For this week’s Deep Dive Series, we are interviewing a talented Clapper creator: @AussieKazz.

@AussieKazz is an Australian creator and talented chef on Clapper. In this Deep Dive interview, she told us about her life in Australia, her travels, and the many misconceptions people have about this big, beautiful country. On Clapper, she showcases amazing cooking recipes since she used to be a professional chef for 10 years. @AussieKazz is the first Australian creator ever highlighted on Clapper Talks and on the Deep Dive Series Blog. She will have a special Livestream celebration on January 26th for Australia Day.

Keep reading this Deep Dive Series to find out more about this creator’s amazing story. Make sure to tune in every Thursday at 5pm CT on our @Clappertalks account, to listen to the bonus questions that will only be available on our live radio show: Clapper Interviews.

Enjoy this deep dive on @AussieKazz

Tell us a little bit about yourself. What does a day look like in your life?  

I love to cook, but don’t cook professionally anymore, I haven’t done so for a little while. I worked for a huge union here in Australia, I did that for a while and absolutely loved it. Then I took a redundancy package and semi-retired. I started my own little business. Then, unfortunately, I had an accident which led to me not thinking that I would walk again. I was in my early 40s. I am up and walking again which is great. I am looking to travel to Australia once I fully retire. We do love to travel, that’s why in a lot of our videos I showcase Australia.

We saw your “Cooking with Kazz” videos. How long have you been a Chef? 

I started my apprenticeship when I was 15. I had a very successful cooking career. I didn’t cook for very long, I was in the industry for 10 years. Then, I got married, we were looking to having children and anyone in the hospitality industry knows that’s not really ideal to be pregnant and cook. I tried to go on a different direction.

What type of cuisine do you focus on? Do you have a specialty or do you like to try different things?

My training was based on the French culinary, that’s just what Australia does. It’s English, French and European. We are very multicultural here in Australia, we’ve got all sorts of different new people coming in to the country so the cuisine changes a lot. Mine was French. I could cook everything with cream and butter and it would taste fantastic. I am a savory person but I also like sweets. I used to decorate cakes as a side job when I was bored.

You are the 1st Australian Creator we are interviewing, we love your series “Why I love Australia”. You’ve gotten to part 19, why did you start this series? 

So, the 26th of January is Australia Day. The day of the federation when we became a nation. Australia is pretty young compared to other countries, we were founded in 1798 when Australia was discovered. I just wanted to showcase why Australia is beautiful and why I am proud to be an Australian. I wanted to highlight things that you normally don’t see or know about typically as a tourist. The small areas that you don’t normally see. A lot of people didn’t realize that we have snow here and we have some of the best ski resorts. I grew up here so I was very fortunate to have the grand reef as my backyard. I traveled extensively through my country and you don’t have to go very far to get a totally different landscape.

What are the most common misconceptions other people have about Australia?

They don’t realize how big we are and they don’t realize that we are an empty country. We are as big as America and we only have 25 million people. We’ve got vast areas of absolutely nothing. We got a nature reserve where you can drive and the areas are untouched. It’s absolutely beautiful. We are very carefree laidback people. We don’t like to get involved in politics. Also, not a lot of people know this but we have a hole in the ozone layer right on top of Australia which is why we have so much skin cancer, and it’s so hot.

When did you start creating content? What was your main focus and how has that shifted as you’ve grown as a creator?

I’ve never been one to do anything like this before, and the Covid first started I was bored. I was talking to my girlfriends online and they started sending Tiktok videos. I never went on TikTok before, I don’t have snapchat or instagram. I am old-school, I’ve got Facebook and that’s it. So I downloaded the app and one of the creators there told me about Clapper. That was back in March last year. I checked it out and loved the fact that you allowed more than 30 seconds to a minute, I loved the diversity, I loved the fact that they showed me a landscape or someone feeding their chickens. I enjoyed hearing people’s stories. I tried to do some cooking, but I didn’t want to make instagram cooking, I wanted to showcase meals that anyone could make, that were affordable, easy and quick.

We’ve seen you are very involved with the Clapper community, from clapbacks to shootouts and contests of your own. What are you currently involved in and what would you like to highlight?

At the moment we are doing the “We the people” PK battles. After that, there is going to be another competition in March. I just recently guitar battles and that was absolutely fantastic. I try to run contests or competitions. We play games during lives, and I try to send little gifts to everyone. It doesn’t matter if you are a paid supporter, if you come into my Livestream and we are playing a game you get a present from Australia. I want to host a live for Australia Day and you can win some mercy, t-shirts, etc.

What do you enjoy most about Clapper? In what ways do you feel like Clapper needs improvement?

To be real, just sorting those glitched out. That is one of the main things when we are doing competitions. It can be frustrating when my livestream is working but the other person’s not. I like the fact that I can actually speak to someone that actually works on Clapper on the town halls. You guys listen to what people have to say. I asked if we could have something for Australia Day and to hear that you guys are working on that makes Australians so excited. That is a big deal for us. We are. few but we have big voices.

How can Clapper support the Australian creators?

Clapper Talks is a fantastic way to highlight creators and being the first Australian to do this feels amazing. I think its wonderful that you are bringing in other countries, from your primary audience which is America. It’s nice to be acknowledged. I supposed other things would be to highlight other main holidays. We typically go in line with the UK for Easter and Christmas. We celebrate Melbourne Cup which is a horse race celebration that we have celebrated for a 100 years.

What advice would you give new users that want to be successful on Clapper?

Be yourself. That’s the best advice. Join groups, find yourself a nice group to join and you will spend outwards. Probably the main thing is just to be yourself. Don’t hide behind a persona. You find out pretty quick because is such an “in your face” app, that people will know right away. That is what I love about Clapper.

For our latest deep dive on @Handy.mandy, read here.