Jack and Ellan are joined this week by Australian-born Paul “Digger” Barrett who owns and runs PB Global Events, specialists in project management and event overlay – yet another different, important role that makes up our diverse industry.
Like almost all of our guests so far, Digger did not set out to work in events. As a country kid from Kangaroo Island in South Australia, where he was an appreciative cabinet-maker, a chance meeting plus a few Jack Daniels on a weekend trip to the big city ended up with him signing up to work at the Melbourne Cup – and the rest, as they say, is history.
The next 30 years saw him travelling and living all over the world, working at all types of large-scale events, from the Olympics and Formula One, to Rolling Stones and U2 concerts. In 2010, whilst working in the UK, he met his “Essex Girl” wife and for the last 10 years has been busy keeping the cogs turning at the Cheltenham Cup, amongst other projects.
Hear how, when lockdown hit in 2020 and all live events were put on hold, Digger cleverly pivoted his business. Calling on his artillery of transferrable skills and loaded book of contacts (two things all seasoned event professional have), he diversified into bio-security – but he’s definitely looking forward to live events starting up again soon!
A staunch advocate of treating people how you would like to be treated, Digger emphasises the importance of building relationships, believing in yourself and giving everything a go! We couldn’t agree more!
