This Lucky Human’s Job Is To Call $70m Lotto Winners & We Bloody Want It

Some folks spend their childhoods contemplating becoming a lawyer or something of the sort. If you’re one of those people, it pains me to inform you that you’re an idiot. Why pray tell would I have the audacity to call you, a beautiful (albeit random) reader, an idiot? Well, it’s because I reckon I’ve tracked down the ONLY job someone with a working noggin’ should ever dream of holding.  
If you were to bump into Claire Taylor at, say, a hella corporate event, she’d likely introduce herself as a PR Exec at the Lott – Australia’s Official Lotteries. If you caught her somewhere more chilled, however, she’d reveal a far sexier title.
“If I was at a barbecue or something like that, I guess I’d say I make people millionaires!”
Yep, Taylor’s main role is to call registered members after a lotto draw and tell them THAT THEY’VE WON MILLIONS OF DOLLARS. I’m hoping you’ve cottoned onto why I called you an idiot before. 
Typically this would happen the morning after when she gets into the office, but for the bigger draws (like those in the $70million territory – an amount she’s literally given to someone) she’ll attempt to get them on the blower as quickly as humanly possible.
“If it were me and I’d won that much money, I’d want to know ASAP,” she says. 
A-GODDAMN-MEN.
The calls are made in a Tardis-like ‘Winners Phone Booth’ for privacy reasons, because most of the time the winners want to remain anonymous. Seeing as most sensible people don’t want to announce that they’ve become overnight millionaires, Taylor steps in and dons the hat of a pseudo-publicist of sorts – she’ll wrangle the press on their behalf, revealing to them tidbits of who they are and how they’ll spend their cash. 
After that’s been sorted, some winners will pop into the office for a glass of bubbles and she’ll chat with them about what dreams they’re finally able to fulfil. GAH, OUR HEARTS CAN’T TAKE IT. That also means she’s responsible for writing up those *thumbs up* novelty cheques (#CareerGoals). 
But that aspect of her job is a mere add-on to, what is likely, the best main-task one could ever hope of doing repetitively for the rest of their working lives: that call.
“The best part is when we get to break that news to the winners and discover what they dreamed about when they bought that ticket,” she says. “Every winners’ story is unique, you never know what you’re going to get when you pick up that phone.” 
 
“We’re not calling about doom and gloom, or trying to sell something that no one wants – we’re calling to change someone’s life in a way they never thought possible. It really is an amazing thing to do everyday.”
 
The need to be a brilliant communicator is paramount in the job. Why? Picture getting that call yourself: would you believe it? Whoever was on the other end of the line better be darn convincing. 
“There’s a lot of scams out there these days and unfortunately people are sensitive to that fact. If they get a mysterious call about their lotto entry, they won’t let themselves believe it right away.”

“I’ve had quite a lot of people saying, ‘You’re joking’. They actually call through to the contact centre to check – even after we get off the phone – to check that it was all real. Then, of course, they call me and say, ‘Sorry, I thought it was all too good to be true.’”
Just incase you think you’d like her job one day / wondering how one falls into such a prestigious gig, Taylor’s journey started at uni – completing a Business degree in PR, and a Creative Industries degree majoring in Media and Creative Communications at QUT.
A few years later the job popped up. She couldn’t help but wonder, “What’s the catch?”, but soon realised there wasn’t one. The rest is, as the kids say, history. Since then she’s phoned over 400 Division One winners (which collectively amounts to over $700 million worth of prizes) and changed the lives of more humble Aussie families you could poke a stick at.
“I never go home without a smile or a story to tell. Each day is always new and exciting and interesting.”
“People always say, ‘Do you get numb to it? Is it not exciting anymore?’ and I’m like, ‘No, I genuinely feel happy to share that news with people’.”
“Just being the person to tell them the good news, and to be a part of it – a small part of it – it’s a bit of an honour.”
She also pointed out that, as mentioned, most people stay anonymous when they win. Taylor’s one of the few people who knows, so she’ll often hear back from winners months after who are looking to share their stories with her. How amazing would that be, getting to share in something so intimate?! 
“It’s not something they can chat about at the water cooler ‘cause they’ve sort of kept it to themselves.”
Another thing that’d throw the average person for a loop is that she actively plays the lotto (mainly Set For Life). Given this, she’s thought about coming to work to find that she’s the one who’d copped millions the night before.
“When I check the results I always check for my name first, or anyone I know,” she laughs.
“I’d get a full support crew of a cleaning lady, personal chef, personal trainer, that kind of thing – things that make life that little bit easier. That’d be my lotto dream, which I’ve given a lot of thought to as you could imagine.” 
Her career highlight was calling the winners of a $70 million Powerball prize – which was an equal largest win on a single ticket in Powerball history (which means yes, her work has literally contributed to history). 
“I was nervous when I went in to make that call. I was shaking a bit.”
She buzzed them the night of the draw (given that it was so huge) but didn’t get through. They had six missed calls, thought that was odd, checked their numbers and realised it must’ve been the lotto trying to call them. As it turns out, it was lovely grandparents who’d only ever won the local chook raffle. BLESS. Their plan of attack was to help out their fam, give to charity and then travel Europe + the US.
Other remarkable winners included a tradie who copped $20 million (prompting him to literally walk off his work site after ending the call) and a Set For Life winner in his early 30s hell bent on skiing every decent slope possible for the next 20 years. 
Yep, jobs don’t get much better than this. 
WHAT. A. TIME. TO. BE. ALIVE.
All this talk about winning $$ got you wishing you had some spare to live your best life? If you win our current comp c/o Set for Life, you could find yourself with $20k in your pocket – spontaneous holiday, anyone? Enter here:
Photo: Family Guy.

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