The Queen of Safety with Ange Dion | Ep. 11

ByMegan North

My guest on this week’s episode of The True North Show is Ange Dion who brings a wealth and breadth of knowledge around the safety space, she really is The Queen of Safety.  Our conversation covers the work she does in her “corporate” world, but outside of this space she is an incredible speaker and MC who lights up any room as soon as she starts speaking.  Ange has always felt more comfortable with a microphone in her hand and she shares with us how she manages her mental health as well as her physical health while keeping a balance in the work she does.

Ange Dion is a dynamic safety consultant, speaker, and Trainer dedicated to transforming safety cultures within organizations.  Ange is on a mission to empower Directors and their teams in having a safe workplace, from toolbox talks, workshops, keynote talks, or strategic advisory, Ange helps organisations move towards a proactive and practical approach to safety management not a reactive one!

With 20 years of experience across Tier 1 Projects in HVAC, Construction, Tunnelling, and Manufacturing, she brings a proactive and practical approach to safety management.

With a sharp focus on mental health, Management Responsibilities and empowering Women to join the industry, she brings more than a tick and flick strategy to teams so that they lead with confidence.  

Ange has delivered keynotes and training in Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, and Malaysia, sharing real-world insights on workplace safety.  Her passion for safer workplaces and empowering teams is evident in everything she does.

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Transcript:

Megan North (00:00)
Now talking about our lovely guest, today I am joined by an amazing and wonderful woman who I met over two years ago at a weekend workshop for professional speakers. Clearly I didn’t pass.

⁓ Ang Dionne is a dynamic safety consultant, speaker and trainer dedicated to transforming safety cultures within organizations. Ang is on a mission to empower directors and their teams in having a safe workplace from toolbox talks, workshops, keynote talks or strategic advisory. Ang helps organizations move towards a proactive and practical approach.

to safety management, not a reactive one. With 20 years of experience across tier one projects in, is it HVAC, construction, tunneling and manufacturing, she brings a proactive and practical approach to safety management. With a sharp focus on mental health, management responsibilities and empowering women to join the industry, she brings more than a tick and flick strategy to teams.

so they can lead with confidence. Ange has delivered keynotes and training in Sydney, Melbourne, the Gold Coast, and Malaysia, sharing real world insights on workplace safety. Her passion for safer workplaces and empowering teams is evident in everything that she does. Welcome to the show, Ange. I’m really excited that you’re joining us today.

Angie Dion (01:35)
Thank you, Megan. It’s a pleasure to be here.

Megan North (01:37)
How does it sound when I read out your bio in the third person?

Angie Dion (01:40)
Wow. It’s like, oh wow, did I do all that? At Fabulous 53, did I do all that? Probably.

Megan North (01:44)
Hey! ⁓

That’s fantastic. I love it. And I love what you bring to the industry too, particularly from a female perspective. I think it’s really important. And that’s one of the things that I’ve always been drawn to you about is that the work that you do in your space is predominantly male orientated, but you bring that female aspect to it. And yeah, I want to thank you for that because I think it’s really important the work that you’re doing.

Okay, so let’s dive in. has safety always been your passion and purpose?

No. Okay. So what was the defining moment that led you to pursue this area?

Angie Dion (02:36)
I was, I walked into a HVAC company, which is air conditioning, and I was hired to do the service administration role in the office, directing the technicians and the tradesmen as to where to go and in the call center. The guys, once I moved took over the office space, they didn’t like it, they hated it. The director then realized I was a strong character and said, right, I’ve got something else for you. I want to train you in safety. And I was like, what’s that?

And he goes, well, you’ll I’ll put you through college and I’m like, will you? Okay. So I went off to, cause I was a massage therapist at the end of my career and my arms were going out. So I was switching from massage therapy into something to do that was going to be not boring and sit behind a desk job. So he said, look, I’ll train you in this. And then that way you can go from there. So we transitioned into safety. In the beginning, I was like, I hate this, but going out to site a couple of times, I noticed that it was a split between the two. And then I was on site.

And as I kept on going to site, was earning the respect of my fellow teammates. 20 years ago, I one of the first women on construction site. that was pretty much the defining moment that I thought, you know what, I’m going to give this a go. I don’t know where it’s going to go. But right now I’ve got to get out a massage and see what happens. And this is 20 years later and a lot in the space.

Megan North (03:57)
And so what was it about the safety that’s hooked you? Like is it the, I don’t know, the practical side of it? Is it the people side of it? Is it all of the above?

Angie Dion (04:09)
pretty much the people. I’m a people person. I’ve been a hands-on therapist for 20 years in my career. I had to give that up. So I had to go into something else that was going to care about people, empower people, help people. And then even in the safety space, there’s return to work, which basically we want to get injured workers back into the workforce as soon as possible. So that’s why I this is where I’ve got to be. And I quite enjoyed the beginning and didn’t realize I was going to be doing this 20 years later.

Megan North (04:36)
And so would you say this is just one passion and purpose of yours?

Angie Dion (04:41)
My biggest passion and purpose is speaking, and especially with the microphone.

Megan North (04:46)
Yeah, yeah. And it doesn’t matter with your speaking, it in relation to whether it’s safety or emceeing or anything? It’s just you. And what is it about the microphone? What is it? Why is that just such a passion and purpose for you?

Angie Dion (05:02)
Let’s just say when I was growing up and doing the housework, I used to use the broomstick as a microphone. I used to use the vacuum cleaner. We’d do the vacuum, pull the plucking clothes and the song would come on and we’d be singing away in the background. Of course, mum was like, no, don’t even think about it. So there was no, I was never allowed to push your career and speak in singing. So as a good Greek girl, you know, the intention was to grow up, get married and have family, not go out and become a Greek singer.

So that’s the heartfelt, the passion is, and I always say this, I’m anybody’s for microphone.

Megan North (05:38)
You

Angie Dion (05:40)
Others are anybody’s for glass of wine. I’m anybody’s for a microphone. Give me a mic and I’m there.

Megan North (05:46)
Yeah, yeah. And so when ⁓ one of the things that really resonated with me when we were doing our training was, I know it was said a few times that when you’re on stage, it’s not about you, it’s about your audience. And so what what is it about the audience that really lights you up when you’re doing this work?

Angie Dion (06:07)
When I’m speaking to an audience, it’s about empowering them that they need to know this stuff. I know, I read, I study. You don’t get to where I’ve come to in my career if you don’t do the work. Most of my life, if you don’t do the work, nothing’s gonna change. So in my case, it’s about empowering people that are listening to my speaking or my singing or my speech or my presentations.

Yeah.

Megan North (06:37)
Yeah. And so it’s got that real energy about it, about how can you make them feel? I think, isn’t there a saying it’s not, it’s, what is it? It’s not. Yeah. And so do you feel that that’s really in you? Yeah.

Angie Dion (06:46)
remember you for how you feel.

bringing the pink to your safety.

Megan North (06:55)
Bringing the pink to your safety. ⁓ okay. Is that the pink, like as in pink because it’s feminine? It’s,

Angie Dion (07:03)
because I have to remember to be feminine in a male dominated industry. have to leave male dominance here outside when I come home.

Megan North (07:13)
Yeah, yeah. And so how do you do that when you’re in like a male orient, like if you’re on site and it’s really masculine? How do you bring the pink?

Angie Dion (07:23)
I will either turn up in pink vest or I’ve got my, it depends on the site, cause some sites turn their leg into pink, but if I turn up in, if I’m gonna do a presentation, I’m normally wearing high vis, it’s in pink. And then from there on, it’s a matter of heart space. Like we do everything from heart. Go back to the color of love.

Megan North (07:40)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Angie Dion (07:45)
I’m not there to be loved by everybody. I’m there to be liked, but I’m also there to deliver some information.

Megan North (07:52)
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, liked and respected. Yeah, yeah. And when it comes to safety, that respect piece of, you being up there and being the voice, I suppose, of the organization or all the legislation, those sort of things, I think that that respect is really big for you. Yeah, okay. And ⁓ do you, like, what sort of things do you do

⁓ to inspire women to come into the industry. So, yeah.

Angie Dion (08:31)
We might go into schools and have a chat to the students that are in year 10 thinking about leaving year 10. We might, I’m actually a facilitator for an organization where I train white card and construction. And I do the CERT IV and the health and safety representatives training as well. So we’ll come across and we meet people every day. So I always encourage women to step in. ⁓ In my trainings, I always say, look, don’t just get your training and then don’t do anything with it.

Step out, you’ll learn more in the field than you’ll learn behind a desk.

Megan North (09:05)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And is there, ⁓ like what sort of feedback do you get from the women who are like nervous to be going into that industry? Like, is it because it’s too masculine or they don’t have the courage?

Angie Dion (09:21)
Some will have the courage to get started, some don’t. They don’t know where to begin. They don’t know how they’re going to be received. ⁓ The truth is, and the facts are, that we’ve got 13 % of the industry’s female.

However, some of the guys out there are empowering the women to join us. I’ve got a young tradie team that’s in my bear night chapter and they do, he’s a plumber and he’s got a female apprentice. And I was like, ⁓ I love you. And he goes, why? And I go, because you’re supporting women in the workforce. He goes, yeah, she’s really good. And then we’re part of a group called us in trades, where it’s young women in the industry. just hearing their talks that supported by their

Megan North (09:40)
Yes. ⁓

Angie Dion (10:05)
their bosses or sometimes we hear that they’re not supported. However, they’re trying to get the support or earn the respect. In situations we might educate them or give them some tips on confidence. know, don’t let them walk all over you.

Megan North (10:12)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. And so from a mental health perspective, do you what sort of things do you do to prioritize your mental health, your well-being while you’re because I feel like that there’s, you know, there’s really two parts to you, right? Your your deep passion and purpose is the microphone. But then you are very well known in the industry for the safety piece that you do as well. So

Do you feel like that you have different mental health strategies for each of those?

Angie Dion (10:51)
Not necessarily. Ideally, mental health comes across everything you do. My mental health suffered a long time ago. ⁓

I had a nervous breakdown in 2010. So since then, we try not to let others have it around us. So we support other people that are going through tough times, depression, anxiety. I’m a trained ambassador with, I’m trained with company, Calm Training, and I also do a lot of work with mental health first aid so that I don’t, so we don’t let people go too far. Walking on site, there is a lot of mental health. We’ve got a lot of problems in construction, we’ve got a of mental health in

in businesses and there’s a stigma around it and people need to speak about it. And if you’ve been a lived experience like I have and you’ve been there and you’ve done that and you’ve dealt with it and you’ve had to deal with it and like people say, you you’re, you’ve got confidence and you’ve got this and it’s a work in progress.

Megan North (11:38)
Hmm. Yeah.

Yeah.

Angie Dion (11:55)
2025 and I’m still working on my confidence. It’s 2025 and I’m still doing things for my mental health. I will get out of bed early three times a week. In the week, there’s seven days, but three days out of those seven, I’m in the gym. I use spin classes to keep myself physically fit and mentally supercharged. Challenge. I will go for a walk. I stop if things are getting overloaded. I’ll stop and have a coffee break.

Megan North (12:15)
Yes.

Angie Dion (12:22)
which means I might drive down to the local shopping center or I might go out the street, up the road to a local cafe and have coffee. ⁓ I will check in with the team, the girls, the network behind me so that I can debunk or de-stress as I call it. I’ll go over and I need an ear or catch up. ⁓ Family dinner is imperative. I have a huge support network. My family’s one of it and pretty much.

Megan North (12:40)
Yeah.

Angie Dion (12:50)
dinner. I mean, I live with my parents, my parents are upstairs. So, and mom just said before I’ve cooked and I said, great, don’t worry, I’m coming to see you soon as I’m done. She goes, are you going to pop into visit? use yes. Pop up and see mom and dad who are, who are, you know, 83 and 72. And, know, they love visitors as they call us, because we know I live downstairs, they live upstairs. So it just breaks the monotony breaks routine. And wherever I can, I do whatever I need to do to stop

Like I’m consciously aware of what I need to do for Ange so that I can continue serving.

Megan North (13:26)
Yep, yep. Because if your cup isn’t filled and if you’re not in a good space, then you’re no good to anyone else, right?

Angie Dion (13:33)
Absolutely and I have been in that cup where that cup has been runneth over. I’m a giver and a server and I will serve till I can serve no more. ⁓ But at this point in my life I draw the line.

Megan North (13:38)
Yes.

⁓ So two things around that. So do you find that one of the things that I talk to people about from a mental health and wellbeing point of view is when you get overwhelmed, a lot of people say, ⁓ I don’t have an hour to go to the gym. I don’t have an hour to do this. can’t, and what I suggest to them is to have a toolkit.

of lots of different options for different times, right? So if you do have an hour, what would you do? If you’ve got half an hour, what things would you do? If you’ve only got five minutes, what would you do? And so are they the sort of things that you’ve got in your toolkit that you’ve kind of collected over the time?

Angie Dion (14:31)
When I started my weight loss journey a couple of years ago, the dietitian, the doctor said, I want you to walk every day for an hour. And I was like, then I had to spend post surgery and 45 minutes minimum on a treadmill every night. And I was like, so now it’s like you tell me to get on a treadmill and I’ll think about it. But incidental exercise, rather than take the car, go down the street to grab the coffee and come back again. I’m just going to go for a quick walk. It’s going to give me some fresh air.

Megan North (15:00)
Yeah.

Angie Dion (15:00)
Today

I’m not going anywhere. It’s raining. No chance am I leaving the front door. No way. So today I’m going to have to think about something else to do. I’ve taken a bit of a break today to re-energize and to prepare for today, obviously. I took some time out to grab a cup of coffee with my partner. He was going off to work this afternoon. So I said, I’ll take you to the station, drive you to the station with coffee together. Then I’ve come back. I’ve put on an audio book where I wanted to listen to a chapter about some questions about my self-worth.

Megan North (15:13)
Yeah.

Angie Dion (15:29)
And then this evening I’m going up to Mom and Dad’s have dinner. So small incidental things that will take about 15, 20 minutes here or there, that’ll give you your hour without noticing. think, and this is what I encourage my people to do, because when I talk to people, I say, just do what you can. And if you can do 10, one of my seven days is Take 10 Tuesday. And it says, take 10. Take 10 to stop and smell the roses. Take 10 to go and say hello to a stranger.

Take 10 to buy somebody a coffee in a cafe that didn’t see it coming. An act of kindness. Just take 10. Just do something in 10 minutes that you wouldn’t normally do on daily basis. And you’ll see how you feel afterwards.

Megan North (16:10)
Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I love that. really love that because I think it’s important that we have that toolkit filled with lots of different, different options, because as you said, like today, it’s raining like I know I’m in Sydney too, so I don’t want to go out. It’s horrible out there. But then what what what do you do then from a mindful point of view that then you can go, OK, well, I’m not going outside. So what can I do inside?

And I think that it’s a, I’m glad that we’ve explored that because I think that when people are at the edge or they feel overwhelmed, then that shutdown tends to happen because you just don’t know what to do. And I’m like you, I’ve, you know, slowly built up my toolkit with lots of different things. And also I’m the type of person too that I need a bit of variety. Like I couldn’t just be doing the same thing for my mental health every day. need, I need.

I don’t know, I need something that sort of sparks my attention differently, maybe a meditation or a walk or something like that. yeah, okay. And ⁓ what sort of advice would you give to someone who like is listening to this and just struggling at the moment? Like what’s one tip that you could give someone?

Angie Dion (17:35)
The biggest tip I got in my life was that somebody else is suffering worse than you are. That’s what I was always told. And there’s no problem without a solution. There’s always a solution to a problem. Now, the biggest thing I say is if you’re struggling, you need to reach out. You don’t do it on your own.

Megan North (17:52)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Angie Dion (17:56)
A lot of people are great at covering. I was one of them. There’s a lot of people that people please. To a point where you say enough’s enough. Now if you don’t have the strength to say enough is enough, then reach out to someone who’s gonna help you do it.

Megan North (17:58)
yes, Same.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, thank you. I love that. Yeah. Yeah. And so what sort of things do you share with people on site about mental health and wellbeing?

Angie Dion (18:28)
It could be, let’s have a chat, let’s have a coffee. What are you doing to, know, what makes you happy? What are you doing about? What do you like about your work? And most of the times I hear, love my job, but there’s so much pressure here. I don’t know what to do with myself. And I go, well, let’s do what we can in the time that we’re here. No more.

Megan North (18:48)
Yeah, okay.

Yeah, yeah. And just that talking to someone too, isn’t it? It’s just being able to just talk to someone, just yeah, and the listening is really important. Yeah. I haven’t shared this for a while, but I’ve always saying to people that, did you know that the same letters to spell listen is the same letters to spell silent? So powerful. Yeah, yeah.

And so can you share a significant challenge that you faced and how you overcame it to stay aligned with what your passion and your purpose is?

Angie Dion (19:26)
My significant challenge was that I was at 142. Well, twice in my life I weighed three digits. First time was 159.7.

kilos. Went through surgery many years ago, 23 years ago. Lost the whole legal weight and it stopped. But I was always 115 kilos. Then recently we went to it, we hit 142, we up to 142 kilos and I was up climbing the lighthouse at Byron Bay and I thought I was going to die that day. I thought, oh, this is it. I’m not going home to my mum and dad. There’s no way I’m going to see the family again. I was on a retreat.

I was water fasting and it was very dangerous. And I swear I thought I was going to die. And I still, my mentor says, I wasn’t worried about you. I knew you had it in you, but I was like, ⁓ I was worried about me. So it was very hot. was like 38, 40 degrees. It was a summer’s day, but it was, it was bad. So that was my turning point that I thought you’ve come to a point where you’re fighting a losing battle. Nothing seems to be changing.

Megan North (20:23)
What?

Angie Dion (20:35)
There’s something going on on the inside and you’re reclusing. And anybody who knows me knows that my weight never bothered me. Like even at 160 kilos, I would walk into the room and the energy would be giant. I think I’ve got, had more energy when I was overweight than what I have now. Truly. Like I’d walk in and it didn’t matter what size I was. My girlfriend would say, my girls, the girls in my group would say, no matter what you wore, you always look good. Doesn’t matter what size you were. But then at 142 kilos, I’d lost my confidence.

and it was starting to bug me that no matter what I did, then I met the beautiful man in my life who was half my size. So was like, this is not good. I was embarrassed to his hand in public. I was embarrassed to walk be seen with him. And that was to me a defining moment that I needed to do something to bring me back in line to where I wanted to be. Because I was giving up emcee work. wasn’t speaking. wasn’t presenting.

Megan North (21:28)
Really? Wow. Is that why you did Speakers Institute a couple of years ago?

Angie Dion (21:33)
No, no, I did speak as Institute because I want to go next level. I want to be a keynote speaker. I’ve been an emcee in the Greek community for over 30 years. I just do Greek weddings and I sing if someone wants me to come along and sing at their wedding. the idea to go global with the emcee work is fantastic. I could do that in Greece if I wanted to. They’re doing weddings in the summer islands. I could fly to Greece for the summer, do my Greek speaking at the gigs at the weddings and come home and never have another winter again and face this rain, you know.

Megan North (21:37)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Angie Dion (22:01)
But ideally when I went to I went to Speakers Institute because I want to be polished. I want to be a speaker. I want to present well. I’m a facilitator of rooms and I want to go next level. So for me to facilitate and, you know, I’ve presented in Malaysia. I presented in in in Queensland. was I on with the Gold Coast City Council presenting their training there. So I’ve got the experience of training, facilitating. It’s just time to go next level. That’s why I went to Speakers Institute. Want to be paid for the presentations. I want to be known as a keynote speaker in my space.

Megan North (22:30)
Yeah, yeah. And so when you talked about when you lost that confidence, was that before or after you did the bootcamp at speakers?

Angie Dion (22:38)
was before I did the boot camp. when I came to the boot camp I’d had surgery. I’d had started a program and I’d already lost 17 kilos.

Megan North (22:45)
Yes, I remember that. Okay. And so why do you think all of a sudden the confidence went from you if you hadn’t worried about it before? What is it just a moment in time that the universe was nudging you or?

Angie Dion (23:04)
I was a public figure by this stage. Everybody’s watching me.

Megan North (23:06)
Right, okay.

Okay, yeah.

Angie Dion (23:10)
So

I went from, I’ve been in safety for 20 years and everybody knows me. So watching me go from blowing up from 115, 15 kilos to 142. And then when I was on the Gold Coast, I’d lost all this weight and I got down to like 95 kilos or 97 kilos. And I came back to Sydney and just in the last pre-menopause, I’d say probably pre-menopause, it just wasn’t going anywhere. was nothing was working. No matter what I did, it was nothing working.

And it was just like everybody’s watching. The world is watching.

Megan North (23:43)
Right, yeah.

Angie Dion (23:45)
You know, I did Tony Robbins and I did a post saying, these guys are jumping around on screen. I did it, it was virtual because it was in COVID. I said, I’m watching them jump around and I’m tired watching them. My body wants to jump, but I can’t.

Megan North (24:02)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And one of the things that ⁓ people talk about from a mental health point of view is like often the food that we eat can really affect us as well. So do you think that when you were ⁓ at a bigger weight that it was also the food that you were eating that could have been affecting your mental health?

Angie Dion (24:24)
I don’t believe the food that I was eating affected my mental health. I believe my mental health affected the food that I chose to eat. I was very big sugar girl. I loved ice cream and I was anybody’s with ice cream. I could probably go in and buy a liter of ice cream and never share. You’d never got a second spoon with me. And I’d buy the tub and I’d tell them at the shop, don’t give me a liter, I don’t need it. I’m just gonna sit out there and finish it.

Megan North (24:32)
Wow

Angie Dion (24:52)
Ask me now, do I do that? No. Do I want to do that? No. Have I got any sugar cravings? I’ve changed the whole eating spectrum. Things have changed in my life. Now I’m conscious of what I’m doing. It’s a huge difference.

Megan North (25:04)
Yeah,

that’s a, thank you. I’m actually really glad I asked that question because it’s a really great, very different perspective on the way that you talk about that. ⁓ Yeah, and that’s definitely something that I’m gonna ponder on because I think that’s quite deep and insightful that I went this way, but then you looked at it in a completely different perspective. And for me, it actually makes more sense from your perspective.

Angie Dion (25:31)
They say you choose, we choose what we eat, or we are what we eat. We choose what we eat as well. I’ve been with a dietitian for two years, two and a half years from the start of this program. You show us what choices have you made, or what are you doing, or what have you done to not get to where you want to get to. But even still, you can’t do anything on your own. This is the biggest thing people need to realize. Things do not get done by themselves. You don’t grow a business by yourself. As you know, you’re to have a coach, dietitian.

Program, you know, I mean, I don’t have a diet. I have a program, a way of life that I’ve accustomed myself to, to move forward.

Megan North (26:08)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that’s very, yeah. And that’s a really lovely message, ⁓ you know, that one, you don’t need to do it on your own. I think that one of the things is that we, you know, who’s in your inner circle, who can you talk to, who can you reach out to? I think that that’s always a really, really important thing to reflect on all the time.

I don’t know about you, but I have different people that I talk to about different things. know, sometimes I just want someone to I want to sook to someone and I want them to be really loving and not and not them. I don’t want them to challenge me, whereas other times I’m like, OK, I need to be challenged. So I’ll talk to that person. And yeah, I think that it’s really important that the range of people that you have in your inner circle as well, I think is really. Yeah, yeah.

Angie Dion (26:56)
most definitely.

Megan North (27:00)
Or do you think that people get really focused on this is the only career that I can have and I can’t change? No? Good.

Angie Dion (27:11)
If they do, let’s change it.

Megan North (27:13)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think that we need to be able to evolve, right? I think that ⁓ I think it’s okay for people to change. think particularly in this day and age, I think people often have side hustles and, and, ⁓ you know, smaller businesses, or they might be doing two or three different things. So with your change from massage therapy to safety, was the massage therapy something that you didn’t enjoy anymore? Or did you have to change into

to something else because from a health perspective or.

Angie Dion (27:44)
My shoulders went, my shoulders were suffering after nearly 20 years of massaging. In my career as a massage therapist, I always held a part-time job in the mornings and then I’d go out and massage from about lunchtime onwards. So the income came in in the morning and then in the afternoon I was booked out Monday through to Saturday and if somebody cancelled then I didn’t stress because I’d already earned a retainer that paid the mortgage.

Megan North (27:50)
Yes, so.

Right.

Right. Yeah.

Angie Dion (28:14)
But with that, the workload just kept on going. So if I turned up to Megan’s house to give her a massage and Megan’s children wanted a massage, no problem. Next, when I finish here, the next person comes on. So I’d go for one appointment and there’d be two or three at one household. And it just kept on blowing out to the point where I was doing eight or 10 hours of massage a night.

Megan North (28:34)
Right, okay, wow. Okay, right, okay, no wonder you needed to make that change.

Angie Dion (28:36)
Mm.

transition, to get out, went into the air conditioning company, started off doing full-time work with the air conditioning and started to cut back on the massage and then one day the director said look I’m gonna make you offer to take this on but I need you here full-time. I was like okay.

Megan North (28:48)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. It was obviously the right time as well, right? Yeah. Yeah. I just, I always think it’s really interesting to just sort of explore that because I find that I remember when I left my hate. So I was a legal secretary, then I was HR career. And when I left my HR career to now do my business, I had so many people saying, my gosh, I admire your courage for doing this. And for me, I thought, ⁓ really?

you know, this was the next natural thing that I wanted to do. So I was just going to do it. I mean, I had a lot of support behind me, but it just, I like to explore that because I just think it’s a really interesting concept that some people think, well, this is the only thing that I was ever destined to do, but they might never have been passionate about.

Angie Dion (29:42)
I’ve always said that if you love doing something, make that your career. Asajj was always a hobby for me. It became a career. Speaking was a hobby for me. It’s becoming a career.

Megan North (29:51)
Yeah.

Yes.

Angie Dion (29:58)
I love doing what I do. If I don’t enjoy doing something, I won’t do it.

Megan North (30:04)
Yeah, good. Yep.

Angie Dion (30:06)
And people need to realize that if you’re going to go to work every day, it’s your choice whether you want to be an employee or a director. ⁓ If you’re going to be an employee and you’re going to work for someone, then make sure you’re doing what you enjoy.

Megan North (30:18)
Yeah, absolutely. Because there’s a lot of time that we spend. Yes, yeah. And so do you have any rituals or practices or processes that you incorporate into your daily life for you to be grounded and stay focused?

Angie Dion (30:36)
do. I’m one these people that likes to find a happy place. Yep. It’s ⁓ The coffee shop? No, no, could look if I’m in a happy if I’m in a coffee shop I my happy thing is to watch people. So I don’t scroll Facebook or take the phone out and start scrolling. If I’m sitting in a coffee shop where people are coming through I like to people watch. I sometimes I like to watch those maths just to see human behavior.

Megan North (31:05)
⁓ yeah, well…

Angie Dion (31:06)
Not the full series, it might just be random. Might land on it by accident, I might be channel hopping and I’m like, ⁓ this is interesting. Let’s watch how some people react. But ideally I’d like to journal. I do like to, I have a, have a what I call a vision diary. With my little fun and bits and pieces in it that, you know, who’s doing what we want to do over the next so many months and years. And I like to put my little, there’s little post-it notes in it that says,

Megan North (31:16)
Yep.

Angie Dion (31:34)
pick a day and we’ll flick to the day and it gives me hope. hard, stay humble. So just a little reminders. if it’s getting overwhelming, 29th of October says, do you? We ran out of O’s, we had to put a U in there. it just depends. Hey, I can spell, but sometimes you got to improvise. And that’s life. Like sometimes you just have to improvise. things like that. I like to sit somewhere where I can run amok emotionally.

Megan North (31:53)
Yeah.

Angie Dion (32:04)
What do you mean? I just sit there and go, okay, so I’m watching these people, no one knows what I’m doing and I’m just having a field day. Just let it run wild. know, 15 minutes of just don’t think of work, don’t think of anything else, just observe or be in the present moment and let the feelings surface. And you’d be surprised what can come up.

Megan North (32:05)
What? What do you mean?

Brought.

Yeah, yeah.

Angie Dion (32:28)
If something does come up, then I write it down. If today this one made me feel good or, or, you know, look, if it continues raining like this, I’m going to be triggered. I don’t like rain. I’m not a, I’m not a winter girl. I absolutely hate the cold. So I need to work on and your next few days if this weather keeps going, because the momentum will come down. When you’re at a 4.30 in the morning.

Megan North (32:40)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, okay.

Yeah, yeah. And when you said that sitting and observing for 15 minutes and just letting things come up. So is that is that a way of you sort of observing and then ⁓ is it is it your intuition that comes up or is it what you’re seeing with other people then ⁓ might trigger something?

Angie Dion (33:15)
Emotionally, how I’m My intuition, do I feel that I’m in the right space at the right time or do I feel like, might have picked the wrong cafe today. There’s not a good vibe here. It might be that the table next to me has got a couple of people whinging. Negativity, pessimism, it just depends what’s going on around me.

Megan North (33:30)
Yeah.

Yep.

Yep.

Angie Dion (33:41)
You know, there are people outside of my world, obviously, and sometimes they’re not all as happy as we are.

Megan North (33:45)
Yeah, and then you observe that then.

Angie Dion (33:48)
I’m going to over and sit with them for five minutes and see if we can change them. And then I remember that now this is my 15 minutes of coffee time and I’m here to enjoy the space, enjoy the moment. I’m one these people that has a lot of trouble. I’ve got to keep reminding myself to find time to enjoy things.

Megan North (34:10)
Okay, well that surprises me.

Angie Dion (34:13)
things. Mm. I’m very strict. I was brought up in a very strict upbringing. Very structured. Very organized. I have to learn sometimes I just have to remember to relax and enjoy.

Megan North (34:21)
Yeah.

Right, yeah. And I would imagine too that ⁓ the work that you’re doing from a safety perspective as well could also be like quite rigid and structured and ⁓ very process driven, right? So I suppose that that if you’re not taking the moment to be in the moment and to be enjoying other things that you’re doing, then your whole life is in a box and you’re just very boxed, I guess.

Angie Dion (34:56)
Well, you’ve to remember that most people think safety is a tick and flick system. So then you turn up, they think he’s another tick and flicker. You have to then show them that we’re not just another tick and flick solution. We’re real. There’s human interaction here. There’s support. Sometimes there’s doing together tasks.

Megan North (35:02)
Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. Okay, I love that. So journaling really important, just being in a reflective space, reflecting on what’s coming up for you. ⁓ Do you do, are you a meditator? Do you do meditate? Yep.

Angie Dion (35:32)
do meditations. I

will not go and climb a mountain and sit to meditate, no. But I do like to go to the beach to meditate. If there’s beach around, I’ll get there. Sometimes I just sit in a space at home, put on some meditation, a YouTube meditation, meditate with YouTube. I like to meditate myself to sleep sometimes because I do 16 hour days sometimes and it’s, I’ll get home and I’m like, I’m really jizzed up and I’m like, whoa, whoa, whoa. So I let it run until I hit the pillow and it’s like, okay.

myself that this is sleep time. The bedroom is for sleep. And I go to bed for a reason. Let’s get the sojals out now. no. Let’s. If I do put anything on, it’ll be a YouTube meditation that’ll go off in the background and.

Megan North (36:09)
Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. I think that ⁓ I’m really strict with my phone as well. Like at about eight o’clock, I’ll put my phone away because I just, the blue light really affects me from a sleep perspective. But also I tend to, I don’t know why, but when I get a bit tired, then I end up sort of looking at stupid things on.

on social media and then I’m like, why am I looking at this? Like this is not normal. So I just find that from about eight o’clock, that’s it, I’ve got a ritual and yet the phone’s away because I just, I don’t want to be looking at it. So, and my family know that if they need me after that time for a particular reason, they ring my husband cause he’ll always have his phone on him. So yeah.

Angie Dion (37:06)
That’s what I say. Everything can wait till the morning. Yeah. Urgent. There’s a list of people that can come through and they’ll call.

Megan North (37:13)
Yeah,

yeah, exactly. yeah. So what advice would you give someone who is just starting to explore their true passion and purpose?

Angie Dion (37:24)
to ⁓

get themselves a journal ⁓ or a notebook and to sit down and write what they want to do.

day in day out.

Like I said earlier, anything that’s a hobby, anything that’s got passion behind it can become an income.

Megan North (37:49)
Yeah, definitely. Yep.

Angie Dion (37:53)
So find what you’re good at, find what you enjoy doing, and make it a career. And we’ll go and do it.

Megan North (37:59)
Yeah.

Yeah. And I also think too, is that, ⁓ you know, if you’ve got a really good, say you’re working in corporate or something and you’ve got a really good job and you’re starting to explore things, it also doesn’t mean that you’ve got to quit that job to start doing this. Often, you know, do a side thing, you know, start it on the side and see whether, you know, for you in particular, your massage piece became so big.

that then it wasn’t really a hobby anymore, it was really your job.

Angie Dion (38:31)
It was my career for years. was a very good career. However, the body wasn’t following. So I had to switch it up and do something different. But I’ve never, ever been in a one job or one role situation. I like the variety. I love the people say to me, know, how can you on a Saturday night after your whole week, how can you put on get dressed up and go to dinner? I said, I love it. I love it.

Megan North (38:35)
Yes.

Yeah.

because you love it.

Angie Dion (39:01)
I’m not working. I love it. I’m going to get dressed up. Someone’s invited me to their wedding for dinner. I’ll take us on with dinner rotation. Thank you very much. I’m coming. So I’ll go and present. I’ll go and put my gear on and I turn up and they don’t recognize me. I’m like, and I go. I go, your MC. You didn’t look like that when you came to us. I I don’t dress like this to come to see you for coffee. Cause when you meet your MC, we meet before the wedding to discuss the wedding. And then on the night I turn up in corporate gear or nice black, elegant, classy.

Megan North (39:07)
Yeah.

Angie Dion (39:30)
dress seven inch stilettos, hair, makeup, and they go. And that was another reason why I went into hiding because I couldn’t wear them. couldn’t, you know, it just didn’t, the whole concept just didn’t look right.

Megan North (39:34)
Wow, stilettos.

course. Yes. Yeah. Yes. Yes. Yes. And so when when someone asks you to be an emcee for their wedding, is it usually people that you know, or is it a referral? Right. Okay. So they’ve they’ve they’ve seen you before.

Angie Dion (40:02)
at a wedding that the couples that I’ve gone through that I’ve got a call from recently, they were like, they saw me at a wedding. Mind you, they saw me just before I into surgery at 135 kilos. And then they just met me recently and they’re like, are you the same? I it’s gotta be you. I said, it is me. It’s just transformed me, you and me. So they were like, oh, I just remember how you’re, you know, we watched you and we loved everything you did on the day. And I said, there won’t be any different now. Only difference is I’ll be able to wear what I wanna wear.

I’ll be able to pick a nice outfit. I might be 135 kilos.

Megan North (40:37)
Yeah, yeah. And so what is the difference? Like what’s the spark that you bring to emceeing for the weddings?

Angie Dion (40:47)
I always say I’ll bring the bling. I’ll bring the sparkle because you know when I’m in the room, have that, people tell me I’ve got that energy. I have an energy that I come in the room. ⁓ And I’ve always been a confident girl and nothing’s changed. can tell you now, I’ve still got my confidence and I’ll walk in and it’s like, it’s show time. So when I get to the wedding to line up everybody before the wedding, it’s like, okay, now it’s on my cue, my show, it’s your wedding, but it’s my show. So we’re gonna run this ship.

Megan North (40:49)
getting a plane.

Angie Dion (41:16)
Like I’m the captain and they’re on this. Okay. So, and they can see it and they say, you know, we just love how you put it all together. You know, you say you’re to do this and you come out and do this. You say you’re to turn up in black and I ask, you know, what’s the color thing? They get green. Okay. They get joined. And I said, no, I don’t want anything. I just want to know the color. Just send me a picture or show me the material so I can match. I’ll get a rose. I’ll put some accessories on me that and it’s always black with gold bling. And then there’s always a flower of some sort that represents the.

Megan North (41:26)
Yeah.

Angie Dion (41:46)
family or blend in with a bridal party and they go you know you just present so well and I said well I’m in your video and it’s the human connection. You meet the MC before we turn up on the day so you know who I am and you know what I’m gonna bring.

Megan North (41:53)
Yeah.

Yeah, I love that. I love it. And so when you’re talking about so the MCing is really important to you. What else is singing something else that you really want to pursue?

Angie Dion (42:13)
Well, look, let’s just say that I was in Greece last year and I did put my… I applied for the position in the Greek voice and it didn’t come through while I was living in Greece for a year and it came through last night. So I’m like, ⁓ Yeah, but I can’t go because I’m supposed to present tonight at 6pm their time to Athens. And I was like, not physically possible to jump on a plane and get over there. So I replied saying, I’m sorry, I’m currently living in Australia, so I get to miss out. Now, if they come back and say stage two auditions happening in this month, be aware.

Megan North (42:41)
Yeah.

Angie Dion (42:43)
I might go and give it a crack. my passion, my, whole dream would be to be on stage and sing, but

Megan North (42:45)
What?

Angie Dion (42:52)
not something I’m going to pursue. I’d rather pursue, I always say to people I’d rather be known as an inspirational speaker or a motivational speaker or empowered woman speaker than a singer. But we don’t rule out anything that comes through.

Megan North (43:03)
Yep.

Yeah, good. Yeah, don’t say no to, yeah. ⁓

Angie Dion (43:08)
because

I was saying that email, was like… ⁓

Megan North (43:12)
⁓ if only you could time travel.

Angie Dion (43:15)
No, doesn’t matter. Look, I’ve got other things I want to do in the future, so that’s fine. If it’s meant to be, be. And if it’s not, then it’s OK. It wasn’t meant to be a singer.

Megan North (43:26)
Yeah. And so from a speaking perspective, so empowering women in particular, like is it very female orientated?

Angie Dion (43:35)
No, because I’m in the male dominated space and my passion project is ⁓ coming soon and I’ll announce it to you today because I’ve been working on something in the pipeline but we are going into the future is talks and workshops on sneakers, steel caps or stilettos. ⁓ There are three pairs of shoes I normally wear on a daily basis. You’ll either catch me in a pair of sneakers.

Megan North (43:56)
I love that.

Angie Dion (44:03)
pair of steel caps or a pair of stilettos, whichever way I present. Wow. We’ve just hired a little office, so we’re going to be running events on turning up sneakers, steel caps to stilettos. So you’ve got to one of the three to turn up. And of course, we know that a lot of people would wear stilettos and they’re not necessarily female. no discrimination here. Darling, if you want to put the shoes on, you want to wear the bling, you are very welcome to participate. Right.

Megan North (44:18)
Yep.

I love that.

Angie Dion (44:34)
Empowering people to be you. Authentic. Who you want to be. Not who we were told we had to

Megan North (44:35)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yes, yes. And I suppose that comes from, you know, the tradition of how you grew up, right? That your parents, because from a traditional Greek family and background, this is what you did as a woman. But yeah, that’s empowered you to then try and empower others.

Angie Dion (45:00)
allowed to be mechanic ⁓ at school. Year 10 and 11 I spent, year 11 and 12 I spent panel beating a vehicle and motor mechanic, doing motor mechanics at school. But when I come out of school, I wasn’t allowed to become any of the two, wasn’t a trade available to young ladies. So nothing. These days we encourage girls to step into the trades more. More females out in the field.

Megan North (45:17)
Yeah.

Yeah. And so what is your, what does your mom and dad think of like all the things that you’re doing now? Are they because they’re older, they’re kind of like, ⁓ and she just do what you want to do.

Angie Dion (45:33)
⁓ Mum said after, I think, you know, I came home after divorce number two and Mum said, I can’t tell you what to do anymore.

Megan North (45:45)
Right.

Angie Dion (45:46)
Round

three now, I’ve got a beautiful partner. We’re in a happy relationship. We’ve been through nearly four years in September. And I said, everyone’s saying, are you gonna get married? And I’m like, no. And we went overseas for his visa process. We come back and everyone’s like, you gonna get married now? I said, Words go this way. I if anybody wants to get married, I’ll then see you. But please don’t ask me to do it. So mom’s given me advice or telling me what to do or saying, know, the other day she said, don’t do this. I said, 53?

Megan North (45:55)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Angie Dion (46:16)
53 mom and she goes, okay, I didn’t say that. I said, I didn’t listen. can say what you want, but I’m not gonna listen now. So I encourage people to do you because the end of the day, it’s my choice, my decision, my life, my mistakes, my learning.

Megan North (46:33)
Yeah, yep, absolutely. Yeah. And that’s a beautiful segue into can you believe that we’ve only got a few minutes left? I you to go quickly. So I’m going to ask you the same question that I ask all of my guests before we finish our conversation. So, Ange, what is the one lesson or truth that you’ve learned on your journey that you wish you had known earlier?

Angie Dion (47:04)
to show up every day.

even when you don’t feel great. Lead by example. Be kind and help people. Because it’ll all come back in the end. I do everything from heart space, which is something I had learned, didn’t learn from the beginning and learned along the way. ⁓ I do pray or meditate, whichever people want to do, doesn’t matter. And then I’ve learned to trust that things will fall into place when they have to. I can’t rush them.

Megan North (47:37)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I’ve just flashed your QR code up there because if anyone that’s watching wants or needs a, sorry, an amazing MC for their wedding, then Angie’s your gal. Yes, exactly.

Angie Dion (47:57)
We’re open to opportunities.

Megan North (47:59)
Yes, yes and with a few days notice you’ll fly to places if you’re going to fly.

Angie Dion (48:04)
I have put it out there this year that we’re going global.

Megan North (48:06)
Yes, good. I love it. Love it. Love it. And I have no doubt that you will succeed. ⁓ Thank you today for joining us ⁓ and for just sharing everything that you’ve shared. And as I said, like, I really love having people on the show that I’ve known for a while because I just learn more. Like, there’s a couple of things there that you talked about today. I had no idea. So it’s just really nice to just get to know you a little bit more. I’m I’m.

Angie Dion (48:11)
Thank you.

Megan North (48:32)
Just really grateful that you’ve just been really open and honest and shared your journey because if we don’t share these things then people sometimes feel like that they’re alone. So thank you very much.

Angie Dion (48:45)
Thank you, Mimi. Thank you for having me.

Megan North (48:46)
Welcome.

Good.

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