JOY BLOG

28 Jun 2024

Diary of a Work Experience Student: Poppy

JOY has been pleased to have Poppy join us as our work experience student this past week. Passionate about the world of music and interviewing, Poppy joined several of our on-air teams this week, taking the opportunity to interview A-list pop stars like Dagny and Fletcher!
On her last day in the office, she shares her memories of the week.

On my very first Monday, I anxiously walked through the doors into the Victorian Pride Center. But I was then warmly welcomed by Josh. From the get go, he was able to give me a detailed tour of the studio, and I was invited to join the week’s huddle. This was a fantastic introduction to everyone in the workplace and all of their different contributions here at JOY! I also met Fly, Kermie’s adorable border collie whom I adore with my whole heart. Throughout the rest of the day, the members of the JOY team were able to walk me through all of the ins and outs of the work that is done here at JOY. Triana taught me how to segue between songs, then Elliot walked me through recording.

I was then presented with the opportunity of interviewing Norwegian pop icon Dagny, to which I enthusiastically accepted. For the rest of the first day, I did a lot of research on Dagny. With all of this info being gathered, I was even able to prepare my own set of questions for the Norwegian pop-star. At the end of the day, I made the decision I was going to shadow a breakfast host. Out of all of the things I had explored on the first day, presenting and talking live on air was a concept that bought me great excitement.

Tuesday morning was a fresh and early start, resulting in me having to wake up at 5:00am to get to the studio in time. However, it was a sacrifice I was willing to make for such an exciting day. When I arrived in the studio, I was introduced to the incredible Rachel Morrison. The first time I was live on air, I was extremely anxious, as I wasn’t sure how to contribute to the discussions. However, by the time we were going to interview Dagny, I was warmed up and ready. Dagny is such an inspiring and fantastic artist, if you haven’t checked out any of her work, I highly recommend it. Dagny was so kind, friendly and welcoming, I loved asking her questions because she always provided us with such genuine and well thought out answers. After the interview, I was joined by the hilarious Soupy, and friendly Tamzyn. I joined them on JOY Daytimes, which was a great laugh. I stayed in the studio for quite a while after that, just watching and observing how everything worked.

Wednesday was a hoot! Another day shadowing the breakfast show, so another day where I had to sacrifice my sleep. I was able to catch up with my bestie Rachel again and I was introduced to the most wholesome, kind and caring and funniest man on Earth, Mr John Deeks! (or Deeksy, as he’s been christened) Deeksy helped me feel more comfortable speaking to a mic, as he spoke to me so casually, and his welcoming nature was able to assist in growing my confidence of being live on air. Out of all of the days this week, Wednesday was the day where I did the most growing. I went from barely being able to utter a sentence and being too far away from the mic, to now speaking clearly and even beating everyone in the ‘Guess that iconic intro’ game that involved our listeners. On the topic of listeners, Wayne from Brisbane, you’re a gem, and I loved watching all the singing videos you’d send to Rachel. Please do karaoke with me next time you’re in Melbourne! I was also given some life changing news on Wednesday; I was going to be interviewing one of my favourite queer artists to ever touch a microphone, the one and only Cari Fletcher (or, commonly known as FLETCHER.) For the rest of the day, I enthusiastically gathered a bunch of questions to ask her, completely buzzing with excitement. To prepare myself, when I got home, I decided to watch the episode of The L Word that the gorgeous FLETCHER made a guest appearance in.

Thursday, I woke up with butterflies in my stomach, extremely ready and looking forward to my interview with FLETCHER. I put on my best perfume, perfected my makeup, and chucked on my favourite beanie. Once again, my bestie Rachel was raring and ready to go into the studio for breakfast. One of the co-hosts for Thursday morning breakfast was Jax, who I aspire to be as cool as when I grow up. We were also joined by co-host, the fabulous Joss. My girl knows how to colour coordinate, I can tell you that for sure! With another successful brekkie show, I was given a huge boost. Then, with that, Rachel and I sat down to call the love of my life. I mean, we sat down to call FLETCHER. I was shaking with nerves. I was almost brought to tears when FLETCHER spoke to me. Her voice is to DIE FOR. I know I’ll be replaying that interview a billion times over. It was so special to connect with an artist who I have idolised for ages, and my respect for her grows every single day. Something insane that happened after our interview was the fact that FLETCHER went onto her next interview with a commercial radio station and even GAVE ME A SHOUTOUT? I still am yet to see what she says, however, I am still going insane over it.

Ah. Friday, the saddest day of the week. Although I couldn’t be too sad for long, as the amazing Rachel and the fantastic Robbie were in the building. I came bearing gifts to express my appreciation for everything she has done for me throughout my work experience at JOY. On Fri-yay brekkie, everyone in the recording studio tried the Clinkers I was giving to Rachel, and we made a game out of trying to guess what colour Clinker we would eat. We then played another classic music game, then fought about the correct amount of Milo to use. And all of my silly friends tuned into JOY, as the FLETCHER interview would be going to air. Then, with all of that done, I ended the day with the final huddle.

I learnt a variety of new skills, made lifelong friends and connections with such inspiring people. I will cherish this life changing experience forever. However, my journey at JOY is far from over. Any opportunity presented to me here, I will take in a heartbeat. I genuinely have so much love and respect for everyone who works here at JOY, thank you all so much for making this such a cool and rewarding opportunity.