Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

Today’s episode is a deeply honest and powerful conversation with Jacinta Tynan, journalist, author, presenter, podcast host and creator of The Spiritual Book Club.

With a background in mainstream journalism, she’s also not afraid to explore concepts like spirituality and meditation, helping to make them more relatable and attainable.

She has written articles and columns for the likes of Sunday Life, Body+Soul and Stellar and is passionate about using her platform to help others feel more connected and ‘seen’.

Jacinta spent more than 30 years in the media, including a long career as a news anchor, but behind the scenes she was navigating profound personal challenges. These resulted in her having to make the big decision to leave a dysfunctional relationship with her young children.

In this episode she shares:

-      The journalism stories that stay with her

-      A challenge that impacted who she is today

-      Why she had to leave the father of her children

-      How she bargained with herself

-      Her experience dealing with this as someone in the public eye

-      What leaving looked like

-      Her experience being separated under the same roof

-      Creating a life for her and the kids

-      The challenge of the new beginning

-      What she would say to her younger self

-      The positives of this situation

-      What life looks like now

Key Quotes

“Don’t stay in a relationship that is dysfunctional because you’re worried that the kids will be worse off.  It’s not so bad out there.”

“People say why didn’t she leave? It is really hard to leave.”

More about Jacinta

You can find Jacinta on Instagram and via her website.

You can also check out her podcast My Spiritual Side and her online community The Spiritual Book Club.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

Imagine being a regional farmer living in remote Australia. Then imagine deciding to swim the English Channel.

This is part 2 of our chat with Brendan Cullen. I highly recommend listening to part 1 first. After his journey with his mental health, Brendan decided to make some big changes, and one of those was getting into swimming. But he didn’t just dabble, Brendan decided to go all in on swimming.

In this episode he shares:

-      His unexpected journey into swimming and how a simple local event sparked something much bigger

-      The obsessive progression from short swims to extreme endurance training

-      What it really took to prepare for the English Channel, including isolation, sacrifice, and relentless discipline

-      The mental toll of training in remote conditions and the grind of simply accessing water

-      The reality of the Channel swim itself, from brutal conditions to complete physical and mental exhaustion

-      The moment he reached France and the emotional release after years of effort

-      How this physical challenge compared to his earlier struggles with trauma and depression

-      The importance of saying “yes” and how that decision shaped the entire journey

-      The unexpected difficulty of life after achieving such a massive goal

-      How sharing his story and writing his book became a way to help others and find purpose

Key Quotes

“After 12 hours, it was dark. I had no idea where I was. I had no idea how long I'd been in the water. I had no idea how far I had to go. I've completely gave myself over to the boat hoping that they would get me there.”

“I got caught in a four and a half knot rip not far out of France, and that's a solid rip… so, you know, mentally really tough.”

More about Brendan

Find his website here. And his book here.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

We know remote and regional Australia has often been a space where mental health and abuse can fester untreated, and Brendan Cullen’s story is a prime example of this.

Brendan has always lived and worked on stations outside of Broken Hill, but his life has been much more than just managing stations.

With his diagnosis of depression from the steps he took up to the Broken Hill hospital, he has found himself not only living a happier life but having opportunities he could never have imagined. From these opportunities Brendan has become an Ambassador for Lifeline Regional SA & Far West NSW and a Champion for the Royal Flying Doctor Service South Eastern section We’ve Got Your Back initiative.

In this episode he shares:

-      His childhood growing up in the bush and the freedom that came with that life

-      What it was like being sent away to boarding school from a young age

-      The childhood sexual abuse he experienced and the impact it had on him for decades

-      How trauma shaped his ability to read people and the world around him

-      The effect of carrying secrecy, fear and shame for so many years

-      How alcohol, overwork and constant pushing through became part of how he coped

-      The warning signs of depression that were building long before he asked for help

-      What happened when he finally walked into hospital and was diagnosed with depression

-      The tools and mindset shifts that helped him begin healing and quiet the noise in his mind

-      Why sharing his story through his book has opened the door for others to speak about their own trauma

Key Quotes

“I was flogging myself by running. I was flogging myself working. And then I was self-medicating at night, so I was just burning myself out totally.”

“The closer I got, the worse I felt and I just thought it was my schooling, but I know that it was the abuse that I'd felt anxious, the uneasiness about all of that, and that feeling lasted for about 30 years.”

More about Brendan

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

We’ve heard before about receiving a diagnosis later in life, but imagine the confronting experience of being admitted to a psych ward as an adult and being told you have bipolar disorder.

Laura Schiller is a self-proclaimed hot-mess wife, mom of 3 and retired lawyer. 

Five years ago she was a content wife, mom, lawyer, and successful entrepreneur and then she found herself unexpectedly in a mental hospital. 

She is thankful for the experience and learned so many great lessons in the mental hospital. Now she signed on with a publisher for her book about her mental health journey.

In this episode she shares:

-      Her life before hospital

-      Her experience of going to hospital

-      How the psych ward differed to the mental hospital

-      What she wishes she knew back then

-      If she sees signs in your past that you had bipolar disorder

-      What happened when they told her she had bipolar

-      Her book and what she hopes to do

-      What it was like leaving the hospital

Key Quotes

“They put me on suicide watch.  I had never been more confused in my life and I didn't know I was on suicide watch.”

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

TW: child sexual abuse and trafficking

This is part 2 of Robyn Cameron’s incredibly traumatic story of abuse, and trafficking inside a cult and continues to share the trauma she experienced and how she has come out the other side.

own healing journey in the 1990s, combined with lived experience, inspired the creation of Golden Keys Healing, which she later supported with formal training including rehabilitation counselling and ongoing professional education.

In this episode she shares:

·      Robin’s description of what trafficking meant in her childhood and the strict systems that enabled it

·      The horrific abuse she endured from a very young age and the way it was normalised within the cult structure

·      The pain she still carries about other children who were also victims and her attempts to protect them

·      How she survived by creating inner parts and protective personas to cope with overwhelming trauma

·      Living with the contrast of appearing bright and bubbly on the outside while crying herself to sleep each night

·      How suppressed trauma resurfaced through powerful body memories later in life

·      Her determination to research and gather evidence to validate the experiences many people once dismissed

·      The long and complex process of waking up from cult conditioning and unlearning its ideology

·      What it meant to leave the cult and be completely shunned, losing her entire community overnight

·      The moment she describes as finally feeling “alive” at 46 and beginning the process of truly living

Key Quotes

“The hidden reality of my teenage years was living outwardly bright and bubbly, but inwardly I cried myself to sleep every night.”

“Leaving the cult meant losing my entire community and identity overnight, which was extremely isolating and difficult to navigate.”

“Father was forbidden to rape me before I was three.”

More about Robyn

You can follow Robyn on Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook and her website.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Try our FREE burnout quiz.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

TW: child sexual abuse and trafficking

We have discussed the horrors of child sexual abuse before, but Robyn Cameron’s story reveals a level of depravity an injustice that is truly shocking.

Growing up in a cult she was subjected to abuse and mistreatment from an incredibly young age, but somehow survived and now is healing and sharing the lessons she has learnt.

From a young age, Robyn has been deeply curious about how childhood experiences across cultures, beliefs, and social systems shape adulthood, leading her to begin exploring healing tools as early as 13. Her own healing journey in the 1990s, combined with lived experience, inspired the creation of Golden Keys Healing, which she later supported with formal training including rehabilitation counselling and ongoing professional education.

In this episode she shares:

-      Her deep emotional connection to the ocean as a place of safety and grounding

-      Her life being born into and growing up in a cult

-      What trafficking looked like in her childhood and the systems that enabled it

-      The sexual abuse she suffered

-      The burden she carried trying to protect other children and the guilt she held for years

-      How she survived psychologically by creating different inner parts and personas

-      The hidden reality of her teenage years living outwardly bright but inwardly shattered

-      How trauma resurfaced through body memories and the long process of validating what happened

-      The lifelong work of healing from cult conditioning and confronting internalised beliefs

-      What it meant to leave the cult and lose her entire community and identity overnight

-      Learning how to live, form relationships, and rebuild a sense of self after survival

-      How she now finds purpose in healing work and helping others through creative and somatic practices

Key Quotes

“What brings up the most amount of pain and grief is that there were other children that I wanted to protect from being raped and I failed.”

“It was a death sentence for me to write to this group and say… I no longer want to be one of you.”

More about Robyn

You can follow Robyn on Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook and her website.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Try our FREE burnout quiz.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

Trigger warning: suicide and suicidal ideation

This week we have the privilege to talk to someone with incredible experience working in the mental health space.

Ken Meldrum has a history of being a registered nurse for 46 years working mainly in Rural, Remote Health and Mental Health. He specialised in Suicide Prevention and Men’s Health during the last 20 years.

Ken retired from Qld Health 5 years ago and has since been employed with Lifeline Community Recovery, Stand By Support after Suicide Service and currently is working with Uniting Care Farmer to Farmer Support Service across Southern Qld and Far North Qld.

Ken also established a Suicide Prevention Network since retirement in Boonah, Qld, through which he was able to raise money to establish two Blue Tractors within that farming community with the sign saying “Feeling Blue – Get Help” which has raised a lot of interest and sparked many conversations around suicide and suicide prevention. Other Communities across Qld, NSW and Tasmania are also establishing similar structures.

Since May Ken has worked with old friends he has known for over 50 years from the motorcycling community to establish Blue Bikes on busy roads across Norther NSW and Qld with the same message, initially three were planned from March last year but the number is now approaching 20, we established a not-for-profit organisation titled the Blue Motorcycle Project Inc and a Facebook Group with now over 600 members.

In this episode he shares:

-      His life before working in nursing and how early experiences shaped his perspective of suicide

-      His entry into nursing, work in jails and psychiatric wards, and the “baptism of fire” training that shaped his approach

-      His encounters with people who took their own lives and the impact of losing patients and friends unexpectedly

-      How rural and remote work and Indigenous community experience exposed the scale and causes of suicide risk

-      The Blue Tractor and Blue Motorcycle Project—why visible roadside blue machinery/bikes start conversations about suicide

-      The power of practical community-focused prevention

-      His own lived experience of suicidal ideation, the protective factors that kept him alive, and what recovery looked like

-      How connection, simple listening (“do no harm”), and community partnerships can reduce isolation and save lives

Key Quotes

"I just fell into a really dark place and I started to have real thoughts about taking my life."

"It's the lack of connections, the loss of connections that cause the problem. Once people become isolated, that's when they're at risk."

"The bottom line, the most important thing we can do is do no harm. Sit down and listen to ’em. Let them know someone cares."

More about

If you feel you are struggling, you can reach out to the services below:

·      Lifeline Counselling Service: 13 11 14 (24-hours)

·      NSW Mental Health Line: 1800 011 511 (24-hours)

·      Royal Prince Alfred Hospital crisis service: 9515 6111 (ask for after-hours crisis workers)

·      Beyondblue Support Service: 1300 224 636

·      Headspace: 1800 650 890

·      Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800

·      MensLine Australia: 1300 789 978

Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Try our FREE burnout quiz.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

We’ve talked about experiencing a health issue and not knowing the cause and we’ve talked about the impact of suddenly losing mobility from an accident. But what if you suddenly became paralysed, but no one knew why?

That was the experience for Ro Clark in 2019.

Ro is a Sunshine Coast based acrylic painter and graphic designer with over 14 years’ industry experience. After acquiring a spinal cord injury in 2019, she found solace and expression through her painting. Now, Ro works from her home studio, creating original acrylic artworks, limited edition prints and seamless repeat pattern designs. With a lifelong passion for art and design, Ro brings both technical skill and emotional depth to her practice.

In this episode she shares:

-      Her life before the accident

-      The accident and what happened to her

-      What she was like personally as she realised what was happening to her

-      How realising the secondary aspects of being paralysed made life much harder for her

-      The significant pain she lives with every second

-      What the hard days of recovery looked like

-      What tools from her past life did she pull on to survive

-      Examples of her experiences with low accessibility

-      How she looks forward now and what brings her joy

-      Her art and how it helps her

Key Quotes

I could see my husband’s face and he could see the doctor and that is when I knew something was wrong.”

“The pain is the hardest part for me now.”

More about Ro

Find out more about Ro via her website and Instagram.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

We often talk about how challenges shape us, but planning and prevention are just as powerful as recovery. In this episode we bring back our in-house psychologist Vanessa de Sauty to unpack practical ways to set your year up for success, from visible yearly and weekly planners and color-coding to energy accounting, nervous-system awareness, and managing people-pleasing. 

Vanessa and I share lived and professional tips on spotting early stress signs (hyper vs hypo arousal), understanding ADHD, and building flexible containers that protect your energy.

In this episode we share:

-      The power of matching each family member’s energy needs (introvert vs extrovert)

-      The pros and cons of using visible yearly and weekly planners with color-coding and foundations vs unique items

-      The pros and cons of doing energy accounting to track deposits vs withdrawals and allocate chores by cost

-      Why you need to know your nervous system window of tolerance — hyper arousal vs hypo shutdown

-      The importance of recognising ADHD and using assessment, medication and strategies to improve function

-      How to manage people-pleasing by pausing, deferring, delegating and remembering saying yes is saying no

-      Setting 2026 by clarifying values, plugging priorities into the calendar and using workshops/resources

Key Quotes

“It's amazing how our body can start to display stuff that our mind hasn't caught up to yet."

"When I say yes to something, I'm actually saying no to something."

More about

To find out more about Vanessa, check out her website HERE.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

Claire Torkington has lived a life. That means there have been big highs, as well as some big challenges.

Besides dealing with burnout, and fighting fires as a firefighter, Claire has lived through numerous other close calls and just avoiding multiple deadly incidents, including 3 terror attacks.

Her career spans the globe as she has moved and adjusted to whatever life has thrown at her.

Now she works with Ability Enterprises, a not-for-profit, social enterprise providing meaningful employment opportunities to marginalised individuals living in regional Queensland.

In this episode she shares:

-      Her childhood experience moving around the world

-      The major attacks and disasters she happened to live through

-      What she learnt from living through these incidents

-      How she ended up looking after her dads mum in the UK and how that changed er life

-      Her time as a firefighter

-      the moment she collapsed

-      The realisation she made about her mental health

-      What she does when she realises she is going down the path of her health getting bad

-      The mantras and lessons she has taken from her challenges

Key Quotes

"By the time I got to the gate of the complex, I was physically ill."

"I was actually on a plane on September 11th flying to New York, and we were pulled out of the air..."

"I refused to accept initially that this fall over moment was anything to do with my mental health whatsoever or stress."

More about Claire

Find out more about Ability Enterprises here.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This one is powerful and such a great listen, and even if you have listened before I think there would be whole new takeaways from a second liusten.

And if you haven't listened. enjoy!

Trigger warning: Domestic violence, sexual assault, mental health

While abuse within the family is something we have discussed on this podcast, one topic we have not covered as much, which often goes hand in hand, is the abandonment many children go through in this experience.

Dante Amato is renowned in the Personal Development space for the deeply nurturing and transformational spaces she holds. She is a Business Mentor, Transformational Life Coach, Spiritual Guide and Energy Practitioner. But besides being a coach, Dante is a woman who has walked the path of trauma and triumph, gaining valuable insights that fuel her mission to help others.

From an early age she experienced abandonment, abuse, manipulation and trauma which extended far into her life. As an adult she has done a loooot of healing and work, but her story is one that I think will resonate with a lot of people.

In this episode she shares:

• Her experience of being abandoned by her mum as a child
• The experience of spending time with her unstable mother as a child
• Her experience with domestic abuse in her mother’s home
• How her brother was manipulated and let down by their mother
• How her relationship with her husband helped her
• What happened when she was diagnosed with infertility
• What her journey to heal was like
• The thing that kept her going through recovery when things got really hard
• How she developed her voice in adulthood
• The way she was able to work through her anger
• What she is doing now to help others

Key Quotes

“I had to completely cut my mother off. Really intentionally and energetically remove her from my life.”

“The constant thought that I had was that I just need to do everything that I can to make her love me.”

“When bad things happened, we would never ever speak about them.”

More about Dante

Dante’s website: https://www.danteamato.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedanteamato/?hl=en

Minibook: https://www.danteamato.com/mini-book-of-self-discovery

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website: http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

For her other business you can find it through the websites: www.altitudefitnessarmidale.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Try our FREE burnout quiz.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

Trigger warning: suicide, depression, acts of war.

Many of us have seen war movies, but nothing can truly explain the horrors and intensity of war. So we can only begin to understand the mental impact that going to war can have on the brave soldiers who are involved.

Dave Payne has carved a difficult path from the frontlines to the boardroom. 

He has served as a leader in Iraq and Afghanistan wars and, as a security supervisor at the Regional Processing Centre on Nauru.

Dave has battled PTSD, depression, substance abuse, and suicide attempts. He has since rebuilt his mind, body, spirit, and purpose.

Now, bringing this skill set to Lifespan Supplements as Director, Dave delivers top quality health products that help people live stronger, longer, vibrant, and more purposeful lives. 

He also uses his hard fought and won skills to support and enrich the lives of veterans through Sage and Sovereign Group, as well as his Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) coaching business.

In this episode he shares:

-      His early upbringing in Australia with his parents and why it was good and paved the way for him to have the life that he has now

-      The things that built resilience in his youth

-      What life in the military was like

-      The accident he had while off duty

-      How he was made to go back to military work when he hadn’t recovered

-      His time in Iraq and the horrors he witnessed

-      How he realised he was in trouble while back home on leave

-      The damaging response he was given when he opened up about his struggle

-      How bottling up his feelings lead to drinking

Key Quotes

“I just felt this, like a hole just appeared in me. These thoughts and feelings were creeping in. There was lots of sadness.”

“They were testing chlorine bombs…and it just literally melts skin. It just melt human.”

More about

You can find out more about what Dave does via the Lifespan Supplements website.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many of us have seen war movies, but nothing can truly explain the horrors and intensity of war. So we can only begin to understand the mental impact that going to war can have on the brave soldiers who are involved.

Dave Payne has carved a difficult path from the frontlines to the boardroom. 

He has served as a leader in Iraq and Afghanistan wars and, as a security supervisor at the Regional Processing Centre on Nauru.

Dave has battled PTSD, depression, substance abuse, and suicide attempts. He has since rebuilt his mind, body, spirit, and purpose.

Now, bringing this skill set to Lifespan Supplements as Director, Dave delivers top quality health products that help people live stronger, longer, vibrant, and more purposeful lives. 

He also uses his hard fought and won skills to support and enrich the lives of veterans through Sage and Sovereign Group, as well as his Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) coaching business.

In this episode he shares:

-      His early upbringing in Australia with his parents and why it was good and paved the way for him to have the life that he has now

-      The things that built resilience in his youth

-      What life in the military was like

-      The accident he had while off duty

-      How he was made to go back to military work when he hadn’t recovered

-      His time in Iraq and the horrors he witnessed

-      How he realised he was in trouble while back home on leave

-      The damaging response he was given when he opened up about his struggle

-      How bottling up his feelings lead to drinking

Key Quotes

“I just felt this, like a hole just appeared in me. These thoughts and feelings were creeping in. There was lots of sadness.”

“They were testing chlorine bombs…and it just literally melts skin. It just melt human.”

More about

You can find out more about what Dave does via the Lifespan Supplements website.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

Trigger warning: sexual abuse

For many survivors of child sexual abuse, the moment the truth comes out can almost be another form of trauma while for others it can be cathartic. In fact as Alison Mau knows very well, the needs of survivors are infinitely varied.

Alison is an award-winning journalist with more than thirty years in major television, radio, and print media roles. A long-time advocate for gender equity, in the wake of the global #metoo movement, Alison created a ground breaking investigative journalism project at NZ’s largest news platform in 2018. Over five years, the #MeTooNZ project published dozens of major investigations and supported hundreds of survivors to tell their stories, leading to widespread change in the way sexual harassment is reported by media.

In many ways her experience helped her when it came to exploring and sharing her own personal experience with childhood sexual abuse.

In 2023, Alison co-founded Tika, a tech-first access to justice charity designed to remove the barriers survivors experience when seeking justice and accountability.

Her #1 bestselling memoir, No Words For This, was released in April 2025.

In this episode she shares:

-      How her curiosity, optimism, and likely undiagnosed ADHD have shaped who she is

-      Why she wrote No Words for This and the lack of language around sexual harm

-      The decision to tell her family’s story and why leaving it out felt dishonest

-      The unexpected impact of the book and how it helped survivors feel less alone

-      Her role leading Me Too NZ and changing how survivor stories are reported

-      What trauma-informed journalism looks like in practice

-      How a phone call from her sister brought buried childhood abuse into the open

-      The relief and complexity of discovering she was no longer alone

-      Why justice and healing are not one-size-fits-all for survivors

-      How she transformed anger, struggle, and grief into advocacy and systemic change

Key Quotes

“I spent my whole life pushing it down just so I could survive, until one moment made it impossible to stay alone with it.”

“Struggling isn’t weakness, it’s what happens when you’re carrying something that was never meant to be carried alone.”

“The hardest part wasn’t what happened to me, but learning to believe it wasn’t my fault.”

More about

Find out more about Tika here.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

Welcome to 2026! For many 2025 was a pretty hard year, and some of you may have just been knuckling down and powering through, often even being the support for those around you whilst also desperately trying to keep your head above water.

I wanted to do this episode to help those of us who have fallen into the role of being ‘The Strong one” find a way to an easier 2026.

In this episode I shares:

-      How we can take a moment to pause

-      What it means to be the strong one and why people become the strong one

-      The cost of always being the strong one

-      What happens when the strong one finally can’t be strong

-      What is a more positive kind of strength

-      A simple strategy to begin shifting the pattern

Key Quotes

“Over time strength stops being something you do and it becomes someone you are.”

There is a hidden cost of being the strong one.”

“Your body often knows the cost long before your mind does.”

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

What is it like to be a narcissist? And how can. Narcissist do good in the world?

This week we are continuing our conversation with 89-year-old keynote speaker, author, and Gestalt therapist Lenny Kravich.

After an abusive upbringing, Lenny realised a long time ago that he might be a narcissist, and that realisation shaped an entire journey of discovery and development that he then went on.

In this episode he shares:

-      What the word narcissist means for him and what his experience with it is

-      How he made a decision that changed the way he viewed and interacted with people

-      What happens when he lets himself down

-      How he came to write his book

-      What impact did writing the book have on him

-      The lesson he still has to learn

-      

Key Quotes

“I am very manipulative about how I get attention.”

“It screwed up a lot of things in my life.”

More about Lenny

Find his website here.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

We have heard from the victims of generational trauma from it’s victims, but what about the people who perpetuate it, until they finally realising what they are doing?

That is the story of Lenny Ravich, a man who experienced abuse as ‘punishment’ and passed it on to his children until he realised what he was doing and worked hard to make the change.

Lenny is an 89-year-old keynote speaker, author, and Gestalt therapist whose life work bridges humour, healing, and human connection. His message lands with lightness and truth – shaped by decades of lived experience, not theory. Lenny doesn’t just talk about joy – he lives it.

In this episode he shares:

-      What it was like for him growing up and the violence he experienced from his parents

-      How he perpetuated generational violence

-      His relationship with his sister and reconciling with her

-      how a conference and gestalt therapy led him to realisations about himself

-      Gestalt therapy and realising awareness and mindfulness

-      An experience that led him to fully accept himself

-      What was his process of changing after his realisation

-      His experience of deep listening and how it has impacted his life

Key Quotes

“Aa person could tell me they're dying in 3 days and I would joke about it.”

“It was all about me, anything that came up, it was all about me.”

“I didn’t tackle my narcissism it's still there but I’m aware of it happening

More about Lenny

Find his website here.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

Lara Hamilton is an Australian Trail Runner, Ski-Mountaineer, DJ & Vocalist, and Digital Growth Hacker and is currently training for the Skimo 2026 Winter Olympics Trials.

She was also diagnose with Ankylosing Spondylitis, also known as the ‘young person’s arthritis’.

Lara’s journey of elite athlete, to battling an undiagnosed condition, to finally receiving a diagnosis and working back to her Olympic dream is absolutely awe inspiring.

Outside of training and the incredible amount of sports and music she does, Lara wants to make an active impact on athlete climate education and sustainable outdoor practices. One way I can assist in the digital world is to make athlete climate sustainability resources.

In this episode she shares:

-      What her childhood and family life was like

-      Her experience with music and her creativity outside of sport

-      The highlights of her career so far

-      How her struggle to believe in herself impacted her

-      Her biggest lessons from childhood that she's pulled into what she does today

-      How being diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis affected her journey

-      How she manages having this lifelong condition that gets worse over time

-      Tools she uses to enhance her performance

-      Tools she uses to manage anxiety

-      What ski mountaineering is and what is her experience with it

Key Quotes

“Opportunities are gonna open up to you if you believe in yourself and if you don't, fake it.”

“If you smile at people and you stand tall, it makes other people bright and happy too.”

More about Lara

Check out Lara’s website and follow her on Instagram.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

To sign up for our difficult conversations and workplace culture workshop go here.

Trigger warning: Alcoholism

Imagine starting a journey of alcoholism and addiction from the age of 5.

That was the case for John Griffith who still remembers the life altering impact of the first drink he had as a child and how it lead to over a decade of addiction and reliance before he finally became sober at 18.

Now, living a continuous sober life since April 1991 at the early age of 18 John is familiar with the effects of alcoholism and drug addiction. Whilst achieving success in the private sector, the cornerstone to John's life has been working with those suffering from alcoholism.

He is a CEO with a hands on approach towards Sunrise Way residents and a belief that providing tools for living and re-immersion into the community is part of the long term solution. 

In this episode he shares:

-      Why one of the first most significant events in his life was first trying alcohol

-      What some of the tough lessons he had to learn in life were

-      How alcohol impacted his life

-      His experience going to a 12 step program and how it offered him hope

-      How trauma can affect the lives of the people around him

-      The work he's doing now and how his challenges led him to that

-      Some of the challenges he faced during his work

-      What message he has for people in a similar situation who need help

Key Quotes

“I wasn’t looking for somewhere to get sober I was just looking for somewhere safe to stay.”

“When I got sober at 18 and a half, I had the emotional maturity of a 4 or 5 year old.”

“My life was painful sober and I would drink to feel ok.”

More about John

Find out more about Sunrise Way via their website.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

To sign up for our difficult conversations and workplace culture workshop go here.

This week is actually a bit of a different style of episode. Normally, we interview a guest on a challenge they faced, but today is just you and I.

I wanted to spend some time reflecting on the year, on the incredible conversations that we've had. Every story, every tear, every quiet pause of challenge, and what it's taught me and all of us about what it truly means to grow through challenge. When I first started this podcast, I believed in the power of storytelling to shift us, to move something inside That logic can't quite reach.

But this year I witnessed something deeper. I saw how challenge doesn't just test us. It absolutely can transform us. It reshapes the way that we see ourselves, the way that we see our loved ones and the way that we live our lives.

In this episode I share:

-      How challenges transform people, not just test them, and the importance of our community’s honest, raw stories.

-      The theme of Recovery and rebirth we learnt from Yumi, Caroline, and Diana’s experiences and what it shows us

-      How Sarah, Dr. Adam Fraser, and Bo’s stories illustrate that growth comes from stepping into discomfort, self-trust, and daring to face the unknown.

-      Why Tara, Steve, and Kevin demonstrated that loss reshapes life, requires feeling the pain, and can be transformed into purpose and resilience.

-      How Andrew and Jordy’s stories show that rebuilding life after trauma takes time, patience, and many small choices.

-      Courage isn’t the absence of fear—it’s continuing to show up, breathe, and make choices even when life is uncertain or painful.

-      Transformation doesn’t happen in grand gestures; it comes from tiny, daily decisions that slowly shape who we are becoming.

Key Quotes

“The greatest gift you can give your children is learning to love yourself.”

“I don’t ever get over trauma. You learn to walk alongside it. To give it space, but not the steering wheel.”

More about

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website: http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

To sign up for our difficult conversations and workplace culture workshop go here.

Trigger warning: Childhood sexual abuse, alcohol addiction

Our identity and how we see ourselves has a huge impact on our lives. But what if huge incidents in our early life caused us to create an identity that was harmful and complex and actually untrue to who we really are?

Nikole built a multi-million dollar company from scratch, and nearly lost herself in the process because of how her own self identity controlled her narrative.

Now sober, self-led and sharp as ever, she’s rewriting what success looks like beyond the hustle.

Her story isn’t clean. But it’s real. And it’s hers.

In this episode she shares:

-      Her early childhood and how she was abused by a family member

-      How her brother was hit by a car and passed away at 17

-      How her brother’s death was the catalyst that split the family

-      The months and years after her brother’s death and how she was introduced to alcohol

-      The destructive impact of her drinking and living with an inaccurate self identity

-      Her father’s death at 50

-      Having her house burn down shortly after giving birth

-      What happened when she entered the psych ward and why it didn’t meet her expectations

-      What she did to recover when she realised her drinking was impacting her marriage

-      Her experience with the retreat/rehab in Bali

-      How she made $12 million in one year

-      Understanding the pros and cons of the parts of herself that have developed from her trauma

Key Quotes

“I was abused during my childhood by a family member.”

“At my brothers wake I was introduced to alcohol...and that was it.”

More about Nikole

Check her out via her website or Instagram.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website: http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

To sign up for our difficult conversations and workplace culture workshop go here.

The journey of fighting cancer is so much more than just: finding out you have it and then getting treated.

This week’s episode is part 2 of our chat with Melanie Staudt, an incredible woman who overcame breast cancer and all of its challenges. For this week’s episode Melanie will be sharing the challenges in recovery, post recovery and what happens when the cancer comes back.

Melanie is 51 years old, lives in the US in Ohio and is married with two girls age 22 and 18.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2021. It was three years of intensive healing and has had no evidence of disease for a year and a half. She continues to work on physical, mental and spiritual health and looks forward to life’s next chapter. 

In this episode she shares:

-      Her second experience of cryoablation

-      The long term weight and energy of cancer treatment

-      Managing the fear and stress post cancer and how it impacts relationships

-      Learning to take care of herself and ask for and accept help

-      The story of how her doctor missed her active cancer

-      Using a trial treatment and having to get a mastectomy

-      Finding a lymph node in her sternum

-      What helped her to stop detaching from her body

-      Her lessons taken away after this experience

Key Quotes

“I felt like a failure, I felt like I had made all the wrong decisions.”

“People that haven’t been through can’t understand.”

More about Melanie

You can contact Melanie via Facebook or Instagram.

The pre surgery meditation link she mentioned is here.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

To sign up for our difficult conversations and workplace culture workshop go here.

Cancer has a devastating effect both on those it afflicts and those around them.

For Melanie Staudt her cancer journey was full of challenges that often felt insurmountable.

Melanie is 51 years old, lives in the US in Ohio and is married with two girls age 22 and 18.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2021. It was three years of intensive healing and has had no evidence of disease for a year and a half. She continues to work on physical, mental and spiritual health and looks forward to life’s next chapter. 

In this episode she shares:

-      Why she identifies most with a monarch butterfly

-      What happened for her in the early days leading up to breast cancer discovery

-      Getting her biopsy and preparing for bad news

-      How the initial bad news led to positivity in her life

-      The moment she got more bad news and her experience of detaching from her body

-      How she discussed her reservations about chemo with her husband

-      What her treatment options were and what she decided

-      When she saw a naturopathic doctor and her experience with craniosacral massage

-      When she got imaging done and got the all clear

Key Quotes

“I couldn’t process anything, it was like I was out of my body.”

“I probably spent between 20 and 40 hours a week researching breast cancer.”

More about Melanie

You can contact Melanie via Facebook or Instagram.

The pre surgery meditation link she mentioned is here.

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

Steve Pocock’s life has been shaped by early loss - and by what can grow from it. 

He was ten years old when his family fled their farm in Zimbabwe, one of thousands displaced during the country’s land reform era. The experience left deep scars that took a lot of time to heal from but also planted a conviction: that dignity and hope are worth rebuilding, even from the hardest places.  Steven joins us on the podcast to show just how far you go grow beyond the trauma in your childhood.

His conviction became a calling. From Papua New Guinea’s highlands to the mountains and coasts of Timor-Leste, Steve has spent his career helping others rebuild - working with governments, entrepreneurs, and communities to grow small businesses, strengthen markets, and create jobs that restore purpose.  At the heart of Steve’s journey is a simple belief: that we honour what we’ve lost by building something better - that real impact is measured not in projects or profits, but in the restoration of dignity, purpose, and possibility.

In this episode he shares:

• Some background about Zimbabwe,
• His upbringing there, and the loss of his friend
• His experience of their farm being invaded
• How things got harder before they got better after he moved to Australia
• His experience with depression and being hospitalised
• His professional football experience and spinal surgery
• The goal he made to make a positive impact in the world
• How writing an article spring boarded his career to what it is today
• His time working in PNG working under an aid program
• Returning home to Zimbabwe to tackle some of the country’s biggest challenges
• What happened when he went to Timor-Leste
• Some of the biggest life lessons he's taken away from these experiences

Key Quotes

“If I’m not going to fight for them who is?”

“If you start something you have no choice but to finish it.”

More About Steve

Follow Steve on Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

INDIA workshop: High Performance Leadership Summit

To sign up for our difficult conversations and workplace culture workshop go here.

Welcome to part 2 of my chat with Sarah Davis, the absolute powerhouse who went from working in banking to completely throwing herself out of her comfort zone.

In this episode we return to Australia to discuss what happened when she decided to cycle across Australia and how her decision to get out of her comfort zone made her decide to do 52 uncomfortable things in 52 weeks.

In this episode she shares:

-      The challenge of choosing her next adventure

-      Why she picked cycling across Australia

-      The purpose attached to her challenge of cycling across Australia

-      What went wrong during the cycle

-      Why road trains were the biggest risk and what they are

-      The challenge of losing Leif, the 21yo cyclist she met along the way

-      How losing Leif changed the trajectory of their trip

-      What she took away from this experience

-      Her next adventure

-      Her challenge to do 52 uncomfortable things in 52 weeks

-      What were her takeaways of this experience

-      What were the things she said no to

Key Quotes

“I noticed that being out of my comfort zone wasn’t as familiar.”

“My comfort zone had gone from the back garden to the size of a national park.”

“Failure isn’t fatal.”

More about Sarah

Find out more about Sarah via her website, Instagram and LinkedIn.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

INDIA workshop: High Performance Leadership Summit

To sign up for our difficult conversations and workplace culture workshop go here.

Imagine being an introvert who works in banking and deciding to be the first women to lead an expedition down the Nile where you face attacks from crocodiles, hippo’s and more.

That’s what happened to Sarah Davis who, in her forties and in search of more out of life, she decided to step away from her corporate life & attempt to paddle the length of the Nile.

She survived hippo attacks, being arrested & detained in Burundi & running lethal rapids. Now, her expeditions in Oman, Australia and more have given Sarah insights into what it takes to overcome fear, thrive through uncertainty & succeed in challenging environments. Her best-selling book, Paddle the Nile: One Woman's Search For a Life Less Ordinary was published in July 2022.

In this episode she shares:

• How she was a desperately shy and quite child
• What brought her to Australia
• The vulnerability she felt from sharing her blog
• What happened when her passport got stolen
• Her experience going back into banking
• Why she decided to pursue an expedition
• The risks and preparation she had to learn about
• What she did in advance to mitigate the risks
• Seeing big white bags of contraband next to the river
• How the rapids worried her due to a near drowning experience
• Her experience being attacked by a hippo on day 6
• The pep talk she gave herself to get through
• The other challenges she encountered on the expedition
• Getting food poisoning the day before the last day
• The lessons she now carries with her

Key Quotes

“I felt like I had a really beautiful piece of clothing that just didn't suit me.”

“The intel we got was that they were going to detain me if I went there.”

“This huge hippo’s bitten into the back of the raft. I'd never felt real primal fear before.”

More about Sarah

Find out more about Sarah via her website, Instagram and LinkedIn.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

INDIA workshop: High Performance Leadership Summit

To sign up for our difficult conversations and workplace culture workshop go here.

This episode is a bit different to our normal ones.

A lot of you have been repeatedly asking me to cover Imposter Syndrome and how to fight it, so I’m delighted to welcome back Clifford Morgan to get his expertise on the subject.

Cliff is a leadership expert and endorsed organisational psychologist with over seventeen years of service with the Royal Australian Air Force. His years of service leading and coaching people, both in uniform and out, bring a wealth of experience that provides a unique perspective to assist his clients. During this time he has trained hundreds of leaders to use coaching skills to develop people and lead more effectively. As a coach Clifford has worked with CEOs, military commanders, government executives and business and community leaders across a wide variety of industries.

In this episode he shares:

• What is imposter syndrome?
• The archetypes of imposter syndrome
• How to differentiate the archetypes
• What does 'overwork' mean and look like?
• What are the basics of your life to be brilliant at first?
• Some coping mechanisms
• What it means to adopt a mask
• The difference between adjusting and masking
• What is happening in the brain with imposter syndrome
• Why building a body of evidence can help
• How finding strong allies can help combat imposter syndrome
• How to intercept your negative thoughts
• Ways to reframe failure

Key Quotes

“A lot of high performers have imposter syndrome.”

“The more social groups that we're a part of, the less likely we are to be depressed or have mental health issues.”

“Are you doing it from a place of fear or for the benefit of someone else?”

More about Clifford

Find out more with Clifford via his website.

For Cliff's course on Impsoter syndrome go here.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website: http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

INDIA workshop: High Performance Leadership Summit

To sign up for our difficult conversations and workplace culture workshop go here.

Trigger warning: Domestic violence, PTSD, child deaths

’Domestic Violence does not discriminate, and sadly the systems and law enforcement don’t always protect us.

One person who knows that all too tell is Courtney Burchard. 

Courtney is a former Forensic Scientist and Queensland Police Officer with 15 years of service. After being medically retired in 2024 following a complex PTSD diagnosis, she has embraced her lived experience as both a survivor of Domestic Violence and institutional betrayal. Courtney now uses her voice to raise awareness around trauma, resilience, and mental health, sharing her journey through the power of poetry.

In this episode she shares:

• Her experience joining the police
• Her experience working in forensics
• The lead up to having PTSD
• Her experience with DV and how dangerous it got
• How she was experienced with DV applications and hers still didn't go through
• The symptoms of trauma she experienced
• How working on Hannah Clarke's case triggered her PTSD
• How her career ended
• Her panic attack
• What happened when she saw a doctor about her PTSD
• The process of starting medication and therapy
• Her healing journey
• The grief around leaving the police force
• What has surprised her about this process
• What needs to change around DV

Key Quotes

“I had to tell my male boss intimate details.”

“He still has access to a firearm.”

“After the relationship had ended there was an incident where this person has broken into my home.” 

More about Courtney

Follow Courtney on Instagram

You can find Small Steps 4 Hannah, the charity started by Hannah's parents on Instagram here.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website: http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

INDIA workshop: High Performance Leadership Summit

To sign up for our difficult conversations and workplace culture workshop go here.

Coming back from a deadly illness and stroke is big enough challenge in itself, but the equal challenge that many don’t think about is having to survive with the disabilities from that incident, in a world that does not make any space for disability.

That is what Lisa Cox has had to do and not only has she manage that, she has made it her mission to remove the barriers and systemic injustice faced by people with a disability,

Lisa Cox OAM is an author, university researcher, TEDx speaker and internationally awarded thought leader. Her work is focused on changing social attitudes about disability using world's most powerful industries - like media.

In this episode she shares:

• Her early life
• What happened when she had a stroke at 24
• Her first memories of this experience
• How she found out her leg would be amputated
• How she had to relearn how to do basic everyday tasks
• Her worst day in recovery
• The process of coming to grips with what happened
• What happened once she was out of hospital
• Getting back into the gym
• The process of balancing grief and gratitude
• How because of her disability she met her husband
• Teaching herself to type again with her new fingers
• Having perspective
• Getting back on the dating scene
• The social expectation that she had to lower her standards to find someone
• What shopping for a wedding dress with her disability was like
• The ableism she encounters in life now
• How her now husband was patted on the back for proposing to a disabled woman
• What life looks like now
• Her work in rebranding disabilities

Key Quotes

“There's this idea that once you acquire a disability your life will be tragic.”

“All of my organs shut down and every cell in my boy died.”

“I realised I had a tonne of internalised ableism.”

More about Lis

Find out more via her website.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website: http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

INDIA workshop: High Performance Leadership Summit

To sign up for our difficult conversations and workplace culture workshop go here.

Trigger warning: suicide, domestic violence, depression

Intergenerational trauma can be an incredibly hard cycle to break, especially if it forces you to live through verbal abuse, manipulation and torment for your entire childhood. For Yummii Nguyen, this was her reality, yet her story is not just one of survival, but of learning to love herself and breaking generational cycles so her children could inherit freedom instead of pain. What makes her story extraordinary is not what she survived, but what she built. She is the founder of Meet Fear, with Love and a guide to leaders, entrepreneurs, and parents who appear to have it all, but quietly know, “I’m not free.” . Through her Mastermind, Higher Self Mastery program, and private mentorship, Yummii helps people who have already done the work finally soften their nervous system, meet fear with love, and live from wholeness and their Heart.

In this episode she shares:

• Growing up as the child of an affair and being told she was unwanted
• Reconciling a father who was revered in the community but violent and emotionally troubled at home
• The mental health battles that began at 12, when she no longer wanted to live
• The moment she first experienced unconditional love
• How the birth of her son became a turning point in her healing
• What it takes to love yourself when your body and mind only know survival

Key Quotes

“Freedom isn’t what you achieve. Freedom is who you are when there’s nothing left to prove.”

“I realised the cost of not loving myself was going to be carried by my children. That’s when everything changed.”

More about Yummii

Find out more about Yummii via her website, Instagram, Facebook and check out her free training for parents.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website: http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

To sign up for our difficult conversations and workplace culture workshop go here.

I’m so excited to be welcoming back Allan Parker to share his personal story of overcoming an extraordinary challenge to being able to learn, and to also share some amazing pearls of wisdom on neuro plasticity and learning.

Alan Parker OAM is a distinguished micro‑behavioural scientist, negotiator and educator whose major achievements include developing Australia’s first tertiary degree in negotiation, serving as an adjunct professor on the University of Western Sydney’s Master’s program in Dispute Resolution, and being awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2020 for his contribution to business and dispute resolution. He is a bestselling author (Switch On Your Brain), author of The Negotiator’s Toolkit and Would Could Might (2024). On top of this he has presented and facilitated in 60+ countries, and has led influential, large‑scale negotiations and sector reforms while also building a long‑standing practice delivering practical brain‑health and negotiation training across corporate, regional and rural communities.

In this episode he shares:

• His eye impairment that made learning difficult as a child
• How his parents alcoholism affected him growing up
• How he learned to listen and compensate for his inability to read
• How vision work and training unlocked his reading and learning.
• The neuroscience of breathing, oxygen, hydration and their effect on attention, emotion and memory.
• Peripheral vision as a tool to reduce internal narrative/default-mode thinking and improve presence.
• Stress as a social risk and why he thinks we are addicted to adrenaline/dopamine/drama.
• His practical behaviour tips to improve brain health
• The importance of communication and leadership

Key Quotes

"I was born with an eye condition that meant I didn't read until I was 30, and yet I'm a terminal enthusiastic learner."

"I remember the very moment, Ali, that I watched my father beating my mother. And I made a conscious decision in that second that I would never violate, hit another human being. Ever."

"I had to sit down and explain him that I couldn't read."

More about Allan

You can find out more about Allan here.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website: http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

To sign up for our difficult conversations and workplace culture workshop go here.

Trigger warning: Domestic violence

Many of us have heard how hard it can be to live in a domestic violence relationship, but not all of us realise just how hard it can be to leave.

And by ‘leave” we mean how to financially and emotionally stay alive with no support or home while a violent partner tracks you down.

This is part 2 of our chat with the incredible Diana Connell, who escaped a long term domestic violence relationship with her two children.

Diana has dedicated her life to pushing for systemic reform in housing, domestic violence, and women’s economic security. Through her work with Global Sisters, she is involved in the Little Green Houses project, making home ownership a reality for women who have experienced domestic violence. Through McAuley Community Services for Women, she has been deeply involved in the co-design of the ground breaking Safe at Home trial in Geelong.

In this episode she shares:

• Why St Vincent’s and McDonalds were how they survived in the early days after leaving
• How she got out of the dire situation they were in
• The difficult moment where she had to make her kids get work for them to survive
• How they ended up in a safehouse in Melbourne
• Her fear that he would find them and what happened when he did
• The disappointing charge her ex faced even though her son had filmed the attack
• The way her ex tried to intimidate them after he tracked them down  
• Her life now and how she got out and things got better
• The sad truth about recovering from this kind of abuse
• How a lawyer helped her out from the debt her ex had left her with
• What she does now to help others in similar situations

Key Quotes

“ We were homeless for a good 6 months...We’d say, well this place isn’t used, so we’d live there. I guess we were squatters.”

“He tracked us down there…he made sure we knew he was there, he took our spare key. It’s all that thing about scaring the living shit out of us.”

More About Diana

Follow Diana on her art instagram

Find out more about how Global Sisters can women here.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website: http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

If you would like us to work with your team book a 30 min chat HERE.

Trigger warning: Domestic Violence

Domestic violence is a scourge on our society and the brave survivors who have lived through it are some of the strongest in the world, and that can definitely be said for Diana Connell.

Diana is a survivor advocate, speaker, and ceramic artist, passionate about creating change for women and children. After surviving more than two decades of family violence and homelessness, Diana has dedicated her life to pushing for systemic reform in housing, domestic violence, and women’s economic security. Through her work with Global Sisters, she is involved in the Little Green Houses project, making home ownership a reality for women who have experienced domestic violence. Through McAuley Community Services for Women, she has been deeply involved in the co-design of the ground breaking Safe at Home trial in Geelong.

In this episode she shares:

-      Her background, where she grew up, and what it was like in her family

-      What it was like meeting her ex-partner, the initial phases

-      When she got pregnant with her first child and everything changed

-      Post-childbirth and time in a mental hospital

-      Birth of her second child

-      Staying on the farm

-      How the isolation increased after he moved her to an Australian farm

-      What her life looked like in Australia

-      How things escalated once in Australia

-      How she tried to keep it from her children and protect them

-      How the abuse escalated against her son

-      How her husband and how it led to more abuse for her son

-      The medical complication that made leaving even harder

Key Quotes

“Everything that I did or said became something for him to put me down about.”

“If I had said something I'd hate to think what would have happened.”

More About Dianna

Follow Diana on her art instagram

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website: http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

If you would like us to work with your team book a 30 min chat HERE.

There is a general belief that ‘life on the land is tough’, but many of us don’t realise just how tough it can be, and the toll it can have on the lives of the individuals and families who work the land. That is an experience that Tina Kendall-Davis knows very well. Tina is the founder of Anytime Counselling, a mental health service dedicated to delivering accessible, stigma-free support across Australia, with a deep focus on rural and regional communities. Her mission is personal. Growing up on a farm her father was everything to her, but like many men of his generation, he carried the weight of financial pressure, isolation, and unspoken stress. He never sought help, and when Tina lost him to a stress-induced heart attack, her world fell apart. She is determined to shift the mental health conversation from reactive space to a proactive one, because we all deserve to live our best lives every day.

In this episode she shares:

• Life growing up on the farm
• The darker side of living on the farm
• The negative impact of farm life on her family
• Losing her dad to a heart attack and her belief that the farm life stress influenced it
• The financial stresses of farm life
• How she responded to her father’s death
• The biggest impact on her life about losing her dad
• The disappointment of friendships that didn’t help her when she needed them
• Why she became a counsellor
• How she made her unique therapy service
• The difference between proactive therapy and reactive therapy
• The importance of tools in your toolbox

Key Quotes

“If he had had counselling, we'd still have hi.”

“We don’t prioritise ourselves the way we prioritise other stuff and it costs you your life.”

“Stress is human rust.”

More about Tina

Find Tina on Linkedin or check out the Anytime Counselling website.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website: http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Try our FREE burnout quiz.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

If you would like us to work with your team book a 30 min chat HERE.

Relationship breakdowns can have a huge impact on our lives, and while that might seem obvious, business relationships can have a much greater impact than expected.

So what happens when a business relationship, especially a partnership, turns sour?

Lora Starling is a creative logo designer known for crafting bold, memorable brand identities that capture a company’s essence at a glance. With a keen eye for detail and a passion for visual storytelling, she transforms ideas into designs that resonate and endure.

Her experiences have guided her personal and professional direction and one business partnership in particular taught her a lot when it ended unexpectedly.

In this episode she shares

-      Her career background

-      How her business partnership was sabotaged after becoming pregnant

-      What was it that pushed the change?

-      The t intersection when she turned 40 and what changed

-      How plants can teach us about the body/mind/spirit and connect us to the planet

-      What were her biggest lessons and learns that were pulled out of this experience

-      The inner work that's helped her get through her journey

-      Her insights on branding and logos

Key Quotes

“But it's giving the subconscious permission to change>’

“It’s not just make the world a better place, it’s make me a better place”

“I’d wake up and I’d either be crying or I’d want to bloody kill him.”

More About Lora

Follow her via her website, Facebook, Instagram or Linkedin.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

If you would like us to work with your team book a 30 min chat HERE.

I am fresh back from a life changing holiday and have some personal perspectives I want to share with you all.

In this solo episode, I’m diving into a space we don’t often talk about, that quiet, messy middle between who we were and who we’re becoming. You know, the moments after something ends but before the next chapter arrives, where life feels foggy, unanchored, and a little uncertain. I’ll share my own experiences of sitting in that in-between, explore why we tend to resist it, and offer gentle ways to navigate it without rushing through. If you’ve ever felt like you’re in limbo, this one’s for you.

In this episode I share:

-      What the space in between chapters can be for you

-      My experience in the ‘in between’ space

-      How I shifted from this in between space

-      CH - change rarely comes with a roadmap

-      What what shifted the way I see change

-      What ‘life quakes’ are and how they can affect you

-      3 strategies for life transitions you can use

-      How to navigate transitions and not just endure them

-      5 simple practices that can help to create shape and meaning

Key Quotes

“It wasn’t until I stopped pushing and started listening that things began to shift.”

“What if this space isn’t a problem to solve?”

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Try our FREE burnout quiz.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

If you would like us to work with your team book a 30 min chat HERE.

Depression is something that can linger in the background, unrecognised for a very long time, so it’s no wonder that many people live undiagnosed for years before finally seeking help. That was very much the case for Ann Marie Grace, who, after years of building businesses ranging from a fast food franchise to marketing consultancies, and a boxed wine venture, found herself at a turning point when she realised she had depression. That of course was only the beginning of the journey as she chose to step away from the pressure of doing what she “should” and returned to what her heart had always known: to create, to guide, and to live wholeheartedly. Today, Ann Marie is an artist, transformation coach, and podcast host of Breaking Free, Coming Back to Me. 

In this episode she shares:

• Why she didn’t pursue art and the negative patterns that influenced her
• The career and depression she moved into after giving up art
• Her experience seeing her friend calm herself using her breath
• What her depression experience was like over the 16 years
• How medication helped but didn’t fix things completely
• How she started to improve and change her experience of living
• The first steps she took to help herself and how sky diving was involved
• The differences she noticed after breath work
• What 'spirit' means for her
• How art re-entered her life
• How understanding the Human Design & Gene Keys frameworks has helped give Ann Marie permission to live the path her soul is calling her towards and why she now uses it with all of her clients 

Key Quotes

“Underneath it all, the current was, if I were to stop existing tomorrow, that would be ok, and that was just how I generally felt.”

More about Ann Marie

You can check out her website, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website: http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

If you would like us to work with your team book a 30 min chat HERE.

Anxiety and depression can hit many of us, but for some, the symptoms can be masked by the high level stress of their work which results in them taking years to finally seek help. That was very much the case for Nick Gorman who suffered an period that severely damaged his mental health, but took him 3 decades to recover from.

Nick is a former Managing Director and Equities Trader at global investment banks like Citigroup and Merrill Lynch. Now, through his own battles with anxiety and depression, Nick founded Equilibrium at Work to provide personal coaching, organisational support, and keynote speaking aimed at fostering healthier, more fulfilling work environments while advocating for practices such as sabbaticals to prevent burnout

In this episode he shares:

• His early childhood and how happy it was
• How backpacking at 21 set up the problems that he has had ever since
• How he kept going back to the job that hurt him
• What happened after his backpacking holiday and why it threw him so badly
• How his struggle showed up on a daily basis
• Why the state he was in made him frightened and exhausted
• How a diary helped him
• What helped him after he left banking
• The journey he went on to heal after his ground breaking session with his therapist
• The moment he remembers finally feeling clearer
• Why people didn’t notice what he was going through
• What it was like exploring what was behind his mask
• How he was able to talk but never able to be clear on what was wrong
• How he's found society has changed in regards to men admitting weakness
• What he does now and how he helps others

Key Quotes

“When you don’t have any options you keep going back to what you know, even though you know it's not great for you.”

“There’d been a physiological change in me through spending 13 months not looking after myself.”

More about Nick

Check out Equilibrium At Work, or follow Nick via Linkedin.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website: http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

If you would like us to work with your team book a 30 min chat HERE.

Every time we talk about domestic violence and sexual abuse on this podcast the story is different, and this episode is no different.

Alyson Richelle is a former Senior Sergeant with the NSW Police turned lived-experience advocate, speaker, and founder of What They Don’t Tell You, a movement amplifying the voices of survivors and exposing the hidden impacts of coercive control, invisible disabilities, and systemic failure.

Alyson has lived both sides of the system, professionally as a frontline officer, and personally as a survivor of domestic abuse, chronic illness, and the relentless aftermath of post-separation trauma. She’s also a mother of three neurodivergent children and a tireless advocate for those navigating broken systems like Family Court, NDIS, Centrelink, housing, and worker’s compensation. Her work calls attention to the often-unseen abuse that continues after the violence stops through silence, disbelief, and bureaucracy.

In this episode she shares:

• What drew her to join the police force
• The biggest challenge she faced during her 15 years in the police
• What it was like being in a coercive and abusive relationship without realising
• Her story of sexual abuse and how it is often dismissed when it occurs in a marriage
• Why her abuse was dismissed and the flaws in the system preventing people from getting help
• What we need to change to prevent her story being repeated
• The meaning of coercive control
• What was the hardest part about being in these abusive relationships while still in the police force
• Her biggest lesson from this experience

Key Quotes

“Especially being a young female you became a real big target.”

“Sexual abuse in a marriage is so dismissed, it's like the other person has a right.”

More about Alyson

Follow her on Instagram, Linkedin and her community.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website: http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

If you would like us to work with your team book a 30 min chat HERE.

When trauma hits us, it can reverberate throughout our lives, echoing and causing more damage as time continues.

That’s the experience Andrew Draney had after surviving a tragic and fatal car accident as a child. The after effects of his accident caused resulted in further challenges later in life until it all finally came to a head and he was forced to make a change.

Now Andrew lives in Armidale with his wife Alex and youngest child, Ted where they have lived since moving from Sydney in 2017. Andrew has three grown children living and studying in Sydney whom he loves to visit. Andrew enjoys gardening and cycling and recently completed a half ironman with his daughter Georgina. 

In this episode he shares:

-      His early life as an adopted child

-      How he handled his mums Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis as a child

-      The accident that killed his grandparents and left is sister disabled

-      The aftermath in the hospital and why he was not treated for any psychological problems

-      How he progressively bottled down his pain to not be a problem in order to help his family

-      How he treated his girlfriend and now wife because of his trauma

-      How his trauma influenced him when his daughter was born

-      Why his work addiction grew and impacted his life and family

-      The moment he ended up in rehab

-      Why finding his biological parents made things worse

-      Why he still wasn’t ready even after his second rehab

-      The moment that things really started to turn around and how he did it

-      His biggest lessons from his major treatment at the meadows in Arizona

-      How he is trying to rebuild with his family

Key Quotes

“My grandfather had had a stroke and lost consciousness and crossed over the median strip of the road and hit this oncoming car.”

“I checked myself into rehab because I needed to escape from everything.”

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website: http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

If you would like us to work with your team book a 30 min chat HERE.

By now we know that society’s fixation with ‘body image’ can have a negative impact on our mental health, but just how crippling can it be?

Pete Winmill has over 20 years in the fitness industry, working as a personal trainer in London, Bali, and Australia, and spent 13 years managing 20+ staff across WA and SA for one of Australia’s largest fitness RTOs. He’s owned five gyms, still running one in Buderim, and is now studying psychology with plans to register as a psychologist.

After battling debilitating body image issues from severe acne, Pete found healing through ayahuasca. He now volunteers with WNOW, leads the Rainbow Bay Men’s Group, and founded Men Off the Meds to help men reduce reliance on medication through lifestyle change.

In this episode he shares:

-      His early years and what led him to where he is now

-      How severe acne as a teenager changed how he saw the world and himself

-      The habits and thoughts he developed to cope through this period and how it impacted relationships

-      His challenges with intimacy and why he used alcohol as an escape

-      His life post uni and what led him to working in Bali for 4 years

-      The critical last 3 years and his experience with ayahuasca

-      How Ayahuasca made him sick and how he worked through it

-      What he did next after this and how he managed his life and work balance

-      What he does now for work

Key Quotes

“They could always find someone better.”

“What I thought to myself was, that makes you look like a monster.”

More about Pete

Follow Pete on Instagram, Facebook and his Website. And the charity he supports When No One’s Watching

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website: http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

If you would like us to work with your team book a 30 min chat HERE.

I have spoken frequently on this podcast about the power of therapy and why it can help with resilience and trauma, but I understand that a lot of people who have never done it are often blocked from trying because they just don’t know what to expect.

That is why this is a very different and special episode of Challenges That Change Us.

We have brought back our in house psychologist Vanessa De Sauty to demonstrate what an actual therapy session looks like.

In this episode I’ll be in the patients seat and working through things with Vanessa so you can get a real idea of what to expect.

In this episode we share:

-      What the counselling process actually is

-      The repercussions of withdrawing from relationships to ‘protect yourself’

-      The challenge of reconnecting and asking for help

-      That I am able to show up in the thick of adversity but not when it passes

-      Filtering this through a CBT lens and finding strategies to work on

-      The core beliefs that happen on childhood that could lead to patterns in behaviour

-      Cognitive flexibility and strengthening underused mental muscles

Key Quotes

“ I feel like I'm pulling from an empty bucket and I don't actually have anything to offer or give to other people.”

Vanessa

To find out more about Vanessa, check out her website HERE.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

If you would like us to work with your team book a 30 min chat HERE.

The environments we grow up in have an enormous impact on us, and while some destructive childhood environments are easily noticeable, the subtle control of a strict religious group can be just as damaging.

That was the case for Rachel Pietsch whose controlling upbringing reached a climax when she and her husband chose to leave the church group they were a part of.

Now, Rachel is a voice specialist with over 30 years’ experience helping people unlock the full power of their speaking voice for greater impact and confidence. With a background in education, performance, and advanced vocal training, she transforms how clients use and perceive their voice through practical, inspiring, and comprehensive coaching.

In this episode she shares:

-      Her childhood and how religion was there at the start of her story

-      How she rebelled against her strict religious upbringing as a teenager

-      How she had to learn about her period from a friends m

-      The high level of control she experienced from her church

-      Why and how she and her husband finally left the church

-      How her religious community reacted to her leaving

-      The consequences with her family and community for her leaving the religion

-      Why going through therapy afterwards was so hard for her

-      What she learnt about herself in therapy 

-      Her diagnosis of hearing loss and the impact it had on her

Key Quotes

“From a very young age I learnt that how I felt and how I thought was not important so why bother.”

“I was told by my mother, your selfish, you've always been selfish.”

More Information about

Follow her on LinkedIn, or her website for her vocal coaching or her speaking training business.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website: http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you would like us to work with your team book a 30 min chat HERE.

Trigger warning: alcohol and drug addiction

We've spoken around addiction before, but each story shows how differently a path to addiction can start, and just how tragically it can effect the person’s life.

That was the case for Jourdi Bleu whose addictions saw her first enter rehab at 18 years old. But it wasn’t until much later that she finally broke free and reinvented her life. Now, Jourdi is an empowerment coach, yoga and breath work teacher, retreat host, international speaker, and Amazon bestselling author who radiates playful, contagious energy and inspires others to rise from their own shadows. With formal training in criminology, youth work, yoga, coaching, meditation, and breath work, plus wisdom gained through wild life experiences she now lives from a place she calls “Upstairs,” creating a life beyond her wildest dreams.

In this episode she shares:

• The first time she got blackout drunk and how her love story with alcohol began
• The car accident at 15 which led to the tipping point of drug and alcohol use
• The opioid epidemic and how she got sucked into oxycontin addiction
• Her relapse and how she lost her partner to an overdose
• How yoga helped her get back on track and see another way to live
• How she realised she needed to figure her life out and leave her family to do so
• The moment she realised she had an issue with alcohol and how she turned her life around
• What it is like now in her life without alcohol and embracing her past self and not demonising it

Key Quotes

“Drinking was intrinsically connected into my identity. It was woven into who I was... I thought.”

More Information about Jourdi

Follow her on her website, or find her book here.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website: http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Interested in DISC personality profiling or a Burnout workshop for your team, get in touch with Ali today.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

If you would like us to work with your team book a 30 min chat HERE.

This week we are exploring a challenge but in a slightly different way.

Anna Grosman is an entrepreneur whose diverse career journey has seen her work in roles from Medical Clinic Manager, to founder of two male escort agencies for women.

Her Confidant came from years of listening to women share their frustration with modern dating, emotional disconnect, and a culture that still shames female desire, founder

Anna Grosman set out to build something different. The only male companionship agency in Australia built exclusively for women, designed around emotional intelligence, consent, and genuine human connection.

But what is it like to not only start a business in the challenging field of the sex industry, but also to do so in what could be considered the ‘less known’ side of the field; providing male escorts for women.

In this episode she shares:

• Anna's early life and sexual awakening
• How she built a business in the escort industry
• Her advice on how to navigate the stigma and embrace your sexuality
• Her client experiences and booking process
• What actually is Companionship and what does it involve
• Her recruitment and selection process
• The safety measures she has in place for clients and staff
• The importance of sex education and communication
• The stigmas and misconceptions in the industry

Key Quotes

“Society and the education system have to start teaching kids from a young age about consent, respect, and understanding their own bodies.”

No one blinks an eye when a man goes to a brothel or uses an escort agency. It's been sort of their right as young boys when they turn 18. It’s societal norms and the way we've been raised in religion that have created these double standards."

More Information about Anna

Follow Anna on Instagram, or find her website here.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Interested in DISC personality profiling or a Burnout workshop for your team, get in touch with Ali today.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

If you would like us to work with your team book a 30 min chat HERE.

The relationship between disability and personal identity is incredibly complex and navigating that can take a lot of work and self-analysis.

For Skye Shannon, growing up with Spina Bifida had an obvious impact on her life, but it wasn’t until she underwent an amputation in her adult years that she really felt the impact on her personal identity.

In this conversation, Skye Shannon shares her profound journey living with Spina Bifida, detailing her experiences from childhood through adulthood. She discusses the challenges of growing up with a disability, the impact of social dynamics in school, and the numerous surgeries she underwent to manage her condition. Skye reflects on her identity, the emotional toll of her amputation, and the ongoing struggle with phantom pain. Her story is one of resilience, independence, and the complex relationship between disability and self-perception. 

In this episode she shares:

-      What it was like growing up with Spina Bifida

-      What is Spina Bifida

-      The impact of her disability on her personal identity

-      Her journey to find someone who would help her do the surgery she needed

-      Life after her amputation and the difficulties she encountered

-      Her experiences with phantom pain

-      Understanding the impact of amputation

-      Her fears and challenges in daily life now

-      Her advice for those facing similar challenges

Key Quotes

“I ended up with maggots in my toes.”

“It had gotten to the stage where my hip had completely disintegrated.”

More Information about Skye

Follow her on Linkedin.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Interested in DISC personality profiling or a Burnout workshop for your team, get in touch with Ali today.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

If you would like us to work with your team book a 30 min chat HERE.

We’ve heard countless times on this podcast how the western medical system can often get in the way of, or even prevent people from being diagnosed or healed.

But in today’s episode we are joined by someone who proved her doctors wrong after they told her there was no hope in regards to her condition.

Michelle Niemeyer is a speaker, coach and former attorney who teaches professionals how to bend time so they can stay sharp, productive and profitable – without burning out. After finding her way to burnout and back in her own high-performing legal career, Michelle created The Art of Bending Time, a framework that helps people connect the dots across work, life, and purpose to magnetise success and reclaim their joy. She helps businesses retain top talent, boost development, and keep their people energised and engaged, all while making the magic happen.

In this episode she shares:

• Her early career life and why it was damaging her
• How she lived with terrible symptoms that she thought were just normal
• The moment where everything changed
• What happened when she went to hospital and why it didn’t help
• What she was finally diagnosed with after multiple different doctor visits
• The extreme diet she did to try and fix it 
• The shocking prognosis her doctors gave her
• How she beat the odds
• Her greatest strengths that helped see her through this
• The insights she has gained from her experience

Key Quotes

“I didn’t realise that I was living in a lifestyle that was very, very chronically stressful all of the time.”

More Information about Michelle

Text CLARITY to 33777 to join her community.

If that doesn’t work in your home country, you can also sign up for The Art of Bending Time Community here. 

You can also go to her website

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website: http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Interested in DISC personality profiling or a Burnout workshop for your team, get in touch with Ali today.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

If you would like us to work with your team book a 30 min chat HERE.

Welcome to our third and last bonus episode on burn out.

So far we have discussed how to identify burn out and how you can prevent it, but what if you’re already in it?

Well I’ve brought our in house psychologist Vanessa De Sauty back to help work out how we can find our way back to reality if we are in the middle of burn out.

In this episode we share:

-      How our subconscious thoughts can influence how we see ourself

-      How these unhelpful core beliefs can influence burn out

-      Examples of unhelpful core beliefs and thoughts

-      How to combat these unhelpful thoughts and core beliefs

-      What is understanding emotional regulation?

-      The power of acceptance and commitment therapy to combating burn out

-      Some strategies you can use for grounding and anchoring

-      How to identify your personal stress profile

-      How you can make a burnout recovery plan

Key Quotes

“Burn out is a signal ,it is not an identity.”

Vanessa

To find out more about Vanessa, check out her website HERE.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If you would like us to work with your team book a 30 min chat HERE.

Trigger warning: suicide, mental health

For Tara J Lal, trauma and loss is sadly nothing new, but in a sea of trauma, for some people it can still be one event that stands out as a truly identifying point and that is very much the case for Tara.

Amongst losing her mother to Cancer at 13 and dealing her father’s mental health battles it was the loss of her brother to suicide that defined a very clear before and after in her life. Now, Tara is the internationally published author of Standing on my Brothers Shoulders – Making Peace with Grief and Suicide. She is also a qualitative researcher, keynote speaker, and former firefighter and has won multiple awards for her work supporting mental health and suicide prevention particularly in the emergency services sector. Tara is passionate about integrating lived experience with research and storytelling to challenge traditional perspectives on mental health and suicide prevention. 

In this episode she shares:

• Her early childhood realisation about her father
• Her mother’s death from cancer when she was a child and how it shattered her family
• How she leant on her brother after losing their mother
• The moment her brother took his own life
• The emotional turmoil she went through in the years following her brother’s death
• How her struggles manifested into panic attacks
• The impact of her father’s mental health and diagnoses
• The moment that made her realise she could move forward after her brother’s life
• How her coach tried to take advantage of her and her vulnerability
• The moment in her adult life that prompted her to see a trauma focused therapist
• Her path to her PHD
• The big year where things piled up and triggered her trauma
• How she works through her trauma now

Key Quotes

“It just felt like everything that I loved and every person that I loved in the world had been taken from me.”

“When I was 13 my mother died.”

“At some point I remember realising that my dad wasn’t well.”

More Information about Tara

Find out more about Tara via her website.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Interested in DISC personality profiling or a Burnout workshop for your team, get in touch with Ali today.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

If you would like us to work with your team book a 30 min chat HERE.

Imagine pouring your heart and soul into a business and having it succeed, only to lose it all because of a relationship breakdown with the business partner you worked with.

That’s what happened to Annette Densham and it left her feeling lost, hurt and struggling.

Annette Densham was fifteen when she wrote her first newspaper story about a local school fête. It taught her something: everyone has a story worth telling, if you know where to look. Forty five years later, she's still telling stories. Enticing them out of people in business who think they’re 'just ordinary', turning them into business awards, media features, and brands that stand for something. She digs until she finds the thread that makes someone unforgettable, then weaves it into something so sticky it clings to judges, journalists, and customers.

In this episode she shares:

-      How her love for storytelling began in childhood.

-      The significant challenges in her business partnership.

-      The feelings of shame and guilt can arise from perceived failures.

-      How her mental health was impacted by the business breakdown

-      Why listening to your body can help discern feelings of fear versus challenge.

-      How effective communication during personal changes was crucial for maintaining her relationships.

-      How finding joy in small moments can help during tough times.

Key Quotes

“I was compromising myself for everybody else.”

“Mentally I felt broken. I felt like a loser.”

More Info on Annette

Find out more on her website, or via facebook and Linkedin.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Interested in DISC personality profiling or a Burnout workshop for your team, get in touch with Ali today.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

If you would like us to work with your team book a 30 min chat HERE.

Welcome to the second episode of a new bonus series we’re releasing all about burn out.

The incredible Vanessa De Sauty returns to help me break down and explain the next steps when it comes to this experience.

Last week we covered what burn out is and how to identify if you are experiencing it, but this week we are going a little further and explaining how you can prevent it.

In this episode we share:

-      What it means to prevent burn out

-      the teaspoon theory and how it can help you manage your energy levels

-      The early signs of burnout Vanessa notices with herself

-      The importance of boundaries in preventing burn out

-      The different types of rest

-      The vagus nerve and the different nervous systems

-      Specific breathing exercises to help tone the vagus nerve

-      How cold water and ice baths help the vagus nerve

Key Quotes

“I used to think boundaries was about saying no to the things that you didn’t want in your life. But there are things that I really love, that I simply can’t do.”

“If I lay on the couch and watch 2 hours of tv or movie I might be lucky to get a single point back on my body battery. If I have 20 minutes of sleep, I can get anywhere up to 30 points back on my body battery.”

Vanessa

To find out more about Vanessa, check out her website HERE.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

If you would like us to work with your team book a 30 min chat HERE

Trigger warning: sexual assault

Every now and then I encounter someone who has lived a life that is so much bigger and jam packed than you could expect. That means it comes with more than a few highs and more than a few challenges. That is very much the case for Andreea Kindryd whose early childhood was marked by moments of sexual assault, trauma and racism. Andreea went from working with Martin Luther King, Jr, Malcolm X and Maulana Karenga in Los Angeles, to work on radio stations in Chicago and New York, and then back to LA joining the crew on TV’s Star Trek.  In 1974, she finally settled in Australia where she was able to make her own films.  Her first film, Sunrise… Awakening, won awards and changed opinions. Andreea joined with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander’s NAISDA Dance College and helped launch Bangarra Dance Theatre. She was selected as an Australian presenter by TED during their global,14 city, six continent search for voices and ideas the world needs to hear.

In this episode she shares:

• Her childhood experiences as the only black student at her Catholic school
• The impact of her mother’s fear-driven parenting style on her self-image
• Navigating teenage challenges, including early relationships and societal expectations
• Her experiences with coercive control land sexual assault
• Her involvement in the Civil Rights Movement alongside figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X
• The evolution of her career in entertainment and the significance of representation, particularly in projects like Star Trek
• The rejection she experienced trying to make it was a woman in Hollywood
• The turning point in her life and the writing of her deeply personal book, From Slavery to the Stars

Key Quotes

 ”You can't go and tell people that you've just been raped, I guess. So I didn't tell my mother, and then I hated my mother because she didn't know what I hadn't told her so she didn’t respond.”

More Information about Ande

You can find out more about Ande and her book via her website.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com 

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website: http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Interested in DISC personality profiling or a Burnout workshop for your team, get in touch with Ali today.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We often ask guests if they would have made the changes in their life if they hadn’t faced their ‘challenge’ and many say no, but none can definitively know for sure quite like Melanie Lechte. Mel is a seasoned marketing professional with over 25 years of experience in high-level marketing across diverse industries, including sports, entertainment. It was after leaving her high profile and successful career that Mel embarked on a journey of self discovery, only to find that it still didn’t feel quite right. That was until she was in a horrific car accident that left her with severe injuries, including a traumatic brain injury that would leave a lasting impact.

That accident was the moment that truly propelled her onto the path of finding her peace and place in life.

Now, Mel is channelling her passion for advocacy into new projects, including launching a podcast and writing a book cantered on brain injuries. Her goal is to provide support and guidance for individuals navigating the often-difficult changes that follow a concussion.

In this episode she shares:

• Her highly successful career prior to the accident
• The personal realisation she made after working in a highly successful career
• The health scare that convinced her to leave the high level work life
• Why her initial personal development journey didn’t work
• What was missed by the medical team immediately after her accident
• The cognitive issues she started to experience after her accident
• Her experience being dismissed by the medical community
• Her journey to discover help with her brain injury
• Her personal toolkit to help her be in the best possible state
• Her discovery of POTS and how it was effecting her.
• How her experience has changed her life for the positive 

Key Quotes

“I had facial lacerations, a broken nose, lots of damage to my face, maybe 5 ribs were broken. My entire body was black at the top.”

“I wanted the old version of me to be back. I was like, when am I going to be normal again? When am I going to be the same again?”

More Information about Mel

You can follow Mel on Linkedin and on Instagram.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website: http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au 

Interested in DISC personality profiling or a Burnout workshop for your team, get in touch with Ali today.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Grab your burnout workbook HERE. 

If you would like us to work with your team book a 30 min chat HERE.

IN PERSON MASTERCLASS June 1st: https://challengesthatchangeus.com/burnout-masterclass-armidale

Welcome to the first episode of a new bonus series we’re releasing for all of you!

I’ve been hearing you all on the various topics you want to hear more about and so this is our first in what may be repeated series of extra episodes.

You may have heard that I have recently started doing workshops on managing burn out, and I have also teamed up with the incredible Vanessa De Sauty to create an entire workbook on burn out as well.

But we thought we could go a little further a do a short series on burn out for everyone who listens on the podcast.

In this episode we share:

·     A bit on our backgrounds in mental health and why we are doing this

·     What burn out actually is

·     The factors that can contribute to burn out

·     Tips for detecting burnout

·     The next steps to take once you detect that you might have burn out

Key Quotes

“77% of employees experience workplace burnout at some point in their careers.”

"If you don't do anything, you're basically on the road to burnout."

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So here’s a quick peek behind the curtain. This past week or so has been really big for me, and it has made it pretty hard to get a full interview ready.

Now I have never missed an episode of this podcast and I wasn;t going to do so this week either so I decided to do something a little different.

If you've been with me since the beginning, we have shared over 150 episodes on this podcast, conversations that have stretched me, moved me, cracked me open, and put me back together in new ways. And today I just wat to take a moment and pause and reflect on what I have learnt from behind the microphone. Because it's not just the guests that have grown, it's me too.

So I'm going to share some of the most powerful lessons that have stayed with me, lessons about resilience, healing, what it means to really be human. And at the end I'll invite you to share yours with me too.

In this episode I share:

• Why we need to listen to personal cues from the body to identify stress.
• How resilience involves responding kindly to oneself rather than pushing through challenges.
• The concept of interoceptive awareness check-ins to help tune into bodily sensations.
• How small daily rituals, can anchor us through grief and overwhelm.
• Healing does not require grand gestures; small acts of self-care are significant.
• The importance of struggle for personal growth.
• How expanding one's "window of tolerance" involves facing micro challenges to build resilience.
• Why filling life with purposeful activities aids in overcoming destructive habits.
• Why vulnerability is essential for true connection and healing.
• How narrative reframing encourages a dialogue in our minds to reshape self-perception.
• The teaspoon theory reflects energy management by allocating "spoons" for daily activities.
• Self-compassion is vital, allowing rest without guilt and acknowledging one's efforts.

Key Quotes

“Resilience is not about bulldozing through, it's about responding with care.”

"Purpose doesn't have to roar; it can start with a whisper, a choice, a step."

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website: http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Interested in DISC personality profiling or a Burnout workshop for your team, get in touch with Ali today.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jules Brooke has lived a life full of twists, turns and more experiences from childhood than many of us might have in our entire lives.

But it’s her business journey and her choice to go into solo entrepreneurship that shows how resilient and durable she is in the face of adversity.

Jules is the founder of Handle Your Own PR, She’s The Boss and Australian Women Speakers.

In She’s The Boss, Jules runs online and offline events nationally, a podcast, a YouTube channel, and a digital magazine. She started a Livestream video show in early 2024.Jules also mentors business women.

Jules also teaches how to raise your profile and influence using LinkedIn, podcasting, speaking, awards, networking and online courses, and how they work together.

In this episode she shares:

• Her childhood, including her experiences moving frequently due to her father’s job in the British Army.
• She recounts her time at boarding school and moving to Australia at age 11.
• Jules talks about her education at RMIT, studying media studies and psychology.
• She shares her career journey through various roles in marketing, sales, and eventually starting her own business.
• Her father’s illness and passing.
• Starting and running a PR business with no experience in PR
• The financial difficulties she experienced
• Going through a divorce and raising three children.
• The importance of resilience and independence.
• She talks about making conscious decisions to stay optimistic and positive.
• Her steps to becoming a woman of influence:
• The importance of asking for help and accepting support.

Key Quotes

“That was probably 15 years of my life where I have pushed and pushed to get this business off the ground and it never really took off.”

“I met a lovely guy who said he would help me and did help me—until we got halfway through and we ran out of money, like he waited until I had probably $50 in the bank before he said, ‘No, I don’t want to do it anymore."

More about Jules

Follow her on her website and LinkedIn

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website: http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Interested in DISC personality profiling or a Burnout workshop for your team, get in touch with Ali today.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Trigger warning: Alcohol

Australians have a complicated relationship with alcohol and it’s not helped by how we have created the idea that people only have problems with alcohol if they are complete alcoholics. The reality is that binge drinking and how we associate with alcohol is a lot more nuanced and a lot more destructive than we realise.

That is what Kathryn Elliot discovered when she made the decision to quit alcohol after decades of binge drinking.

Now, Kathryn is one of Australia’s leading alcohol and binge drinking coaches for high-functioning professionals, drawing from her own experience as a former binge drinker. Her expertise is regularly featured in national media, and she works with professionals to change their mindset around alcohol through tailored coaching programs. Kathryn also leads SipSmart corporate workshops on alcohol’s impact in the workplace and serves on advisory committees for alcohol awareness initiatives.

In this episode she shares:

• What was her life like before she made her big change
• What her drinking was like and why it was problematic
• The destructive narratives she had inside her head around her drinking
• How her drinking problems started from her youth
• How the 'good parts' about that aspect of her life reinforced her binge drinking
• The impact her drinking lifestyle had on her expectations of herself
• What one of her worst days during that time looked like
• What changed for her and why she changed
• The realisation she had about how it wasn’t her fault
• The big hurdles she had to overcome to live without alcohol
• The cancer diagnosis that further impacted her life shortly after she stopped drinking
• The changes and healing she has gone through recently

Key Quotes

“Sometimes blackout drinking...It would be embarrassing coming home to baby sitters who would see me in a very drunk state.”

“I didn’t realise that binge drinking was problematic drinking. So I thought there was something wrong with me.”

More about

Follow her on her website and on Instagram.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

Interested in DISC personality profiling or a Burnout workshop for your team, get in touch with Ali today.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lisa Britcliffe was on a search for success and achievement when she lost over $100 000 overnight. The stress brought on fatigue and headaches unlike anything she had ever experienced and it was when that she found solace in returning to her faith.

She has relied on her faith to recover through multiple challenges and now is redefining real estate with a rare blend of intuition, sales expertise, and an “other-centred” approach shaped by her background in residential sales and coaching. As co-founder of Orium & Co., Lisa and her business partner provide a seamless, highly personalised experience built on trust and integrity.

In this episode she shares:

-      Her businesses missteps and how they've brought her to where she is now

-      The moment she realised she had had an enormous financial loss

-      How she survived by returning to her faith

-      Her feeling of unfulfillment and how she found the right path

-      How her faith and lack of control fits within the running of her business

-      The lessons she's learned along the way and how she strives to be 'others centred'

-      How to cross that bridge to a more aligned and purposeful life

Key Quotes

“I sought to control because I felt so out of control.”

“I invested in other people’s success in the hopes that I would receive from them being successful.”

“I was worshipping money, thinking that when I had that, that I’d be safe.”

More about Lisa

Head to her business website or follow her on linkedin.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

For her other business you can find it through the websites:

www.altitudefitnessarmidale.com.au

@trialtitudeperformance

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Beau Frith was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult and it provided a lot of answers for him.

Now, Beau is redefining climate resilience by helping industries, businesses, and communities adapt to climate challenges rather than fight them. As a climate designer and heat resilience consultant, he develops climate-adaptive strategies that enhance human health, workplace safety, and urban sustainability. Through his books, documentaries, and hands-on initiatives, Beau challenges traditional climate narratives, shifting the focus from crisis to innovation and reconnection with nature.

But he does all of that while managing his ADHD.

In this episode he shares:

-      His childhood,  and his risk taking behaviour, and hyperactivity

-      How he was diagnosed with ADHD and the stigma around it

-      The superpower aspect of ADHD

-      What it's like inside the brain of someone with ADHD

-      How problems make happiness

-      The dark side of not having any challenges in our lives

-      How he navigates his business journey with ADHD

-      His tendency to devote all his energy to a certain thing and how it influenced his career

-      The challenge he faced in running 3 business and needing to let everyone go during covid

-      How ADHD has served him and how it forces him to think differently

-      Strategies that have helped him through his journey with ADHD in business

Key Quotes

“Most 14, 15 year old kids, ADHD or not, they don't understand themselves.”

“It’s the fear of failure that drives the success, and that's not a good thing to tie your success to.”

“And if you don't fit in that box, you're a fish being told to climb a tree.”

More about

Follow him on Instagram, and find his business via his website.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website: http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

For her other business you can find it through the websites: www.altitudefitnessarmidale.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’ve spoken a lot on this podcast about family violence that starts when a child is young, but what about the insidious effect of domestic partner violence, where the perpetrators actions slowly escalate?

Often survivors can find themselves excusing and explaining away actions from their partner until it is too late, and that was a situation Jen Harwood found herself in when her partners aggressive behaviour exploded and impacted both herself and her 3 year old daughter.

Since escaping and recovering Jen has gone on to found the sensation Happy Hairbrush company, works as a coach, international speaker and author.

In this episode she shares:

• Her past life and career, and how she became a coach
• The whirlwind romance she started that set everything in motion
• The issues that arose with her new husband once her baby was born
• How breastfeeding helped her keep her baby safe
• How the abuse escalated
• The moment her ex got physical with her and her daughter
• How she realised her partner's abuse had emotionally harmed her daughter
• The process of filing a report against her ex
• The huge debt she got into in order to escape
• How Happy Hairbrush started and how it helped her recover
• Why she sees her business as a way to fight back against domestic violence

Key Quotes

“He got his two hands on top of me and he shoved me against the fridge and he started screaming at me”

“He’d come home drunk, he’d drive the car into the garage and there were dents all over it”

“Anyone that threatens violence verbally will ultimately, physically be violent”

More about Jen

Follow her on Instagram, or find out more about The Happy Hairbrush on their website or Jen’s Book The Greatness Principle

Jen is offering a promo code for 15% off your order for the Happy Hairbrush. Just visit the website and use the promo code: HAPPYALI 

Jen mentioned Debt Angels and you can check out their website and the number is 1300722560 and check out Dignity

For those in the USA, they can get her Mother Bushes.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus. If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website: http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

For her other business you can find it through the websites: www.altitudefitnessarmidale.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dr. Fraser specializes in topics such as performance psychology, productivity, leadership, team engagement, work-life balance, and high-performing cultures. His expertise has made him a sought-after media personality, with appearances in publications like AFR, SMH, CEO Magazine, and Reader’s Digest, as well as on television programs like Sunrise, The Morning Show, and Today. He has also hosted regular radio segments on ABC and Sky Business.

In this episode he shares:

• His experience meeting his mentor and how intense it was
• What his book strive is all about
• His opinion on why we are not holding people accountable
• His advice on how to have challenging conversations
• How we can better support people and hold them accountable
• The difference between staying in challenges vs traumatic struggles
• The importance of rest and recovery
• The gender differences when it comes to burn out and recovery

Key Quotes

“When we don’t have struggle it can be really dysfunctional.”

“To learn anything you have to be uncomfortable.”

“The benefits of a holiday disappear after 3 weeks.”

More about

Learn more on his website or follow him on facebook, instagram and linkedin.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

For her other business you can find it through the websites: www.altitudefitnessarmidale.com.au

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

She was born and raised in New York City. The mother of three children and five grandchildren. 

She was one of the first Black Bunnies at the New York Playboy Club, the first Black woman to be initiated into the Film Editors Guild 776, the first Black Real Estate Broker to open an office in Selma, Alabama, and also the first Black American woman to be invited to speak at the Rotary Club in the Blue Mountains of Australia.

She faced hardships from a young age and experienced abuse, racism and threats to her life

Her friends there gave her the tribal name “Senedu,” which means “woman of adventure. ” Well, that is definitely her—a woman ready for everything.

In this episode she shares:

-      What it was like when her mum passed when she was 5

-      The abuse she experienced form her step mother

-      Her experience getting married at 18 to a man who tried to kill her

-      The moment her husband tried to kill her and how she escaped

-      How she became a playboy bunny and how that changed things

-      Her experience in Hollywood at universal studios

-      The ways people tried to make her fail in Hollywood

-      The people she is grateful for in her life

-      The other wild experiences and adventures she has had

-      Her opinion of Hugh Hefner

Key Quotes

“I always felt, not loved, I always felt a stranger.”

“I got married when I was 18. I stepped out of the frying pan into the fire.”

More about Francesca

Follow her on Facebook and on Instagram.

You can get involved with the podcast online

On facebook in our community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/challengesthatchangeus

Or on Instagram: @challengesthatchangeus

If you want to contact the podcast, email us here: support@challengesthatchangeus.com

Or check out our website: www.Challengesthatchangeus.com

If you want to find out more about what Ali does, check out her business via the website:

http://www.trialtitudeperformance.com.au

For her other business you can find it through the websites:

www.altitudefitnessarmidale.com.au

@trialtitudeperformance

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.