Liftinghero Joel: Fishing, music and tower cranes

... this goes some way to describing our multi-faceted Liftinghero. But there’s a lot more to Joel Jensen, from Brisbane, Australia. When you consider his numerous hobbies as well as his job, which is fuelled by his passion for tower cranes, you have to wonder how he manages to fit everything in!

Joel really is one of a kind. It’s already clear from the way he looks; his body is covered in tattoos from head to toe. You can feel his enthusiasm straight away when you meet him. His passion is easy to see if you take a look at his Instagram profile.

Joel started at the very bottom: when he was 19, his work centred around the bases of cranes. After a time, he had the opportunity to work up at the top of tower cranes as a hook hunter. And so, his passion began.

Having chased hooks and trolleys for years, Joel was then able to spend some time in a crane cab every now and again. A few hours turned into more and eventually he got his crane operator license. But Joel continued to spend a lot of time on the ground, “Because cabs were, and still are, reserved for the older guys and I respect that.”

With a few years of experience behind him, Joel’s responsibility increased and one day he found himself heading an assembly crew, “That was a whole other level of stress, responsibility and excitement!” This not only allowed Joel to develop his technical skills but also his talent for people management. Joel is now 33 and works as a shipyard and rigging supervisor for the Liebherr Tower Crane Division in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Joel appreciates the many interesting people he has been able to meet in his job over the years.

“I genuinely enjoy my work and I’m grateful for being able to work with such an excellent, intelligent and technically advanced product.”

Joel spends every spare minute he can on one of his two boats pursuing his other great passion: fishing.

And when he isn’t fishing, he likes to snowboard. He has been searching for the perfect powder snow for ten years now and has a very clear opinion on this, “Japan has the best powder snow!” Joel has been there four times already. As well as to America, New Zealand and Europe. “But nothing beats Japan.”

Together with his sister, Joel also organises a music festival every year. It is the biggest street music festival in Australia. To support the music industry in these extraordinary times, they have organised their first ever drive-in festival this year. Because Joel loves music and wants to contribute what he can.

Joel also loves to travel. He has already visited 36 countries and intends to double this number in the future. And, as part of this, he is able to pursue another of his passions: photography. “I love capturing moments.”

As Joel comes from a large family, he also likes to spend time with his nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts and uncles. “There is a lot of us!”

As we said, Joel is remarkable. You have to wonder how he manages to fit so many passions and hobbies into his life and whether he also has a sofa that he sits back and relaxes on once in a while.