like, oh, I work at Guzmán y Gómez. They're looking for a person to work at the till. Do you want to come and work for us? And then you work at Guzmán y Gómez and you're speaking Spanish all the time. You're eating Spanish food all the time and you're hanging out with Spanish people all the time. And then time passes and it's going to be 6 months. It's going to be 8 months. It's going to be a year. And then every time you have the opportunity, you go back to South America to visit, and then when you come back, everything just seems like you don't belong to Australia, but you always want to hang out with the same people because you feel comfortable and you get trapped in that cycle. And that's why people, I think, in my opinion, don't adapt. And you see it happening for every single person from every different cultures. And then you meet people that have been in Australia for 8 years and still have a broken English with a very strong accent. And then you wonder why they haven't learned. It's because they're always hanging out with people that speak the same language.
Emma Bellamy-Dodd (Host) · 43:34
Yeah. And that's really detrimental to feeling like you belong. So I think if I take the main idea from what you said, it's about forcing yourself to go into a place of discomfort and perhaps as well confront solitude because you're going to feel lonely during that transition. Where you don't have your friends, you don't have people who remind you of what you know, you are completely thrown into the unknown. And being able to sit in that is a very difficult thing, but you need to force you to do that.
Natalia Gomez (Guest) · 44:07
You need to force yourself to do that. Exactly.
Emma Bellamy-Dodd (Host) · 44:10
So for those who would like to contact you, they can go on the Brainy Billby website?
Natalia Gomez (Guest) · 44:15
Yeah, that's right. So it's brainybillby.com. Brainylikebrain and bilbiliketheanimal.com.au, but also I guess Instagram. I am on Instagram. It's Natalia Devette.
Emma Bellamy-Dodd (Host) · 44:29
Natalia Devette. I will put the link on the show notes so people can click on it and contact you directly. And I know that you welcome anyone who wants to get in touch. So please, you know, feel free to get in touch with Natalia if you want to have a chat. So Natalia, thank you so much for sharing so openly your story, all the challenges that you faced. You know that you are the first person I've interviewed who arrived in Australia as an adult, who's gone through some difficult things and yet feel 100% Australia is home and has no ambiguity about it. So I think that your perspective on this is quite unique and I hope that the listeners are going to be interested in hearing about it.
Natalia Gomez (Guest) · 45:14
Thank you. Yeah, that's very nice to know. I love Australia, it's the best thing that has happened to my life. I'm very happy to be here and thanks for having me. And I hope that this helps other migrants, right?
Emma Bellamy-Dodd (Host) · 45:25
That's the plan. That's the plan. Thank you for listening to the show. I I hope you enjoyed my conversation with Natalia and the story she has shared. If you did and want to help the podcast grow, make sure you follow us and show us some love with likes and stars in the ratings. Your support helps more than I can say. Next week, I will be interviewing Abdi Aden, a former refugee from Somalia who has an unbelievable story story that will leave you in awe. I was your host, Emma Bellamy, and I cannot wait to bring you on another journey from there to here.
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