That’s Tony Worton’s advice for anyone setting out in the workforce.

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Tony, from Laurieton, is more than qualified to give employment tips, considering he’s just logged his 30th year with Port Macquarie boat builders, Birdon.

“My passion for working on boats came at a very young age,” he said.

“Working at Birdon has shown me many pathways in the marine industry and I was lucky to have a fantastic boss.”

That boss was Birdon founder Jim Bruce.

“Jim threw me into a lot of roles and he always had the confidence that I could ‘make it happen’.

“If it wasn’t for him always encouraging me to get out of my comfort zone and try new things, I wouldn’t be the person I am today.”

Tony started at Birdon as a boilermaker when the company had just five employees and one shed.

Now he is Lifting and Mooring Supervisor and Birdon has close to 750 employees at multiple sites across Australia and the world.

His two sons Jacob and Thomas have followed in his footsteps and are also working at Birdon.

As a sign of how much Jim Bruce meant to him, Tony decided to mark his three decades at Birdon by getting ‘make it happen’ tattooed on his chest.

“Birdon really is a family to me. It’s so much more than a job. It’s my life.”

Tony’s passion is more than matched by his commitment to the community and surf lifesaving in particular.

Most people will know him from Camden Haven Surf Life Saving Club where he’s a highly-regarded committee member and a highly awarded surf lifesaver.

He was recently named Patrol Captain of the Year at the Mid North Coast Awards of Excellence and was the 2020 NSW Lifesaver of the Year.

In 2017, Tony and club-mate Phil Traves received a Meritorious Award from Surf Life Saving Australia for saving the life of a young mother caught in a rip in South Beach, Dunbogan.

By Sue STEPHENSON