John Lennon beautifully said in his ode to his son Sean:
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.”
And that is absolutely true of Sunshine Wood. Sunny by name, sunny by nature.
Sunshine started her AFTRS Graduate Diploma in Radio and Podcasting, online and part-time, at the start of this year around a casual role working with legendary Tasmanian radio presenter Kim Napier (both pictured, Kim at the front, Sunny behind), on breakfast at ABC Radio Northern Tasmania.
There are three types of audio people. First are those for it’s a lifelong calling (or obsession perhaps). Secondly there are probably the largest group now who have announcer or podcaster just one of a long list of their talents. Thirdly there are those who chance upon it and fall in love, with it never having been on their professional radar beforehand.
Sunny is in the latter category. I wish for her to be a shiny beacon for any of you reading, wherever you are in life right now, that you too can find your career and your people in the audio industry like she has.
Sunshine is an artist by trade, and an animator, having worked for Walt Disney and Yoram Gross as well as galleries including the AGNSW. In her mid-30s she had her son who was discovered to have Down Syndrome after birth. 18 months later she had a daughter who also has additional needs. Sunny’s artistic life and career paused and then stopped as she became a carer and advocate for her children.
In 2022 it was decided that Sydney wasn’t really working for the family any longer and so they packed up and moved to Launceston with a let’s give it two years and see what happens attitude. I reckon if I told Sunny then where she’d be right now, she’d have laughed at me.
Sunny said:
“We came down here and put the kids into a local school. They are thriving. A year in, I started a bit of a healing process. I was on the board of Down Syndrome Tasmania and got a phone call saying, “would you do an interview with ABC Northern Tasmania about Down Syndrome dolls that they had come out last year.
I did the interview with Kim Napier, the interview was terrible by the way because I was emotional, but we got on really well. At the end I said, “It must be fascinating doing what you do.” And she said, “Do you want to come and give it a go?”
Despite no background in radio, I said yes. I started out as a casual last year and I just kept saying yes to all the shifts and learning on the job and loving, loving, loving it!”
The listeners are loving her too. Sunny was self-deprecating about what she offered as a mum with an Arts degree. But I could see from the outset how the unexpected advocacy roles for her children, their needs and education, immersion in a new and welcoming community plus her creative eye for a different spin on a story would benefit the ABC.
Alongside the healing journey came the decision to upskill too.
“I’ve known about AFTRS for a long time because I’m a Sydney girl, and I’d always thought it would be a wonderful thing to do, but never thought I’d get there. I found out that thanks to COVID a distance course was offered and something I now can do.
With two kids with high challenges, I do question whether I’ve bitten off a bit more than I can chew sometimes, but I’m giving it a red-hot go. I went in with no expectations, a lot of hopes and dreams and a lot of fear as well. I hadn’t studied for years. Was there much of my brain left?
Andrea (Andrea Ho) is so amazing, and all the experts she’s bringing in. I’m taking what I’m learning straight onto the job. I’m so lucky.”
This can be you too. You can be as lucky as Sunshine.
I just want to mention a few things that Sunny has done on the job.
For the recent local elections Sunny convinced the team that they should go to the zoo and get a voting leopard. Two boxes with chicken wings were presented to the leopard, one for Labor and one for Liberals (I forgot to ask Sunny if the leopard picked correctly).
She got ghost hunters into the very old Launceston studio buildings this month and did a ghost hunt.
There’s her dress code, bringing her artistic flair to work. From the full Hello Kitty outfit of oversize jumper, tights and massive glitter encrusted shoes that left her boss Lisa Stones agog, to the ongoing personal competition to dazzle Kim daily.
The below Instagram story, Sunny’s first reel, about sensory haircuts, has had more than 50K views:
Although Sunny will be the first to tell you that sports are not her strong suit, she now does a sports report for Kim. Her often quite mysterious and bewildering updates have become so popular that listeners now message asking for “Sunny’s version” when she’s away.
Sunny: “Kim does know her stuff with sports, so she always shows me up pretty nicely when I offer my dodgy statistics. She’ll say is that really the information?
And I’ll reply, “It is what it is, Kim. It is what it is.”
Applications are open for the 2025 Graduate Diploma in Radio and Podcasting, which you can do full or part time, face to face and online, until October 29th: https://www.aftrs.edu.au/award-course/graduate-diploma-in-radio-and-podcasting/
And you can discover the scholarships and financial support options available here: https://www.aftrs.edu.au/students/future-students/scholarships-and-financial-support/
Jen Seyderhelm is a writer, editor and podcaster for Radioinfo.