Episode 149: Tourette Syndrome in the public eye – with Seamus Evans

Full bio: Seamus Evans is an ambassador for Tourette Syndrome Association Australia, a stand-up comedian, TV host, breakfast radio personality and keynote speaker. After 13 years in the public eye on radio and TV, Seamus is empowering Australians to overcome adversity and build resilience by sharing his triumphant journey of overcoming challenges associated with Tourette’s to work on TV and pursue a career in the public eye. As a stand-up comedian, Seamus loves getting on stage and making people laugh, and now he does it with an empowering message.

Subscribe to the FREE Beyond 6 Seconds newsletter for early access to my latest podcast episodes!

*Disclaimer: The views, guidance, opinions, and thoughts expressed in Beyond 6 Seconds episodes are solely mine and/or those of my guests, and do not necessarily represent those of my employer or other organizations.*

The episode transcript is below.

Carolyn Kiel: Thanks for joining me for another episode of Beyond 6 Seconds. Today on the show we are talking about Tourette Syndrome – or more specifically, my guest’s personal life experience with Tourette Syndrome. His name is Seamus Evans, and in this episode you’ll hear what it was like for him growing up with Tourette’s, how Tourette’s almost ended his career just as he was starting out, and how he learned over the course of his life to manage his tics in ways that work for him. For me, as someone who’s just starting to learn more about Tourette Syndrome, I was really fascinated by this conversation – I think you’re really going to enjoy it too!

And if you like stories like this, about the real life experiences of neurodivergent people, then please subscribe or follow Beyond 6 Seconds in your favorite podcast app or on YouTube. You can even sign up for my newsletter to get reminders about new episodes! Check out the show notes for the details on that.

I also want to say — like all of my guests’ experiences with being neurodivergent, Seamus’ experiences with Tourette Syndrome are his own. You’ll hear him talk about learning to manage his Tourette’s over the course of his entire life. He shares how challenging it was, and continues to be. You’ll hear some of his vocal tics during our conversation. So while the specifics of what has worked for Seamus may not work for every person with Tourette’s, his messages of Tourette’s acceptance, representation and pride are for everyone. And now, here’s my conversation with Seamus!

Today I’m really excited to be here with my guest Seamus Evans. Seamus is an ambassador for Tourette’s Syndrome Association Australia, a standup comedian, TV host, breakfast radio personality, and keynote speaker. After 13 years in the public eye on radio and TV, Seamus is empowering Australians to overcome adversity and build resilience by sharing his triumphant journey of overcoming challenges associated with Tourette’s to work on TV and pursue a career in the public eye. As a standup comedian, Seamus loves getting on stage and making people laugh. And now he does it with an empowering message. Seamus, welcome to the podcast.

Seamus Evans: Yay! Thanks for having me, Carolyn.

Carolyn Kiel: Yeah, so happy to have you here and so interested and excited to hear your story and how you built your career. It’s so interesting and fascinating. So yeah, I guess going back to childhood, love to learn more about what it was like growing up with Tourette’s syndrome and maybe starting out, like how and when were you diagnosed?

Seamus Evans: So there, there are two tics that I do, there a couple of tics.

So when I was a kid, I had Tourette’s from a baby, like a very young age because my sister gave me the nickname Snuffleupagus because I kept like wiggling my nose and sniffing like that. And growing up in the nineties, no one really knew about Tourette’s syndrome. It wasn’t really common knowledge. Especially with, there was no social media, so there was no TikTok and T TikTok has made Tourette’s very famous lately.

The only thing we knew was that movie Deuce Bigalow Male Gigolo.

Carolyn Kiel: Oh.

Seamus Evans: And, and, and so when I was a kid, I was constantly ticcing, or I called them habits. I had these uncontrollable habits, like horrible grunting, and I’d flip my head and I would flick my hands and just get so frustrated because I couldn’t actually control them, and no one knew what they were.

And then I broke my mom’s heart when I was about 10 years old, a bit younger actually. And before we were going to bed, I was on the edge of my bed kneeling and I was praying to God. I said, God, take these habits away from me. And just, my mom tells me this story, that just hearing this, you know, eight year old heartbreaking kid, desperate to get rid of these things that made him so different. That’s when mom was like, right. We’ve got to sort this out because up until that point, they just thought, oh, it’s just something he does. It’ll go. It’s probably, you know, adolescence or going into puberty or stress-related, whatever it was.

And then my grandmother actually one night just called the home phone and said, my mom’s name is Gina, said, “Gina, you need to put it on this channel. There’s a documentary about Tourette’s. That’s exactly what Seamus has.” So we then went to different GPs, different doctors. And then finally we went to a specialist and yeah, at the age of 10, I was diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome.

And just to give some background on Tourette’s for anyone who doesn’t really fully understand it. So it’s, it’s a neurological condition made up of tics, both motor and vocal tics, and you must have both motor and vocal to be classified as Tourette’s. One in 100 kids have Tourette’s and one in 200 adults have Tourette’s. So it’s not as rare as a lot of people actually think.

Carolyn Kiel: Oh, wow. Yeah. I wasn’t even aware of that. Wow. Yeah. So it’s, it’s hard to believe that even as recently as the nineties, that Tourette’s wasn’t a well understood condition, or at least in, in terms of how common it was, but like, you know, I guess we didn’t have social media, so it was hard to know unless you read about it or saw it on TV.

Seamus Evans: Yeah, no. And, and that like only now in the last 12 months, that I’ve really been a part of the Tourette’s syndrome community here in Australia as an ambassador. Because growing up, I was the only one who had it. Oh, I never met anyone else who had Tourette’s. And so being a part of the community and seeing so many different people with different, different versions of Tourette’s and having, I don’t have coprolalia. So coprolalia is the swearing tic where they, yeah. Their tic is actually, you know, swear woods and sentences. I don’t have that. I have echolalia where I repeat things and I have certain sentences. One actually has come back.

So an interesting thing about Tourette’s is tics disappear and come back years later. So only in the last I’d say two weeks I’ve had a tic come back that goes yeahman. Yeah, man. As in, like I’m saying like, yeah man and I’m like yeahman yeahman and I say it quite quickly and honestly that that’s only come back recently. But being a part of the Tourette syndrome community has been really interesting because I’m meeting other people who experience Tourette’s differently. Usually it comes on as a child, but I I’m meeting, I’m meeting people who they got it six months ago and they’re 22. Yeah. It’s, it’s, it’s actually been a really interesting journey.

Carolyn Kiel: Yeah. So once you had your diagnosis, I know you were still relatively young, but you know, certainly you had been in school then for many years and out and socializing. Did it change the way that you thought about your habits or the way you interacted with at school or family, or was it life-changing or was it just like, okay, now I know what this is?

Seamus Evans: Yeah. It was more so it, it, all it gave us was a title. I stopped calling them habits and I called them tics and they were Tourette’s. But it was, look there’s no two ways about it, growing up with Tourette’s is really difficult because they’re so visual. They’re so in everyone’s faces and, you know, people notice it very easily because they’re such physical movements. So yeah, it was really, really tough. You’re a sitting duck for bullies in the school yard and you know, I. I was the brunt of a lot of jokes in the school yard. And I was the victim of, of a bit of bullying. Thankfully I developed a bit of a sharp wit from a young age to deflect the bullying. But you know, I’m meeting some kids, you know, 16 year old girls who are shy, innocent and quite nervous, and they have very extreme coprolalia and they yell out extreme profanity. And they are really struggling with it, getting kicked out of school and things like that.

Yeah. Look, there’s no two ways about it. Having Tourette’s is very, very difficult and, and look, there’s no cure. So my, the biggest, I would say, I wouldn’t say struggles, but the way I dealt with having Tourette’s was learning not only to accept that I had Tourette’s, but learning how to manage it socially and manage it personally and being okay with it. That was the biggest relationship struggle is sub consciously accepting it and being okay with it and not letting it rule me and who I was as a person. But instead understanding that it’s just something that I have, instead of essentially a set of, instead of it being my identity.

Carolyn Kiel: Right. Yeah. And was there a specific point in time when you actively started to embrace your tics? Or did it kind of come on over time?

Seamus Evans: It’s an interesting one. There was a particular point when I started getting into television, but it was more so, it’s interesting because every day is different. So some days growing up, I would be so okay with it and quite confident and quite open about it. And yeah, I have, Tourette’s, no problem. And then there were other times where I didn’t want to, and I just lied about it or I would just ignore the comments and I just, you know, one day I’d be confident about it. And another day I wouldn’t.

And one of the really great things that my mom did for me is she never spoke for me. I see a lot of parents, they introduce their child and they say, “oh, this is Timmy. Timmy has X, Y, Z.” And my mother never did that. My mum, like growing up, I’d meet someone and they say, “oh, why does Seamus keep twitching like that?” And mum would look at me as if to say, “well, you can answer.” And she wouldn’t answer for me. And that kind of gave me the ownership. So if I wanted to lie about it, if it was a day where I didn’t want to have that, put on my big boy pants and be confident with it, I could, and I’d just lie and I’d deflect it. And other days I would have no shame, but it wasn’t, it wasn’t like I was always insecure about it and I wasn’t always confident about it. Every day was different.

Until I got my first job on television. I, I did ignore it for a long time and I wouldn’t, it would take a while for me to actually come out and admit that I had Tourette’s to a lot of people. But when I, when I first got my job in TV, I didn’t tell them. I didn’t tell the government when I got my license in case there was a chance they wouldn’t give me my license. And I didn’t tell my bosses when I first got my job on television and they pulled me aside and said, “why do you keep twitching?” And I was like, “uuuh um yeah, I’ve got Tourette syndrome.” And they freaked out and were like, “well, if you’ve got Tourette’s like, if this is going to be a problem, you’re on TV. Like. You know, if it’s going to be a problem, then we can just fire you and get someone else.” And that was, that was the turning moment where I had to go, right. Stop ignoring it. Stop pretending I don’t have it, because I need to accept it so I can manage it and I can work on it and I can control it.

Carolyn Kiel: Wow. That’s such a, a story because there are so many, you know, especially neurodivergent people of all conditions that, that fear of, you know, being able to perform in your job and are you going to get judged? And is it going to be something that’s ruled against you? And you’re counted out just because of things that are just part of you that you can’t control or change. So, wow.

And it’s also helpful to know that your, your journey of acceptance or however we may call it, wasn’t just like flipping a switch and like, okay, I’m not okay, and now I’m going to be okay with it. It really was a process of going back and forth and I’d imagine it’s probably, you know, it’s not as easy for necessarily everybody to just say, okay, I’m going to go forward and change. But but it sounds like it took, it took you a while to really process that. So I think that’s powerful for people to hear because I’m sure a lot of people are going through that now, in terms of how are they kind of viewing their condition? It may change from day to day.

Seamus Evans: Yeah, I think, cause I, I, in my keynote, I go into a lot of about the acceptance journey and, and th the overcoming the challenges associated with Tourette’s. And what I have learned is that the challenges aren’t necessarily the tics, because I go into depth in my keynote, and I know a lot of my stand up comedy. I go into depth on how I literally learned how to assess my body, register the tics coming through, and I was able to physically rearrange them and maneuver them and manipulate them to be disguised into my body language, so I could be on TV and actually let my tics out, not suppress them, but let them out while I was on screen.

But the acceptance journey I have found is more so about the, you being, the acceptance journey is more so about how you think other people will view you and the stigmatism attached to it. And it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s being proud of you. Because it’s so easy to be embarrassed, to feel that because you’re different, you’re not normal and being different is bad and it’s weird. And for so long, I wanted to be normal like everyone else. And I wanted to be normal, like the cool kid in school. But knowing that I had this thing that made me different, you know, which meant I wasn’t normal and I wasn’t cool. I associated a negative towards Tourette’s.

But overcoming the challenges is more so about realizing: no one is normal, there’s no such thing as normal, and normal is boring. Everyone has something in their lives, whether it is a diagnosis of some kind, a condition, whether it’s something that’s traumatic that’s happened to you, whether it’s, you know, whatever it might be, everyone has something that’s considered a setback. But it’s up to you, if you’re going to put that adversity in the category of flaw or a strength. Because it’s still the same, like I have Tourette’s, but it’s up to me to look at it as a negative or a positive. No one else. And that was more so the overcoming and the acceptance journey of going, “hang on, I’ve got this. I will always have it. I can use it to my advantage, or I can have it as a setback for the rest of my life, because it’s always going to be there. So how am I going to use it?” And that was the real journey of acceptance.

Carolyn Kiel: Yeah, that’s really powerful to, you know, to think beyond, you know, it’s obviously the physical manifestations, but it’s also how you feel inside and how you interact with the world. And as you said, being proud of yourself and really having that ownership of like, this is, this is me, this is part of me. And I’m going to use it as, as something where I can to, to my advantage. So, yeah, I’m interested to hear more about how you’ve, you know, you talk a lot about embracing your flaws and sort of using your Tourette’s syndrome to your advantage. And I think you alluded to a bit where you said you incorporated a lot of your tics into more sort of wider body language, because you’re very, for anyone who may not be watching the video, you’re very animated as, as you speak with this. So which I’m sure translates perfectly and very, very well to TV and media and public speaking and this just a perfect fit. Was the things like that, that you used your Tourette’s or quote unquote, your flaws to your advantage, or were there other ways that you did that?

Seamus Evans: So the way I disguise tics into body language was, so the best way to describe a tic is like having an itch on your arm. So everybody’s brain self-regulates itself by firing off signals to the body. Just to keep your brain alive, it fires off signals, like wiggle your toes, click your fingers. But everyone’s brain has a gate to stop those unwanted signals. The simple explanation is people with Tourette’s have a week or no gate. So those unwanted signals fire through, right? To really dumb it down and simplify what Tourette’s is. That’s essentially what it is.

So, it’s like, if you’ve got an itch on your arm, you subconsciously scratch it without realizing. But what I learned to do is stop and register and notice, and I go, hang on, I’m registering a tic. And so to relate it back to that scratching analogy is like I was sitting there. I would register my arm is itchy. How can I scratch it without scratching it so visibly? And I learnt there are different ways to scratch it.

So for example there’s, there’s a tic that I have of my shoulder. Right. I kind of really jerk my shoulder, my left shoulder up to my ear. So if I was on television and I had that tic, I’d register it. And instead of doing a large physical movement like that, I would sit back and roll both shoulders and rearrange my shirt before I, as I sit back. So what I would do is I would strategically place it in certain areas and redirect it, so it wouldn’t be so noticeable. And someone watching that would say, oh, he just, he just rearranged his shirt and sat back.

And, and over time, the best way I like to explain it is like, just say, just say you do 200 tics a day and every single tic you do it slightly differently. Just a very unnoticeable change, right? Over three months, that’s 18,000 tics. That means I’ve done 18,000 variations of that tic, which means I’ve changed it completely. So when I first started television, there were large head flicking movements. There were large hand flicks and, you know, body jolts, but I redirected them to be stomach clenches, stomach rolls, butt clenches, thigh clenches, and, and, and so, instead of being so visual, over a period of a few months, my tics completely changed to less noticeable tics.

And now as I’m 31, it’s interesting because a trigger for Tourette’s syndrome is talking about Tourette’s, thinking about your tics. People noticing your tics and watching other people do it. And so now being an ambassador, talking about my tics every day, being a part of the community and having this as a profession, my tics have gone through the roof in the last year. But even still to this day, like I do like little nostril flares and semi eye winks and like slight movements of my lip.

And they’ve kind of changed and adapted to small minuscule movements. And it’s actually been really interesting, talking to so many young people with Tourette’s. Because I like, a lot of people reach out to me and I I’ve done some, you know, one-on-one zoom chats with families who have Tourettes just to kind of essentially let them know, “Hey, it’s okay. It’s not as bad as you think.” Because once you first get diagnosed with Tourette’s because it’s so new and it comes on so instantly, it’s like one night you’re normal the next night you’re not. And you freak out because you’re like, oh my gosh, “where’s this come from? What’s wrong with me?” And I really like talking to people who have just been diagnosed with Tourette’s, mainly to say, “Hey, it’s okay. Like it’s not as bad as you think. I know it’s stressful, but life gets better.” And what I’ve, what I kind of had this realization moment was, some of these kids they’re 14 years old and they only got Tourette’s two years ago. So they’ve only got two years of experience with tics. Whereas I’ve got 31 years of experience with Tourette’s tics. So when it comes to management of tics, I’m a lot more experienced than someone who was diagnosed, you know, six months ago. And, and that’s one kind of eye-opening moment I’ve had recently dealing with a lot of people with Tourette’s and understanding aaah, one of the reasons why now at 31, some of my tics aren’t as visible and I can handle them better, it’s because I’ve got three decades of experience.

Carolyn Kiel: Yeah. Ah, that’s interesting. Yeah, I guess I didn’t realize that some Tourette’s syndromes don’t show up, like from birth or they just come on later in life. So it totally makes sense that the longer you’ve lived with it and just had that lived experience where you kind of figure out your own ways to manage it. That makes sense that that it just changes as you get older.

Seamus Evans: And yeah, a lot of every everybody’s different without, like one thing I love about Tourette’s is everybody’s relationship with Tourette’s is specific to that individual. And it’s an intimate relationship with you and your Tourette’s and everybody’s relationship is different. Right? And in my personal journey with it, that’s when I first discovered the humor side of things, because there’s no cure. My cure is humor. So, you know, when I’m doing standup comedy, I make a lot of jokes about like, with my shoulder tic, you know, one of the reasons why it’s the greatest tic in the world is when you catch an airplane or watch a movie and you sit next to someone, there’s always a battle for the armrest, but I win that battle every time because I sit next to him and I, and I tic like that and I win both armrests. Or, you know, when I’m walking down the street and my head tic of nodding my head backwards, like you’re saying hello to someone, I’ll walk down the street and a complete stranger will think I’m saying g’day to them as they walk past. And, you know, there are just so many funny, different situations where I have to find the funny side to it.

And what I learned having Tourette’s is the journey of meeting someone new and the journey of a new friendship. So, for example, because I’m so confident with my Tourette’s and I have no insecurities around it, and I’m never offended by it, when people notice, they say, “oh you all right mate, why do you keep twitching?” I say, “oh, I have Tourette’s.” And because I’m so confident and forthcoming, they feel relaxed and they don’t feel like it’s an insecurity so they can ask questions. And so they start asking these questions and I make jokes about them very fast, right? Like, for example, I’ll say like, “don’t worry, man. It’s not contagious, you know, you can’t catch it. It’s not chlamydia.” You know, these kinds of things. And because I’m the first one to make a joke, then they feel safe to make a joke. And then what happens is there’s a spike. The more they hang out with me, the more jokes.

And then I start thinking, and I notice as a few months go on, the jokes dissipate and they don’t even notice it. But when I notice someone’s making jokes, it’s a, like the closer I get to them, it’s a, it’s a form of endearment and it’s a form of acceptance socially, and they feel comfortable with me. And they feel comfortable around me. And then after that period is gone, they don’t even mention it. And no one even notices, it just becomes normal.

Carolyn Kiel: Yeah, that’s interesting, especially the use of humor because, you know, I think it helps as you sort of starting out with the humor and opening that door and sort of disarming people and allowing them to kind of relax and feel like they can ask more questions. Because I’d imagine that a lot of people would not be welcome to that type of humor, but again, it’s, you’re starting it, you’re welcoming it. And you’re setting the stage for that, that this is what I’m comfortable with and what I’m willing to do.

Seamus Evans: Yeah, exactly. It’s almost, you’re right, it is, it is being the first one to it, to, you know, set the scene. “Hey, it’s all good. Like, it’s totally cool. I’m totally fine with it. You don’t have to feel uncomfortable around me because I’m not uncomfortable.”

And it’s actually that sort of mentality first started in the school playground because the bullies or, you know, the kids that would make the jokes, they weren’t nice jokes and they weren’t a form of endearment. It was a teasing joke. So as a form of survival, I had to make the first joke. Because I made the first joke, it disarmed their in insulting comments and turned it into fun and joking and jovial and, and normalized it. Because in Australia, you know, the mentality of ripping on your best mate is a form of friendship. And because I was, I, I beat them to it. It was a survival mechanism, and beating the bullies to the funny comment disarmed the bullies. And it was a, it was actually a survival technique. To avoid being bullied, I would beat the bully to the joke. Therefore I took out their best weapon.

Carolyn Kiel: I think a lot of standup comedians start, start with with doing that, you know, the ones that are bullied and kind of making a career of it and all that. Wow.

So, yeah, I’m, I’m just so curious to learn a little bit about your career in media. So you started a little while earlier talking about the first time that you were called out in a media job saying, why are you ticcing? And basically disclosing at that time and being threatened with being fired, but clearly you had a very long career in media. So like how did you kind of move past that moment and kind of incorporate it into your media personality?

Seamus Evans: Yeah well, I failed. I was so disengaged in school. I failed school. You know, with ADHD, Tourette’s, disengaged. I was so lazy at school. I couldn’t, I could, I failed everything. And so all I wanted to be was on television. That was all I wanted. That was the only thing I wanted to be. The only thing I could be. And I, when I first graduated school, there was, it was, you know, the universe provided me with an opportunity to audition for a kid show, a kid’s cartoon show here in Australia. And this was the greatest thing ever. And when I got it, I couldn’t believe my luck. And so when the boss pulled me aside and said, why do you keep twitching? And there was a threat of losing my job because of Tourette’s, that’s when I first had to go, right, stop ignoring it. Stop pretending I don’t have it. Stop, stop putting it in the back room corner and shutting the door. Like, time to address it because Tourette’s could take away my dream.

So what I did is I had to learn how to manipulate it. Right? And I had to learn how to work with Tourette’s instead of, and work and learn how to control my Tourette’s, instead of my Tourette’s controlling me. And it was almost, it was a, it was a fight or flight. It was a, it was a moment of, “this is what I want. And so I want it so badly. I will do anything to work on it.” And it was the first time I actually started working on Tourette’s and trial and error and working at how I can manipulate them.

And once, it only took it, it only took a few months of management control to be able to handle them, handle the Tourette’s and handle the tics. And what happened is, is that became second nature. And I would do that from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to sleep and it was very tiring because I would consciously always, “how am I feeling? How’s my body feeling or what tic am I registering? How can I control it?” And I would do little, little things like always move. So for example, I would never sit still. And, and the reason why I found that worked is like, if you go to the beach and you get a speck of sand in your shirt, instead of flicking your shirt like really hard to get the sand out, I would, it’s like I would grab the corners of the shirt and then slightly jiggle it so that, so the sand would drop out. And I found if I was constantly moving, constantly rearranging the way I sit and constantly tapping and fidgeting and constantly rearranging the way I stand. I found that a lot of tics would lose their pressure and lose their strength and, and kind of be let out through energy, I guess.

And so, yeah, I guess it was more so learning. It wasn’t a cure by any means, it was just learning how to manage them. And once I learned how to manage them, then it wasn’t a problem. And the bosses saw that it wasn’t an issue. So I kept my job.

And yeah, I did four years on a kid show over here called Toasted TV, which is a cartoon show. And that was the most incredible time I’ve ever had. And then I went on to a wildlife adventure show called T otally Wild. And that was amazing. I went all over Australia, all over the world with animals and catching snakes and feeding wild animals. It was really impressive.

And then after seven years of being on TV, I decided, oh, what is it? I actually just, I actually found that I wanted to be in radio. After being, I loved television, television was great, but I found that radio was really where I wanted to, you know, stretch my legs, flap my wings and just that’s what I wanted to do.

So I quit my job. I packed my bags and I moved to a big city called Melbourne and I wanted to be the next Howard Stern. That’s that’s what I wanted. And it was, it was a really interesting journey because what I learned at that point, and I’ll be honest. In my early twenties, from 18 years of age to 25, I was on television all around Australia. I had a huge ego. I thought I was the best thing in the world. I was so arrogant because I thought, oh, I’m on television. You know, I wasn’t lining up at nightclubs. I was social. I was a socialite in, in all these towns and I knew everybody and I thought, you know. It was very unhealthy because I thought I was the best thing ever. And then when I moved to Melbourne, to a bigger city thinking, “oh, I’ll walk into a job. No problems. This’ll be easy.” No one gave a stuff and they did not care who I was. So I had a really important life lesson and a reality check of I’m no one. And I actually fell into a pretty deep depression then, because my large ego deflated and my big arrogant bravado crumbled. And I had to learn how to build myself up again.

In about a year, I spent a year very, very poor and working as a promo guy for a radio station, you know, driving the cars, handing out the icy cold cans of Coke, trying to get my foot into the industry. And then once I did, I moved to a very small country town to do breakfast radio. And I yeah, I spent five years on breakfast radio around the country for a large company here in Australia called the Hit network. And yeah, I had an amazing time.

13 years. I, I, they were going to fire me after the first week because of my Tourette’s, but you know, my career lasted 13 years and I still, I still pinch myself. Because I had such an incredible time in my twenties having a career that some people never get the opportunity to do. And I spent my twenties entertaining Australia. It was incredible.

Carolyn Kiel: Wow. That is awesome. Yeah. And this, the breakfast radio show I’d imagine that, because I imagine from the name, it’s probably a lot of like getting up really early in the morning. And it’s like, that’s got to take a toll or, I’m not a morning person, so I couldn’t do it.

Seamus Evans: Yeah, it does take a toll. I was burning the candle at both ends and, and honestly, on weekends, I was a party boy. So I would go out to the nightclubs and I would party hard. And then, you know, I’d have to get up at four o’clock in the morning and then I’d work my ass off until about mid day, come home, have a nap and then go out and do stand up at night during the week and I’d get to bed at midnight. So I was living on four hours of sleep for five years.

Carolyn Kiel: Oh, my gosh.

Seamus Evans: Yeah. Oh, oh. I had a few burnouts and a real, a real lack of sleep. And yeah, that was a really interesting journey, but it was, it was amazing. It was some of the best times I ever had.

And, and yeah, so COVID-19 hit and they made us redundant and overnight, yeah, my 13 year career came to an end. And you know what, it was actually, looking back, it was the best thing that ever happened to me, because what I learnt is, my whole life, I’ve always looked to something I don’t have to something I want. And I think to myself, “when I get that, I’ll be happy.” And so I was like, oh, you know, when I was on television, I was like, “oh, when I work on that show, I’ll be happy. All my problems will be gone.” And then, “oh, when I work on radio, my problems will be gone and I’ll be happy.” And then when I was in one small country town, I moved to another country town thinking all my problems will be gone.

But then as I, as I climbed the ranks, I learnt, you know. Yeah, sure. I got more pay. I got into a bigger city. I got all the amazing benefits of climbing the ladder. But what I learned is all those problems are always there. So for example, there’s always off. Excuse me. There’s always office politics.

Carolyn Kiel: Yeah.

Seamus Evans: You know, there’s always going to be jerks in your office. There’s always going to be daily stresses. It doesn’t matter how much you earn. There’s always going to be financial stresses. And one thing we always kind of run away from is our own mental health battles and our own mental health journey and struggles. And, and this mindset I was in for so long was, once I’m there, all my troubles will be gone. But what I found is when I got there, those troubles were still there.

And so what happened, and it was, this is why it was one of the greatest things that ever happened to me. I moved back home to mum and dad’s house where I grew up in my family home. And I mean, I’m sitting in it right now. And at that particular point, there was a COVID-19 government handout for people who lost their jobs. So there were, so I moved back home to no rent and I had a payout from a redundancy and I was getting COVID-19 incentives. So financial, I didn’t have any financial struggles. So there was no urgency to get another job.

So, what I did was absolutely nothing. I’d worked my ass off for 13 years since I graduated school. So, you know what? I did nothing. I went to bed at, you know, 3:00 AM in the morning, I woke up at midday, I’d lay in bed scrolling through Facebook, I’d watch four, four movies a day. I would go catch up with mates. I’d party during the week. I did whatever I wanted because I could never do that before. And I just started doing comedy as much as I could, you know, 3, 4, 5 times a week.

And what I learned is through that journey of doing absolutely nothing, I only said yes and I only did things that I wanted to do. So, and I, and, and because I had the space, the gap, the time to think about it and analyze it, I really took the time to analyze what it is that I wanted to do. And because I realized I loved doing stand up, I thought, okay, “what is it about standup that I love so much?” and I worked out what it is, is the essence of me being on stage with a microphone, captivating an audience. That’s what I like. Okay. How can I turn that into a job? And I explored this.

Because stand up comedy, you know, you’ve got a really struggle for 10, 13 years earning no money until you get notoriety to sell tickets. And I’d already slugged it out on television, in radio. I thought to myself, I don’t want to do another 10 years of struggling. And so I thought, “okay, what, what is it can I do?” And that’s when I worked out, I can make a career being a public speaker talking about Tourette’s, talking about my journey of Tourette’s. Being a keynote speaker to not only spread awareness on Tourette’s but inspiring other people by sharing my story, to encourage them, to overcome their setbacks and turn their setbacks into, you know, a lesson to learn.

And, and so I created this public speaking job. And, and that’s it. Honestly, it was after doing absolutely nothing that I worked out what it is that I want to do. And I essentially, I worked out what I wanted to do to kick my butt off the couch because that’s what I was doing.

Carolyn Kiel: Yeah. Well, it sounded like you really needed that space, that you were burned out from just going, going, going in your media career. And it’s definitely a very difficult and challenging and intense type of industry to be in and especially for so long. So you really needed just that downtime to, you know, just relax and open your mind. To be open to thinking of other opportunities. And, you know, sometimes when you take a lot of the structures away and you have that freedom to really do things that you want to do, you have more creative ideas. So thinking of like how, you know, making that association between, I love standup, what else can I do that feels like that? And you know, how can I form a career that way? Very very cool. Wow. Yeah.

So was that when you became an ambassador for Tourette’s Syndrome Association Australia and started getting more involved with the Tourette’s community around your public speaking engagements?

Seamus Evans: Yeah, so, yeah. Right. Because I had that time to think about it and having all of my years in media, learning how to build a brand and learning how to, you know, construct content and build a business and all this kind of stuff. I kind of put a step-by-step plan together. And I thought, well, what is going to give me credibility? And that was becoming an ambassador. So I reached out to the Tourette’s Syndrome Association Australia, and I told them what I want to do, who I was, my experience. And, and they were very happy to get on board and they were amazing. And and I established that relationship and essentially the deal was, you know, give me an ambassadorship and I will give you talks for free. And, and that way I, I have credibility to take into schools and organizations. So I’m not just Joe Blow off the street, “oy trust me, I’ve got Tourette’s, just let me in and talk to ya.” You know, otherwise I’d be no one. So it was the, kind of, it was my initiative to say, this is what’s going to give me the credibility to, to get into schools. And that’s when I first, that’s how I first started, schools, to go to as many, because that’s, students I thought were the most in need of saying, Hey, it’s okay. Yeah. Everyone’s different. Stop hiding that you different. Once you accept it and lean into your own confidence, then you’re going to see the best side of being different.

Carolyn Kiel: Yeah, and I think it’s gotta be powerful for them to be able to see real life role models because, you know, we all need, you know, we always talk about, you know, the importance of representation and just seeing different types of people doing different types of things, whether it’s in, you know, in movies or just in life in general. So I think them being able to see you as an example of, you know, someone who’s a public speaker and who has a whole career that they’ve loved and have evolved is really powerful.

Seamus Evans: Yeah. Because I think unfortunately, a lot of people. Like I was saying before everyone wants to be normal. They don’t want to be different because different is seen as a negative.

And so many people hide, and hide behind or ignore, or so many people pretend that they don’t have whatever it is that the world’s gifted them with. And to me, that is so sad because it’s hiding who you really are. And I’m personally of the belief that, you know, what makes you so amazing as an individual is everything about you, what you consider either a flaw or a strength. It’s every part of it that makes you beautiful as a person. And if you hide one part, then that takes away some of your beauty. And that’s why I think it’s so important to embrace every aspect.

And what’s interesting is what I’ve learned about insecurities and flaws and strengths and people’s own mindset about themselves is what they consider a strength could be very easily seen as a flaw in other people’s eyes. So, you know, a lot of people pick and choose, “oh, I’m going to show this side of myself because that’s the strength.” You know, a lot of people, men in particular, they don’t show vulnerability. They don’t show sadness. They don’t show emotion because that is seen as weak. But to so many people, to hide from your real feelings is a very weak thing to do because you’re scared to go through that emotion.

And it’s interesting because that individual thinks, “oh no, that’s weak. I’m not going to show that I’m not going to be vulnerable.” But one of the most powerful things is to witness a strong person, be vulnerable. And we hide from that. So, you know, as an adolescent, if you teach yourself to hide something about you, to me, that, yeah, that, that, that’s, that’s a real tragedy. I think it’s important for everybody to embrace every side of who they are and, and really be the best versions of themselves. Otherwise, otherwise you’re hiding. Otherwise, you know, you’re not showing the world who you really are. And to me, yeah, that, that that’s really sad.

Carolyn Kiel: Yeah. And a lot of times showing that vulnerability or showing that weakness, that’s the connection point with other people. Like that’s how you build, that’s how you influence people. That’s how you inspire people and, you know, make relationships and friendships and things like that.

Seamus Evans: Yeah, absolutely. Because so many times we will look up, we’ll look up to someone. For example, we’ll look up to a famous basketball or, or, or, or, or a football player. And we’ll think in our minds, they’re so strong and powerful and they, and. But that person never shows their full side. And so if, if a famous basketballer came out and actually revealed some of the struggles that they went through, you’re right, that is the connection. That it, we sit there and go, “oh, they’re human. Just like us. You know, they experience sadness just like us. They experience happiness, just the same way we do. They go through relationship problems, just like we do.” It’s like, very rarely do we see a famous celebrity couple going through the intimacy problems of a relationship because we’re not behind those closed doors, but when we do, we’re like, “oh, we’re just like them, everybody experiences these problems.” And yeah, you’re right. Showing that vulnerability is, is the best form of connection because we’re all human.

Carolyn Kiel: Yeah, it’s a very human thing and we all, we all have those strengths and weaknesses, so very powerful. So what are your goals for your public speaking? I know it’s still relatively new, but what other things would you like to do with it?

Seamus Evans: So I am, I’ve only been doing this for just under a year. I started in April this year and since I’ve started, I’ve done 17 talks and already before I’ve started 2022, I’ve got I think it’s 12 locked in before I’ve started. So I’m hitting the ball running in 2022. And I want to do as many talks as I possibly can in schools, corporations, conferences. Eventually I’d love to go all over the world and speak to so many different people. When the world opens up, I think that’ll be an easier opportunity, but in this particular time, I’m focusing on Australia and my local community. And essentially my aim is to not only make a living from this, but is, is, is my mission really is to tell everybody it’s okay to be yourself. That that’s essentially the core of what I’m doing is, is the realization I had is after my 13 years of being on television, on radio, doing stand up, it was amazing, but it was all about me. And my career has always been me focused and, and, and sort of self orientated.

I hit this point. Yeah, it was after the one of the big burnouts and after being made redundant, I thought, you know what? I think it’s time to give back. I think it’s time to help other people. I mean, don’t get me wrong. There is a very important role as an entertainer. Your job is to entertain people so they forget about the troubles in their lives. That’s your job, right? A jester is to let the poor people forget about how poor they are and laugh at the king. And breakfast radio hosts, their job is to distract you as you drive in traffic to get to a job you don’t like. It’s important, but oh, I wanted to do another role and I, I essentially wanted to let people, I want to influence everybody to lean into themselves and stop hiding the parts of themselves that make them who they are, and be the best versions of themselves and find the confidence internally to really embrace themselves. Because I have found in my journey of acceptance and embracing who I was, that’s when I was the most happy, because I stopped pretending to be someone else. And that is what I want to do. I want to encourage as many people around the world to embrace themselves fully.

Carolyn Kiel: Wow. That’s a great message. And yeah, if we, if we could all do that, how, how, how much better the world would be. I think.

Seamus Evans: Yeah, exactly. We’d stop, we’d stop meeting two faced people and you wouldn’t get into a relationship and learn six months in, hang on. You’re not the person I met. You’re different. Yeah, I think it would be, yeah, I think it would be great. So, so yeah, that, that, that’s essentially my new mindset and my new career trajectory is, is, is not as self orientated or self-driven.

Carolyn Kiel: Oh, well, that’s fantastic. Well, so how can people get in touch with you if they want to learn more about your public speaking or book you?

Seamus Evans: I’m on every social media platform, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook as mrseamusevans, it looks like Mrs. Amos Evans, emus vans. Yeah. MrSeamusEvans, S E A M U S E V A N S or my website, which is. SeamusEvans.com. And my email address is so easy. Everyone always goes, oh, what a great email that is. It’s seamus@seamusevans.com, easy as pie.

Carolyn Kiel: Perfect. And I’ll put the website and the email in the show notes, so people can find that really easily in there. That is so cool.

Wow well Seamus thank you so much for being on my show. As we close out, is there anything else that you’d like our listeners to know or anything that they can help or support you?

Seamus Evans: More so just on the Tourette side of things is I did an interview recently for a podcast and they asked me what, what advice would you have for someone who meets someone who has Tourette’s how to behave? And I remember thinking what a great question, because usually I get asked, what advice do you have for someone who has Tourette’s? And that answer is, Hey, it’s fine. It’s not as bad as what you think. But for someone who I guess is neuro-normal, to meet someone and how to treat someone with Tourette’s is, don’t treat them like a novelty because to that individual Tourette’s is not a novelty. It is their life. So just treat the person, not the condition. It’s not a novelty. Yeah. That’s it. That’s all I’ll say.

Carolyn Kiel: Very simple and yeah, it’s great advice. Great words to, to think about. Cool. Well, thank you, Seamus. It’s been great talking to you today. Thanks so much for sharing your story and talking about all the great work that you do.

Seamus Evans: Thank you so much for having me. I’ve had an amazing time. Thank you.

Thanks for listening to Beyond 6 Seconds. Please help us spread the word about this podcast. Share it with a friend. Give us a shoutout on your social media or write a review on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast player. You can find all of our episodes on our website and sign up for our free newsletter at www.beyond6seconds.net. Until next time.