WILD VOICES
About Me
I was born in Tasmania, Australia, into a unique animal loving family where my parents' built, owned and operated several of the biggest Wildlife Parks in Tasmania and Eastern Australia at the time.
My parents' love for animals sparked their desire to want to protect and conserve the environment and the animals that inhabit it. They noticed a general disconnect people have with animals and they decided to build a place that not only taught people about wild animals but also assisted in conservation efforts. They noticed that when people would interact with animals, on leaving, they would have a new-found love and purpose for wanting to care about animals and the environment.
I was born into this world where I slowly grew up alongside so many animal friends. What I considered a normal upbringing, like being very content sleeping in a small pen area with baby wombats so mum could keep an eye on all of us, or cuddling my Tasmanian Devil friend Moe (above) I soon learnt this was not a normal childhood at all!
Before the age of 6 we had moved three times through different states in Australia, always heavily involved with animals, either through operating Wildlife Parks or horse and carriage tours.
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As I grew up in this kind of environment I always saw the other animals as friends and remember how they played such a big part in my upbringing, where I could see humans and animals as different but still strangely the same.
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We settled down in a rural area of New South Wales, Australia, where the family business was operating horse and carriage tours though one of Australia's wine regions. I was very involved with the horses, learning to ride at a very young age and always having countless horses on our property.
After leaving high school I enrolled in a year-long Horse Care and Husbandry course. In doing this course I was introduced to a local Horse Whisperer. I approached him and asked if I could volunteer on weekends in exchange for him teaching me some of the amazing things he could do with horses. He agreed, and for about 2 years I worked every weekend at his place, cleaning horse stalls, fixing fences, moving hay and slowly learning a great deal more about horses... And myself.
This kind of working with animals in ways I had never seen other people doing before (including my parents!) was what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to be a Horse Whisperer and show there was another, more unified and totally more compassionate way to work with horses.
It was then I hit a huge hurdle. I was 20 at the time and I had very little people skills. I could train a horse, but then I would have to train the people to do what I was doing to get the same results from their horse.
Being so young in an industry dominated by old ideas and patterns, this was a terrible mix for me. Many times, I was simply laughed at or people would completely ignore what advice I had to share. I ended up giving the whole thing away.
Having lost my motivation for wanting to work with animals, my 20's became almost like a sort of pilgrimage in trying to find out who I was and what I wanted to do in the world.
When I was around 28 and living on the opposite side of the country, I watched a now famous video about an Animal Communicator named Anna Breytenbach communicating with a black leopard. Very different from the more physical sided nature of horse whispering I was used too, I thought it was amazing and it brought me to tears. However, I quickly assumed that it was some special gift an amazingly talented person had, surely, I wasn't that special so I dismissed it.
About a year and a bit later I had what could only be described as a big spiritual awakening. You might also call it a paranormal experience but what was life changing for me at the time was a realiseation that video I had watched about the lady communicating with the leopard was a complete possibility for me too!!
I quickly began looking online for anything I could about Animal Communication, and soon realised this was not a special gift, everyone holds this ability, most have just lost or forgotten this type of intuitive communication. It didn't take long for me to come across the famous Penelope Smith and her lineage of teaching Animal Communication. I found a mentor that had been trained by Penelope directly over many years and I jumped straight into all her courses, communication practices and lots of 1 on 1 mentoring sessions! Over a 4 year period I completed all of the classes and became certified as an Animal Communication teacher.
I have been working professionally as an Animal Communicator since 2018 while living in Jindabyne, the Alpine region of New South Wales, Australia, with my wife and large animal family. I have taken part in hosting Animal Communication workshops and courses both in Australia and the USA. I have been interviewed on local ABC Radio, have been a guest on many podcasts and am currently involved in an international scientific study of Animal Communicators here.
Connecting with animals and nature then sharing that with other people is my biggest life passion and purpose, but I also love spending quiet time outside and really enjoy, hiking, gardening, a little bit of acrylic painting and my meditative martial arts practice. Of course, I look forward to connecting with you too!