They’re inseparable.
Matt Ford, 26, and Jack Steele, 27, are the two-and-only behind the comedy skits of The Inspired Unemployed, but many people don’t know what sealed their solid friendship before they rocketed to social media fame.
As part of our Year13 Expo during National Careers Week this year helping young people plan their futures, Year13 founder Saxon Phipps sat down to chat with the boys from the South Coast of NSW.
Having started as great mates in high school before becoming business partners who spend every second of every day together, we had to ask…
How do you not get sick of each other?
“You filter through traveling, honestly,” Jack said.
“We filtered out friends that just don’t make the cut and you can’t live with. And then we just were fine.”
Travelling – the classic compatibility test!
It was also on the road where the two started dabbling in creating what has now made them a success. In 2016 they moved to Queenstown, New Zealand, where they lived for six months.
“It was a group of us in a house and we all didn’t have jobs for about three months so we started making skits because we had so much free time on our hands,” Jack said.
Eventually the skit making fizzled out as they returned to their regular lives doing construction and other odd jobs. But they knew that life wasn’t for them so on a trip to Europe in 2019 they fired up their creative efforts again.
“We were like, we should make skits again, that was fun,” Matt said.
They had a goal – 10,000 followers before coming home.
“Mum and Dad (were) calling us every week – ‘are you guys alright?’” Matt said.
They were very alright because it was then that The Inspired Unemployed as we know it today was born. Travelling had given the two time to experiment with ideas. Ultimately it changed their lives.
Unfortunately though that’s been virtually impossible for young Australians over the past two years, but with borders reopening that’s about to change. Just as well because going out and exploring the world is what fresh-outta-high-school folks should be doing for themselves, according to Jack and Matt.
“I would just come home and work for two months and go travelling for another eight months then come home for another two months, kind of like that, until the last trip to Europe in 2019,” Jack said.
“As soon as I started traveling, I feel like I just went from a kid to a half adult and just grew up so much quicker… You just learn so much about life and just people and respect and everything.”
Matt agreed saying, “It opens you up so much. I think everyone should go traveling and throw themselves in the deep end for a bit.”
Travelling – when you get to reinvent yourself. Just ask The Inspired Unemployed.
