The Performer: “It’s been a huge journey to loving myself”. This is Bryce Ives

"If you'd said to me at the age of 18, ‘Bryce, by the age of 40, you'll have had a profound connection and partnership with many key parts of Australian farming and agriculture,’ I would have been like, ‘You are drunk’."

It’s been an incredible journey in agriculture that has unfolded for Bryce Ives.

He may have grown up adoring arts and performance, being described by his mother as a ‘naughty boy’, however it has been this pathway that ultimately has led him to an unexpected home, Australian agriculture.

His story is as colourful as Bryce himself.

Bryce's connection to agriculture emerged from his family and friends, having spent his formative years on the outskirts of Ballarat.

Since then, Bryce's life has been a whirlwind of experiences. He has directed major theatre festivals, ran radio and TV stations and organised events worldwide, including a substantial amount of work in agriculture and rural communities.

With Scottish Immigrant parents experiencing self described inter-generational regional poverty, Bryce shared the challenges he faced growing up and how these experiences shaped and motivated him to be the person he is today.

“Young people who struggled to get to school, who struggled to have breakfast in the morning, who struggled to find basic jobs, who are struggling with literacy and numeracy… That was part of my experience of growing up. And growing up on the wrong side of the tracks… And so I guess that that motivates me every single day”.

Image supplied, Bryce Ives

From a young age, he displayed remarkable tenacity, constantly taking on projects that stretched beyond his capacity and understanding. Explaining to Oli that it was important to understand his childhood and the challenges he overcame to find himself in the space that he is in today.

“I had to work extremely hard, firstly, to escape that cycle that existed in the family.”

“I was also like, completely an oddball from the beginning, I had all of these interests that we're just not part of the family's narrative, like the sudden interest in performance and in storytelling and Radio Broadcasting.”

“But also, I had undiagnosed ADHD, so I was extremely quick. And tenacious, and from a very young age was just building sort of projects that were kind of way beyond my capacity and understanding”.

Bryce had been involved in local theatre since the age of five and stumbled his way through the traditional educational system, encountering both trouble and success in equal measure.

“By the age of 13, I'd been in trouble as many times as I'd been successful.”

It was at this age however, when Bryce staged a production of 100 people for Shakespeare, ran his own radio station and not too many years after, he was the General Manager of a radio station in Melbourne.

“The leadership team [at the Radio Station], we were all country kids, we all came from the country and we were all the backbone of a system for all of these talented people to thrive.”

“And so I think that you always carry your country values.”

Bryce’s identifies the moment he reconnected with his grass roots in rural Australia through his involvement in the Haywire project he was leading at the ABC,

“What I was able to do with Haywire, was to take all of the lessons from standing up in and all of my notions of performance and theatre and storytelling, and was able to build Haywire into a very substantial platform.”

“That was a commendation point where I think I can write back to my grassroots.”

His extensive work as an artist and creator brought a unique perspective to the conversation. This diversity is a superpower, when he works broadcasting and theatre, his background in agriculture gives him an unparalleled perspective that sets him apart.

“My work as an artist and as a creator brings a whole X factor into the conversation.”

We’re actually struggling to aptly find words that describe Bryce’s X factor, but he has an inclusive, charming and change-making nature which flows into his work. His journey to loving himself and showing his true colours is remarkable.

Bryce would ask himself, “How queer could I be?” before jumping up on stage in front of a group of farmers. 

“My gender and sexuality are very fluid ideas.” 

“I think that openness and curiosity goes in all parts of life. When you're doing these journeys, it's not just about me asking everyone else to sit in a circle and be curious, I'm always doing it myself.”

“What I learned over time was the more truthful I became, and the more myself I became, and the more willing to just walk in my true skin, my true sense of being… The more willing other people were to work with me.”

“What I found was people met me with love and with collaboration”

“So it's been a huge journey to get to that point of like, loving oneself”

“And ultimately, I've tried to stay true to what I know, which is on my heart, I want to try and make a better country and a better world.”

"The older I get, the less I know. The wiser I get, the more I realise the less I know.”

Now as a professional facilitator, He utilises creative arts to create an energy that allows people to unlock their brilliance, from intimate small group conversations to rooms of 1000s. Bryce has an uncanny ability to connect with and inspire an incredibly diverse group of people, including those in agriculture, and especially young people,

“I was always being very cheeky around making sure that most of the investment of my time is in young people. Not with a sense of solving today's problems, but preparing them to solve tomorrow's problems. Playing the long game around change and evolution.”

“Rural Australians deserve opportunities. They deserve that chance to step into amazing jobs and amazing careers and also deserve to break that cycle.”

“What can we do to ensure that every young person in rural and regional Australia has that chance to shine and to flourish? Have pathways for their skills? How do we change the narrative? So young people in rural and regional Australia feel like they don't have to leave if they're talented, they can stay… 

Or they can boomerang in and out to rural and regional Australia with their careers in their lives. And they can be making rural and regional Australia better.”

We could honestly share word for word the transcript of Bryce's podcast, as it really does encapsulate his belief in the success of Rural and Regional Australians - But that would take all the fun out of you discovering his story in his own words! Listen to our chat with Bryce Ives below.

“I want to see Australian agriculture thrive on a world stage, because that will have an impact in rural Australia and have an impact on health, on economics, on liveability.”

- Bryce

Image supplied by Bryce Ives.