Seize the Yay: Recent Episodes
Sarah Davidson
A lawyer turned funtrepreneur's investigation into how some of the world's most inspiring people find their "yay", whether it's through work, rest or play and any other pearls of wisdom they have along the way.
* Re-releasing this one in honour of its FOUR YEAR ANNIVERSARY THIS WEEK!!!! As you know, we had to say goodbye to our little Paul a few weeks ago which has pushed back our recording schedule, so I figured there may be some new ears who haven't heard this one yet. We'll be back next week with a very exciting guest, so stay tuned!!! *
I mean, what words really are there to do this week’s guest justice and adequately explain the feelings you can only imagine I felt being lucky enough to sit down with him for a chat about seizing the yay. As I’ve been bombarding you about on socials, I’m sure most of you already know I met the inimitable Gary Vaynerchuck last week when he was briefly in Melbourne to launch the epic collaboration between his new company, Empathy Wines, and Aussie wine legends, Vinomofo, thanks to another amazing Seize the Yay guest and Vinomofo founder, Justin Dry.
Ahead of every curve with his astonishing intuition, Gary Vee has gone from former Soviet Union migrant to worldwide entrepreneurial sensation embracing e-commerce before the term was coined taking his family wine business from a $3million to $60million turnover when he took over the reins and producing content prolifically since YouTube was just four months old. The accolades and achievements since then are too many to list, but most importantly not as relevant to list as you might expect despite him having since founded VaynerMedia as well as investing early in many of the world’s biggest beasts a la Facebook, Snapchat, Venmo etc. Not having been quite sure what to expect, it was so delightful to be met with an incredibly humble, hardworking and honest person focused more on redefining success away from financial metrics and external approval and towards happiness and love – he is definitely seizing his yay and I’m SO grateful he shared some of it on the show. Full video will follow shortly too! Ladies and gentleman, Gary Vee…
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+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah + Join our Facebook community here + Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
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I am so excited about this week’s guest having followed her story (and had her on our ultimate wish list) for many years now. Some of you may already know her, but if not, Sam Bloom is a world champion surfer, adventure traveller, best-selling author, neurology nurse and mother of three boys whose story also became a global hit movie, Penguin Bloom. That heartbreaking story begins in 2013 when Sam was paralysed in a terrifying accident in Thailand when she fell through a rotting balcony and it was the unlikely arrival of a beautiful magpie chick, Penguin, that helped her gruelling recovery back in Australia. The photos captured by her photographer husband, Cameron, were later made into a book written alongside legendary author Bradley Trevor Grieve and then became the basis of Penguin Bloom starring Naomi Watts. Having pored over Penguin Bloom many times, it was surreal to be able to hear Sam chat so candidly about grief and redefining joy in real time – she is so refreshingly honest about the defining trauma in her life and that the challenges endure everyday. But what I also loved was having the chance to also ask Sam about all the other parts of her life that perhaps don’t relate so much to the story many know her for. I could go on forever but I’ll let Sam tell you the rest herself – this is one of my favourite chats to date and I am so grateful for her time. I hope you enjoy as much as I did! Follow Sam Bloom here + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah + Join our Facebook community here + Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
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Lovely yayborhood, I am SO excited about this week’s episode – you’ve probably seen snippets here and there of our recording and filming day, but our full chat is finally ready for you. As you’ve heard me say many times, the thing I love most about Seize the Yay (and the random collection of things I get to call a job) is the people I’m lucky enough to meet and one I’m still pinching myself about is today’s incredible guest – Rodrigo Pizarro, the CEO of L’Oréal Australia and New Zealand. Wayyy back in the lawyer days, if you asked me what my ultimate dream job would be, I always said I’d love to go in-house at somewhere amazing and dynamic like L’Oréal. In true Seize the Yay form, 10 years later I did end up getting to spend time at HQ and work with this amazing business but just not quite in the way I’d expected and I never dreamed I’d get to whisk the CEO away for a whole day to share a day in his life with the yayborhood. And yet here we are sitting down with one of the most interesting people I’ve ever chatted to who is, in so many different ways, the opposite of what you might expect of a high-flying corporate running a traditional, heritage brand – the first time I met Rodrigo I was seated next to him at an event and was SO nervous but we ended up gas-bagging about our travels and favourite languages like old friends. From his life of working around the world to his passion for motorcycling and then his baller tattoos to his refusal to wear ties to the office, Rodrigo pushes the boundaries in the best kinds of ways and continues to lead some incredible innovations and new directions for L’Oréal Australia and New Zealand that you’ll hear all about. You can watch the day in the life video on socials, which we had so much fun making, but I also hope you enjoy getting into the nitty gritty of what a CEO actually does, the rollercoaster of a journey to get from a product sales position all the way up the ladder, parenting, travelling and everything in between! Huge thank you also to his right hand woman, Kelly Fallarmytage, for making it all happen. Ladies and Gentlemen, Rodrigo Pizarro… WATCH THE DAY IN THE LIFE VIDEO HERE + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah + Join our Facebook community here + Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
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We are sneaking another guest episode this week, as it is currently Men’s Health Week from 13th to 19th of June 2023. As you know, while men’s health, women’s health or anyone’s health (and the surrounding conversations) are important every day of the year, we do a dedicated episode each June to specifically remind us all of some of the major men's health statistics, challenges and resources and they’ve been so helpful to me even as a woman – as a wife, sister, friend, colleague, the list goes on… I don’t think we could be graced with two better guests for the occasion than the absolute legends we have with us today, both of whom have been on the show before but who are on together this time because they have since become friends AND co-authored a BOOK! Back for his third appearance is psychiatrist, mental health advocate and former calf club member, Dr Kieran Kennedy and for his second appearance, publisher, author and former editor of Men’s Health Magazine, Scott Henderson. If you’ve been listening for a while, you’ll already know what amazing work they are each doing for men’s health (and health generally) as well as being fabulous role models in the realm of redefining modern masculinity and men’s mental health conversations. But now, they have collated it all into the handbook we’ve literally talked about the world needing –perfectly titled, The MANual: a practical guide to life, health and happiness. From the science behind nutrition and training to the anecdotal surrounding relationships, body image, sexuality… they literally cover it all. I’ll let them tell you more about it themselves because I’m already not doing them justice. This was SUCH a delight – funny, moving, reflective… I hope you enjoy as much as I did.
GET YOUR COPY OF THE MANUAL HERE <<< + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah + Join our Facebook community here + Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Thank you to this week's partner in yay, HP Australia! * Disclaimer Never Run Out: Based on plan usage, Internet connection to eligible HP printer, valid payment method, email address, and delivery service in your geographic area. **Instant Ink Savings (ink): Based on monthly subscription cost of HP Instant Ink 700-page plan without purchase of additional sets of pages compared to cost per page (CPP) to print ISO/IEC 24711 pages on most HP, A4 colour inkjet cartridge printers and MFPs. Comparative printers are priced at or below the most expensive HP Instant-Ink eligible printer in each country using local currency, as of September 2022. Sale prices not considered for this study. Average CPP per country used to determine percent savings versus CPP for HP Instant Ink. HP Ink Advantage printers, printers sold through contract, and other printers which only use XL cartridges excluded due to non-standard hardware & supplies model. Keypoint Intelligence October 2022 study commissioned by HP. Printers selected by market share in IDC Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker – Final Historical 2022Q2. www.keypointintelligence.com/HPInstantInk. HP offers a free trial for Instant Ink, CLICK HERE.
I’m so thrilled to have someone who may be a familiar face to you on the show this week, but whose full story you may not know in as much depth - my favourite kind of episode. You might have seen Rachael Coopes through her role in the cult SBS series Life Support, the internationally-renowned McLeod’s Daughters or All Saints, or even as a regular presenter on Playschool. Talk about a diverse pathyay, she is also an award winning playwright, professional yogi which we barely had time to touch on, and a published author with her brand new book Paris for Beginners coming out just recently documenting her time at, get this, Philippe Gaulier’s renowned Paris clown school, which counts the likes of Sacha Baron Cohen and Emma Thompson among its alumni!!! Add single parenthood, taking time off after discovering a tumour, moving countries and everything in between.., buckle in this is a big juicy one and I hope you enjoy as much as I did! Follow Rachael here
GET YOUR COPY OF PARIS FOR BEGINNERS HERE <<<
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- Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah
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There aren’t many things that evoke more YAY than the Wiggles, especially a sunshine-coloured one!!! While she has now officially hung up her yellow Wiggle shoes, Emma Watkins still radiates like a sunbeam and we are so lucky to have her here today. As always, it was such a delight to trace back to a younger Emma who never could have dreamed of where she’d end up and with whom I have an earlier very intense dancer’s life in common. You might have guessed that her love for the arts has been lifelong, but you might NOT know she’s also a skilled filmmaker, has been in Bollywood films, won Miss Granny Smith Apples AND learnt Auslan all before becoming the first ever female Wiggle. Now, she is doing some incredible work with artistic integrations of sign language through her PhD which you will hear all about in the episode. PLUS Emma's also stepping into some beautiful frocks this month as an ambassador for the OCRF's incredible Frocktober Campaign – I’ve popped links below to this incredible initiative. OCRF'S FROCKTOBER 2022 Follow Emma here! + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah + Join our Facebook community here + Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
It’s been a pretty busy time lately, but in the days I was in Melbourne, I was so lucky to catch the legendary Rob Mills to record an episode in celebration of his brand new book, Putting on a Show!!! I only got my advance copy 24 hours beforehand and thought I’d give it a quick once over to prepare then go back to read it in more detail afterwards, but I could. not. put. it. down!!! It’s such a fabulous (and much needed) exploration of the average Aussie bloke, our shifting and sometimes distorted perceptions of masculinity with Rob’s beautiful knack for storytelling and personal anecdotes weaved throughout. There’s a reason this man has been so successful in showbiz – he is warm, witty, vulnerable, honest, and open minded all of which comes through in the book. I’ll let him tell you more about it himself, but we also get to cover the parts of his pathYAY that you might not have heard as much about between the Australian Idol and Paris Hilton related headlines. You know I love getting into all the chapters we know much less about, and Rob was very obliging and a joy to listen to. I also definitely did that thing where I want to cover SO MUCH all at once – perhaps I shouldn't have read the book in quite so much detail beforehand – so, I probably jump about a bit crazily but hopefully you enjoy nonetheless. CW: Just a quick content warning we do touch on mental health and suicide briefly so listener discretion is advised.
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Lovely yayborhood, I am SO excited about today’s episode. You’ve probably heard me say before that one of the coolest parts of having a podcast is having audio evidence of how you felt at a particular point in your life to look back on, but being able to do that with our guests as well when they return for a reunion is even more special. Today, after nearly FOUR YEARS since we first recorded, the incredible Laura Henshaw and Steph Smith jumped on again to celebrate the second round of their Keep It Cleaner Tour (which I’m so thrilled to be MCing again). When we first recorded in December 2018, Keep It Cleaner had just started, so catching up on how far the girls and both of our communities have come was the greatest! I got to meet some of you at the first stop in Adelaide last weekend and I can’t say how much it meant to be hugging in person again and hopefully there’ll be some more of you in Auckland then Perth. Also I'm so sorry to anyone here who hasn’t been able to listen on Apple Podcasts for the past two or so episodes - we’re working through that glitch and hopefully it’ll be fixed shortly. I hope your October is off to a wonderful start, and that this helps you KIC off with a solid dose of yay! Welcome back to the show, Steph and Laura…
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Lovely yayborhood we’re back into our regular recording schedule and I’m SO pumped to have an epic guest for our first episode back. I had the privilege of sitting down with D'Leanne Lewis, a real estate mogul and star of Luxe Listings Sydney – many of you have probably already binged the first two seasons showing the ins and outs of one of the most cutthroat real estate markets in the world (and some seriously insane properties) and Season 3 is NOW available on Prime Video from today September 30.
D'Leanne is a powerhouse in so many ways – not only is she widely considered one of Australia’s leading real estate agents with 30 years of experience under her belt, she was also a single working mother of two at the time of recording and in the week since then has become a mother of THREE at 50 years old!!! But in what you know is my favourite kind of pathyay, she never expected to become a celebrity real estate agent or TV show star… In fact, she spent her earlier years in Johannesburg before moving to Blacktown Sydney and had never heard of Double Bay until she applied for a PA job she saw in the newspaper with Laing + Simmons as a 20 year old. Now, she is a part owner and on the board of Laing + Simmons and absolutely tearing it up on our screens… I’ll let her tell you the rest but what an incredible pathYAY from Blacktown to Bondi and beyond!!! Don’t forget to tune into the show from today on Prime Video!
WATCH LUXE LISTINGS SEASON 3 HERE + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah + Join our Facebook community here + Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
LISTEN TO FEASTPOD HERE
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Welcome to September lovely yayborhood you made it through winter I hope you’re excited to come out of hiberyaytion! And I can’t think of a better story to help you spring into spring than this one. Today’s guest epitomises the idea of seizing your yay having walked away from a booming career not only to take a new direction but to LITERALLY QUIT HER JOB ALTOGETHER, BUY A BOAT, LEARN TO SAIL IT AND THEN TRAVEL AROUND THE WORLD ON IT!!! Yep, Kristina Costalos and her pilot partner, John Tilley, packed up their lives in 2021 after Melbourne’s third lockdown, used their savings to buy a yacht, learnt to sail it with no prior experience and took the actual plunge. You might recognise Kristina from her extensive career as a news reporter covering some incredible stories across states and networks, but may not have realised the extent of her sea change! You know I’m a HUGE fan of people trying out things they’ve never before and making big, scary leaps in their life so I ADORED picking Kristina’s brains about this epic journey. Perhaps your new season might not bring about a change this big but hopefully it sparks something within you to go after that thing you’ve been dreaming about! I hope you enjoy as much as I did!
I am so excited about today’s episode, it’s a very special one on adoption following our anonymous Q&A. Some of you may remember I was at an event recently and was partnered with a legend named Matt Purcell from Sydney who I’d never met before and somehow we figured out we were not only both adopted and both from South Korea… but from the SAME orphanage around the very same time! I often talk about my adoption but rarely with someone with the same unique cultural story and this was so special to realise things about how I felt that I didn’t even know myself. And to hear Matt’s perspective now that he has his own biological children blew my mind! He’s also got an amazing business and career pathYAY as well which you’ll hear all about but I’ll let you all hear it from the man himself. I hope you enjoy listening and that we answered all your questions from the anonymous Q&A but feel free to submit any more that you have. Introducing, Matt Purcell…
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WATCH THIRTEEN LIVES ON PRIME VIDEO
Lovely yayborhood, I hope you’re surviving the final weeks of Winter - I can’t believe how fast the year is going, but I’m so excited we’re inching closer to Spring! Thank you for all the lovely feedback on the past few weeks of episodes and the anonymous Q&A – I’m so glad last week’s fertility and IVF episode helped some of you, wasn’t Erin just an amazing woman?
The adoption episode is coming to you next week, but speaking of incredible women, I’ve squeezed another amazing story in between this week. I heard about today’s guest through her brother who happens to be our editor here at Seize the Yay – HUGE shout out to Sam Blacker at the Podcast Butler if anyone needs anything audio related – he is literally a LIFE SAVER and one of my favourite people, so it's no surprise that his sister Aimee is just as much of a legend. Aimee Blacker started out as a paediatric occupational therapist even after not actually knowing what occupational therapy was until she finished high school. She’s one of those amazing examples of not really knowing where you want to end up meaning you’re open-minded enough to stumble upon where you were supposed to end up all along. She is the Co-founder and Director of Surfing the Spectrum, a not-for-profit Surf Therapy initiative working to positively impact the lives of families, and their children with Autism. In anticipation of their next fundraiser this Saturday 20th August, I just had to scream from the rooftops about the transformative work she and her team are doing so I hope you are as inspired and moved as I am.
Raffle Tickets: https://surfingthespectrum.rallyup.com/surfnturfraffle
Donate/buy event tickets: https://surf-n-turf.raisely.com/
The website: www.surfingthespectrum.org
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WATCH THIRTEEN LIVES ON PRIME VIDEO
Lovely yayborhood, today’s guest is special for so many different reasons not least because we were born just three days apart and have so much in common. You’ll hear me say I think we’d be dear friends if we lived in the same city, and I’ve admired this amazing woman for many years from afar. Like many of our guests, you may have first heard about Erin Holland as Miss World Australia 2013 but there is so much more depth and detail to her pathYAY that somehow flies under the radar. For example, she not only has an incredible voice she’s actually a classically trained soprano singer, graduated with a Bachelor of Classical Voice from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music is also qualified in clarinet, music theory, jazz, tap and initially dreamt of being on Broadway. Also like many guests, she hasn’t ended up exactly where she expected but is seizing all her yay in presenting, TV, ambassadorships and the coolest role ever with the Pakistan Super League – her experience working in such a different culture deserves a WHOLE separate episode (which I actually think we’ll do next time she’s over there). But, as promised in the anonymous Q&A episode, it’s her journey with fertility and IVF that we’re here for today. This is one of the only podcasts Erin has done on the topic since first opening up earlier in the year about her challenges with conceiving and the IVF process and I am so honoured she shares so openly and honestly about what it’s involved physically, mentally and emotionally. I’ll let you hear the rest from her, but I hope you learn as much as I did.
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WATCH THIRTEEN LIVES ON PRIME VIDEO
I’m so excited to introduce you to Anna Podolsky for so many reasons – the parallels in parts of our stories, her amazing business because the products are actually incredible but also because her work involves floofy puppies and that’s just the biggest yay of all. After immigrating from the Ukraine, Anna has been a successful professional gymnast, an international management consultant with the prestigious Bain & Co around the world and now founder of a booming pet food start up, Lyka Petfood, changing puppers’ lives from the inside out. She has some fascinating insights about the influence of immigrant parents on choosing your pathway, living and working overseas and a shared passion for languages, and starting a business when you stumble upon a gap in the market then grow to an empire of over 100 staff and counting. She is humble, intelligent and so interesting and I hope you enjoy as much as I did. Anna has also generously given the yayborhood 20% off your first Lyka box if you’re keen to try it out which Paul highly recommends!!! Click below!
VISIT LYKA'S WEBSITE
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Welcome back, lovely yayborhood! Thank you so much for your patience over the past few weeks – I can’t believe I was so anal about having episodes in the bank for our trip but then ended up taking a break anyway with ANOTHER super cold. I hope you’re all looking after yourselves and are keeping healthy in cold and flu season! It worked out though, as I couldn’t think of a cooler guest to kick off the second half of the year than the legend I have in store for you today. You probably know by now that I get SOOO excited by people whose brains tick as crazily and deeply as mine likes to, so I was like a kid in a candy store with this guest and felt the least articulate I have in a long time next to his eloquence! I am endlessly fascinated by Harry Garside and it seems most of Australia and the world shares that view and not only because he is a championship boxer who won the nation’s first medal in boxing at the Olympics in over three decades in Tokyo. While his rise to international success from losing 10 out of his first 18 fights at the humble Lilydale Youth Club is also fascinating, I still don’t think that’s the reason we’re so enamoured with him. While Harry’s upbringing and beloved sport align very strongly with traditional ideas about masculinity and strength, it’s his unique passion for changing those stereotypes that I fell in love with complementing his training with ballet classes and wearing nail polish to some of his fights. Just when you think you’ve figured him out, he reveals a whole new facet of himself and his view on the world and I could ramble on about how much it stretched my own mind getting to have this conversation. I’ll let you hear it for yourself as this is one of my favourites all year so I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
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Thank you for your patience, yayborhood!! We're finally BACK after an unexpected break. I was so anal about having enough episodes pre-recorded to avoid any down time on the show while we were on the honeymoon but then ended up losing my voice as soon as we got back! It lingered much longer than I would have liked, so had to take a break anyway - really appreciate you waiting so patiently! We had originally planned for this #yaysofourlives episode to cover the post-honeymoon reflections and some new yayborhood watch items, but I randomly did a little anonymous Q&A on socials over the weekend (you may have seen this new thing going around) and ended up with a lot of overspill. I count myself very lucky that you all ask such genuinely curious, kind and respectful questions (thank you all for being so lovely) and ended up with more than I could answer adequately on Insta, so I thought we'd finish those off in an episode then do an Egypt debrief next time. In true Sarah style, I didn't even finish those off but got through 4/6 broader topics and this was one of my favourite "reflection episodes" to date - the questions were so thought provoking. I was going to just monologue, but Ang makes everything so much more fun and she brought much more depth to the responses adding her own insights as well. I've listed the questions and grouped double ups IN THIS POST (it was too long to write here) that we did get to in this particular episode in order below, so you can skip ahead to yours if you want to (there are a few I've answered before but still get asked, so if you've heard it before just skip past). I'll also list the ones we'll cover next week and hopefully you find some interesting nuggets in there too. Again, so grateful for the beautiful yayborhood you've all grown into - you are such a joy to create this show for and give me so many opportunities for growth and introspection. Hope you're all having a wonderful week and are seizing your yay!
Few things feel as special as absolutely frothing one of our guests and everything they do, then hearing that they’ve been listening to the podcast themselves for years. And I feel even more privileged to have today’s guest on the show because she doesn’t do these very often (and in fact didn’t even reveal herself as the founder of her business until 8 months after its explosive launch onto the scene!)That’s just one of the many examples of Samantha Brett blazing her own trail – I found this chat such an invigorating reminder that someone out there is always looking for exactly what you have to offer even if it doesn’t already exist or nobody else is doing it. And it turns out ALL of us were looking for and NEEDING exactly what she has to offer with her award-winning, world-leading Naked Sundays SPF skincare.If you’re in the demographic of this podcast you’ve probably already heard if Naked Sundays but if not – it’ll change your life (or at the very least your skin). In a country where melanoma rates are among the highest in the world, Samantha has changed the way the most at-risk but most reluctant demographic relates to SPF creating WORLD first, high performance, multi-purpose, chemist-formulated products.She explains them best herself, but imagine sunscreen without the whiteness, stickiness and clogging of the skin and I can’t not mention the hydrating glow mist that allows you to reapply ON TOP of your make up INVISIBLY while setting not interrupting it!!!! AND this has all happened only recently with an ENTIRE career in news reporting and column writing beforehand – talk about a pathYAY! I’ll stop before I gush too much, but I hope you are as blown away by this one as I am.CHECK OUT NAKED SUNDAYS HERE+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I doubt there are many of you listening who haven’t drooled once or twice over Chris Hemsworth’s body before... I mean, you’re only human right? WELL, you may NOT have realised you were actually drooling over our GUEST for this week – yep, I’m thrilled to have Chris’ legendary body double and professional stuntman Bobby Holland Hanton on the show this week.Bobby has worked on many major Hollywood blockbuster films including Thor, The Avengers, Batman, Captain America, Wonder Woman, Mission Impossible, Star Wars, as well as hit TV show, Game of Thrones earning him a host of awards including 8 SAG AWARDS and 2 EMMYS. You know I love having all sorts of pathways on the show and we all see stunt doubles ALL the time but I’ve never really thought about how you actually become one, so this one was a BLAST!It kind of makes sense that Bobby’s beginnings were in gymnastics starting as young as four building up to becoming a Gold Medalist for Great Britain and competing all around the world – a career interesting and multi-faceted in itself that you’ll hear about. PLUS Bobby isn’t just a pretty face slash body, he’s also just THIS WEEK releasing his first children’s picture book - The Adventures of Eddie and Flip Boy. He’ll tell you more about it himself, so introducing…. Bobby Holland Hanton!GET THE ADVENTURES OF EDDIE AND FLIP BOY HERE+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
This week is Men’s Health Week from the 13th to the 19th June and every year we dedicate a specific episode to the conversation. Like most international or national awareness weeks, the health and wellness of men and boys and their specific needs are important every week and not just right now, but it always helps to have gentle reminders, especially for topics that can carry by stigma, tradition or shame.We’ve had some amazing conversations with fabulous guests about the changing social conceptions of masculinity, the biggest challenges for men’s mental health and how we can better support our boys earlier on in life. And I can’t think of anyone better to continue those chats this year than clinical psychologist, leading men’s mental health researcher AND Director of Mental Health Training at Movember, Dr Zac Seidler.Zac is the ultimate advocate for better understanding men’s mental health and masculinity dedicating his career to helping reduce the staggering rate of male suicide worldwide. I loved hearing how he approaches this passion from all directions continuing to see patients one on one, research academically AND work at an executive level at Movember.He’s got a million things going on so I feel very lucky he has shared his wisdom and passion with the yayborhood. Content warning - We do discuss mental health and suicide in some depth, so please do take care and I’ve listed some resources below – please never hesitate to reach out for help.PLEASE REACH OUT IF YOU ARE STRUGGLING:Lifeline 13 11 14Beyondblue+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Our final guest for the Finders SEEKers miniseries is none other than SEEK’s very own Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand – Kendra Banks. And we are SO lucky to benefit not only from her insider tips on taking advantage of the Great Job Boom, but also her personal wisdom on pivoting gleaned through an incredibly diverse and exciting career.With a BA from Yale in Economics and Maths followed by a Masters in Euro Politics, Kendra – like many of us – has ended up in places she never expected spanning industries, roles and even continents across the US, UK, Denmark and Australia. She is the perfect example of how rewarding the INTRAPreneurial pathyay can be working with huge companies from McKinsey to Oxfam and Tesco to moving down under for Coles before her current role with SEEK.Like all our guests for Finders SEEKers, I feel very lucky to give the yayborhood access to such incredible tips on taking advantage of the Great Job Boom and hope it’s sparked something for some of you along the way. We’d love to follow laong if any of you do take the leap this year so please keep the messages coming!+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Lovely yayborhood, I hope your June is going well so far. In case you need it, a little reminder of last week’s quote of the yay – if you aren’t where you thought you’d be as we approach the middle of the year (which as always, has crept up outrageously quickly), it is impossible to fall behind in your own life as your pathway is on its own timetable. From my conversations over the past few weeks, a lot of us are still feeling a bit of an emotional hangover from the past few years but are quite hard on ourselves about letting it show now that there’s a bit more normality in life. If that’s you, stop that right now – you’ve been through a lot and it takes time to restore your sense of balance…Speaking of balance, today’s episode is a bit of a hybrid between #yaysofourlives and a regular interview - it started as one to spread awareness of an important yayborhood movement but then morphed into the other because our guest’s pathyay is interesting in itself. It’s a little heavier than our normal episodes so just a little content warning – we do discuss domestic violence and other content that may be triggering or disturbing so please take care and there’s a list of resources below.It's structured a little differently because there was so much to cover and I thought I’d play around a bit to make sure we highlighted the most important stuff. As you know, we are all about lightness and finding joy but also feel it’s important to acknowledge the facets of life that might obstruct your ability to do so, so that nobody feels alone or so that a resource might reach one person who needs it who might not otherwise have had that information.To that end, I am honoured to introduce you to our guest for today – the National Director of White Ribbon Australia, Allan Ball. You know I love to follow people’s pathyays, and Alan has certainly had an interesting one. We talk all things White Ribbon, as well as his journey from early beginnings as a school counsellor to working across rural communities, the NDIS, LGBTQIA+ organisations and youths struggling with drug abuse. So, there’s a little bit of lots of things, but a lot of very important things too.MORE INFO ON THE WHITE RIBBON TAX APPEAL HERESome resources should you need them: If you are in immediate danger - please call 000 for Police and Ambulance help. * 1800RESPECT - 1800 737 732 - This is a 24-hour national sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line for any Australian who has experienced, or is at risk of, family and domestic violence and/or sexual assault. * *Lifeline - 13 11 14 - Anyone across Australia experiencing a personal crisis or thinking about suicide can call 13 11 14, or text 0477 13 11 14 at night (6pm-midnight AEDT). Someone will help put you in contact with a crisis service in your state or territory. * Kids Help Line -1800 551 800 - Free, private and confidential, telephone and online counselling service specifically for young people aged between 5 and 25 in Australia. * Men's Referral Service -1300 766 491 - This service from No to Violence offers assistance, information and counselling to help men who use family violence.
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Lovely yayborhood, I am so excited about today’s guest – if you follow me, you’ll already know how much I admire her talents and if you follow her those talents will need absolutely no introduction. On the off chance you don’t, however, you’ve still probably seen her work without realising it draped on some of the nation’s biggest names (although, to be fair, she is in her own right one of the nation’s biggest names and an absolute icon of style).Even if you do already know of Effie Kats, I’m honoured to share a bit more about the wonderful woman behind the immaculately polished exterior – although you’d never expect it, we have bonded many a time over the crushing weight of impostor syndrome, perceived failure and burn out. And yet, she is one of the most successful, hard-working, trail blazing women in the business shaping our perception of style with her eponymous made to measure label, Effie Kats, and its ready to wear sister, Bayse Brand.I LOVE that Effie learnt the trade in her family's workroom, alongside her father and grandmother who have over 40 years experience in the industry which you will hear all about in the episode. You may also know Effie from her first business, Zachary Label, which she launched at just 23 and which has a story of its own with so many themes we love to talk about on the show. I love knowing this woman and hope you enjoy getting to know her a bit better too! And if you don’t have Effie Kats or Bayse Brand in your wardrobe get on that stat!!!+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Lovely yayborhood, welcome to June!!! And welcome back to #yaysofourlives after a few weeks of Ang and I taking turns cancelling because of what we like to call "PLEH" (as well as some pretty jam packed schedules). You'll hear all about what "PLEH" means and why it's become such a crucial part of our friendship in the episode (and hopefully it helps you in some way too as I suspect we're not the only ones feeling it right now). And if you are, you couldn't get a more perfect #quoteoftheyay than this - "it is impossible to fall behind in your own life because your pathway is on its own timetable".I saw this one the other day when I was in the middle of beating myself up for how randomly we've been serving up the yays lately - very unstructured in order and frequency - but realised I can't actually be falling behind because the only person imposing deadlines or expectations on the schedule is me. Especially given the middle of the year has crept up so quickly, I thought some of you might also be thinking critical thoughts about where you thought you'd be by now and need the reminder that where you are is just perfect. As per usual, there's also a lot of crackpot nonsense in between but it seems you guys quite enjoy that! Don't miss the Easter egg either and shoot us your DMs when you hear it. Hope you're all seizing your yay x+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I'm so excited to present our next miniseries in partnership with SEEK. It has brought so much yay to mix up the format and zoom in on particular facets of seizing your yay, so allow me to introduce Finders, SEEKers.You've all heard me rave on and on about how life unravels in many different chapters and how the most uncomfortable, scary changes in our lives are usually the most transformative and exciting. One of the many silver linings of an otherwise undesirable few years is the opportunity to clear the slate of habit and obligation to actively SEEK those changes you've always dreamed of.And there truly is NO better time than now with more jobs around than ever before but less applications per job ad driven by a shortage of candidates. The Great Job Boom is upon us and yet 45% of Aussies are worried their skills and resume won't stack up against other Aussies...So in Finders, SEEKers, we have a host of amazing guests from coaches to intrapreneurs to help kick those nays to the curb and turn them into yays by making your next move.Our third guest for the miniseries is someone I hadn’t met before the show but who I’m incredibly grateful to have connected with. You’ll hear pretty quickly in the episode how much her unique way of articulating human behaviours around challenge and change blew me away and I can see why she is so good at unlocking the greatest potential and power in others.Brooke Taylor is a highly sought-after career coach helping over 3000 women globally to heal what she calls their Success Wound and find their greater purpose, so we are very lucky to have her here giving you basically a one-on-one session in your ears. She also brings to her work the depth of her own INTRApreneurial experience at Google where she had a hugely successfully career winning the Google Global Sales Award – I’ve always wanted to have a google employee on the show – and now she’s come the full circle including Google as a client along with the likes of Uber, Amazon, McKinsey and other industry leaders.For anyone interested in Brooke’s coaching, you can apply for an intro call at www.brooketaylorcoaching.com/contactFollow Brooke on insta at @brookevtaylorThe number one question Brooke gets asked by women she coaches is how to get "un-stuck" in their careers, meaning how to create clarity on what their next big move is. She's generously created a free worksheet to help conscious female leaders get instant career clarity and take action towards a new vision in their career and life. Find it at www.brooketaylorcoaching.com/unstuck+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I'm so excited to present our next miniseries in partnership with SEEK. It has brought so much yay to mix up the format and zoom in on particular facets of seizing your yay, so allow me to introduce Finders, SEEKers.You've all heard me rave on and on about how life unravels in many different chapters and how the most uncomfortable, scary changes in our lives are usually the most transformative and exciting. One of the many silver linings of an otherwise undesirable few years is the opportunity to clear the slate of habit and obligation to actively SEEK those changes you've always dreamed of.And there truly is NO better time than now with more jobs around than ever before but less applications per job ad driven by a shortage of candidates. The Great Job Boom is upon us and yet 45% of Aussies are worried their skills and resume won't stack up against other Aussies...So in Finders, SEEKers, we have a host of amazing guests from coaches to intrapreneurs to help kick those nays to the curb and turn them into yays by making your next move.I could not be more excited about today’s guest as she is not only one of my dearest friends but also the PERFECT example of an intrapreneur who has repeatedly embraced the beauty of change. She is also the EXQUISITE bride from this past weekend (if any of you were watching on socials) who you may have caught smashing plates in true Greek style – she is nothing if not extra and I love her to bits for it.Ekaterini (Kat) Karabatos and I met at our selective entry high school, MacRob, and shared the hilarious dichotomy between our very nerdy academic selves and station hanging wild child tendencies. She also went on to do Law/Arts at Monash but unlike me stayed within the law to pave an incredibly success career but not without its own pivots.She is a BRILLIANT employment lawyer who has worked her way through several HUGE jumps between corporate and in-house, Sydney and Melbourne, and is literally on the cusp of another big change so couldn’t be more perfect for fellow SEEKers of change to hear right now. She brings SO much yay to my life so I hope you love her as much as I do.+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I'm so excited to present our next miniseries in partnership with SEEK. It has brought so much yay to mix up the format and zoom in on particular facets of seizing your yay, so allow me to introduce Finders, SEEKers.You've all heard me rave on and on about how life unravels in many different chapters and how the most uncomfortable, scary changes in our lives are usually the most transformative and exciting. One of the many silver linings of an otherwise undesirable few years is the opportunity to clear the slate of habit and obligation to actively SEEK those changes you've always dreamed of.And there truly is NO better time than now with more jobs around than ever before but less applications per job ad driven by a shortage of candidates. The Great Job Boom is upon us and yet 45% of Aussies are worried their skills and resume won't stack up against other Aussies...So in Finders, SEEKers, we have a host of amazing guests from coaches to intrapreneurs to help kick those nays to the curb and turn them into yays by making your next move. I'm thrilled to welcome our very first guest, Kemi Nekvapil, who returns to the show for the second time and how lucky we are to have her again...Go back to episode 50 to hear her full back story, but to recap, Kemi embodies the idea of the non-linear pathway spending her childhood with five different foster families with as many different careers covering stage and TV acting, professional baking and yoga teaching. All before finding her calling as a speaker, coach and author of two brilliant books – The Gift of Asking and, published only recently, Power.Consider yourselves lucky yayborhood to have an hour of Kemi’s time, her coaching is highly sought after and if you’ve ever been considering making a change towards seizing your yay, she’s the woman you need to hear from...FOLLOW KEMI HERE+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Continued from part 1...Thank you so much to everyone who submitted questions for the annual birthday Q&A episode and then waited patiently for basically a MONTH while it kept getting pushed back. The spicy cough turned into a very rude and longer-lasting cold that wreaked absolute havoc on my voice box meaning we had to postpone about ten times before finally sitting down to record.If Ang and I are a little hectic when we record virtually, the Galentines Day episode proved that we're pure chaos when we record in person and this episode was no exception. We did this on a particularly delirious weekend after weeks without seeing each other, so you're literally sitting in on us catching up on everything that happened since the last dose of #yaysofourlives.True to form, we rambled on for about an hour and a half (I don't even remember what about) so I split this into a two-parter for something a little different this week. It also happened to be a very ideas-heavy catch up where we float some SUPER exciting ideas for the yayborhood over the coming months and we NEED YOUR FEEDBACK.You'll understand when you hear it, but if you're interested in the P&P session or have a relevant bike story PLEASE send us a DM or email. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy! Part two coming shortly...+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Thank you so much to everyone who submitted questions for the annual birthday Q&A episode and then waited patiently for basically a MONTH while it kept getting pushed back. The spicy cough turned into a very rude and longer-lasting cold that wreaked absolute havoc on my voice box meaning we had to postpone about ten times before finally sitting down to record.If Ang and I are a little hectic when we record virtually, the Galentines Day episode proved that we're pure chaos when we record in person and this episode was no exception. We did this on a particularly delirious weekend after weeks without seeing each other, so you're literally sitting in on us catching up on everything that happened since the last dose of #yaysofourlives. True to form, we rambled on for about an hour and a half (I don't even remember what about) so I split this into a two-parter for something a little different this week. It also happened to be a very ideas-heavy catch up where we float some SUPER exciting ideas for the yayborhood over the coming months and we NEED YOUR FEEDBACK. You'll understand when you hear it, but if you're interested in the P&P session or have a relevant bike story PLEASE send us a DM or email. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy! Part two coming shortly...+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Hope you had an amazing Easter break and thank you to everyone who submitted questions for our very belated birthday Q&A. As you can hear, I recovered from the spicy cough but somehow caught a cold straight after and still sound like a man, so we delayed it AGAIN which means if you have any extra questions or good news stories for the episode shoot them over this week and we’ll eventually get around to recording it.In the meantime, I’ve got a ZINGER today for you that I recorded when I sounded much nicer from someone I’ve admired and learnt from for a while now and whose brain I feel very lucky to pick. Today’s guest is the perfect example of the many things at school that we often felt like we’d never find useful in real life, but who has proven that wrong bringing science to the wild world of beauty.You may know her as Lab Muffin but Michelle Wong is far from a lab rat bringing her credentials (ie a chemistry PhD) to explain what works and what doesn’t in the world of beauty and cosmetics. Think of all the intimidating ingredient names and jargon in the beauty world and Michelle has probably demystified all of them in an approachable, easy to understand way in one of her videos or posts gaining her a booming audience around the world.Michelle is also a fellow lover of Aussie success story, Bondi Sands, and we run through some of our favourite SCIENCE-BACKED goodies from the new Everyday Skincare range. I hope you learn as much as I did!FOLLOW MICHELLE HERETRY THE BONDI SANDS EVERYDAY SKINCARE RANGE+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Well, the spicy cough finally caught up with me but thank goodness I squeezed this one in earlier so I could get it to you before Easter. Today’s guest epitomises everything that gets me excited about life and its many twists and turns plus she's even more special because she was nomi-yay-ted by someone in the yayborhood.So first off, very big thank you to the lovely Emily de Wiljes for listening to the show and for taking the time to submit this beautiful story. I probably wouldn’t have discovered our guest without you, so I LOVE encouraging you all to whistleblow in the best way possible so that we can shine a light on yayborhood heroes like today's.Introducing, Alison Gordon who has one of the coolest collection of careers I’ve encountered and is a wonderful reminder of the unexpected ways your dots can connect. From starting out in the Army to becoming an Antarctic and Arctic expedition leader, a surprise connection between Antarctica and maggots then led her into eco-friendly and sustainable dog food.Every moment of this conversation had me absolutely captivated - Alison is humble, funny and infinitely clever and it was a lovely change to know very little about her before our chat and get to learn everything for the first time along with you guys. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did...CHECK OUT FEED FOR THOUGHT HERE
It's a week late due to the spicy cough finally catching up with me, but here's the final instalment of Casta-yays for this Blood vs Water season with SOLE SURVIVOR, MARK WALES!!!!
So bloody proud of this legendary human and what a joy to sit down and go through some of the behind the scenes reflections of his game with him.
Thank you so much to those who submitted questions too, we got through a bunch of them and I wanted to ask a few of them myself.
Such a full circle moment having only met Mark when he fell in love with my dear friend Sammy during their first season together, so to watch them play this round as a couple and shine so bright was EPIC!
Follow Mark here <<<
What a whirlwind few weeks it’s been – I can’t believe it’s already April and I don’t know about you guys but I’m counting down until the Easter break to catch up with myself again. It’s been SO delightful to work with real life people in the flesh and travel around again – of course I’ve gotten overexcited as usual and episodes have been dropping all over the shop between Survivor, #yaysofourlives and the regular schedule BUT I hope it's been keeping things fresh and you on your toes.I couldn’t be more excited to be back to our regular programming this week with a guest with whom many of us have fallen in love from afar. I didn’t intend it this way but it’s funny how things work out – we recorded this the day after his birthday and a few days before mine AND we’re releasing it now during World Autism Awareness Month kicking off with United Nations-sanctioned World Autism Awareness Day just days ago on April 2.Yep, I’m SO thrilled to have Netflix’s Love on the Spectrum star, Michael Theo joining us this week. You might remember Ang and I recommended this brilliant show in a #yaysofourlives episode – it’s a wholesome and uplifting docuseries following seven young neurodiverse adults as they explore the wild world of dating.Michael in particular captured hearts all over the world with his passion for finding his person and constant zingers making his way even onto the Ellen Show and drawing guests on his own podcast Mr A+ like stars from his favourite TV show (and mine, Brooklyn 99). Having only been told about his autism diagnosis at 13 years old, Michael sees his neurodiversity as a gift not a burden and in listening today, I hope you see why…FOLLOW MICHAEL HERE+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Lovely yayborhood, you might have seen that we have quite a few friends on the latest season of Survivor (a few of whom you’ve already heard from on the show) and we thought for those of you who find some yay in watching the show it’d be the perfect opportunity to dish up some behind the scenes dirt for you. So, quick heads up for anyone who isn’t a big fan, there’ll be a few bonus episodes during this Blood vs Water season that assume you know the show and rule of the game well (but we’ll still be recording our regular content so no worries if you want to skip past).
For those who do listen, the episodes are right up to date so spoiler alert if you haven’t watched right up until Monday 22nd March. SO thrilled to have my love Samantha Gash join us for a SUPER juicy chat about all things strategy, sacrifice and survival!
FOLLOW SAMANTHA HERE
My goodness it's been a big few weeks and my brain is a little scattered trying to catch up (which you might hear in the episode - I fumbled my way through this one a bit). But we’re back with our regular programming and I’m delighted to have the beautiful Anna Robards here just days after the launch of her very first business.You might know Anna from Australia’s first ever season of The Bachelor which screened, get this – TEN YEARS AGO THIS YEAR – or SAS Australia which is screening right now. Having never had a proper boyfriend, Anna was originally signed up for Batchie by a friend but left with her now husband and baby daddy, Tim Robards, who was our FIFTH GUEST ever on the show and they’ve both come so far in the past decade.Anna is, however, so much more than a TV star starting out a successful criminal lawyer, a chapter of her career that she only just closed officially last year. Despite shooting to fame in the very early days of social media, you’ll hear what a strong and balanced head Anna has on her shoulders meaning much of her real life over the past decade has stayed private.You’ll get to know her a little better here and the pathyay that led her into launching INTU WELLNESS debuting with a Sleep & Skin Renewal – a new super powderand the perfect nightcap to target those over-stimulated multi-taskers who want to wake up reenergised and with hydrated, youthful-looking skin. I hope you enjoy as much as I did!FOLLOW ANNA HERECHECK OUT INTU WELLNESS HERE+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
We recorded this one a few weeks ago, then I didn't have signal in South Australia unexpectedly so I couldn't upload this episode until now. Neither of us really remember what we talked about (plus so much more has happened in the past two weeks), but hope it brings you some yay anyway!
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If you follow me on social media as well as listening along, you might have noticed one Steve Gela (aka Steve Gelagotis) popping up more and more recently. I literally met this beautiful human only a few weeks ago through our mutual friend Khanh – a now regular on the show - but he’s just one of those people whose warmth and genuineness wraps you up in a big hug of safety and calmness, so that you want to be around him as much as possible… WHICH makes him the EXACT person I’d want by my side in an emergency, so luckily for Melbourne at least, Steve’s pathyay led him into paramedicine and you all KNOW how long I’ve wanted to get a paramedic on the show. In fact, you might have even seen him already on Nine’s series Paramedics cruising around town just saving lives left right and centre and keeping cool as a cucumber in the process.As always, a dive into the chapters before paramedicine reveals Steve’s pathway started elsewhere reminding us that it sometimes takes a little while to find your jam. I also loved being able to explore the nuts and bolts of a job we all know of but often know little about in terms of the day to day. Steve is also a passionate dog mum, lover of the dancefloor which we’ve shared more than a few times already and my new BFF who I can’t rave about enough – I hope you love him as much as I do!FOLLOW STEVE HERE+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Lovely yayborhood, you might have seen that we have quite a few friends on the latest season of Survivor (a few of whom you’ve already heard from on the show) and we thought for those of you who find some yay in watching the show it’d be the perfect opportunity to dish up some behind the scenes dirt for you. So, quick heads up for anyone who isn’t a big fan, there’ll be a few bonus episodes during this Blood vs Water season that assume you know the show and rule of the game well (but we’ll still be recording our regular content so no worries if you want to skip past).
For those who do listen, the episodes are right up to date so spoiler alert if you haven’t watched right up until Sunday 27th Feb when the two tribes finally merged. SO thrilled to have my love Khanh Ong join us for this episode, but also SO bummed that it's because his Blood vs Water journey has come to a blindsided end...
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I have been busting to share this week’s episode with you guys and if you’ve run into me at all since I met Gabe and Adam last December, I have probably already talked your ear off about them. I was lucky enough to meet this lovely couple during my very quick trip to LA as we were on the same shoot together and had a lovely whirlwind few days as a trio. You can probably tell that meeting new people and hearing all about their lives is one of my very favourite things and these two are so fascinating both separately and together, but our time as a trio was short. So, you and me both are hearing all the finer details for the first time and after this chat, I loved them even more.With Gabe being born without limbs and adopted from Sao Paolo Brazil to Utah and both Gabe and Adam growing up in the Mormon faith which came into conflict with their sexuality, these two bring such unique and interesting perspectives to this chat on finding yourself and your yay. Then the story of the finding each OTHER is a beautiful one, with their wedding taking place just before we met launching Gabe into global Tiktok fame and consequently a whole new career. I’ll let them tell you the rest themselves - they are wise beyond their young years with such beautiful messages about self-acceptance, embracing your uniqueness and building a strong relationship. I hope you are as inspired and delighted by them as I am.FOLLOW GABE ON TIKTOK HERE+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Lovely yayborhood, you might have seen that we have quite a few friends on the latest season of Survivor (a few of whom you’ve already heard from on the show) and we thought for those of you who find some yay in watching the show it’d be the perfect opportunity to dish up some behind the scenes dirt for you. So, quick heads up for anyone who isn’t a big fan, there’ll be a few bonus episodes during this Blood vs Water season that assume you know the show and rule of the game well (but we’ll still be recording our regular content so no worries if you want to skip past).
For those who do listen, the episodes are right up to date so spoiler alert if you haven’t watched right up until episode 9. SO thrilled to have the wonderful Amy Ong join us for this episode, give her a follow here.
AMY'S JEWELLERY LABEL, VANAOC
Somehow, between the 385725938 episodes we've done together, it seems Ang and I have never properly explained how we met!! So, we thought that'd make the perfect #yaysofourlives episode for Valentine's Day in honour of ALL the different kinds of love we can celebrate on Feb 14, including the love between friends.
We eventually make it to a few other random yayborhood watch good news stories plus a voice memo from one of our lovely listeners about the Gardiner Brothers story from a few weeks ago (which we LOVE, keep those coming!) Happy Valentines Day, everyone!
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It’s been such a fun few weeks easing back in with a few doses of #yaysofourlives for you, but we’re finally back with our first full interview guest for the year and I couldn’t think of a more perfect guest than Briony Benjamin. I read Briony’s book, Life is Tough, But So Are You, when it came out in August last year and again just before this interview and both times, for different reasons, it was exactly what I needed to find my yay again and I hope this chat is the same for some of you too – it’s like she looked into the future and covered off every topic that’s relevant to the world right now.Her pathyay to her dream job as Executive Producer at Mamamia.com.au epitomises everything we love to talk about here taking twists and turns through drama teaching in London to a commerce degree then a second degree in film and TV after that. But it was finding out she had cancer all through her body while working in that role that really messed up her vision board. I don’t feel I can do justice to her journey without reading the full book out here, but I trust that by the end of this you’ll read it yourself as well as watching her short video 'You Only Get One Life' that went viral, touching millions including myself. Everything Briony shares about how to wade your way through tough times is painfully relevant to the pandemic and I feel so lucky to be able to share it with the yayborhood at a time where we all probably need a little reminder that, in Briony’s words, you can’t polish a turd but you can roll it in glitter.WATCH BRIONY'S VIDEO HERE+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Welcome back to another dose of #yaysofourlives. We touched on Lunar New Year last week just before Ang went off to celebrate with her family, but today we’re joined by the incredible Francesca Hung to dive a little deeper into the celebrations and her experience of growing up Asian in Australia, which I think will be fascinating given we share that experience but from completely different backgrounds and perspectives.
From a shy young girl growing up on the Northern Beaches to our first Miss Universe Australia of Asian descent and now E! Australia host, Francesca is an absolute delight to chat with and I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did!
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Lovely yayborhood, you might have seen that we have quite a few friends on the latest season of Survivor (a few of whom you’ve already heard from on the show) and we thought for those of you who find some yay in watching the show it’d be the perfect opportunity to dish up some behind the scenes dirt for you. So, quick heads up for anyone who isn’t a big fan, there’ll be a few bonus episodes during this Blood vs Water season that assume you know the show and rule of the game well (but we’ll still be recording our regular content so no worries if you want to skip past).
For those who do listen, the episodes are right up to date so spoiler alert if you haven’t watched episodes 1-3 yet. Also a little content warning that these are a probably a little looser than our normal episodes so you might catch some saucier content or a few more profanities than usual - all in the name of the drama. Some bombshells are dropped, some secrets are shared, and A LOT of yay was had in the process - hope you enjoy!
Another chaotic dose of #yaysofourlives with our resident co-host Ang who brings out the crazy in me and hopefully a few laughs in you.
I came across the perfect #quoteoftheyay for the times we're living in from the incredible Helen Keller - A bend in the road is not the end of the road, unless you fail to make the turn. We're all facing huge disruptions to the path we thought we were on, but never forget you have the power to pivot and reach your destination in another way.
Don't forget to DM or email us any good news stories you see for yayborhood watch or any requests and feedback on our idea for a historical YesterYAY series!
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Lovely yayborhood, welcome to the first episode of 2022! We took a much longer break than anticipated as the brain took her sweet time replenishing after a crazy year, so thank you very much for your patience and hope you too had a chance for some down time.If you're nonetheless having a bit of a hard time kickstarting the year, you are absolutely not alone - hopefully you find some reassurance in Ang and I still being unable to find our marbles. Things have not exactly gone back to normal, so you can't expect yourself to either hence our first #quoteoftheyay for the year - you have exactly enough energy for one day at a time and taking it day by day is all you need to do right now.To keep you smiling in the meantime, we also had a backlog of good news stories to share in our ongoing protest against the negativity of the news cycle from unfathomable kindness by strangers to real time sign language translation. If you're ever losing faith in humanity and look hard enough, there are reminders everywhere of the pure good in people.And something a little different for recommen-yay-tions to start the year - we want to hear YOURS for what you'd like in 2022 and also share a new segment idea to see what you think. As always, please DM or email me smile@spoonfulofsarah.com with your thoughts and feedback. LOVE YOU ALL!+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I can’t believe we’ve reached our last guest interview for the year! My gosh, we’ve had some touch and go moments in 2021 - in and out of lockdown (and therefore in and out of motivation) with rapidly changing schedules and everything in between, but we made it and I’m so proud of the yay we’ve created in our third year together.I can’t say enough how grateful I am for the yayborhood, you’ve absolutely kept me sane this year and given me so many reasons to smile with our healthcare worker care packs, Q&A episodes and just your lovely messages each week. I’ll be taking a proper break over the festive season but as usual re-releasing some favourites in case you missed any, and will be back early next year (with Ang of course) to bring you bigger and better yay next year.For today, I couldn’t think of a more perfect guest (or should I say guests) to finish off the year on a high than the two amazing humans you’re about to hear from. And this episode is all the more special because, despite amassing an enormous community with whom they share so much of their lives on social media, this is the first time EVER that they’ve shared their story on a podcast and I’m still pinching myself that they said yes.Of course, I’m talking about the Real Dads of Melbourne aka Jarrad and Michael Duggan-Tierney who give the beloved sitcom Modern Family a good run for its money sharing their life as parents to son Reid who was born via a surrogate and now foster parents to baby Junior. They probably need no introduction to most of you, stealing hearts all over the nation (and beyond) for their hilariously down to earth recounting of the ups and downs of family life.If you haven’t heard about them yet, you are in for an absolute treat (and even if you do know them, given that this is their first podcast, this is the Real Dads as you’ve never heard them before covering everything from coming out, meeting at Qantas, the process of surrogacy and teaching your kids to embrace their uniqueness). We’re very lucky to share an incredible manager (shout out to Gen at Day Management) and I live around the corner from the dads, but there’s so much I hadn’t heard before…I usually give away more teasers in the intro but my words just can’t do their wit, honesty, love and genuineness justice – there’s laughter, tears, and every other emotion in between. I’ll let Jarrad and Michael tell you their story themselves and if you’re not as in love with them as I am by the end I’d be surprised.+ Follow the Real Dadshere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Welcome to the second segment of our second miniseries for the year showcasing some incredible women in science thanks to the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science fellowship program. While our running miniseries wasn’t sequential and could be listened to in any order, I’d recommend going back to last week’s episode for the full introduction to the program and the landscape before digging into this one.A stat that definitely deserves another mention, however, is that only 28% of researchers today are women with less than 20% making up the most senior leadership positions, and only 3% of Scientific Nobel Prizes have been awarded to women. So, L’Oréal, a company brought to life by scientists 100 years ago, are dedicated to changing those statistics and have awarded five outstanding women in the industries broadly referred to as STEMM – science, technology, engineer mathematics and medicine – a fellowship to help them further their groundbreaking research.One of the biggest challenges for women in these areas is a lack of exposure to career paths and role models, so L’Oréal has also created a Girls in Science program to highlight for school students how diverse, dynamic and deeply impactful pathways in science can be. And since the in person events weren’t able to go ahead, I’m so honoured that these Seize the Yay episodes will take their place and be distributed to young girls who are just starting to think about their way to yay so that a new generation of young scientists might see a future for themselves in the sciences.Our first two guests last week absolutely bowled me over – Dr Mahdokht Shaibani is an Iranian battery engineer working on cleaner alternatives to lithium batteries and Dr Kirsty Nash is a marine biologist looking at the relationship between changing nutrient production from fisheries and coral reefs on one hand and micronutrient deficiencies in humans on the other. This week our three mini-interviews focus more on medical breakthroughs in epilepsy, neuroscience, cardiovascular health and anxiety. I hope you find Dr Philippa Karoly, Dr Jiawen Li and Dr Olivia Harrison as inspiring as I did!Find out more about the FWIS fellowship here.+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I’m so glad that you’ve all been loving our running miniseries and, as promised, I’m thrilled to have a second one for you kicking off today. This one has changed my perspectives and extended my knowledge just as much, but in a completely different way and in relation to completely different pathways to joy but that’s exactly the essence of seizing your yay – it looks different for everyone.The thing is, so often you don’t know what you want your future to look like until you can visualise it or see it represented out in the world, but lack of exposure can really hinder people in finding their purpose because they simply never know it exists. Enter, one of the biggest challenges facing women in science or the industries broadly referred to as STEMM – science, technology, engineer mathematics and medicine.Today, only 28% of researchers are women with less than 20% making up the most senior leadership positions, and only 3% of Scientific Nobel Prizes have been awarded to women. Numerous studies have found that women in STEMM fields publish less, are paid less for their research and do not progress as far as men in their careers.There are so many different factors contributing to this disparity, but one is definitely the misconceptions surrounding what scientists actually do and the industries they can end up working in. Beauty and cosmetics, for example, is not the first industry you’d connect with say, engineering or maths, but our partner in this miniseries, L’Oréal, was founded by scientists over 100 years ago – without science L’Oréal simply wouldn’t exist.Which is why, for over the past 20 years, the L’Oréal Corporate Foundation and UNESCO have been committed to women in science, to increase the number of women working in scientific research. In 1998, L’Oréal and UNESCO founded the For Women in Science program to promote and highlight the critical importance of ensuring greater participation of women in science.Each year, the program recognises the achievements of exceptional early-career female scientists and awards them with Fellowships to help further their research. And I’m DELIGHTED to bring you this miniseries showcasing the five 2021 Fellowship recipients and the ground-breaking, mind-blowing work they’re doing highlighting how diverse, dynamic and deeply impactful pathways in science can be.I’ve emerged kind of wanting to move into science myself and wish there had been programs like this when I was younger. Wonderfully, L’Oréal’s work also includes a Girls in Science program in partnership with UNSW and Melbourne University where these fellows are connected with girls in school to empower young women to forge careers in STEMM and inspire them to be part of cultural change in the industry.Unfortunately, the in-person Girls in Science events were unable to go ahead, but fortunately, this miniseries has taken their place so that it’s not just schoolgirls whose minds can be opened by these five fascinating women and the way they’re changing the world. Even if you don’t aspire to a career in STEMM, I was captivated by these amazing humans and hope that you all are too.Find out more about the FWIS fellowship here.+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I hope you enjoyed our Power Your Inner Runner podcast series, it was such a pleasure to create and I’ve loved seeing all of your learnings and reflections. I did have the second miniseries of the year ready for #yaysofourlives this week, but it’s been pushed back slightly to align with some official announcements relating to the guests, so it's back to your regular scheduling for now but keep your ears peeled.Today’s guest is one of those people that I feel so lucky to be able to share with you because a one on one session with such a trail-blazing industry leader is so highly coveted, so we’re very lucky to have her on the show. If you haven’t heard of Colleen Callander, you’ve definitely encountered her work through 20 years across iconic brands Sussan and Sportsgirl, 13 of which she was in the top spot as CEO. You might assume she was a born leader with her sights set on something like an MBA to work her way to the top, but Colleen is all the more fascinating for not having finished school at all and starting as a retail assistant on the floor at Just Jeans. I also love how she perceives leadership as a lifestyle choice rather than something intrinsic that you have to be born with – you don’t have to be an extrovert or even in a senior position to be a leader, you can work hard and speak through your results and she certainly has done so.There’s also some very useful reflections on burnout leading to three months away from work altogether touching on all our favourite themes of unravelling our identity from productivity and achievement. And of course, then the bold choice to step away from the dream job when it starts to become a comfort zone to embark on a new chapter and restart as a beginner. Colleen is such a delight to learn from and I hope you guys get as much out of our chat as I did.+ Follow Colleen here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Welcome to our final episode of the Power Your Inner Runner podcast series in partnership with Nike Running and Rebel, gosh that’s gone so quickly! I feel so lucky to have been able to pick the brains of three amazing Nike athletes and Olympians on everyone’s behalf – the tips and tricks they’ve shared have enhanced my training so much and I hope they’ve done the same for you. Whether you’re a running beginner or a seasoned pro, they’ve jam packed so much universal advice into these chats that will be invaluable in the lead up to Melbourne Marathon and beyond. But even if you’re not interested in running in the least, I think all three of these women still have fascinating pathyays that are empowering, motivating and just a joy to listen to.So, we’ve heard from Catriona on mastering your mindset and Sinead on distance, determination and defying the doubters but I still have some pretty specific questions left around FUEL. What and when does one eat and drink before, during and after a race? How lucky are we to have as our third and final guest Linden Hall, a 1500m Olympian, Nike athlete and VERY conveniently, also a qualified dietitian who headed to America after high school to get the college experience at Florida State University! Today we get into the guts of our guts and, again, in the few runs I’ve done since recording this episode, Linden has dramatically improved my running experience.As well as the practical stuff, we also hear how Linden went from being spellbound watching the Atlanta Olympics as a five-year-old to actually making it to the Olympics first in Rio and then again this year in Tokyo. It gave me goosebumps to hear Linden explain how it felt to actually qualify after dreaming of the moment since childhood and working so hard to become the fastest 1500m runner in Australian history. Even cooler? She got faster and faster in Tokyo from the heat to the semi-final and then the overall final where she finished in 6th place with a personal best. So we also get some fabulous tips on improving speed and why you often don’t do so by running your competition speed but by doing all kinds of other runs instead – mind blown!As I’ve been recording these episodes, I’ve really been reminded of how powerful sport can be – I mean I get so teary during the Olympics for the way it connects people transcending language, boundaries and geography. Even on a very local, personal level, I’ve been reminded how transformative sport can be which is a big tenet of Rebel’s Sport is Calling campaign. If you’ve been out of the sporting loop for a while, sport can be such an antidote to life’s challenges whether you have professional or competitive aspirations or not so I hope some of you hear sport calling your name again and get motivated to move those bodies. Also, just a reminder, in case you were worried, the episodes aren’t sequential, so if you’re only tuning in now don’t worry each segment stands alone and you can listen in whatever order you like.+ Follow Linden here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Welcome back to our Power Your Inner Runner podcast series in partnership with Nike Running and Rebel. This is our second of three episodes with elite Nike athletes who are sharing their best running tips and tricks - whether you’re a complete beginner all the way through to a pro looking for a fresh perspective.It’s been so wonderful to see how many of you enjoyed our kick-off episode on mindset with the wonderful Catriona Bisset and have already been implementing some of your learnings into your training. My top takeaway was the power of running with friends – I’ve been enjoying running alone for the mental benefits but hadn’t realised how much harder it can be to push into new distances when you’re on your own. So, I locked in my first long run with Ang and a few friends just a few days after this chat with Catriona and went from a solid 10km plateau to a lovely 18KM RUN and I could have kept going but didn’t want to overdo it by going too hard too fast. I’m so thrilled with the breakthrough and hope that some of you found Catriona’s chat useful too – do keep sharing your runs with us along the way, it’s so much fun to do this as a yayborhood!Given I also had a sneak peek of this episode, I had the chance to implement some other tweaks recommended by today’s Nike athlete which were equally as impactful so I’m VERY excited to share this one with you. In case you were worried, the episodes aren’t sequential, so if you’re only tuning in now don’t worry each segment stands alone and you can listen in whatever order you like. I met this wonderful woman during my first foray into running when we were training for the half marathon in 2019 and even though I’ve heard her story before, I was blown away all over again this time. While Catriona was a sprinter focusing on the 800m, we’ve got a long-distance perspective today from a superstar Olympic marathoner.Yep, I’m THRILLED to have the inimitable Sinead Diver with us today who, like Catriona, took a less conventional pathway into running. She is not only one of our best performing marathon runners ever at the Olympics coming in the top 10 in Tokyo – she was also our oldest athlete competing at 44 years old to cross just the line just four minutes behind the race winner. The twist? Sinead only started running AFTER her second child at aged 33 when she was roped into a fun run at the Tan in Melbourne. In her debut marathon, she finished in SECOND place overall then won Melbourne Marathon just four years later and she just keeps getting faster and faster.So, if you’ve ever been told you can’t do it or had sceptics doubting your potential, Sinead is your woman showing how she continues to surprise with her sights set on Paris 2024 as she continues to improve each year. She also answers so many of our burning questions specific to longer distances, especially around the elusive management of eating, drinking and nature calling along the way! Coming into running later in life, she’s a fabulous brain to pick about getting your body and mind into those 30 and 40km distances and living to tell the tale! She’s humble, funny and full of warmth – I hope you enjoy!+ Follow Sinead Diver here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Welcome to November everyone, I honestly can’t believe we’re here. Very quick hello from me today as we’ve got a yayborhood guest interview for this week’s #yaysofourlives, so I’ll save the banter for next week’s regular scheduling with Ang (who I’m so glad everyone is enjoying so much).Our guest for today is someone you’ve heard of many times now because she’s not only been in the yayborhood since the very beginning, but been such an active and thoughtful contributor. Dana Phang is the woman who started the yayborhood gift exchange during lockdown for members to get to know each other better and bring each other a little joy which then sparked our healthcare and frontline worker care package send out. She’s also a doctor herself and her own podcast, Junior Doctor’s Corner, shines such a great light on the lesser-known side of the early days in a medical career to help others feel less alone if it’s not quite the dream they expected. I thought that in itself was a great yayborhood watch item to share with you all but also just wanted to get to know Dana a bit better and what a lovely chat it was.Ang wasn’t originally able to join the call but I peer pressured her into it a few minutes in because I knew they’d get along like a house on fire, so she joins part way through. I saw so many other lovely good news items in the media this week – it was such a nicer week to be online with international reunions finally happening, everyone enjoying freedom and sunshine, some amazing Halloween costumes etc – but I’ll save my yayborhood watch picks for next week, so for now enjoy getting to know your yayborhood mascot, Dana!Dana's #quoteoftheyay was, "I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become" from Carl Jung.+ Follow Dana here+ Listen to Junior Doctor's Corner here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Welcome to the very first episode of our Power Your Inner Runner podcast series. I am so thrilled to be partnering with Nike Running and rebel, to bring you three elite Nike athletes who will help us build our running toolkit - whether this be your first venture into running or you’re seasoned and ready to go further, faster and fresher than ever.If you’ve been listening since the early days, you’ll have witnessed the transformative power of sport in my life, with the remarkable conversion from non-runner – or dare I say even anti-runner – to signing up, voluntarily, for my second half marathon this year and ACTUALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO IT. Six transformative months back in 2019 with the incredible team at Nike taught me all about gradually building your distance, warming up and warming down, fuelling yourself properly and, crucially, wearing the right gear.I’ve been revisiting all those lessons again, turning back to longer runs as a physical, mental and therapy-like outlet during lockdown spurring me to sign up for another 21.1km at Melbourne Marathon. When that was pushed back to December, we had some extra time up our sleeves to consult the experts and with just over six weeks to go, I’m SO excited to be able to share them with you thanks to the support and generosity of rebel and Nike.I was surprised but thrilled to see how many of you in the yayborhood are also on your own running journey! And thank you all so much to those who submitted questions for our guests. The next three episodes have been split into different themes, focusing on the topics YOU want to hear about most!Introducing, Catriona Bisset...As to our very first guest, I’m delighted to have with us the incredible Catriona Bisset – Olympian, Nike Athlete and Lifeline Ambassador, to help us lay some strong foundations with mindfulness and mindset. If I’ve learnt anything over the past few years, it’s that your mind will often give up way before your body will, so getting your head in the game first is crucial.Catriona found her first successes in running at just six years old but took a hiatus from the sport to work on her mental health, pursuing studies in architecture at university. When she did resume racing, however, in a very short amount of time she became the first Australian woman in a decade to break the two-minute barrier – and went from strength to strength to race earlier this year in the 800m at the Tokyo Olympics.You’ll hear all of the details in between from Catriona herself as we cover her pathYAY first then her tips and tricks for managing mental health, building speed, and navigating the relationship between success and the self. What a CRACKING first episode to kick off with, I hope you all enjoy.+ Follow Catriona Bisset here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
The third anniversary episode is finally here, thank you so much to everyone who submitted questions (especially the four amazing yayborhood members who sent theirs in by voice memo). I had been hoping to celebrate this milestone with a real life event, but this was still a pretty special way to reflect on the past few years with our new co-host, Ang (who also happened to co-host the very first episode ever back in 2018 - such a full circle moment). I could never have imagined then that we'd still be here three years later learning from incredible humans and welcoming new friends to the yayborhood each week. I'll never be able to say enough times how grateful I am for all of your support - I know I sound like a broken record, but I still pinch myself to get to create this show for you.As has been a recurring theme with #yaysofourlives lately, I got a major vulnerability hangover the minute we stopped recording and plunged into the depths of overthinking wanting to change all my answers straight away - it's so much easier being the one asking the questions!! Recording with Ang means you REALLY get the unfiltered, totally scattered, absolute goober versions of who we are (although I've always thought that was the beauty of podcasts - you hear how people are without an audience even though, of course, later there is an audience). Old me would have re-recorded to make my answers more articulate, considered and thorough but new me is practising what I preach and uploaded the whole thing without edits - done is better than perfect! As usual, we got carried away in the first half and I rushed a bit in the second half (hence wanting to redo my answers), but I REALLY enjoyed your diverse and interesting questions and hope there's some enjoyable listening somewhere in amongst our rambling.And yes, we did a little glow up to celebrate the milestone - ABOUT TIME! Felt like a great opportunity for a little refresh, since I whipped up our original assets in about 7 minutes without really thinking too much but then kept them for three years!+ Follow Ang here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
You know one of the main facets of the Seize the Yay philosophy is separating what you do from who you are but, naturally, our conversations still touch on “the doing” because work is inextricably related with finding your overall purpose or passion in life. Today’s guest, however, has faced perhaps more upheaval in relation to “the being “– not so much in finding what you love but in finding who you are.Growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness to hard-working, immigrant parents in regional Victoria, Deni Todorovič's environment didn’t exactly foster the language or conversations that allowed them to fully articulate their identity until almost their 20s. But having come out not once, but TWICE since then (along with all the torment and confusion that accompanies such big shifts in identity), Deni is now living their absolute best life as a non-binary role model encouraging us all to honour who we are as well as gently and patiently helping us all learn more about the language and landscape of gender identity and sexuality.For someone who once didn't feel like they had the language to express how they felt, Deni is one of the most articulate guests I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with sharing so openly about even the most awkward elements of gender fluidity i.e. we learn how they pick which bathrooms to use. Sexuality aside, Deni has also had an incredible pathYAY working their way from shit kicking intern all the way up to Fashion Editor at Cosmopolitan right up until its closure in 2018.Their insights are equally as powerful in dealing with the unexpected loss of dreams embracing a giant pivot to move back to Geelong and embrace the freelance world wholeheartedly (including becoming the face of The Body Shop's Self Love Campaign - a company you know I adore working with). Their energy and passion for equality and kindness is so infectious and energising (and the gold sparkles I turned up in barely did Deni justice) – I hope that they bring your heart the warmth that mine was filled with the whole way through.+ Follow Deni here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE BODY SHOP YOUTH ACTIVIST SERIES
There are so many people without whom this show would not have been possible, but this guest in particular really pushed me forwards at the pivotal moment where I could have backed out. We connected a few years ago when I jumped on his own incredible show, Behind the Human, for one of my very first podcast interviews and a few months later it was Marc who I turned to when I wanted to start my own. Back then he was about the only person I knew with their own show and I still can’t believe how instantly and generously he shared the details of his gear, software, reaching out to guests and everything in between. And what a privilege, years later now, to at least begin to repay the favour by sharing the exciting news about his brand new book, Personal Socrates.Marc has one of those fascinating stories that begins with a whole decade in an area that now I can’t imagine him in corporate sales and brand management for pharmaceutical and biotech companies. His side passion for photography was the first inclination of possible career shift building from self-taught newbie to even joining Photographers Without Borders on a trip from his native Canada to Senegal. But it was through his groundbreaking journaling and mental fitness app, KYO, that I first met Marc which saw incredible success right up until the day he decided to delete it. And now he is a brand new author helping us ask bigger and better questions to upgrade our lives at just the perfect time fro World Mental Health Month.I’m not sure if it’s his Canadian background or not, but you’ll hear instantly what a genuine and kind soul he is and his book is exactly the handbook to happiness and mental fitness we all need as we continue to navigate so much uncertainty and change. I hope you get as much out of him as I did!ORDER YOUR COPY OF PERSONAL SOCRATESLISTEN TO BEHIND THE HUMAN PODCAST+ Follow Marc here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Ang is back for a World Mental Health Day/Month episode of #yaysofourlives which, as always, involved lots of tangents and digressions before, after and in between our actual serious chats about the topic. Such is the result of voting Ang in as a regular co-host of the segment - you're literally getting our real-life catch up after a weekend of her on night shifts and me being nocturnal, so we're both as delirious and scattered as ever. In fact, I can't even listen back to these episodes and always get a slight vulnerability hangover afterwards because, even for someone quite comfortable with oversharing, conversations with Ang are among my least guarded, least filtered and least planned (unlike our regular episodes where I know the topics and control the structure or on social media where I pick the moment and context). But I think unguarded conversations between friends are the essence of the mental health conversation, so it actually seems like the perfect way to contribute to this month's reflections.Sadly for you all, but inevitably given that Ang is involved, there's also some poo talk in between, Lonely Planet culture lessons, a few beautiful yayborhood watch stories and who even remembers what else!? I never think anyone is going to share our quirky sense of humour but it's been SO lovely to see many of you do - much love to you all, lovely yayborhood! And don't forget to send in your questions for the THIRD ANNIVERSARY Q&A EPISODE NEXT WEEK!! PLEASE REACH OUT IF YOU ARE STRUGGLING:Lifeline 13 11 14Beyondblue+ Follow Ang here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
The fact that this chat came in at an hour and half and we’d already been chatting for half an hour before that confirms just how much I enjoy Grace Brennan’s company and what a great conversationalist she is. It’s not just her fascinating and unique story either (although I did love labouring over all the seemingly unlikely chapters that led to the one I met her in) but just her enthusiasm for asking questions as much as answering them and learning everything she can about the world around her. I can’t entirely recall which parts were on air or off air but I know we veered well beyond the scope of a normal episode to just share opinions and curiosity about aspects of the world. She’s one of those people I’ve only chatted to a handful of times now after our PayPal bootcamp session a few weeks ago but would love to spend more time with.You may know Grace as the woman behind Buy from the Bush, the movement and now marketplace encouraging consumers in city areas to do some of their shopping in the bush to help support small rural businesses. Just six weeks after launching the movement with a hashtag spurred by the devastating effects of drought on entire communities, Grace had generated a 660% increase for rural business owners and just four months later that became $5 million in revenue. Australia Post even noted a 40% increase in parcel postage in regional areas and the business continues to explode now becoming a full marketplace and booming community supporting rural business owners. And just recently, Grace announced a very exciting new pitching initiative for those outback businesses in partnership with PayPal, Big Break, where applicants can win $30,000 and more towards their businesses – I know, what an absolute inspiration.What I loved, as always, was not only hearing how Grace catapulted into her yay but how unexpected that was and how long and winding her journey was to get here. You might not know that Grace isn’t actually from the bush and led a very internationally focused life growing up in Sydney, living in London and studying international studies in Chile. She only made the move to the bush 7 hours out of Sydney joining her husband, a farmer, who she’d met at 14 playing trick or treat and with whom she now share four beautiful kids (that’s two episodes recently with a heartthrob farmer, take notes ladies). Grace has so much to share on shifting priorities you’re your identity, compromise and partnership, stumbling up on unexpected purpose and grabbing it with everything you’ve got. What an amazing hero for rural Australia who I know will steal your heart like she did mine.FIND OUT MORE ABOUT BIG BREAKSHOP WITH BUY FROM THE BUSH+ Follow Buy from the Bush here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Coming to you with a quick solo #yaysofourlives this week to break a vicious cycle of calling Ang Sunday night to record Monday morning for a Monday afternoon episode. Ang didn’t believe that I’d been getting votes for her to join the segment more regularly, so I did a little poll on socials last week and it was a landslide vote off 98% to have her on weekly (and yep, you guessed it - the 2% no vote was mainly just her). So, I’m very pleased you’ve been enjoying our random sisterly banter and laughs, she brings so much yay to my life and love that we’ve been able to bring some to yours together. She’ll be back next week and as close to weekly as we can manage with our schedules but today you’re stuck with me for a very quick one cos I didn’t have time to organise anything else!
+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I’m amazed every single week at how generous people are with their time in agreeing to jump on the show, but every now and then a guest says yes who I reached out to 1000% expecting a polite no if not total radio silence. And this week, we have two of them who I admire so much not only as separately very impressive individuals but also as a wonderful couple who navigate careers, compromise and continual growth in a way that made me fall a little bit in love with them as you’ll probably hear.On the one hand, we have an Adelaide boy, Joe, whose big dream was playing basketball for his state but who went on to find himself at the pinnacle of the game playing for Utah Jazz in the NBA and leading the Boomers to our first Olympic medal ever in Tokyo earlier this year. On the other, we have Renae, a superstar netballer tearing up the court for the Melbourne Vixens and Australian Diamonds pulling in a host of accolades along the way before she retired to become a Mum.You can see why I couldn’t believe they were happy to sit down to share the yay especially as it was their first interview together in two years and Joe’s first since the Olympics and as usual I loved tracing through their ways to yay but most enjoyed the parts we don’t hear about as much. With everything from the REAL story of how they fell in love, the challenge of moving countries with three kids and juggling two big careers, their son’s diagnosis of autism, and the many endearing in-betweens of the Ingles family, I so enjoyed getting to know two hard-working, family-focused humans who are far more normal than their bios might suggest. Their work with charities Kulture City and 4 ASD kids nearly brought me to tears and Renae is just weeks away from running her first marathon to raise funds for the fight for inclusion and acceptance spurred by her son Jacob and his bestie Oliver who face their own fears and challenges everyday. (and I’d love the yayborhood to get behind her - links below). I hope you guys enjoy this delightful duo as much as I did!SUPPORT RENAE'S MARATHON FOR JACOB AND OLIVERFIND OUT MORE ABOUT 4ASD KIDS CHARITYFIND OUT MORE ABOUT KULTURE CITY+ Follow Joe here and Renae here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
A #yaysofourlives chat dedicated to the front line workers keeping us all safe (and of course, a side mention of the spectacular win by the Dees over the weekend.)
Don't forget to send your NOMI-YAY-TIONS of any healthcare or frontline workers who you think deserve a little yay-filled care package. Email smile@spoonfulofsarah.com or just send us a DM on Instagram.
The TikTok account we have a good chuckle about can be found here.
The Voice for Victorian nurses account I mentioned can be found here.
+ Follow Ang here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Most of the time, I’ve had a bit of an introduction to our guest’s story or at least done a deep dive into the internet to put together the pieces in advance. Today’s guest, however, was one of those fascinating beings whose story isn’t readily documented in the media meaning we’re all hearing it for the first time together – literally, this was her first podcast EVER. Having discovered Sarah as a self-taught gardener and having followed her In My Patchpage for over a year I’ve experienced her passion for growing your own food and making it more accessible first-hand and originally planned this episode to be a bit of a practical first step for anyone like me keen to start growing some more veggies during lockdown. But as you know, I let the conversation go wherever it flows naturally and Sarah’s way to yay bowled me over exemplifying everything about non-linear pathyays and dot points that don’t make sense until decades later.So there is a section covering some gardening myths and beginner hacks, but there’s also a beautiful story touching on grief and tragedy, striking serendipity and two decades of piecing together her yay. I genuinely had no idea what was coming next in the story at each point and can’t believe how much has come before her hugely successful chapter with In My Patch that now has nearly 100,000 followers and students growing blossoming gardens all around the world. I hope you enjoy getting to know Sarah and her pug Pig as much as I did!FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE IN MY PATCH COURSES AND GARDEN MORONS CLUB+ Follow In My Patch here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
RE-RELEASE // I know I yak on about it all the time but the weirdest thing about making this show is not being able to reach out to you at the time you’re actually listening, so sometimes bringing you yay the best way possible is a bit of guesswork. I’ve been noticing people posting about episodes with a longer lag time from its release than usual, and while I originally thought lockdowns meant more time to listen to podcasts, I’ve noticed for myself at least without travelling in the car all the time I’m listening less. Ini that light, dropping two episodes this year instead of one each week might be bombarding you a bit! So, for a few #yaysofourlives slots I’m going to re-share some episodes that you may have missed to let some of you catch up (but as always, if I'm totally wrong, please DM me right now to let me know!)+++++++++++++++++++++++++While it happens a few times in every episode, I’m sure you can sometimes hear when I’ve forgotten that we’re recording for the entirety of an episode because I’m enjoying our guest so much. You’ve had a sneak preview of how much I admire Hugh Van Cuylenberg in #yaysofourlives a few weeks ago when Abbey Gelmi and I bonded over how obsessed we are with his wit and wisdom and this episode took that obsession to another level.Hugh strikes the most beautiful balance between endearingly self-deprecating and calmly authoritative, navigating effortlessly between hysterical laughter and deep exploration of mental health and personal tragedy. His family’s journey with mental illness is both heart-wrenching and heart-warming and what he has turned that experience into with The Resilience Project is changing the world for the better from classrooms to AFL clubs to wherever you’re listening right now. Through presentations, school curriculum, events and his thought-provoking book (with a second coming soon), Hugh uses humour, vulnerability and storytelling to support the mental health of Australians through the pillars of Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness. With cricket references, puns and relatable stories aplenty, Hugh is changing the way we talk about resilience and wellbeing and he’s quickly becoming one of my very favourite people in the world.Like all our guests, Hugh didn’t wake up one day with the clarity of purpose he has today and takes us through all the dots that didn’t connect until he looked back years later with hindsight. From professional cricket to school teaching and laying gas pipes before travelling to India for love, everything about this man is fascinating and I couldn’t be more excited to share his passion and energy with you all. Hope you enjoy and laugh as much as I did.*BUY THE RESILIENCE PROJECT BOOK+ Follow Hugh here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here*
If you’ve been listening along for a while, you’ll probably know me well enough to notice when I get totally carried in someone’s story and suddenly we’re 50 minutes in and I’m still on their way to yay. It’s generally because our guest has such a densely interesting story that we could do a whole podcast on each theme, which I definitely felt for today’s fabulous guest and I still feel like there are so many things I could have asked but didn’t get to. Despite, hilariously, not having met in person, Kim van Haaster has become my work wife in law since Nic joined the founding team of her incredible clean beauty start-up Bloomeffects and someone I admire immensely. I posted a video recently sharing some of the headlines of Kim’s story and LOVED fleshing out all the chapters in between.Kim is such a great reminder of one of our favourite themes that life doesn’t always work out how you planned but it often works out better and that finding your dream life takes lots of patience, trust and chipping away. From 10 different primary schools and even more random jobs earlier in her career including as a mattress saleswoman, pure grit and hard work led Kim from Frankston to become a hugely successful corporate in New York becoming Head of Marketing for personal healthcare giant PZ Cussons. Kim was the brains behind St Tropez’s incredible growth globally doubling its space in ULTA and winning brand of the year in 2017 (for all intents and purposes living a Sex and the City-esque dream life so early in her 30s). And yet, she walked away from it all when she met a Dutch tulip farmer on an Ibiza dancefloor and moved to Amsterdam to start a family.I thought I knew the story of how she ventured into entrepreneurship with Bloomeffects but I didn’t know the half of it. This episode felt like reading a captivating novel while also teaching me SO much about the tulip farming industry, business in Australia vs the US vs the Netherlands, the many uses for sawdust - you know I LOVE diving into a niche community - and also squeezing in lesser discussed themes like divorce, miscarriage and creating change in a patriarchy. Kim is endlessly interesting and I hope you enjoy this one as much I did!BUY BLOOMEFFECTS IN AUSTRALIA (use the discount code 20BLOOM)BUY BLOOMEFFECTS AROUND THE WORLD (use the discount code 20BLOOM)+ Follow Bloomeffects here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!++++++++++++++++++++++CATCH UP ON PAYPAL SMALL BUSINESS WEBINAR #1 - Optimising your online presenceSIGN UP FOR PAYPAL SMALL BUSINESS WEBINAR #2 - Social media strategy
RE-RELEASE // I know I yak on about it all the time but the weirdest thing about making this show is not being able to reach out to you at the time you’re actually listening, so sometimes bringing you yay the best way possible is a bit of guesswork. I’ve been noticing people posting about episodes with a longer lag time from its release than usual, and while I originally thought lockdowns meant more time to listen to podcasts, I’ve noticed for myself at least without travelling in the car all the time I’m listening less. Ini that light, dropping two episodes this year instead of one each week might be bombarding you a bit! So, for a few #yaysofourlives slots I’m going to re-share some episodes that you may have missed to let some of you catch up (but as always, if I'm totally wrong, please DM me right now to let me know!)+++++++++++++++++++++++++I’m so thrilled to have the incredible Maria Thattil joining for #yaysofourlives this week who you may also know as Miss Universe Australia 2021. Once you listen, I'm sure you'll agree with my quote of the yay for this episode from Ralph Waldo Emerson - "To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment," which Maria is doing so bloody well.Freshly returned from doing our country proud at the global Miss Universe competition in the USA, Maria making the TOP 10 worldwide felt like the perfect yayborhood watch story to dive into. If you have any misconceptions about the pageant, its potential as a platform for impact or Maria’s hopes and dreams in entering, prepare to have them blown out of the water by this incredibly articulate, humble and passionate woman. As the shortest woman in the competition at 5”3 and only the 3rd woman of colour to represent our multicultural nation in this international competition in 7 decades, Maria is shattering ceilings and breaking down traditional beauty standards helping redefine what it means to be Australian. She has such powerful messages about identity, self-belief in the face of critics, the power of positivity and so much more.I left this conversation filled with SO inspiration, hope, passion and lightness – she is the breath of fresh air we all need. I think it’s safe to say this is just the beginning for Maria, we have an irrepressible change maker on our hands and I hope you enjoy as much as I did.WATCH MY AUSTRALIA HERE+ Follow Maria Thattil here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ *Join our Facebook community hereSIGN UP FOR THE RELIEF RUN HERE*
Most of you are already aware of my fascination with the military (the origins if which I’m still not really sure about but which I’ve stopped questioning because we also all know that weird things will make you yay, so just roll with them because you're already far better off than those who haven't found their yay yet). So, you won’t be surprised how much I enjoyed this week’s two episodes but I promise the military connection was a timing coincidence!If you haven’t listened yet, our #yaysofourlives guest Tom Howell, Director of Field Operations for Disaster Relief Australia, a partner of our partner Mitsubishi( so part of the yayborhood). Tom started out as an army combat paramedic doing some fascinating work in Afghanistan, then later worked in the jungles of Papua New Guinea before becoming a full-time firefighter which he does alongside his work with DRA. Today, we’re joined by two fellow veterans and legendary brothers, Ben and Dan Pronk, who along with their close friend Tim Curtis just published (and already sold out) their first brilliant book, The Resilience Shield. All three were elite soldiers in the SAS which is already impressive enough but later went on to complete their MBAs launching successful post-military careers AND the brothers now fondly refer to themselves as two thirds of an author setting today’s warm, self-deprecating tone.I already gush about Resilience Shield enough in this episode, but whether you’re interested in the military or not, it is a transformative handbook for our crazy times. Aiming to help us build a shield of resilience against the undeniable uncertainty and unfairness of the world, high adrenaline military anecdotes are weaved seamlessly in among dense philosophy, science and research from around the world about timely themes like fulfilment, loss and rebuilding of identity, trauma, modern information overload and goal setting. No size 12 font storytelling, Resilience Shield is packed full of a methodology built over three stellar careers to date but with endearing relatable language like one of my favourite chapters,But what about my dickhead boss?I’m pretty much just rehashing what we talk about now, so I’ll let the boys tell you more themselves. I truly enjoyed this one so much and hope you do too.GET YOUR COPY OF RESILIENCE SHIELD HERE+ Follow Resilience Shield here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!++++++++++++++++++++++CATCH UP ON PAYPAL SMALL BUSINESS WEBINAR #1 - Optimising your online presenceSIGN UP FOR PAYPAL SMALL BUSINESS WEBINAR #2 - Social media strategy
Back in your ears again, beautiful people, how time is flying by! It’s been another crazy week of a crazy year and in amongst the madness, the yayborhood has truly kept me going. A few days ago was the anniversary of the Seize the Yay book coming out (which I still can’t believe is a thing) and again, some of you sent the loveliest heartfelt messages about how it's impacted your lives sharing your a-ha moments or back stories. I know I say it all the time but the only thing that’s hard about podcasting is that I don’t get to interact with you WHILE you’re listening to see what you think or how the show lands, so when you take the time to send messages separately it really makes my day.As for our guest, as you all know I’ve zipping around in the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross aka the yay-mobile to bring you some incredible stories from yayborhood heroes and we have another fascinating guest today here to share bit more about one of Mitsubishi’s partnerships that makes me so proud to have them as one of our partners. Mitsubishi renewed its partnership with Disaster Relief Australiaearlier this year providing SUV and all-terrain vehicles to help DRA in its mission to provide rapid disaster response in the wake of natural disasters.You may have seen some of DRA’s work during the catastrophic bushfires last year during which the Mitsubishi fleet helped deploy volunteers to five operations across three states. And today we’re joined by the National Director of Field Operations, Tom Howell to tell us a bit more about it, along with his own fascinating story. Tom served in the Australian Army as a company medic with operational experience in the middle east, predominantly Afghanistan. He completed his paramedicine studies with the Army and upon discharging worked over in Papua New Guinea as a paramedic for a few years specialising in remote area trauma. Alongside his work with DRA, he is also a full-time firefighter with Fire Rescue Victoria and has been a member of DRA since 2017, beginning in the training space but now managing the field operations team to facilitate deployment of our members across Australia and wider area of operations.FIND OUT HOW TO VOLUNTEER WITH DRA + Follow Disaster Relief Australia here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I would almost go so far as to say it would be un-Australian not to know who today’s guest is or have shed a tear watching her incredible Olympic performance in Tokyo a few weeks ago. While all our athletes bore the weight of great expectations on their shoulders, having debut-ed at the London Olympics at 18 years old to win silver, then taking a Bronze in Rio, Jess Fox probably faced more pressure than most as she tackled the canoe slalom. Add two Olympic canoeists as parents (one as Jess’ coach) AND the fact that Tokyo was the first ever Olympics to include the C1 class (which you’ll learn about in our chat) for women, and I had a breakdown just thinking about competing. And yet, the legendary Jess charged her way through to a gold medal (just 48 hours after taking bronze in the K1 class) and lived to tell the tale.If you listen often, you might be able to recognise my fan-girl related babbling – I talk quickly and inarticulately when I get this excited and I was chuffed to have this amazing woman on the show just weeks after her win while she’s already preparing for the World Cup in Spain. Even more so because I know she’s been listening to Seize the Yay since 2019, which blows. my. mind. If you watched Jess at the games and thought her warmth and humility shone through on TV, she is equally as delightful one-on-one and I learnt so much about canoeing, maintaining razor sharp focus and allowing yourself to focus on doing your best rather than winning being your only objective. We also clarified the condom story, among many other chuckles and plays to yay outside of sport – I hope you guys enjoy getting to know our champion as much as I did!+ Follow Jess here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Back with another instalment of #yaysofourlives and since you loved her so much of you weeks ago, the legendary Ang Foot is back again this week. And that was just as much for my benefit as it was for yours – I'm sure everyone's been feeling that the last few weeks have been even more intense in the news cycle than things already were and I was just feeling a bit flat and exhausted so I called in the big guns to bring the yay back to your ears.Just like last time, this is another very unplanned, very last-minute chit chat that’s probably even more random and all over the shop than last time, which really is saying something. I always say how much I love the banter that comes out of these more casual episodes, but this time, I feel like I might've let too much of my crazy out of the bag - my brain has been so much less articulate lately than usual, so apologies in advance.We do cover some really interesting stories as well about Ang’s family's experience through the Vietnam war, my adoption anniversary, and Ang’s grandma going viral for her AFL skills, which since the time of recording, which is only yesterday, has also gone on to national TV. And they’re even going live on ABC this week, what an absolute JOY! Hope you enjoy and this brings you a little smile!WATCH THE VIDEO HERE+ Follow Ang here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
RE-RELEASE - We had a freshy ready for this week, but it's been one year exactly since one of our most popular episodes ever so it felt like a good time to bump it back into your ears. Especially with so many of us still in lockdown, I personally loved the escapism of this one so hope you do too! Please ignore any time specific references, although most of our yay is evergreen so hopefully you enjoy as much as I did! +++++++++++++++Sometimes, I choose our guests out of purely selfish curiosity to converse with a particular person regardless of whether anyone else would find them interesting, although I suspect most of you will be as fascinated by Dr Richard Harris as I am. After a random news article led me off on a multi-hour internet tangent a few weeks ago, I bought Dr Harris’ book - Against All Odds - and got it in my head that I HAD to talk to him and I’m so glad he kindly agreed to jump on the show.You know I get overly excited about the unique way our talents and interests can intersect to create a yay-filled life and Dr Harris (or Harry as he insists I call him) has a truly unique set of skills as an anaesthetist and technical cave diver. So unique, in fact, that he was pretty much the only person in the world equipped to help sedate and thereby save the 13 young Thai boys of the Wild Boars Soccer team who got stuck 4km into a cave in Thailand in the rainy season of 2018 (along with diving mate and co-author, Dr Craig Challen with whom he won Australian of the Year last year). I don’t think I need to say much more to explain why I’m fascinated by his story - I gush a LOT in this one but I just couldn’t fathom the enormity of the task before him the details of which definitely went over my head watching it on the news at the time.Among many other things, Harry also has his own wonderful podcast, Real Risk, so was equipped with a proper mic - such a pro - I highly recommend both his book AND his podcast the latest episode off which is with legendary James Cameron of Titanic fame. See links below! Hope you enjoy!>>> LISTEN TO THE REAL RISK PODCAST HERE <<<+ Follow Dr Richardhere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
When I say #yaysofourlives has a looser structure than our OG interviews, I took it to all new levels today chatting for probably half an hour before I asked the first question. But, with the inimitable Emma Isaacs jumping back on the show who I haven’t seen forever AND who has written her second, brand new book with SO MUCH painfully relevant content to cover, I’m surprised I even got to my questions at all!If you haven’t heard Emma’s backstory yet, head back to episode 11 to hear how she has blazed a trail for female entrepreneurs (and all entrepreneurs for that matter) since the age of 18 leading her to become the founder and global CEO of Business Chicks. If you follow me at all, you’ll know what a huge impact Emma and her team have had on me both professionally and in all areas of who I am as a person and I’ll forever be indebted for the opportunities and connections they have made possible in my life (including the fact that Emma had faith enough in Seize the Yay to jump on the show just 11 episode in).In this chat, we just have a good old catch up with bursts of me gushing about her brilliant second book, The New Hustle, in between. You’ll probably tell that once I get started, I keep linking idea after idea making my way through almost the whole book before realising I haven’t even asked about quote of the yay – but that’s why it’s such a timely read with 77 amazing messages about navigating times of challenge and change. Emma is one of the women I look up to most in the world and to have her in your ears at a time like this is so invaluable, so I hope you enjoy and take as much out of her as I do. She is at once impeccably professional and wise as well as a totally open book about parenting six kids or having breakdowns on the daily – the relatable content we all need to hear. Link to The New Hustle will of course be in the show notesPRE-ORDER THE NEW HUSTLE HERE+ Follow Emma here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I only met today’s guest in person recently, but we happen to share the same management which basically makes us family (big shout out to Gen and her team at Day Management) and I’d separately been a great admirer of her work since long before then. Rachael Sarra is a contemporary Aboriginal artist and designer from Goreng Goreng country whose work is a powerful tool for storytelling, change making and spreading the yay.Crashing right through the dot painting stereotype and challenging society’s perception of Aboriginal art and identity, Rachael’s style is uniquely energetic, engaging and colourful. She pushes art to new boundaries from being projected onto the William Jolly Bridge to the packaging of some incredible brand collaborations like Matrix Hair which you’ll hear about as well as The Body Shop and How We Roll Co. I found out, however, that she originally hoped to be the sixth Spice Girl until I planted a big fat nay to yay all over that – this was also my first time as an accidental killjoy and probably a hint at how much fun we had going off on random tangents between exploring her pathYAY to date. She is another great example that what you advocate for might not be trendy until it is but the change makers are the ones who stick with it anyway. I love this woman and everything she's about and hope you do too.MATRIX TOTAL RESULTS MIRACLE CREATOR SPRAY+ Follow Rachael here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
It wouldn’t truly be #yaysofourlives if I didn’t get our little yaymaker Angelena Roan to jump on for an episode. I’ve been getting so many lovely messages about how these tangential banter sessions have been helping you guys keep smiling, but honestly it’s more therapy for me that I just happen to record, so the fact that you’re enjoying too is a bonus.You may remember Ang from the VERY first episode of the podcast, her own interview in episode 33 or all over my socials - I’ve had three messages JUST this week asking about my sister which she is not but which you’d be forgiven for assuming. She’s my mini me, best friend and has squeezed more into life at 24 than many do in a lifetime having ridden 800km from Adelaide to Melbourne for charity, started boxing for fun only to win her first fight by TKO, played in the VFLW for North Melbourne, started her own creative agency and now just happens to be a full time Physiotherapist at Royal Melbourne Hospital.We swing from hysterically brainless to deeply philosophical which is one of my favourite things about our friendship and which definitely comes out in this chat today - apologies for the parts that don’t make sense to anyone but that we clearly find hilarious. Again for this one, I had no notes at all which I’m loving so much between our regular schedule and hope you enjoy following our crazy brains all over the place.+ Follow Ang here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I’ve been feeling this a lot lately and was wondering if it was just me until I started getting quite a few messages from you guys remarking that our guests lately seem to have been just who we needed to hear from to get through the tumultuous past few weeks with the nation in and out of lockdown. This week, the universe has delivered yet again with the delightful Sophie Cachia on the very day she announced her brand new book sparking an incredible conversation about navigating life’s unexpected twists and turns with grace, strength and positivity. (You’ll notice it’s come out a little earlier than usual and I skipped #yaysofourlives to get it out asap – we literally recorded AS Sophie was making her announcement so it's hot off the press!)This chat highlights one of the things I love so much about this podcast – the opportunity and privilege of sitting down with people many of you have heard of but whose eloquence and poise often gets glossed over with our short attention spans on social media. Even in my own research, it was pretty hard to get past Sophie’s marriage to then separation from Jaryd Cachia, current relationship with her new partner Maddie and a very wonky chronology of everything in between. But you’ll hear pretty quickly what a switched on, emotionally intelligent and articulate woman Sophie is making the news of her new memoir, Then There Was Her just SO exciting. Add four businesses to her belt, two beautiful children and the fact that she’s only 30 years old and just getting started and you’ve got a serious force to be reckoned with who I hope you gain as much from as I did.PRE ORDER SOPHIE'S BOOK, THEN THERE WAS HER+ Follow Sophie here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Today’s is a guest who I count as one of my favourite speakers of all time who I was lucky enough to hear from on Sir Richard Branson’s Necker Island during our incredible trip with Business Chicks. I have been hoping to share her infectious enthusiasm, energetic storytelling and MIND-BLOWING story since that moment two years ago and am SO excited to finally share her with you now.It's probably no surprise that Diana Nyad ended up as a marathon swimmer given that her surname means water nymph in Greek mythology (which I know because it was the name of one of my high school houses). With many achievements in competitive swimming over her lifetime, it was an idea that hit her at 9 years old to swim from Cuba to Florida that never left her. Starting from 2010, Diana began the journey to swim of over 50 hours through freezing, shark and jellyfish infested waters making not one but FIVE attempts before successfully covering the 180km and get this… at 64 YEARS OLD. As Hilary Clinton puts it perfectly, when you’re facing big challenges in your life you can think about Diana and nearly anything else seems doable by comparison.Before we jump in, I just wanted to throw a very big shout out to Emma Isaacs and the Business Chicks team again for continually creating invaluable, unforgettable experiences for so many of us and making some of the world’s most fascinating and inspiring people accessible like Diana to its members. If you aren’t already a member, I can’t recommend anything more highly for seizing your yay so SIGN UP HERE. I hope you are as invigorated by this one as I am and please excuse a bit scratchier audio than usual – the tech woes got us good but in true Diana fashion we pressed on.LEARN MORE ABOUT EVERWALKLEARN MORE ABOUT OCEANSCOMMIT+ Follow Diana here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
A very short, very rambly solo #yaysofourlives episode for you this week with lots of heart-warming moments from the Tokyo Olympics.
Here's an article on the shared gold medal in the high jump finals.
Here's an article on Emma McKeon's medalsand you can catch up on her Seize the Yay episode here.
Here's a link to Ariarne Titmus' coach losing his bananas with joy.
Well, we know that big life pivots and sliding doors moments are one of my favourite things to talk about here and they’ve come in the form of reality TV shows before but never quite in the manner experienced by the ubiquitous Abbie Chatfield. You’ve seen her on Bachelor, you’ve seen her win I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here but you may not have heard her quite like this…You’ll very soon hear from the hysterical laughter how much I enjoyed sitting down with this force to be reckoned with and how fascinating I found it diving beneath the surface of what some parts of the media seem to want us to focus on. From growing up with a single Mum to her full career as a property analyst with a degree in property economics there was a lifetime before Gemini-gate that led Abbie to where she is today. Now, she is a powerful spokesperson breaking down social taboo on so many topics like body positivity, mental health and even releasing her own vibrator range with VUSH as well as hosting her podcast, It’s A Lot Podcast. But her platform wasn’t handed to her on a silver nor was her transition into the spotlight as friendly or seamless as it might have seemed – she is a damned hard worker with an endearing openness about her experiences and challenges to date and I loved getting to know her a bit better. I hope you guys enjoy.ABBIE'S PODCAST - IT'S A LOTVUSH x ABBIE COLLABORATION+ Follow Abbie here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Welcome to a new week, lovely yayborhood. If you‘re looking for some motivation for a fresh start, our guest for this episode is your woman. If you haven’t heard of Tory Archbold, you’ve probably encountered her work in some form or another – she is the superstar publicist whose first business, Torstar, brought Zara to Australia, took Seafolly and Sukin overseas and included Nespresso, Victoria’s Secret and Adidas in its booming portofolio.That was, however, before the universe took her through a near-death experience which you’ll hear all about and through a complete re-evaluation of her life and priorities. In an a-ha moment sparked by Drew Barrymore, Tory decided to close her hugely successful agency and seize a brand new yay with Powerful Steps – a platform to inspire, encourage and empower others in their own lives. I think you’ll understand very quickly why this is perfectly suited to her – she has so much to share about limiting beliefs, surrender and finding your power. What a valuable guest to have with us today for some wisdom and wonder about #yaysofourlives.TORY'S BUSINESS ATTRACTION PROGRAM+ Follow Tory here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
You know I’m no stranger to a fangirl moment, but this one is really up there. Having followed her journey for over a decade and pored over her fabulous new book, Of Gold and Dust, our guest this week is none other than Samantha Wills.You may have heard parts of how she grew her multimillion-dollar global eponymous jewellery label from her kitchen table and the Bondi markets at just 21 years old to a string of stores from Singapore to New York and the likes of J.Lo, Eva Mendes and Katy Perry clamouring to wear her jewellery. For any aspiring business owners, she has so much to share about the 12 years it took her to overnight success covering the scale up, brand growth, community building and taking things one chapter at a time. Her brilliant new book also reveals some of the character-building "shitter bits" (as you know I like to call them) along the way from $80,000 of debt, burnout, personal turmoil and crippling impostor syndrome – I didn’t realise she was a TAFE double drop out. But what I find MOST fascinating about her story is that just when Samantha Wills Jewellery had truly solidified itself as an undeniable success, she closed the business and walked away.For someone as fascinated as I am by redefining the metrics by which you measure your life, knowing when your jigsaw puzzle need a shake up and choosing happiness before success, this was such an engaging chat I barely knew where to start. I hope it’s as enlightening and eye opening for you as it was for me.SAMANTHA'S NEW BOOK, OF GOLD AND DUST+ Follow Samantha here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
You'll probably notice that this isn't actually the quote of the yay we talk about in the episode, but Khanh's was a little too dark (and a little too Latin) for the title even though it does have a strong underlying reminder that life is too short not to seize your yay. Although sometimes confronting our mortality can be the kick up the butt you need to remember that life is too precious and fleeting to let a day go by where you sacrifice who you are or what you love because of what some else expects / demands / believes. We do get very quickly back to the lightness and laughter, I promise, covering all sorts of random sources of yay from panda facts, bento box tutorials and even why faces in inanimate objects are good for the soul. Like the past few #yaysofourlives episodes, I didn't plan anything in advance and roped Khanh a few hours beforehand, which means lots of random tangents and embarrassing unfiltered insights into our thought processes, but hopefully you get a giggle out of it along the way (and some fresh new YouTube tangents to keep you smiling during lockdown!)Note: The internet at both ends was so temperamental so halfway through we swap to FaceTime - the joys of WFH.Here are some of the things we mentioned this week:* Khanh's original episode, Seize the Gay * The Human Library * The four-day work week in Iceland * Inanimate objects with faces
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Skipped #yaysofourlives this week as we’ve had some builders at home which don’t create the loveliest background noises for podcasting, but today’s guest well and truly makes up for the gap. It’s been probably nearly eight years since I first heard of Holly Ransom and started closely following her journey but today was the very first time I’ve had the privilege of chatting with her directly. If she’d been inspiring and influencing me from afar with her intellect, drive and leadership, her impact was tenfold in this conversation and I feel so lucky to be able to share that with some of you. Holly has about as much difficulty describing what she does as I do but that’s probably why we get along so well facing a lifelong inability not to try everything and anything (and all at once). She is a specialist in disruptive strategy, a private company director and advocate for social and economic inclusion, a businesswoman, a globally recognised speaker, podcaster and just this year also an author.Starting with an Arts/Law degree for similar reasons as I did, Holly’s born flair for leadership and insatiable curiosity ultimately led her away from the law and into a constantly evolving career path with more accolades than I have time to list here. She was named one of Australia’s 100 Most Influential Women by the Australian Financial Review, she has delivered a Peace Charter to the Dalai Lama, interviewed Barack Obama on stage and was Sir Richard Branson’s nominee for Wired Magazine’s ‘Smart List’ of Future Game Changers to watch in 2017. In 2019 she was awarded the US Embassy’s Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Leadership Excellence. She won the Fulbright Scholarship to complete her Masters at Harvard University from which she graduated and has now poured the culmination of all those experiences into a fabulous book, The Leading Edge. I’ll let her tell you the rest herself in the most articulate and engaging words! I hope you enjoyHOLLY'S NEW BOOK, THE LEADING EDGE+ Follow Sarah here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
As you can probably tell since I ramble on about it all the time, one of my favourite parts of creating this show is hearing not only so many fascinating and unique stories I might not otherwise have come across, but even within those stories, getting to actually sit down with the protagonist to unearth the parts that shorter interviews or written pieces might skate over. Today’s guest is the perfect example of that whose incredible success has gained her worldwide recognition but whose earlier chapters fascinated me even more.Sarah Andrews is the owner of iconic Tasmanian Airbnb Captain’s Rest that she bought as a shack in 2016 despite locals promising her that nobody would come to visit the middle of nowhere. It is now booked out every day of the year and up to almost a year in advance earning $10-$15k per month with an entire local economy starting to build up around the venue as crowds started to flock to Tasmania’s remote West Coast. Applying her earlier science background to the science of hosting and marketing, Sarah has since turned her newfound expertise into a globally acclaimed The Hosting Masterclass guiding other business owners to success around the world and her new book Principles of Style is also soon to come out. But what I loved hearing the most was the rollercoaster it took to get here covering a career as a spatial scientist, a year living on a yacht travelling the world, a traumatic Mexican storm leading to a shipwreck like rescue by the Mexican navy and so much more in between.I mean, if there’s a film director listening in to this one, you’re welcome – I was both emotionally exhausted and invigorated by the end of this episode which is really only just the beginning for Sarah Andrews. I hope you enjoy as much as I did!CHECK OUT CAPTAIN'S REST HEREFIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE HOSTING MASTERCLASSSARAH'S NEW BOOK, PRINCIPLES OF STYLE+ Follow Sarah here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Welcome back to #yaysofourlives beautiful people - I hope you’re being gentle on yourselves during another crazy year. I really notice what a rollercoaster it is when I sit down to record these and see how drastically things change week to week - it’s a lot to take in so sending everyone lots of love.Perfect time to send some more random, joyful banter into your ears - after I went into Dr Kieran Kennedy’s episode a few weeks ago without ANY notes or plans and had such a blast, I decided to this same for this week to see where it took us. And what a thrill to be joined by two amazing humans who also love a good chinwag, Tully Humphrey and Sarah Pasini.It probably says a lot about their relationship that they chose two very similar #quotesoftheyay:* I am no longer present for things that make me feel like shit. * Distance yourself from people that bring out the person you're not trying to be anymore
You may have already heard of and/or from these two before either through their own cracking podcast, Curious Conversations, that I jumped on a few weeks ago or through their trail blazing activewear label, TULLY LOU. If you haven’t, these two are business partners and best friends who shift effortlessly between serious practical insights on eight years in business stealing the hearts of Gigi Hadid and the like to hysterical cackles about the woes of dating in the modern age.I’ve been lucky to know them both since the very first day of Matcha Maiden and have drawn so much inspiration from them both for many years. Tully is such an amazing example of the non-conventional pathYAY overcoming anorexia and depression from 14 years old and quitting school at 16 years old to found a business that played a huge role in bringing athleisure to where it is today. Sare brings a contrasting academic background and experience in exercise science to the business and their friendship making them the perfect pair. I always have such a great time chatting with these two although I can barely remember what we even spoke about but those random chats are my favourites - hope you enjoy!+ Follow Tully Lou, Tully Humphrey and Sarah Pasini here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
It’s always such a pleasure to join podcast forces and after having an absolute blast on Tropeaka’s podcast a couple of weeks ago, this week we’ve turned the tables on CEO and co-founder, Caleb Marshall. Leading one of Australia’s fastest growing and largest health food companies with 14,000 5-star reviews and an ever-growing range of amazing products, Caleb is well and truly seizing his yay.As we so often reiterate on the show, you could easily assume it’s been smooth sailing if you’d been observing Tropeaka’s impressive trajectory since 2016, but even I was surprised by how candidly Caleb discusses the tougher chapters of his pathYAY, particularly through his school years and then losing three and a half years of his life to a debilitating struggle with chronic fatigue. But the patience, self-awareness and positivity he brings to reframing that experience as a life-changing pivot is sure to reassure not just fellow chronic illness suffers but anyone out there waiting for their passion and purpose to become clear. I love how much I learn from each guest and their perspectives on life and he particularly reminds me just how important it is to stick with the wild and whacky things you love because what makes you happy might make others desperately unhappy and vice versa but that's the whole point of seizing your yay – it’s not meant to look like any one else’s. I hope you enjoy as much as I did+ Follow Caleb here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Sometimes I regret using certain phrases so much because when I really want to hammer something home I’ve usually already overdone it. So, for example, I really want to emphasise what an incredible breath of fresh air today’s guest is but I’ve probably said that many times before so thank goodness you’re about to hear from her yourself as I know you’ll agree she’s truly one in a billion.If anyone’s pathYAY could be said to truly veer off in totally unexpected directions at every new chapter, it’s Aimee Stanton’s – she has the most fascinating story so far and she’s not even 30. If you’ve met her even once, she’s someone you want to be around more and more with the most energetic zest for life, for giving things a red hot crack and being who you truly are. You’d expect that she’s always been as confident and self-assured but I was surprised to learn that most of her earlier years were spent not only thinking but being told she’d never amount to anything culminating in an expulsion from school and many years not knowing where her place was. But after finding her feet as an award winning plumber and shaking up the industry as a lady tradie, walking ON FOOT from Melbourne to Canberra because she could, competing on Survivor and House Rules then starting an incredibly successful business, Tiny Stays, building tiny homes with her brother, she’s well and truly proved her strength, talent and drive and I bloody loved having her on the show.We’ve been in each other’s orbit for a few years now through another regular podcast guest Sammy Gash and recently spend time in the NT getting to know each other even better. Ih op9e you guys enjoy her a much as I didCHECK OUT TINY STAYS HERE+ Follow Aimee here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Welcome back to #yaysofourlives everyone,this one’s a bit of a cracker. In a Seize the Yay first, I didn’t write any notes to prepare for this episode OR edit any of it at all which is both terrifying and liberating as well a testament to what a great conversationalist our guest for the episode truly is.I’m joined by absolute legend Dr Kieran Kennedy, a medical doctor, psychiatrist and mental health advocate who first appeared on the show back in episode 92 (which I highly recommend you go and have a listen to for context). It is in fact the one year anniversary this week of our chat for last year’s Men's Health Week and I thought who better to join for a reunion to discuss THIS year’s Men's Health Week than Dr Kieran.Kieran is a dedicated advocate for redefining societal ideas about masculinity, encouraging open conversations about mental health and wellbeing, and has been a shining light for many of us through the challenges of Victoria’s continued lockdowns. He also EXPERTLY weaves in amongst his technical scientific wisdom, a wicked sense of humour, passion for calf club which I’ll never let him live down and love for seizing his yay making this an absolute hoot.We really only met properly during last year’s episode and haven’t known each other long but he’s one of those people you instantly trust and can have the most enjoyably tangential conversations with. I had also been filming for over 15 hours when we recorded this so please excuse my delirium - I usually don’t let that level of crazy out of the bag, but hopefully you get a few laughs out of it as well as some more serious, practical insights on managing your mental health.If you feel you need support at any time, please contact Lifeline 13 11 14, Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636 or your local mental health service (type your suburb followed by ‘mental health’).+ Follow Dr Kieran here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here
I feel like a big part of the yayborhood will already know today’s guest quite well, but in case you don’t, Victoria Devine is someone you MUST get acquainted with if you’re interested in financial freedom without skimping on the fun stuff (so basically everyone ever). Victoria is a multi-award-winning financial adviser and creator of She’s on the Money, Australia’s #1 finance podcast (and 7th biggest of all podcasts in the country) who is revolutionising the way millennials think about money.If you’re like me, you may have grown up thinking money along with religion and politics is a topic never to be discussed at the table, but you may also have found that disempowering and an obstacle to actually learning how to build wealth, invest and safeguard your future. Enter, Victoria and her unique ability to demystify and translate intimidating financial concepts to make them accessible, non-judgmental and fun. She’s on the Money covers everything from game-changing budgeting templates to changing your money story and from debt or insurance to planning for children. From a facebook group to podcast to a brand-new comprehensive book published just this week, She’s on the Money is the ultimate millennial money guide that I cannot recommend more highly!Now I did make sure to grab some practical takeaways for the yayborhood in this episode but the book is SO comprehensive and quite life-changing and I know you’ll all grab a copy, so I used most of this episode to chat about things that aren’t captured in its pages. I was lucky enough to meet Victoria a few chapters before She’s on the Money or Seize the Yay began and her way to yay is such a valuable reminder that the pathway to passion and purpose is far from linear. Victoria didn’t even start out in finance, with so many steps in her staircase before finding her yay. I hope you learn as much from this one as I did!+ Follow Victoria here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
2021 RE-RELEASE To celebrate the launch of Flex's new book, The Success Experiment. BUY YOUR COPY HERE++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++The way that 2020 has unfolded has had a lot of us reflecting in ways we haven’t in years, but self-awareness, existential reflection and critical thinking about values, behaviours and perceptions has been this week’s guest jam since long before the pandemic. Few people get my brain gymnastics going like the inimitable Lillian Ahenkan, who you may know as Flex Mami, and the chat you’re about to hear was no exception.While she is now changing how we think, do our make-up, and decorate our furniture as a self-dubbed professional opinion haver and slashie – DJ/TV host/podcaster/beauty guru/creator of Flex Factory – I loved chatting to Lil about the rollercoaster journey all of us go through finding our personal balance between conventionality and difference. As an Australian born Ghanaian woman, the societal projection of a homogenous Black woman’s experience is just one of the many layers of identity that we peel back with her incredible ability to articulate and guide multifaceted conversations. I was so captivated in exploring the different elements of our identity and the many snakeskins Flex has worn and shed herself that we went for almost two hours having a great laugh but I’ve cut the "best of" for you to enjoy. If you aren’t thinking fundamentally differently about things at the end of this, I’d be surprised!!!Also we both used proper podcasting microphones but got VERY loud – someone mentioned the other day that sometimes my bursts of laughter deafen them a bit but someone else mentioned that sometimes the episodes are too quiet… so I’ve been doing a lot of tutorials on making the audio more even and pulling the extremes closer to the middle. As you probably know I do all the editing myself and am still learning some tricks, so thank you for the ongoing feedback and patience! Hope you enjoy!+ Follow Flex Mamihere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I don’t know if you guys experience this the same way I do, but I walk away from some episodes wanting to make lifelong friends with our guest just to spend more time around their energy and ideas. Morgan Mitchell is absolutely one of those people who is both everything you’d expect of an Olympic athlete and nothing you’d expect of an Olympic athlete all at once.Once you hear Morgan’s incredible self-awareness, determination, and lifelong passion for sport, her success on the track makes so much sense with a string of accolades under her belt starting from the tender age of six. Two decades later, at just 26 years old, she is now preparing for her SECOND Olympics in Tokyo taking on a completely new focus swapping from the 400m to the 800m which, as she'll explain, is nowhere near as similar as you might expect. What might surprise you though is her refreshingly balanced approach to running, which makes up but one part of her identity and goals in life. In fact, it’s her commitment to maintaining interests and a busy schedule OFF the track that she credits for her success on it, encouraging all of us to remember that life is more than your career.So you’ll hear about the Rio Olympics in 2016 but you’ll hear more about its afterparty as well as that time Shaquille O'Neil slid into her DMs, the James Cameron movie she featured in, the other forms of training she does including becoming an F45 ambassador and everything in between. I still don’t really believe she’s only 26 with such a wise and solid head on her shoulders! I hope you guys have as much of a laugh as I did!+ Follow Morgan here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community hereSIGN UP FOR THE RELIEF RUN HERE
You may have heard me speak about Joshua Coombes in #yaysofourlives a few days ago and I’m so thrilled to say not only has his book Do Something for Nothing launched in Australia this week, he’s also joined us on the show for today’s episode. If you missed my intro on Monday, Joshua is a British hairdresser who took his skill onto the streets to give free haircuts to the homeless and, together with his passion and skill for storytelling, has created a global movement of kindness, connection and humanity.His new book shares stories as well as before and after images of people he’s met from all over the world showing the confidence, hope and joy he brings them from taking a moment to connect. For people who often feel invisible and misunderstood in society, he’s shining such an important light on homelessness and helping break down the stigma it’s still surrounded by. He’s also encouraging us all to do something for nothing – for him, it’s by giving free haircuts but he insists that we all have a skill or talent we can share for free with others. I found him so fascinating and his stories even more captivating! Note: you’ll notice the audio changes about half way through when his airpods died with a bit of clicking just beforehand, so apologies for the glitches, but we still managed to have an amazing conversation across the globe so I’m pretty chuffed with that. I hope he makes you smile as much as he did for me!BUY JOSHUA'S NEW BOOK HERE+ Follow Joshua here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here
This #yaysofourlives episode coming to you from lockdown for the FOURTH time. To my fellow Victorians, sending you ALL my love and if you’ve been reading my dear diary reflections on socials you’ll know that I as much as anyone need the reminder to be gentle on yourselves with your response to this round. Whether you’re swinging between productivity pressure or beating yourselves up for being the opposite of productive or between sadness or frustration and guilt for enjoying parts of it or even beating yourself up for having a reaction at all because it’s only seven days long, just let go of it all and remember it’s normal to respond to abnormal situations with abnormal reactions. And if the emotions you are sitting in are nonetheless starting to feel really overwhelming, this week’s quote of the yay is one I pulled from last week’s episode with Hugh van Cuylenberg (which I’m so pleased has had an outpouring of love):"Let everything happen to you. Beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final" - Rainer Marie Rilke.Another one I love is from Charlie Chaplin is "Nothing is permanent in this wicked world - not even our troubles", which I needed today because I’ve been pretty flat and tired and wasn't feeling the yay when I first tried to record this ep on my own... SO I put in a last minute call to two legends that I LOVED chatting with recently who I knew could lift the energy for this episode and I'm SO glad I did!!! Lachie Bradford and Robbie Hicks are the hosts of Funny Business - a cracking podcast for free thinkers and creators exploring business culture and performance in Australia. Such a great laugh and catch up - I hope it made you smile!LISTEN TO FUNNY BUSINESS HERE+Follow Funny Business here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here
So excited to finally have our #yaysofourlives recap for you from our incredible trip to the Northern Territory a few weeks back. You’ll hear all about it in the episode, but to quickly give you some background – eight amazing women (and two fabulous men to capture photos and video) spent three days hiking 55km with 2200m of elevation across three of the twelve parts of the Larapinta Trail led by Larapinta Culture, the only Aboriginal owned and operated touring company in the area. Jungala, the owner and an elder in the region, and his grandson Perrulle (along with Nick Fife, their mate who came to help out) gave us the most eye opening and immersive few days camping in the red dirt, walking through the oldest land formations in the world and sleeping under the shooting stars. I sat down with now three-time Seize the Yay guest Samantha Gash who organised the trip under the banner of her new female adventure group, Her Trails, and Jo Nevin (one of my amazing new friends from the adventure) to give you a little insight into what it was like.As avid trail runners, these two are also heading back in a few months to run all twelve sections of the Larapinta Trail covering 250km in a row unassisted (so carrying everything they will need with them the whole way) just to give you an idea of the powerhouses you’re about to hear from. They’ll also speak to you about the return of Relief Run that they are both working away on furiously – you may remember that my husband, Nic, and Samantha pulled together a global virtual run last year to raise over $1 million for bushfire relief and it’s back again this year to support the terrifying challenge faced by India at the moment under the pressures of COVID 19. Samantha just incidentally has crossed the whole of India on foot giving it a special place in her heart, and we’ve set up a Yayborhood team which you can join from anywhere to run anytime with us between 11-13 June. I’d be so proud to have some of you on board with us too - links below. Enjoy the cackles and reflections, I hope it brings some yay to your week!SIGN UP TO RELIEF RUNFIND OUT MORE ABOUT HER TRAILS+Follow Samantha here and Jo here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here
So excited about our guest for this episode, you all know I love finding different and heart warming stories from around the world and this was one I found randomly on Instagram. I’m so thrilled that Rob Kenney kindly agreed to join us from Seattle to share his fascinating journey from college football to salesman to YouTube influencer extraordinaire!You may know him simply as "Dad" from the wildly popular Dad How Do I? YouTube channel teaching you how to do everyday things you may have missed out on learning from your dad. Created during the pandemic last year following conversations with his 28 year old daughter and 25 year old son, the channel has exploded to nearly three and a half million subscribers who Rob calls hid “kids” from all over the globe. You’ll hear the story of how Rob’s own dad took custody of him and his seven siblings when his mother turned to alcoholism, only to leave the family when Rob was just 14 leaving Rob to grow up in his older brother’s small caravan. You’ll also hear his extraordinary empathy for his parents and refusal to dwell on the past leading a beautiful life with his own family before this incredible plot twist in his 50s.His is such a cool story with so many important lessons on kindness, forgiveness, the different forms of ambition and the very seize-the-yay-appropriate reminder that you never know when a new chapter you could never have imagined lies just around the corner. Rob is also a published author AND has so many other exciting things on the horizon. I hope you enjoy as much as I did!BUY A SIGNED COPY OF ROB'S BOOKWATCH ROB'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL+ Follow Rob here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here
Today’s guest is a little ray of sunshine – I can almost hear her smile coming through my headphones. Georgie Mankey is our first nurse on the show who absolutely dispels the misconception that nursing is just where you end up if you didn’t become a doctor sharing her long-time dream of nursing in ICU and how she worked her way up there. We also cover her little hiatus from nursing to complete her yoga teacher training leading to several stints in India and even a period juggling both full time jobs before ultimately coming back to nursing as her first love.
During that time, you may have known her as Fit with Georgie where she grew quite a considerable online community around her yoga practice and healthy lifestyle. She also shares openly about why she’s taken a step back from the online world going against the grain to find a balance that makes her yay. I hope you enjoy!
+ Follow Georgie here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here
Back after a short break while we were out in the Northern Territory hiking on country along the Larapinta Trail. Soooo much to share from our transformative week without signal or devices, but I probably need a bit longer to be able to find the right words, so I’ll kick off this week with a bit of a hybrid #yaysofourlives episode that we recorded before I left. While I know I just set you up with the three sections for this segment, this week’s guest is so fascinating that our interview was almost as long as a regular episode (and probably should have been), so today’s episode is all about the Yayborhood Watch. Our wonderful yayborhood member, Stephanie Ippel, submitted the most amazing nomination for her fellow Phillip Island local, Mat Bowtell.You may have seen the video already of our visit to his factory on social media (and if you haven’t, watch here), but Mat goes into more depth here about starting Free 3D Hands to make assistive hand devices using 3D printers at a fraction of the cost which he then provides FREE for children around the world. His aim is to make these items at 1/1000th of the cost changing the terrifying static that 90% of the over 1 billion people in the world who needed assistance devices aren’t currently able to access them. The factory is solar powered ad the printers use recyclable plastic, recently advancing to even producing a bionic arm that costs just $100 versus the $30,000 that some equivalents cost to make. And it all unravelled during a pivot from a redundancy - the best kind of yayborhood story. I hope you enjoy as much as I did!And thank you so much again Stephanie for the nomination, I’m relying on you all to dob in your local heroes (especially those who would never nominate themselves for the spotlight they and their work deserves), so keep your eyes peeled! Please email smile@spoonfulofsarah.com with your nominations...+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
What a treat we have this week with the melodious voice of Julia Stone coming to your ears – even just her speaking is one of the most beautiful sounds. Unless you’ve literally been living under a rock, you will have definitely heard some of her work (even if you didn’t realise it) including, at the very least, the ubiquitous and ARIA award-winning single, Big Jet Plane, released with her brother Angus in the same year that they won five ARIA awards from nine nominations for their incredible work.But what I’m thrilled to be chatting with Julia about today is her brand-new album, Sixty Summers, and this episode starts with a snippet of one of the featuring songs, Break, which gives you a taste of vibrant and distinctly different sound. Thi sis her third solo album but first that wasn’t launched in between Angus and Julia releases and with the most striking departure into new styles, partnerships and even supporting visuals including a music video with Susan Sarandon and Danny Glover. You know I love getting into conversations about identity, different chapters, outgrowing your past definitions of success and finding new metrics for your happiness so what a perfect time to sit down with this wonderful artist just before this new album comes into the world. As always, it was so enlightening to hear more about the human being behind the household name - I LOVE that part of this show so much. Hopefully you all learn as much as I did about her that you might not have known and you’ll also get a juicy sneak peek of some of the music to come.JULIA'S RELEVANT LINKS HERE+ Follow Julia here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here
I’m thrilled to be joined by my dear friend, Melissa Ambrosini, to celebrate the launch of her FOURTH and very much needed book,Comparisonitis. In a time where the minute details of everyone else’s lives are more visible than ever, this book is MUST-have guide to arming yourself against the dangers of continual social comparison and self-doubt.Melissa is one of the absolute OG leaders in self-development and wellbeing growing from a Blogspot newbie over a decade ago to multiple bestselling author, podcaster with over 16 million downloads, TEDx speaker and very soon-to-be new mama. It’s quite lovely now that enough time has passed since my move out of corporate to have been able to experience multiple chapters and stages in the lives of people I have been lucky enough to connect with since the early days and I actually interviewed Melissa for her very first book just as she was at my very first speaking gig ever.Mel has taught me so much over the years particularly around self-awareness, boundaries and continual growth and she shares so many of those lessons today. We chat everything from her fascinating earlier days as a dancer at the Moulin Rouge to the weirdest health hacks we’ve tried, the challenges of getting pregnant, and trusting the process. I hope you enjoy!BUY YOUR COPY OF COMPARISONITIS HERE+Follow Melissa here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here
Our first co-hosted Yays of our Lives episode with two absolute legends Abbey Gelmi (ep 81) and Gemma Watts(ep 85) squeezed in during a girls night catch up that was filled with yay (so how could we NOT record all our musings?) Even in the time that has passed since their respective episodes of the show, many subsequent seeds have come to fruition in their lives so these two made the perfect guests to join us for a chat on patience, hard work and trusting the process.I initially thought this new segment would fall into quite a consistent routine like our regular interview scheduling, but I've actually really enjoyed how different each week has been and LOVED the pace and laughter of having co-hosts on board. As always, however, this is a yayborhood production so I'd LOVE to know if you enjoyed having a few different voices in your ear with some tangential banter (and, if so, I'll start lining up some more co-hosts for the coming weeks). Please never hesitate to flick me your thoughts by DM or email any time, you know I ADORE connecting with you all.+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Welcome back lovely yayborhood and thank you for always bearing with me when I take a little break leaving a longer than usually gap between episodes. We had a glorious few days in the countryside over Easter with family switching off completely and I can’t say how good it was for the soul. I think one of the most clarifying things for me over the past year has been to re-evaluate urgency and realise how many false deadlines I imposed on myself - I think I did 70 weeks in a row when we first started the show! I hope you enjoyed the re-release of legend Wim Hof's episode from last year to give you something in your ears, what an absolute hoot he is!I'm so glad I waited that extra week though as I got to record this week’s episode in person which feels a bit like a luxury these days having done so many on Zoom. After voraciously consuming Lucy Glade-Wright’s beautiful content last year to help get us through COVID particularly following her home reno very closely as we started our own, it was a thrill to actually see the results in person and record this in her lounge room. For any fellow homewares and home design lovers out there like myself, Lucy’s amazing business Hunting for George will need no introduction having made waves in the industry since 2010 but in case you haven’t already discovered its wonders, it’s my absolute go-to source for home, design and lifestyle with a growing number of facets including house tours, travel guides and even a renovation TV show.This is only the second time however that Lucy has jumped on a podcast to share the full story of how it has evolved through several earlier chapters from a retail store (which it was when we first met a random local government business dinner) to a product design business and now to a bustling platform for storytelling and it was an absolute delight. She’s another fabulous example of the many unexpected but amazing ways your why will evolve through many different hows if you just trust the process and give things a go. She’s such a good egg and we had some fabulous chuckles on her lounge room floor. I hope you enjoy!WATCH THE A + M HOUSE TOUR HERE+ Follow Lucy here+ Visit Hunting for George here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here
NOTE: Released May 2020, re-released in April 2021.I’m so excited to have something a little different for you this week – a JOINT podcast episode with Stef and Jess Dadon, the fashion entrepreneurs behind How Two Live, Founders of Twoobs and hosts of their own fabulous, How Two Live podcast. I’ve mentioned that one of the silver linings to come out of isolation this year is the new ways we’ve been finding to connect with each other and I was so stoked when these spectacular sisters reached out with the idea of hosting an episode together.As a solo host (for which there are so many perks which mostly include not making anyone else deal with my last minute antics for editing), I do miss out on the joys of banter with a co-host, so this was an absolute delight not least because the girls are total pros having hosted the likes of Meg Ryan, Erin Brockovich, Dita von Teese and so many more. Add to that the pleasure of a totally invigorating, energetic and overwhelmingly passionate guest like Wim Hof and you’ve got one of my most enjoyable chats to date.I’m so grateful to the girls for sharing this opportunity with me – you might have heard this quote in my episode with Harlan Coben a few weeks ago, nobody has to fail so I can succeed to which I added that success doesn’t halve when you share it, it doubles. I’m a big believer in collaboration and I hope you enjoy the result as much as we did. If you haven’t heard of Wim Hof and his eponymous breathing method that has taken the world by storm, Stef and Jess will give you a run down before we kick off – he is totally quirky but so much fun and an embodiment of seizing his yay. Like all people blazing a new and different trail, there are controversies around some areas of his work, but we focused on the practical, day to day takeaways of his method and on his incredible passion for controlling your happiness and health.He’s so excited about what he does that he shouts most of it the whole way through, which I ADORED! Hope you find him as fascinating as we did.+ Follow Wim Hof here+ Follow How Two Live here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
How crazy but wonderful that we’ve made it to Easter already, I hope you’re all looking forward to a long weekend and have some play to yay scheduled in. This week I’ve got the second guest who was originally scheduled in for International Women’s Day who is an incredibly inspiring and powerful woman and who you’ll very soon hear is well worth the wait.If you’ve been listening long enough to know a bit about how my brain works, you’ll probably notice as quickly as I did how similarly Rey Vakili and I think, with many parallels earlier on in our story like starting studies in law to gratify our inner nerd. Rey, however, went off on an equally non-linear but completely different pathway that in a parallel universe would be my absolute dream life. I’ll let her tell you most of it herself particularly because it’s her VERY FIRST PODCAST, so It’s my privilege to bring you her fascinating story for the first time. But let’s just say, she’s an Ivy League Graduate from Yale University, worked in the International Criminal Court for Sierra Leone, has an MBA from Stanford, worked as ANNA WINTOUR'S ASSISTANT (the Editor in Chief of Vogue) living The Devil Wears Prada in real life, moved from NYC into start ups in London and has now moved back home but she’s just getting started.Buckle in for a serious dose of inspiration!Note: Rey's headphone batteries die at about 13 minutes in so the sound changes (but actually improves) for the rest of the episode.+ Follow Rey here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here
Some birthday reflections on why ageing should be celebrated, not lamented as well as a celebration of the 90th year of the Good Friday Appeal. As we approach Easter, I thought it would be the perfect time to share some deeper insights into how it started, how it's grown over the past 90 years and the incredible impact it has had on children and their families visiting the Royal Children's Hospital. The Good Friday Appeal has raised close to $400 million since it began funding research projects like the Children's Cancer Centre Tissue Bank and Brain Tumour Clinical Trials, equipment like the Neurosurgery microscope and infant warmers for critical care and patient and family centred care focusing not only on physical but also mental health. The Royal Children's Hospital remains one of the top paediatric hospitals in the world. >> CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE AND DONATE <<+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I’m so excited to share one of the women whose praises I could sing over and over who was originally lined up for International Women's Day for the incredible impact she has had on my journey through many different chapters. Dr Alexandra Phelan was a few years ahead of me at Monash University and, as you’ll hear, has a very similar personality combination of "nerdburger vs arty farty" with a splash of languages and also started her career at the same law firm as I did which was one of the reasons I wanted to work there in the first place.While we both ultimately left corporate law. Alex is a glowing example of how you can stay within the law and find a niche that suits your strengths and interests and she has gone on to become a seriously impressive Member of the Center for Global Health Science and Security at Georgetown University School of Medicine, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center. Her Honours AND Doctoral theses both focused on International Law and the prevention of infectious diseases (including the possibility of measures like quarantine and border closures before they became as relevant as we know them to be), which has made her a leading global authority on health security and INCREDIBLY relevant to the world’s response to COVID-19.Alex is infinitely impressive, painfully humble and continues to inspire me every day - I’m so honoured she made time to join the show from Washington DC. She shares some fascinating insights on the more technical side to the challenge of a global pandemic like COVID-19 with her intellect and empathy shining through.+ Follow Alex here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here
I'm SO excited about this week's instalment of Yays of our Lives because I finally got on the road and headed to West Gippsland to record Yayborhood Watch IN PERSON. It's been so delightful heading back out into the real world to discover new yayborhoods, stories and unsung heroes and this trip was such an amazing place to start. I could have sat down with every single person we met, they were all so interesting and wise in different ways - hence this week's quote of the yay, as you'll hear. Probably lucky I didn't though as we already reached an hour just with the four LEGENDS I was able to record with and we barely touched the surface. These four amazing Gippslandians inspired me in such different and profound ways. To find out more about them: Find Joyhere * Find Brodie here * Find Etch Sparkling here * Find Gippsland Jersey* here
>> WATCH THE VIDEO OF OUR TRIP <<+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Back with another wonderful guest today – I’ve pushed this week’s Yays of our Lives episode back a little bit until the Gippsland video is ready to help you put faces to names, so that’ll be out next week. Content warning: this episode covers family violence. This week, I was lucky enough to sit down with Rosie Batty, 2015 Australian of the Year and passionate campaigner against domestic violence during a week where the alarming statistics surrounding violence against women have been brought back to the forefront of our attention. Rosie has turned the unfathomable personal tragedy of losing her son Luke who was murdered by his father in 2014 into a relentless fight to raise awareness of family violence and address the systemic and many other obstacles to positive change. The topic is a little heavier than usual, but I believe it’s such an important conversation to continue in order to amplify the fact that one woman a week is still killed by her partner or former partner. Rosie also has such powerful insights on rediscovering joy through the paralysis of grief, unravelling her identity from trauma which is not the totality of who she is and I loved also having the chance to get to know about the parts of her story that I hadn’t heard about in the media.Rosie is also an ambassador for L'Oréal Paris' new Women of Worth campaign and we also chat about some of L'Oréal's amazing Self-Worth Commissioned Research about the pervasive and destructive nature of self doubt and low self esteem among women. If anyone will inspire us all to combat the self doubt and continue to raise each other up, it’s Rosie. I hope you are as moved by her as I was.If you need any support or resources, please don't hesitate to contact the WHITE RIBBON HOTLINE on 1800RESPECT. + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here
Re-releasing this beauty to celebrate the launch of Embrace on Netflix on March 5th!!! Three women who represent IWD to me had to postpone their recordings, but Taryn also inspires me everyday to embrace my womanhood so if you missed this back in 2019, what a perfect week to catch upToday’s guest is one of the people I admire most in this world who is the fiercely passionate thought leader behind The Body Image Movement and whose first film, the documentary Embrace, has reached over 100 million people with her message about learning to love your body. Taryn Brumfitt broke the internet in 2013 with an unconventional before and after photo where the after shot was heavier and HAPPIER than the leaner before shot taken during a body building competition when she was more restrictive, less balanced and less happy.After going viral all over the world and receiving over 7000 messages from women struggling with body confidence, she wrote a book and crowdfunded an incredible documentary, Embrace, that is set to become Australia’s highest grossing documentary ever. She is now in the process of raising money for the second film, Embrace Kids, and I couldn’t be more excited for the positive impact and contribution it will make to a comparative, competitive and sometimes overwhelming world that our children will grow up in. Not only is she making serious waves in the world, she also loves to play and doesn’t take life too seriously which I LOVE about her and the cackles are next level – hope you smile as much as I did during our chat!!!+ Full show notes here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Our fifth instalment of Yays of our Lives reflecting on collaboration over competition in honour of International Women's Day.
As mentioned in Yayborhood Watch:
Find Tobi Tobi here
* Find Lost In Love Photography here
* Find Moon and Back Co* here
>> COMPLETE THE SURV-YAY IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY <<
+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Do you ever meet someone and just know in your heart that they are pure goodness all the way to their bones? If you know anything about Tim Conolan’s work you could probably already guess that he's one of those people, but meeting him in person last year absolutely confirmed it and I’ve continued to be in awe of him ever since.Tim is one of those people whose why has always been the same but whose how has evolved through MANY different amazing iterations (like all the best ways to yay do) from a fashion label all the way through to a decade long and very successful career as a DJ. You might not expect that he’d end up founding a children’s charity but once you see the common thread of his deep desire to make people happy, it all makes sense as it always does in the end.In 1998 he founded TLC for Kids after an incredibly moving encounter (that brings me to tears that you’ll hear about in the episode) seeing that many sick kids fell through the cracks left by other organisations. TLC now gives relief to sick children and their families with no restriction on particular illnesses or conditions and has created life changing Distraction Boxes to see children through uncomfortable or frightening procedures, an incredible TLC Ambulance and rapid response service that have been used over 8 million times.If you listen to Tim and don’t want to help him change the world and donate all your money to him I’d be surprised, and I hope that some of you do - he’s a truly extraordinary human recognised by so many accolades but also by the impact he’s making on millions of Aussies. I hope he inspires you as much as he inspires me.+ Follow Tim Conolanand TLC for Kidshere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here
Our fourth instalment of Yays of our Lives reflecting on time, pace and prioritising.
As mentioned in Yayborhood watch:
Find Vinspiration Foundation here
* Find Reid William waterbottles* here
>> COMPLETE THE SURV-YAY IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY <<
+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Today’s guest was actually a yayborhood nomination from one of our most active contributors affectionately known as Dana Saurus or Dana Pham. Dana so generously sent a whole list of suggestions for guests a while back and this is one that has finally come to fruition. She is the founder of Junior Doctor’s Corner and is a doctor herself working to provide much needed support to junior doctors entering the world of medicine and discuss important topics that are often dismissed or taboo. JDC also has its own podcast so make sure to check that out if there are any other young doctors listening in.Her nomination also hails from the medical world but is not only a doctor, he is one of those rare species who has completed degrees in both medicine AND law – the holy grain combination that very few globally dare to tackle. And if that weren’t enough of a superhuman feat, Dinesh Palipana is also a quadriplegic and disability advocate becoming only the second person with quadriplegia to graduate as a doctor in Australia and the first with a spinal cord injury. Despite a life changing car accident in 2010, Dinesh now works in the Emergency Department of Gold Coast University Hospital and has co-foundedDoctors with Disabilities with two of his colleagues. He tells the story so beautifully himself so I’ll stop there but I hope you find his zest for life and indelible positivity as uplifting as I did.Ps The audio is a bit dicky at times – the joys of Zoom strike again – so excuse a few spots where it’s a bit muffled.+ FollowDinesh Palipanahere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here
Third episode of Yays of our Lives this week and we have our first actual member of the yayborhood join us for a Yayborhood Watch chat. The wonderful Kate Rider shares her journey with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) which led to her founding The Orange Elephantto help her and others redefine productivity, success and the concept of "small" achievements.
Getting more into a flow with this new yayborhood segment each week, thank you so much to everyone for your contributions - please keep them coming! I'm so used to writing and editing it all myself and it's been LOVELY having you all involved in editorial decision - I can't wait to watch this segment continue to grow.
>> COMPLETE THE SURV-YAY IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY <<
+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Hello lovely yayborhood, coming to you from back in lockdown but the yay lives on in your ears! So, glad you’re enjoying the first versions of Yays of our Lives, I can’t wait to see it blossom as a product of this beautiful community! Our plans have been a little delayed AGAIN now that I can’t be on the road this week recording some of our yayborhood heroes in person, but if these crazy times are teaching us anything, it’s to be flexible and open minded so we will get there in the end!Meanwhile, back with another guest, and this one was requested by several different people in the Surv-yay. And it was super convenient for me that you all wanted to hear from a ballerina because as many of you know I was a ballerina I my first life and have actually followed this particular dancer all through her career so it was pure joy to pick her brains about going pro. Yep, we are lucky enough to have Principal Artist, Amy Harris, joining us on the show - that’s the highest rank you can get at the Australian Ballet of which there are currently only 12 in total. You’ll probably be able to hear how magical it was for me to be transported back into the world of ballet and I hope you share some of the magic learning about its workings too.As always, I love to dive into a world that might be new to some of you and leave you with some new knowledge of how it works and terminology BUT I fear I may have slipped too easily back into some things forgetting that it’s not common knowledge so if I did leave anything out, please excuse me and shoot us any DMs to clarify. There's some footage of her dancing below too, so you can truly appreciate the absolute athleticism, grace and beauty of Amy dancing and really appreciate the art form that I can’t WAIT to see return to the stage this Feb. Assuming things go to plan, the Australian Ballet will be back for its first show in a year with Summertime at the Ballet on 25th Feb at Margaret Court Arena (so cool!!) - link to tickets is below. I hope you enjoy as much as I did!>>> WATCH AMY DANCING HERE <<<>>> BUY SUMMERTIME AT THE BALLET TICKETS HERE <<<+ Follow Amy Harris here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here
Your second instalment of Yays of Our Lives (which is still taking shape week to week) chatting about the importance of baby steps and going gently on yourself in the process of something new (i.e. a pep talk to myself about getting a new segment off the ground).
While we iron out the process of taking submissions for Yayborhood Watch and then collating those community hero stories to share with you, we also threw in a few uplifting stories from the news to keep the ball rolling. (Please send any submissions and requests to smile@spoonfulofsarah.com)
And finally, another pulls-on-your-heartstrings Recommen-yay-tion that reminds you why humanity is so beautiful. If you're a fellow Melbournian and freshly back in lockdown this week, use it on this movie!
>> COMPLETE THE SURV-YAY IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY <<
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Well, it’s our second episode back and the first one I recorded for this year and I can already say (like I’ve said many times before) that making the show has helped me so immensely that if none of you listened it’d still be so worthwhile. And that’s something I’ve found so liberating about podcasting not being so visibly measured as social media – you just make the content you find valuable and the engagement is a bonus rather than reverse engineering what you think will go well (which can be tempting to do)…EXCEPT for our guest this week who is one of my favourite people on the internet – mine and the favourite of 14 million other people in her community and for good reason. Without looking further into it and perhaps because of the way the landscape has evolved since she started out (back on blogspot in 2011, mind you), you might assume Emily Skye’s great success was overnight and accidental, but you’d be terribly mistaken. From the way she has navigated her still ongoing postpartum journey with her second child (but really from how she approaches everything she does), her refreshing approach to authenticity, balance and strength stands out from the rest (and has just been channeled into her brand-new postpartum program that you’ll hear all about). Diving a little deeper into her story reveals the decades of challenge, grit and hard work that has led her to where she is now.I was so fascinated by how much I hadn’t heard even after viciously scouring the Internet from her younger years in commission housing and severe bullying to the arsenal of skills she has across make up, hair, photography, editing and everything she uses in her business today and she laughed about how often she shares her earlier years, but how only the glossy later years seems to stick. So, I thoroughly enjoyed hearing more about her resourcefulness, endearing self-awareness and delightful self-confessed weirdness. She also happens to be the co-founder of James Cosmetics, my FAVOURITE EVER eye masks among the many over things she has going on. I hope you enjoy getting to know her as much as I did.USE THE CODE SEIZETHEYAY to get ONE MONTH FREE on Emily Skye Fit's appWell, it’s our second episode back and the first one I recorded for this year and I can already say (like I’ve said many times before) that making the show has helped me so immensely that if none of you listened it’d still be so worthwhile. And that’s something I’ve found so liberating about podcasting not being so visibly measured as social media – you just make the content you find valuable and the engagement is a bonus rather than reverse engineering what you think will go well (which can be tempting to do)…EXCEPT for our guest this week who is one of my favourite people on the internet – mine and the favourite of 14 million other people in her community and for good reason. Without looking further into it and perhaps because of the way the landscape has evolved since she started out (back on blogspot in 2011, mind you), you might assume Emily Skye’s great success was overnight and accidental, but you’d be terribly mistaken. From the way she has navigated her still ongoing postpartum journey with her second child (but really from how she approaches everything she does), her refreshing approach to authenticity, balance and strength stands out from the rest (and has just been channeled into her brand-new postpartum program that you’ll hear all about). Diving a little deeper into her story reveals the decades of challenge, grit and hard work that has led her to where she is now.I was so fascinated by how much I hadn’t heard even after viciously scouring the Internet from her younger years in commission housing and severe bullying to the arsenal of skills she has across make up, hair, photography, editing and everything she uses in her business today and she laughed about how often she shares her earlier years, but how only the glossy later years seems to stick. So, I thoroughly enjoyed hearing more about her resourcefulness, endearing self-awareness and delightful self-confessed weirdness. She also happens to be the co-founder of James Cosmetics, my FAVOURITE EVER eye masks among the many over things she has going on. I hope you enjoy getting to know her as much as I did.USE THE CODE SEIZETHEYAY to get ONE MONTH FREE on Emily Skye Fit's appRedeem at emilyskyefit.com and the code is valid until Feb 16th!
You may have seen we did a little SURV-YAY at the end of last year to make sure I could take into account your feedback, suggestions and requests during the break while planning this new year's show. It was so delightful to hear that a) most of you are happy with exactly what we're already doing and b) your favourite guests were all completely different proving my very point that seizing the yay looks different for everyone. Two things that did recur a few times though were requests for more community interaction and a few more stories of people earlier on in the journey or more locally focused. So, in addition to our regular schedule, a second YAYS OF OUR LIVES segment is coming to the yayborhood.While I got pretty bogged down working out the details and logistics, I realised the most important thing for a community episode is COMMUNITY INPUT - I really can't bring this segment to life without you guys being involved. So, instead of launching a completed concept, this episode is to run you through the ideas so far with a little preview of some of the sections to see what you think AND start getting your submissions. There's a QUOTE OF THE YAY, YAYBORHOOD WATCH and RECOMMEN-YAYTIONS all of which depend on you being involved. So please have a listen, take some notes, and flick them over to smile@spoonfulofsarah.com, via Instagram DM, or in the yay-borhood Facebook group to get this ball rolling!>> COMPLETE THE SURV-YAY IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY <<+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Welcome back lovely yay-borhood! I won't talk too much as we have the first of a new more conversational segment coming soon when I’ll have many more words for you about the new year, so allow me introduce our first guest for 2021, Donald Betts – our first guest with a political background as well as the first who moved TO law to seize his yay rather than away from it. We recorded just before the break last year and I’m so glad I waited to edit and release this one because I too needed to hear this (with fresh ears) to get my motivation back and I can’t wait for you all to as well.I am inspired by all of our guests in different ways, but occasionally I get truly bowled over and there are SO many reasons why I think Don will do the same for you – from his resolve to escape the life of gun violence and gang wars he grew up in (which very few of us can comprehend), to becoming the youngest Senator to serve in the history of Kansas, and from leaving politics to find his yay in law to the RIDICULOUSLY romantic way he speaks about meeting his wife…. But he tells it so beautifully himself with remarkable humility, self-awareness and the manners of an absolute gentleman, so I’ll stop myself there and let you listen for yourself.>>> LISTEN TO GREENLAND THE PODCAST <<<+ Follow Donald Bettshere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
RE-RELEASE - As you know, we're re-releasing a few crowd favourites from last year to keep you going during the break in case you missed them. So please ignore any time specific references, although most of our yay is evergreen so hopefully you enjoy as much as I did! >> COMPLETE OUR 2021 SURV-YAY <<I know some of you will be eye rolling when I say that this is one of my favourite chats to date, but I think you might agree once you actually have a listen. I’m going to have to cut myself short in this intro because there is SO much I could say about why Mark Manson is one of my favourite people in the world but the episode itself makes it clearer than I could here.Best known as the author of ground-breaking NY Times Best Seller, The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck, I once mistook Mark’s refreshingly anti-self-help approach to life to be the opposite of seizing the yay. In fact, it’s not that he thinks we should give no fucks at all, but choose our fucks more carefully and it’s no surprise that his witty, no bullshit delivery has taken the world by storm. Like all our guests, however, Mark’s way to yay has been anything but predictable going from feeling misplaced in his Texan hometown, getting a compete ego breakdown at music school, starting his working life as a pick up artist all before becoming an author was even on the table. And yet, he’s now sold over 10 million books, changed millions of lives AND has been trusted with writing the autobiography and first ever full account of the life of Will Smith!!!Mark is a personality of so many contrast and facets and is open about every one of them including WAY more than I probably needed to know about his bodily functions. I dare you to listen without laughing, you can definitely tell we both lost our marbles more than a few times. In between the hilarity though, there are so many deep, insightful reflections on life that I hope are as groundbreaking to you as they were to me!+ Follow Markhere+ Buy Mark's books here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Hello beautiful yayborhood, I can’t believe we’ve reached our FINAL episode for the year!!! I actually had one or two more up my sleeve but am trying to practice what I preach and not stick so rigidly to my own deadlines that were arbitrary anyway. I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s starting to fade away a little bit so I’m saving those episodes instead to come back with fresh and fabulous new year energy. I always say it but I need reminding myself that there’s no point going so hard that you don’t do it properly, so our lovely guest today will be our last for 2020.And boy does Jennifer Atilemile have a great message on wading through uncertainty, rejection and adversity to embrace all that makes her different and unique and make history in the process. This year, she’s gone from having no work for four months and wondering if she’d ever work again to becoming Australia’s first EVER curve model to star in a Victoria’s secret campaign. She is a passionate advocate for inclusion and diversity encouraged further by her mixed heritage with her father from the French Island of Reunion and her mother an Aussie of Irish/Danish descent. Moving from performing arts to double majors at university and then falling into modelling more recently, she has such wise words to share on the tangents of finding your yay, blocking out the noise to hear your intuition and finding where your voice can make its best contribution to this world. I hope you enjoy as much as I do.+ Follow Jennifer Atilemilehere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!>>> JOIN THE SEIZE THE YAY FB GROUP <<<>>> GET YOUR JERGEN'S NATURAL GLOW MOISTURISER HERE <<<
Lovely yayborhood, we’ve got another dose of delight this week that’ll have you in stitches with the wonderful Tanya Hennessy. As you’ll hear her discuss in the episode, one of the greatest gifts you can give is a moment of laughter and a little escape from what’s been a shitshow of a year (not that anyone needs reminding) and she does that expertly leading her to become one of our most beloved comedians, presenters, authors, internet creators and campaigner for adults to be able to order children’s meals in pubs.You’ll hear from the get go how effortlessly witty, intelligent, empathetic and honest this woman is and how beautifully she combines self-deprecating, relatable humour with some serious and inspiring messages in between. She is a multi-platform multi-talented creative delivering us everything from the hysterical viral Everyday Makeup Tutorial to two nearly three fabulous books – Am I Doing This Right?, Help Self that just came out and a Children’s book to follow soon. I couldn’t help but fall in love with her and I’m sure many of you will too – be prepared for A LOT of loud laughter in your ears!+ Follow Tanya Hennessyhere+ Buy her new book HELP SELF here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!>>> JOIN THE SEIZE THE YAY FB GROUP <<<>>> GET YOUR JERGEN'S NATURAL GLOW MOISTURISER HERE <<<
It's been a hell of year for us all and something I’ve reflected on a lot over the past few months is resilience. And who better to join us to explore that further than the wonderful Jamila Rizvi who not only embodies the concept herself but has just published Untold Resilience – a collection of nineteen awe-inspiring stories of resilient women and the lessons they have for us in navigating this crazy time.It says something about Jamila though that my favourite of the stories is hers – one that has so many facets that I was quite nervous about this episode, wanting to do her justice. You may know her as an author, presenter and political commentator or Editor-at-Large of Future Women and former editor in Chief at Mamamia, but she’s also a mother, modern feminist, and Harry Potter lover who juggles it all while managing chronic illness and several brain surgeries over the past few years.Jamila is endearingly witty, articulate, honest and humble taking us through her health journey, the work we still need to do on supporting women returning to work post motherhood, her changing relationship to success and happiness, and so much more. I hope you are as inspired by her as I am.+ Follow Jamila Rizvihere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!>>> JOIN THE SEIZE THE YAY FB GROUP <<<
If you’re a regular podcast listener, today’s guests probably need no introduction but if you haven’t already tuned in to Happy Hour with Lucy and Nikki I’m sure you will be after this. Their banter is absolutely UNMATCHED, I don’t think I’ve laughed as hard in an episode for a long time and it’s absolutely clear why they’ve grown a cult following across their joint account We the Wild Onesstarted in 2015 to follow their festival adventures, Jagger and Stone their booming fashion label kicked off with a bang in 2018 with an iconic shoot at Joshua Tree after Coachella and of course, their podcast that just took home silver at the Australian Podcast Awards.Lucy and Nikki have such a refreshingly different take on work/life balance to many of our past guests taking the party wherever they go but also building highly successful careers and businesses at the same time. Their straight-up approach to self-doubt and worst-case scenarios is also the example we all need of people who don’t let fear control their decisions and a reminder that two can achieve far more than one can alone. I had SUCH a great laugh - Lucy and Nikki are an absolute breath of fresh air with the perfect blend of self-deprecating and no fs given and after a very serious year. Amazing reminder that life is far too short not to enjoy! I hope you love them as much as the rest of us already do!+ Follow *We the Wild Oneshere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!>>> JOIN THE SEIZE THE YAY FB GROUP <<<
While last week Farah spoke of faraway places, this week’s guest is homegrown but has exported the Aussie experience through a booming business described as Aussie Made, Globally Loved. Blair James co-founded self-tanning disrupter Bondi Sands in 2012 to capture everything that makes Aussie summers iconic through what has grown to over 50 products in a whopping 30,000 retailers worldwide.Of course the business’ huge success, continual innovation and championing of sun safety and sustainability are incredible impressive and Blair shares many useful tips on brand building and scaling that had me furiously taking down notes. But, unsurprisingly if you’re a regular listener, I was more thrilled to explore his lesser known earlier years including his very small country hometown called – wait for it – YEA (pronounced "yay") – and that he didn’t excel in VCE nor did he finish university neither of which have hindered where he ended up. As always, there’s some hilarious fun facts in between – nothing humanises a person more than hearing them laugh especially about the joys of iso haircuts! As a businesswoman but also as a human, I love exploring the brains behind beloved brands and hope you do too.+ Follow Blair JamesandBondi Sandshere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!>>> JOIN THE SEIZE THE YAY FB GROUP <<<
While last week’s episode was one of those chats you know I love that show a different side of someone you’ve probably already heard of, I equally love introducing you to people and stories you might not already know. And while sometimes, that’s because our guest is early on in their journey or in a niche, behind the scenes area, for Farah Mohamed it’s more the opposite playing on a global, life-changing scale beyond most of our day to day lives.We met during our incredible trip to Necker Island with Business Chicks last year where I first heard her story and was absolutely captivated by her every word as I’m sure you’ll be. You don’t often expect the guest speaker to then sit down with you for a chat afterwards, but Farah is humble and attentive in a way that belies the incredible way she is shaping our world for the better. She is interesting in so many ways from her own experience as a Ugandan refugee of Indian heritage and Muslim faith who fled to Canada in early life to serving as CEO of the Malala Fund, inspired by Malala Yousafzai, who survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban for going to school and became the youngest person ever to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.And she LOVES to laugh which left us in stitches many times in a beautiful, heart wrenching and warming blend of the serious and the silly. There’s so much in between but I won’t reveal any more here – hope you enjoy as much as I did.+ Follow Farah Mohamedhere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!>>> JOIN THE SEIZE THE YAY FB GROUP <<<
I’m excited to be back this week with another incredible guest whose name I’m sure you’ve heard before but who, like many of our guests, has so much more depth than their surface level media portrayal might suggest. You know I love peeling back the layers of a well-known name to explore the lesser known parts of who they are underneath and Ashy Bines got right on board for a juicy, thought provoking chat.Ashy’s huge success in the health and fitness world with a community of millions and now several businesses under her belt belies her humble beginnings on dairy farms the same way that her energetic positivity and confidence belies the negativity and narratives thrust upon her earlier in life. Having followed her for many years, I’d heard some of her story but she is stronger and more resilient than I ever knew and so generous in sharing her experiences with trolling, body image and motherhood so that others might feel less alone and better equipped for their own journey. I’ll let her tell you the rest and we cover A LOT of ground with so many nuggets that I hope you find as useful as I did. We recorded this before the restrictions in Victoria eased a bit so ignore those references as that's all I could talk about back then!+ Follow Ashy Bineshere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Our last Q&A episode for the year to mark our first anniversary as Mr and Mrs Davidson (or should I say, YAY-vidson). Thank you all so much for your questions and for giving us a reason to sit down and reflect on what has been a tumultuous but transformative year.
We got through as many as we could with a healthy dose of bagging each other out, soppy love dedications and lots of chuckles along the way. I always get a bit of a vulnerability hangover after these ones without the buffer of a new third party guest to take most of the spotlight, but I also love how they force me to reflect on questions I don't always otherwise make time for so I hope you enjoyed getting to know us a little better.
BOOK YOUR BANNISTERS ESCAPE TODAY
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Few people actually end up living out their childhood dreams, either because the dream changes or life does. But, enchanted by the glossy pages of the first fashion magazines she ever read, Justine Cullen made it her mission to conquer the extremely competitive, coveted and convoluted ladder of the publishing world and ultimately landed her dream job as Editor in Chief at Elle Magazine. Her journey reinforces everything I love to say about being open to whatever pathway might get you to your dream and being patient with the steps along the way. But, it’s her journey from there and into her new role as Editor-in-Chief of Jones Magazine that I found most interesting in how it forced her to untangle her identity from the prestige, title and everything that satisfied her former self to build the next chapter for the new person she had become.As well as the existential crisis of success and the beauty of being a beginner, she also dishes up some juicy stuff that we all love to hear about how Editor life isn’t just swanning about and definitely isn’t always easy – I was a tiny bit satisfied by that. And as a Mum of four, she is more than qualified to share some words on priorities, balance and humility. I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did!>>> VISIT THE SKINNOVATION HUB HERE <<<+ Follow Justine Cullenhere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I hope you enjoyed our little throwback re-release last week and I promise the guest we had to postpone will be well worth the wait in a few weeks. As for today’s guest, if you haven’t heard of him personally, you will definitely know of some of his incredible work through one of the world’s great examples of using business success for good.And that in itself is one of the cleverest things about the Cotton On Foundation – that so many of you could have made a positive impact by shopping as you might have anyway and that it makes a philanthropist out of us all combing the power of all our purchases so we can make an impact without having millions of dollars. And Tim Diamond is the Foundation’s General Manager who has been there since its establishment and helped grow it to the incredible vehicle for change it has become today.You’ll be able to hear how Tim has absolutely found his purpose and see his own growth interweave with the foundation’s growth over the years. But like always, he didn’t just land there one day and I LOVE that there’s a signature right place, right time sliding doors moment in the mix as well. You’ll also hear how despite his very impressive role, he’s still a Torquay boy and a chiller dad at heart! I’ll let Tim tell you the rest and hope you are as inspired as I was.>>> VISIT THE FOUNDATION'S RANGE HERE <<<+ Follow Cotton On Foundation here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
* Re-releasing this one for something different as a very big, exciting guest had to postpone last minute this week AND I realised some of you have only just joined and may not have caught up on our back catalogue! Also realised how much I've learnt about audio plus we recorded this in a very noisy hotel, but it's still a zinger so I hope you enjoy! *I mean, what words really are there to do this week’s guest justice and adequately explain the feelings you can only imagine I felt being lucky enough to sit down with him for a chat about seizing the yay. As I’ve been bombarding you about on socials, I’m sure most of you already know I met the inimitable Gary Vaynerchuck last week when he was briefly in Melbourne to launch the epic collaboration between his new company, Empathy Wines, and Aussie wine legends, Vinomofo, thanks to another amazing Seize the Yay guest and Vinomofo founder, Justin Dry.Ahead of every curve with his astonishing intuition, Gary Vee has gone from former Soviet Union migrant to worldwide entrepreneurial sensation embracing e-commerce before the term was coined taking his family wine business from a $3million to $60million turnover when he took over the reins and producing content prolifically since YouTube was just four months old. The accolades and achievements since then are too many to list, but most importantly not as relevant to list as you might expect despite him having since founded VaynerMedia as well as investing early in many of the world’s biggest beasts a la Facebook, Snapchat, Venmo etc. Not having been quite sure what to expect, it was so delightful to be met with an incredibly humble, hardworking and honest person focused more on redefining success away from financial metrics and external approval and towards happiness and love – he is definitely seizing his yay and I’m SO grateful he shared some of it on the show. Full video will follow shortly too! Ladies and gentleman, Gary Vee…+ See show noteshere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
If you’re a cricket fan, you’ll certainly appreciate how incredible today’s guest is but even if you’re not I have no doubt that you’ll understand how remarkably well adjusted, humble and untainted Ellyse Perry is for someone who has been an elite international athlete since the tender age of 16 when she made her debut into the Australian team. Whether you understand the sport or not, we all know that elite athletes in any field face incredible pressures and expectations as well as the ups and downs that fame and fortune can bring but I’m still taken aback by how level headed Ellyse has remained and how endearing her views on winning, being a role model and the importance of friends and family truly are.There are too many accolades to list but to give you some background, Ellyse became the youngest-ever Australian Test Cricketer debuting at the age of 17 and has amassed incredible statistics since mastering both the batting and bowling disciplines. Not only that, she played for Australia in BOTH Cricket AND Soccer until the growth of hers and the profile of both sports allowed athletes to go full-time and required her to choose one or the other and she has continued to absolutely flourish becoming a leading figure for the rising female presence in Aussie sporting culture. Despite her great success, she has such a refreshing attitude towards winning and competition AND I loved hearing that her closest friends know absolutely nothing about cricket keeping her feet firmly on the ground. I hope you enjoy getting ot know this Aussie legend as much as I did.+ Follow Ellysehere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!>>> LISTEN TO THE LATEST EPISODE OF BEAUTY IQ UNCENSORED <<<
It’s been a while since the last time we did this, but this episode is dedicated to one of our beautiful listeners who originally emailed to suggest three other women but it was HER story I was captivated by. I think I spend longer writing these intros than I do on the episode, because I always have so much more to say after re-listening and Kate Bridgman really epitomises so many things about this show.Firstly, she gives a name to something I’ve been bumbling around trying to express – duality. Things can be tough and beautiful so, while some episodes do cover heavier topics, it’s to show how adversity can be overcome and that yay can be one layer in a multifaceted experience. Secondly, that yay isn’t just starting a business and have a profile of some sort. It’s a privilege to show a different side to our more famed guests but also a joy to introduce you to those you haven’t like Kate and her intrapreneurial journey in education. Thirdly that our brains are incredibly complex, and we are constantly impacted by so many things – societal expectations, misconceptions, pride, worthiness, perfectionism and these conversations help me build so much self-awareness and hope some of you gain the same.There are so many other things I can say but I’ll let you soak it all up in our chat. Just a little warning, we cover some deep moments of Kate’s journey with perinatal anxiety and depression to help normalise and bring awareness to the topic. But her story is so beautifully reassuring about coming out the other end after breaking to rebuild and I hope it helps even one person feel more equipped, less alone and reassured in their own journey.If you need support, please reach out to Lifeline 13 11 14.Click here for Perinatal Anxiety & Depression AustraliaClick here for BeyondBlue+ Follow Kate here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!>>> GET THE SEIZE THE YAY BOOK HERE <<<
You've probably heard me rattle off the quote, "everyone you meet knows something you don't" and I reflected on that a lot during this episode. Creating this podcast expands my mind and world so much, but each guest teaches me something in a completely different way. Often I pull out specific nuggets or ideas that click in my brain as we're chatting a long, but with Fred Schebesta it was the way his brain works overall churning through concepts that I found most fascinating particularly because it's so different to my own and I could honestly never guess where his mind was going next. You'll be able to tell by how much we jump all over the place what a keenly curious mind he has, which is no doubt responsible for his incredible achievements, and while it definitely kept me on my toes we ended up peeling back more layers than I expected to wade through the depths of self worth, internal judgment and the complicated relationship we have with success. If you don't think you've heard of Fred, just conjure the Finder.com.au jingle (which everyone has heard) and he's the man responsible. With over 10 million visitors a month, Finder offers us easy access to resources that help us understand financial products in the Australian market and Fred has won just about every entrepreneurial award there is and justifiably too. I would never have guessed that he came from a medical family and lived out part of his childhood in a caravan at the back of the medical centre his parents built, nor would I have guessed that Finder had to make a come back a few years into its journey from a complete ban by Google (which makes me SHUDDER to think of the challenge that would pose). Like always, there's so much more to his way to yay than you'd expect and there are chapters we didn't even get to like his success in the wild world of cryptocurrency. It's a rollercoaster this one, so buckle in BUT there are so many great takeaways and a whole person, father and chicken-lover behind the title you see most...+ Follow Fred and Finder.com.auhere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!>>> GET THE SEIZE THE YAY BOOK HERE <<<
Hope you enjoyed this week’s bonus episode everyone and we’re chasing it up with a very appropriate chat for Women’s Health Week. The beautiful Lindy Rama-Ellis joined us from her home in Bali to tell us about her new business, Fig Femme, which is blazing a trail in breaking down the taboo surrounding a fundamental area of women’s health. Lindy is endearingly (and perhaps surprisingly honest about how challenging it’s been adding a bold new project to mothering four children juggled between two countries with a global pandemic added to the mix. Yes, there’s a bit of vagina talk, but in the way Lindy seems to deal with everything in life, it’s as classy and poised as ever.And of course, my favourite part of every story is that this latest chapter is preceded by so many others that revealed nothing about where Lindy would end up which we spend equally as much as time on. She is one of the perfect examples of someone whose title in the media creates a totally incomplete picture of who she really is – while she is indeed a Balinese princess through her paternal side, she was brought up as a Tassie girl by her mother back in Australia. We chat dyslexia, the identity struggle in divorce, the liberation of entering your 30s and 40s, motherhood, criticism and the elusive concept of balance. She’s known among friends for rocking a ballgown when required but being as down to earth as ever in every other moment and I think that shines through in this episode – hope you learn as much as I did.+ Follow Lindy and Fig Femmehere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!>>> GET THE SEIZE THE YAY BOOK HERE <<<
I’ve got a little bonus episode for you this week, lovely yayborhood, with the wonderful duo from Shameless Podcast, MichandZara. I’ve been so lucky to share so much of the book-writing journey with these two culminating in our joint book birthdays on September 1, so we sat down that very day to get their freshest feelings on launching their incredible guide to your 20s, The Space Between.You might remember they joined Seize the Yay back in April 2019 (for episode 29) so we caught up on the explosive growth of Shameless, the highs and lows of the space between then and now – sorry couldn’t help myself – then dish up the behind the scenes dirt on what it takes to bring a book into the world. You probably also know that they hosted the Seize the Yay book launch the day after this chat, so we’ve had a lot of each other lately and it’s been as enlightening and enjoyable as always. We scrapped the normal episode structure for the occasion in favour of a juicy, honest chat about the rollercoaster of feelings we’re all going through right now. Add the extension of stage 4 in Victoria yesterday and I’m a bit all over the place to be honest so I won’t keep talking or I might open the floodgates but sending my fellow Victorians so much love and I hope this brings you a chuckle and a smile as you listen along.>>> BUY THE SPACE BETWEEN HERE <<<+ Follow MichandZarahere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Welcome to Spring everyone (or to Autumn if anyone is tuning in from the Northern Hemisphere). The new month and season also brought with it the birth of the Seize the Yay book which finally launched into the world yesterday – thank you so much to everyone for your lovely messages of support and for buying your copies. We’ll talk more about the book in due time, but today is all about our wonderful guest Jade Kisnorbo who you might have seen gave the yayborhood an incredible make up tutorial for Chits and Giggles last week. Over a thousand of you tuned in and it seemed many of you learnt as much as I do every time I chat to Jade – she’s technically an internationally renowned hair and make-up artist but I think a far better title for her is as a creator of confidence.Since we took an educational approach for our IGTV tutorial (which you can still watch I’ll be posting the full product list in the next few days), I thought this episode should focus more on the storytelling which you know I love so much. Some episodes truly unravel like a chat on the couch between friends and for most of this one I forgot we were recording just soaking up the lesser known backstory of how Jade made her way to yay. We jump around from balancing career priorities in a marriage, the freedom of the expat experience, the challenge of starting from scratch in an industry and what it takes to build a name for yourself as well as being a mother and businesswoman which is something I admire about Jade so much. There really is a bit of everything and most of this I was hearing for the first time along with you. I really cherish the openness some guests are willing to bring to these chats especially when they are well known professionally in the media or around town. I hope you enjoy as much as I did!>>> WATCH OUR BEAUTY TUTORIAL HERE <<<>>> SIGN UP TO JADE'S MASTERCLASSES HERE <<<+ Follow Jade K here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
This is a guest I haven’t caught up with properly in a long time and I’m sure you’ll hear how much we both enjoyed connecting again. We only started recording after about 45 minutes of chatting and I still could have kept going forever. Em Toner is such a special sausage combining the precision of scientific psychological study with the depth of mindfulness and meditation practice. She is a nationally registered clinical psychologist with a research background in positive psychology and behavioural neuroscience but also a meditation and mindfulness teacher, speaker, musician and music producer and Medibank ambassador.She had me not only smiling and laughing but also reflecting deeply on the workings of our mind, my experiences with psychology and the concept of positivity. Her ability to put you completely at ease makes it unsurprising that I share a few things I hadn’t shared before (which you all know is pretty hard given what an over sharer I am). I hope she sparks some reflection in you guys as she does every time for me.FIND EM'S GRATITUDE MEDITATION HERE+ Follow Emily Tonerhere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
This guest is one I’ve actually been meaning to get on since I started the podcast having been a huge role model and support for me in business and in life. Every time Erika and I run into each other, speedy catch ups seem to reveal that one or both of us is on the cusp of a revelation or new chapter leading to such interesting chats about ideas of success, personal development and joy. While you might have encountered Erika in her role as one of the co-founders of global e-commerce sensation, Frank Body, her story extends far beyond that in both directions all of which she openly explores with us today.Most recently, Erika is making waves with her fresh and fabulous Fluff Casual Cosmetics taking a bold new approach to beauty with refillable AND conversation starting packaging that’s up there with my favourite handbag essentials. As one of the cleverest people with words that I know, Eri tells it far better than I could so let’s jump right in – I hope you enjoy!+ Follow Erikahere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Thank you all so much for your wonderful, thought-provoking and well-considered questions, I had so much fun reflecting on them (and not so much fun listening back to my answers - even after all this time I hate listening to my own voice unless it's bantering with a guest). I can't properly express how grateful I am to everyone who has ever joined, listened or been part of the podcast in anyway - Seize the Yay brings so much depth and joy to my life and opens my mind in new ways each week to create it for you.I covered as many questions as I could in this one and, as I mention in the intro, I genuinely can't tell anymore if my answers makes sense, are useful or if it's all just nonsense but hopefully I've addressed at least some of your curiosity. I definitely missed some things, could have said some things better, and wanted to re-record as soon as I listened back, but I'm learning to take my own advice that "done is better than perfect", that self-doubt will always make you overly self-critical and that the essence of seizing the yay is sharing my real spontaneous answers, not the curated ones.The questions I answered in order are:The podcast 1. Which have been your 3 most eye-opening interviews? 2. Which interviewee surprised you the most? Why? 3. What are the three biggest challenges you have faced since starting your podcast? 4. Have you had any interviews that never went to air?! 5. Any awkward interviews where it was hard to get the conversation flowing? 6. How do you speak so eloquently on your podcast episodes? You practically never say "um" or "uh". What's your secret? 7. What do you think you have learnt about YOURSELF since starting this podcast? 8. Who would be your dream person to interview? 9. How do you choose who you interview for your podcast? What’s the process 10. How did you get into what you do and what’s the advice you’d give to others getting into the podcasting space? 11. How do you find your topic, tone of voice, first guests?
The book1. Can you give us a little sneak peak snippet of your book? 2. Can you tell us a bit more background about the story behind it etc? 3. What are the chapter headings?
Personal life1. Top 3 achievements so far? 2. Who’s your biggest inspiration? 3. What did you wish you knew in high school or uni? 4. How do you do it all? Do you have a virtual assistant or manager? 5. Recommendations for coping with chronic fatigue or similar 6. Are you medicated for anxiety? 7. What's one piece of advice that has always stuck with you throughout your life? 8. How did you know Nic was the one and what was your history of relationships prior? 9. Have you been back to the town where you were born? 10. Would you consider adopting a child, considering how blessed you feel you were to be adopted? 11. What would be your last meal before you die!? 12. Do you drink Matcha everyday? 13. What is your absolute guilty pleasure to treat yourself? 14. Favourite foods and cheat meal?
On 2020 1. As you reflect on the volatility of 2020, what have you learnt about yourself? Maybe, have you noticed your values changing? 2. How’s your mum coping with lockdown? 3. What motivates you to keep going day to day? 4. How do you get yourself out of a deep funk? 5. How do you stay positive in iso? 6. If you were single how would you have copied?
What’s next?1. Will you be starting a Youtube channel? 2. Do you plan on increasing the podcast production for other companies? 3. Do you plan on growing MM? Or happy where it's at? 4. What does the next year hold for you?
I had to skip a few so tried to group them all by themes. Can't wait for hundreds more to come. Lots of love to you all x
We’re back with another guest whose episode couldn’t be more perfectly timed. You may have heard my chat with him on the TOM Organic podcast earlier this year and, if you did, you’ll know I refer to him as my spiritual guru but, if you didn't, you’ll very soon understand why. Manoj Dias has taught me so much of what I know about sitting with discomfort, understanding suffering and the deeply life-changing impact of meditation and connection. We explored some of this on the Taboo Podcast but went a whole lot deeper here, which I found enormously helpful particularly during this shit-storm of a year and I hope you do too.Although you might not be able to imagine it of either of us as we are now, it was not wellness that brought us together but our nightclub glory days before our ways to yay really began. That alone is a reminder of my favourite theme – the non-linear nature of life and the way it unravels in many chapters not just the one you know someone from. Born into the Theravada Buddhist tradition, you might think Manoj skipped logically and smoothly straight to his position now as a globally recognised meditation teacher, writer, entrepreneur & co-founder of Open Meditation... But, squeeze a successful corporate career, teenage fatherhood, a mental health breakdown, an eating disorder and an ensuing transformative healing journey in between and you’re getting closer to the real picture.Manoj shares all of the facets of himself so generously as well as busting some myths on meditation and I hope you enjoy our chat as much as I did.+ Follow Manojhere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
This week’s episode is another one of many that’s been shuffled around and pushed back for various reasons, but that has ended up coming out just when I think our guest’s insights are most powerful. A big part of seizing your yay is acknowledging that both the best and worst times of our life play a role in our journey and If we ever needed some guiding words on turning adversity, uncertainty and grief into something positive, Liz Dawes is your woman.Like many of our guests, I loved diving into her earlier years because she had an entire life and career going from a small town in Wisconsin to travelling the world leading multi-million-dollar sales and marketing accounts BEFORE the chapter most of us know her from now as an adopted Melbournian and internationally recognised CEO and Chairman of a charitable foundation. Liz and her husband Scott had their world turned upside down when their son, Connor, was diagnosed with paediatric brain cancer – the #1 disease killer of young people – and passed away a few years later. We discuss the many different ways people process grief and how just a few short months later, Liz held the first Connor’s Run founding the Robert Connor Dawes Foundation which is now the biggest paediatric brain cancer foundation in Australia. As she puts it in her TEDx talk last year, Liz reframed, reimagined and reaffirmed her way forward and has now raised $7million impact dollars that’s helping fund research, care programs and so much more. Parts of this one are heavy but incredibly meaningful and with a beautiful happy ending (or happy beginning that's now eight years in) – I hope you are as moved as I am by Liz and the beautiful legacy she has created for Connor.SIGN UP TO CONNOR'S RUN 2020 HERE+ Follow RCD Foundationhere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Today I’m joined by a face many of you will know and love as I have since childhood, Dr Katrina Warren, an Aussie vet (along with her golden retriever Riley who had a great stare-off with Paul during the chat). You probably know Dr Katrina from Totally Wild or Harry’s Practice or even Animal Planet or Dancing with the Stars, and I’m sure she’s responsible for so many people’s love for animals. As the only person I know of who did sheep husbandry for their HSC, Dr Katrina is a qualified vet but didn’t take the conventional private practice pathway going into the media instead (with a fashion modelling career in Japan in the mix photos of which she has graciously shared with me for us to enjoy in the Facebook group!) She’s definitely not the first guest who ended up seizing a yay they wouldn’t have imagined in a million years, but she’s possibly the first who’s openly discussed the come down and disorientation of that yay abruptly ending pushing her to re-craft her identity and start her next chapter, which she’s now in the swing of and enjoying thoroughly with Wonderdogs, as a Snooza ambassador and so much more. Paul also interrupts a few times to chat with Riley about his opinion on the beautiful Snooza beds they both have now – the woes of working from home! Enjoy!+ Follow Dr Katrinahere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I’m joined this week by our first Wulli Wulli woman, Beach volleyball Olympian and Commonwealth silver medallist, Taliqua Clancy. You’ve probably seen I’ve been reflecting on Seize the Yay’s commitment to diversity (of all kinds), but also, in light of the past few weeks, the best way to contribute to the BIPOC dialogue specifically and Taliqua is the first of a few wonderful guests coming up who offer some generously personal and thought provoking insights to the conversation.Growing up in Kingaroy QLD (otherwise known as “peanut town”) over 200km from the nearest beach, you wouldn’t expect Olympic success at beach volleyball to be in Taliqua’s future. And yet, she reached the quarter finals in the Rio Olympics becoming the first Aboriginal Olympian to compete in the sport and is on her way to the slightly delayed Tokyo Olympics next year. Taliqua is also an Ambassador for our mutually beloved Cadbury who are launching an amazing Smart Watch campaign this week to support us all staying active in #iso which you’ll hear more about. I hope you enjoy as much as I did… NOTE: Terra Nullius is the concept we discussed, that you might want to research.+ Follow Taliquahere+ Find out more about the Cadbury Smart Watch campaignhere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I’m sure I’m not the only one who has been experiencing a lot of ups and downs with the uncertainty and chaos of this year so far and I can’t think of anyone better to give us some perspective and guidance on getting through adversity than the divine Elle Halliwell. Hers is a story I can never hear too many times that brings forth every ounce of emotion I have in admiration and awe and I’m so grateful she has shared it again today for the yay-borhood.Elle began in the world of journalism applying her incredible work ethic to climbing from making coffees to becoming a fashion editor at The Sunday Telegraph at just 21. She worked herself to the bone for almost a decade until just after her 30th birthday when her and her husband starting to think about having children. In the course of some preparatory blood tests, despite having no symptoms, Elle was diagnosed with a rare form of incurable Leukaemia. And, within the same 48 hours, she also discovered that she was pregnant leaving her with an impossible and unimaginable choice – to terminate and pursue treatment or continue with her pregnancy but risk not making it through.Rest assured, Elle’s story has a very happy and heart-warming ending – her beautiful boy Tor is now three and Elle is absolutely thriving with a glow that belies what she’s been through. She has since completely changed her life and direction and has also just started her first business, Auricle, which you’ll hear all about shortly. Elle speaks so eloquently about what her experience has taught her about uncertainty, self-belief and strength and I think we can all take so many lessons from her wisdom. I hope you enjoy listening as much as I did.+ Follow Elle here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
You might know that this week is Men’s Health Week and while, of course everyone’s health is equally important, I really support the particular focus this week on the unique challenges faced by men in both their physical and mental health. As you’ll hear, men’s health outcomes often fall far behind those of women and they still face a lot of stigma around the perceived “weakness” of seeking help, so I think this is a wonderful way to remind men they’re not alone and to help women too understand how we can help change the dialogue for our partners, brothers, sons and friends.Men’s mental health statistics in particular always come as a shock to me and if you haven’t listened to our chats with Osher Günsbergand Jake Edwards, they share some honest and personal insights on their mental health journey that are well worth a listen. For this episode, I thought we’d get a medical expert’s perspective and who better to join us than medical doctor, psychiatry resident and mental health advocate, Dr Kieran Kennedy.You might have seen Dr Kieran on the latest cover of Men’s Health Magazine dedicated to the incredible efforts of healthcare workers through the COVID19 pandemic and that’s just one of the many challenges he generously opens up about in our chat. From humble, idyllic beginnings in rural New Zealand (you’ll hear ALL about the joys of what’s called Calf Club), Kieran is the embodiment of persistence and grit working his way through a Bachelor of Science into medical studies and is now six months off finishing his specialisation in Psychiatry AND fits his passion for fitness and a bodybuilding career in on the side.He is self-deprecating in a way that belies his success and he gives us such powerful insights into men’s struggles with societal views on manliness, hardening up and even on how much more widespread men’s battles with body image is and valuing themselves on how they look. This conversation opened my eyes up to so much and I hope it does the same for you too.PLEASE REACH OUT IF YOU ARE STRUGGLING:Lifeline 13 11 14Beyondblue+ Follow Dr Kieran here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
It's been a little while since our last INTRApreneurial guest, but I'm delighted to have one of the best with us today - Jasmine Smith, Director of People and Culture from Swisse Wellness. You know I love a good non-linear way to yay, so I found Jasmine's story captivating from her nomadic and adventurous childhood to make up artistry, then a late entry to tertiary studies in behavioural science after her first child, a successful career in retail and sales and only after seven years at each of Mecca and T2, an eventual pivot into HR where she is working wellness wonders for the workforce at Swisse. She represents everything I love to share about life unravelling in chapters, the importance of self awareness and the shapeshifting nature of what your yay looks like over time.I think HR or, as it is known at Swisse, People and Culture, is another one of those areas of work that can absolutely make or break a business but that many of us barely understand and take for granted. You'll hear that Jasmine herself didn't know it was even a job she could do until years later, and those are the areas I LOVE to delve into - I learnt so much from this chat! I was reminded all about the many tools Swisse and other businesses use to help identify employees' strengths, weaknesses and passions - I tend to forget you don't have to learn everything on the fly, so if you're wondering how to figure out what your yay is, Jasmine shares a HEAP of useful hacks along with so much other wisdom about igniting human potential! Hope you enjoy as much as I did!+ Follow Swisse Wellness here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
This week, we’ve got another way to yay full of twists and turns ending up nowhere our guest thought she’d be but exactly where she was meant to be. Nicole Liu started out on the very conventional “finance-y” pathway, climbing, (much like me) a ladder she thought she was genuinely passionate about.That was until a misdiagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome and the similarly inaccurate news that she was necessarily infertile threw her world upside down and opened her eyes to the difficulty of wading through information on women’s health and how alone many of us feel trying to navigate it. Her experience led her to leave corporate to start her wonderful business, Kin Fertility, with the goal of raising standards for women’s reproductive health and opening up the heavily stigmatised conversation around fertility.I am continually baffled by how even a chronic oversharer of a modern woman like me can have lasted as long as I did without knowing much at all about my cycle or the fundamentals of hormones and fertility (especially being adopted!!) and loved chatting to Nicole about blazing a trail in the industry and opening up the dialogue. As the first of many services that Kin will offer, they currently run Australia’s first pill prescription service with the contraceptive pill being delivered to your door, letting you ditch the in-person doctor’s appointment, without compromising quality healthcare. I’m so excited for what else is to come and also loved her advice (which I have thus far been unable to offer anecdotally) on getting immigrant parents on board with a big move away from the stability of a corporate career, so for those asking, Nicole’s got your answer! Hope you enjoy!+ Follow Kin Fertility here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I’m not sure about you guys but these crazy times have definitely made me reflect on, among many other things, the way we communicate and connect with each other. What a perfect time to have today’s guest join the show to dive a little deeper into just that – I’m delighted to have expert communicator, TEDx speaker, and Emmy-award winning voice actress, Tasia Valenza, join from New York.You might not have realised, but you’ve almost definitely heard Tasia’s incredible voice (or voices) before as Poison Ivy in the Batman: Arkham Series, Venisa Doza in Star Wars Resistance, Shaak Ti in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Sniper Wolf in Metal Gear Solid games… She has had an incredible career as an actress turned voice actress and has turned that passion into a business founding Give Great Voice to share her learnings on the impact of tone and expression with all of us. You already know I love exploring the stories behind pathways we take for granted in everyday life so I had so much fun learning about just how one becomes the voice in our ears behind so many different characters. I hope you enjoy and learn something about using YOUR voice along the way.+ Follow Tasiahere+ Watch her TEDx talk here+ See The Haven App here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Well, I think I’ve held up pretty well so far on the show – it’s not easy to leave me speechless, but this week’s guest cracked me. I’m always so impressed and inspired by everyone’s self-awareness, reflection and honesty, but Jake Edwards is just on another level.IMPORTANT NOTE – This is a little heavier than usual and we do touch on suicide in the context of Jake's incredibly inspiring recovery. A conversation about yay in any depth has to acknowledge how severe the challenges can be for some among us. You’ve likely realised I’m an advocate for open albeit difficult conversations around mental health to help us normalise it and continue to spread awareness about the support available, helpful strategies and how you can absolutely still find your yay (Jake’s story being the perfect example). I always marvel at the timing of the universe and it’s perfect that this one worked out just when we’re all facing challenges to our routine and structure so probably need it most.I usually do a more detailed intro, but I think Jake tells his story so well, especially with the added layer of later reflection with hindsight, a lot of work and brutal honesty with himself. For some quick context, he followed his father, grandfather and great grandfather into the AFL but faced a mental health spiral after being delisted and losing the only identity he’d ever cultivated for himself. You’ll hear about the depths of rock bottom that he hit but has since built himself back up from to found Outside the Locker Room, his incredible charity providing critical mental health education and welfare support to community sporting clubs across Australia. He’s also co-founded Speak Clothing that you’ll hear about in the show. It’s no surprise to me that he is an Australian Mental Health Prize Nominee in recognition of his amazing work. I’ve known Jake for years and am as moved now as I was the first time I heard this – his is a truly incredible story that I hope you gain as much from as I did.PLEASE REACH OUT IF YOU ARE STRUGGLING:Lifeline 13 11 14BeyondblueOTLR+ Follow Jakehere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
This week’s podcast guest and I both love rambling as much as each other and we go all over the place in what I was humbled to hear was perhaps the most honest chat she’s had, particularly with all the time we’ve had recently for reflections. You’ve almost certainly seen the work of the wonderful Lana Wilkinson – Australia’s most beloved celebrity and fashion stylist behind the best dressed at the Logies, Brownlow, Races, TV and everything in between – as well as founder of her very own shoe line – By Lana Wilkinson. You’d be forgiven for thinking it was all glitz and glamour (which of course sometimes it is) but I love how Lana embraces every opportunity to show the other side of her work and and life. She is incredibly hard working, reflective, thoughtful and never takes life too seriously. Also please excuse a few glitches from Zoom where one of us laughing blocks out the other’s words… there’s was A LOT of laughing so I hope you enjoy getting to know Lana a bit more and have a laugh with us along the way.+ Follow Lanahere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I feel like March went for a year and April has gone in the blink of an eye. Hope you’re all continuing to adapt to #iso and, as our last guest Harlan Coben described, bringing your own weather to the picnic. Meanwhile, I’ve got another wonderful lockdown chat for you with the absolutely delightful Abbey Gelmi as part of what she affectionately refers to as #DowntimeAbbey. If you haven’t already seen her work although millions of you have, Abbey is making waves in the world of TV as a Channel 7 sports presenter for racing, Cricket, AFL and the ultimately-postponed Olympics as well as host of the latest season of House Rules.Despite her booming career amidst the glossy world of the media (note Abbey is also a host of the Brownlow and no stranger to glamour), I love that her inner suburban Perth girl lives on. As always we dive into the overnight-success-a-lifetime-in-the-making, she is so hard-working, appreciative and endearingly humble about how far she’s come. We chat impostor syndrome, the woes of blue vs black pen, and even welcome a delivery man to the show – isolation is such a fun time, I love how every Zoom call gives such a more authentic insight into people’s day to day lives. And Abbey shares hers openly which I absolutely loved – hope you enjoy.+ Follow Abbeyhere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I’m so excited about this week’s episode because, as most of you know, I’m a die-hard crime fiction reader so I’m fangirling a bit over our guest - the wonderful Harlan Coben. As much as I consume crime novels, movies and TV shows, I’ve never actually met or spoken to one of the many authors I admire so I was bowled right over when Harlan agreed to join the show from New Jersey. To many of you, he probably needs no introduction, but if you didn’t already know, Harlan is the #1 New York Times author of thirty one novels with over 70 million books in print worldwide published in 43 languages around the globe. If you haven’t watched Netflix hits Safe or The Stranger yet, they’re up there with my favourite shows and both are from Harlan to add to the many other screen adaptions of his work. As part of his 14 book deal with Netflix, he has another series coming, The Woods, so keep an eye out for that. I just finished his latest book too, The Boy From The Woods, in one day - I couldn’t put it down - and was thrilled to hear from the man himself about the many years it took to make it as an author, his process for writing, his dinners with American Presidents and his normal New Jersey life as a dad. I hope you enjoy!+ Follow Harlan here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Welcome back beautiful people, hope you’re all keeping safe and well. I’m so glad to be joined this week by absolute legend, Moana Hope, to share her totally refreshing approach to life, undying dedication to her family and appreciation of the little things.She has such an incredibly interesting story and such wise words for us all on embracing what makes us different, especially in a world where we so often feel pressured to be the same or do the same as others. I found our chat to be the most delightful distraction at this crazy time, covering everything from growing up as one of 14 children, balancing her AFLW career with full time work, marrying the love of life, caring for her amazing sister Vinny and of course her recent success on Survivor All Stars.I’ll let her tell you the rest and apologise in advance for the slightly crackly audio in parts – I’m still experimenting a bit with using video and audio and how to maintain the same quality so appreciate your patience. I’m finding so much joy in keeping bringing you a dose of yay in lots of different forms, so hope this brightens your week.+ Follow Moana here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I hope you’re all keeping safe and well and getting through iso. I’ve got another episode that was recorded before things ramped up, so again, I hope it gives you a lovely little break from these crazy times. I’ve heard this story SO many times but it never gets old, I literally met Kate when I fangirled all over her way back at a women’s event before I’d even graduated. I never imagined I’d get to speak alongside her or chat with her on a podcast, but that’s just another example of how things might not always end up how you expect them – they often end up better.Kate started her online store, Adore Beauty, pretty much before e-commerce was even a word back in 1999 at just 21 years old after working the Clarins counter at a department store and getting frustrated with how intimidating the beauty experience was. She has now grown Adore from a garage in Murrumbeena to a hugely successful multimillion dollar beauty destination with over twenty years under her belt. She is an expert in resilience and constant innovation, with Estee Lauder saying no for FOURTEEN years before she locked them in and continues to blaze a trail in the beauty industry. She tells it straight and I absolutely love her for it – introducing, Kate Morris.+ Follow Kate here+ Visit Adore Beauty here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Another week of craziness, I can’t believe how quickly things are changing. I hope you are all looking after yourselves and finding ways to get through physical distancing and time at home. While it is a very grave time for so many of us, I have been finding so much comfort in laughter and focusing on the things we still have to smile about. So, I’m going to keep bringing you as much as yay possible and you might have seen I started on Wednesday with a little yay filled humpday live lunch hour with the wonderful Gemma Watts.
After a few hilarious technical hiccups, we managed to go live on Instagram although we didn’t make it to the Facebook group AND the comments didn’t work so we couldn’t even interact as we had hoped (which is half the fun of lives) but here is the resulting audio. Gemma is an absolute hoot (and totally refreshed me with our giggles), host of her own fabulous Glow Journal podcast, creative director at Glow Journal Creative with a STUNNING new website you can check out here, copywriter, MC and so much more. I’ll let her tell you the rest – Hope you enjoy!
I can’t believe how much has changed just since our last episode. First and foremost, I just want to send out waves of love and support into your ears – we are all being impacted in different ways, but it’s a challenging time for everyone and these either bring out the best or the worst in us so let’s all focus on looking after ourselves and one another as best we can. I still think it’s hysterical that anyone needs to be reminded to wash their hands but stay vigilant in those small ways we can contribute to protect everyone. One of the things I can still do is put little doses of yay out there for you to consume, so hopefully that keeps you from going stir crazy if you’re staying at home.This and the next few episodes were recorded before things really ramped up so we didn’t get the chance to address coronavirus or how people are coping, but perhaps after we publish these we can do a dedicated episode if that’s what you feel would help you yay. In the meantime, here’s my second chat with an absolute ray of sunshine, Rachael Finch, about female empowerment, fashion, and the dreaded self-doubt. Rach was the very first guest I ever recorded with so if you’ve got some spare time head back to our first episode for background. And then catch up on how she now has four businesses, has renewed her Myer ambassadorship, launched one of those businesses into Myer just a few weeks ago and somehow continues to be such a positive role model for balance, motherhood and appreciating the little things.+ Follow Rachael here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
While I was up in Sydney, I was lucky enough to spend time with Madison de Rozario, three-time Paralympian who is heading off for her fourth in Tokyo this year. Madi made her Paralympic debut in wheelchair racing at just 14 years old at the Beijing 2008 games taking home three silver medals since then as well as a string of other accolades and achievements. She is an incredible role model and advocate for the visibility of the disabled community, reshaping our perception of disability and truly going after your dreams.As you’ll hear, she is delightfully bubbly, humble and articulate and it’s no surprise to me that she was named the 2020 Barbie Australian Shero(that’s she-hero) as part of Barbie’s Global Role Model campaign inspiring women the world over with a one of a kind doll. As one of my favourite childhood brands, I’ve loved learning how Barbie is inspiring the limitless potential of every girl introducing different body types, hair, skin and everything in between and as you’ll see in the episode image, Madi’s doll comes complete with her racing chair. Madi’s excitement and drive is infectious and I hope you enjoy hearing her story!+ Follow Madison here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
International Women’s Day is coming up this Sunday 8th March and I thought we’d dedicate both this episode and next to two women who embody female empowerment, equality and achievements. To be fair, every woman AND man who has generously come on the show has been incredible in a different way making it pretty much impossible for me to ever have themed “special guests” – they’re all so special. But particularly as a woman who has grown up taking the dialogue about women’s rights largely for granted and benefiting from the fight of earlier generations like my Mum’s, I always take a moment to appreciate International Women’s Day and, even if there is still work to do, how far we’ve come towards gender equality.So, who better to join us this week than Emirates pilot, Dominique Cotte? Growing up in a town of 180 people, aviation isn’t exactly the industry you’d expect her to gravitate towards but her first flight had her hooked. The thing is, she was set on being an air hostess until her school friends suggested she set her sights on the cockpit surprising her one birthday with a flight lesson. She’s never looked back and is now an absolute boss flying for Emirates across the world.As you know, I get SO fascinated by the details of other pathways and I LOVED finding out about qualifying on different aircraft and the first time you fly a jet. Dom shares openly about the highs and lows including the huge financial commitment of becoming a pilot, the many challenges she faced as a female in an industry that lags behind in equal representation and going from trying to blend in to wearing her red lippy and make up to fly with pride. I hope you enjoy as much as I did+ Follow Dom here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
If you were following our wedding last year, you probably saw the fun we had with our amazing wedding dance choreographer Jarryd Byrne who we then passed on to Samantha Gash and Mark Wales for their wedding. He very generously organised tickets for the four of us to the second episode of the new season of Dancing with the Stars on Channel 10 where he is the professional partner to Celia Pacquola and it was an absolute BLAST, it’s such an amazing show to watch and to see it in studio was even more impressive. I was lucky to follow up a few days later with one of the judges and fellow professional dancer, Sharna Burgess, for this week’s episode.Sharna is the fiery red head among the judges for this year but has also come from 12 seasons of Dancing with the Stars USA as a professional partner to a Backstreet Boy, an NBA player and everything in between, taking away the winning spot with Bobby Bones in season 27. Dancing since the age of five, she has lived and danced in the UK, the USA and now back home to Australia and is an absolute force to be reckoned with. She’s open, honest and refreshing reminding us yet again that things are rarely an overnight success with lots of despair, hardship and challenge along the way. But her way to yay has led her to the life of her dreams and I loved having her on to chat through it all. Hope you enjoy!+ Follow Sharna Burgess here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
This week’s guest is neither our first doctor nor our first guest who has experienced war zones, but is definitely our first war zone doctor to join the show. With 11 honorary doctorates, an order of Canada, and an incredible career as a physician and philanthropist, Dr Samantha Nutt is one of the most interesting and articulate people I’ve had the pleasure to chat with.From starting out in Somalia in her early 20s with UNICEF to founding War Child Canada to help children and women affected by war through education, economic opportunities, and legal support, Samantha is an absolute force to be reckoned with and I was so delighted to have met her on Necker Island with Business Chicks last year. If you’ve been listening a while, you’ll know my interest in crime is rivalled only by my quirky interest in war, so I have been fascinated by her career and, while war is a little anti-yay on its face, you’ll hear that her pathYAY is far from it.I also think it’s important to use the platforms we have to confront the biggest nays to yay for humanity and shine a light on those who are fighting against it so passionately. I hope you are as inspired and mobilised by Dr Nutt as I was.+ Follow Dr Samantha Nutt here+ Reading list here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
This episode has been a long time coming, but I finally sat down with my wonderful manager and absolute girlboss, Genevieve Day, founder of her own trailblazing agency, Day Management. If you’ve ever wondered about how things work in influencer land, we cover it all in this episode right back from those very early days when the market was emerging and Gen saw an opportunity to jump right in leaving her PR career behind to start her own business. From one sole talent on her books to now a whole Day Management family, including Nic and myself, Gen has pioneered, pivoted and paved the way for incredible partnerships, campaigns and careers. There’s a lot about her way to yay that even I hadn’t heard before and plenty of behind the scenes nuggets about everything from self-doubt and the sceptics being so young and successful to buying the whole office building when things took off financially. I hope you enjoy as much as I did.+ Follow Gen here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I am SO excited about this week’s guest – I know I say that every week, but this one is truly still blowing my mind. I don’t think there are many people in Australia or anywhere for that matter who haven’t heard of the stunningly beautiful Miranda Kerr and it’s an absolute honour to have her join us from her home in LA. While she grew up in a small country town as a bit of a self-professed tomboy, Miranda started her modelling career at 13 when she won the Dolly Magazine model search in 1997 and quickly rose to prominence becoming a Victoria’s Secret Angel in 2007 as the first Aussie to earn her wings among many other career highlights that are too many to list here. In 2009, she stepped into her entrepreneurial shoes founding KORA Organics blazing a trail for over a decade now in natural beauty as well as having three beautiful children.You’ve probably noticed I’m a long-time customer of KORA with many favourites among the certified organic face and body care range. You’ll get a complete run down of how Miranda keeps her skin so stunningly beautiful in the episode, and also hear about one of the key ingredients of the range – Noni Extract whose juices and oils Miranda has been using since childhood. I was very lucky to get an early sample of the Noni Bright Vitamin C Serum, which I’ve been using for months but I’m delighted to share that KORA Organics has also launched its powerful night equivalent, Noni Night AHA Resurfacing Serum, just last week. I’ll let Miranda tell you the rest in more detail, hope you enjoy!+ See full show notes here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
This episode has been a long time in the making and even longer since I’ve admired these two both separately and together. Guy and Jules Sebastian are two of the world’s biggest legends and the sweetest couple to have spent time with. With almost twenty years together, I thought they’d make the perfect guests for a power couple episode going all the way back to their teenage days when they met in little old Adelaide singing together. Yep, Jules sings too - one of many behind the scenes surprises - and while many of you know Guy as the winner of the first Australian Idol in 2003, he actually started out studying Medical Radiation before thankfully returning to his great gift for music.Since Australian Idol, Guy is the only Australian male artist to achieve six number one singles and nine of his singles have been certified multi-platinum including the 11x platinum Battlescars, the beginnings of which you’ll hear him sing in the show. He even holds a record that Ed Sheeran is yet to beat and yet remains incredible humble, warm and grounded as you’ll hear. Jules is equally as grounded (and grounding of their beautiful family) while also forging her own successful career as a stylist, presenter, host of Tea with Jules and an incredible philanthropist (something they enjoy pursuing together, with the Sebastian Foundation) – I have so admiration for her and as you’ll hear Guy does too. You’re in for a ripper almost hour and a half with some deep behind the scenes reflections, random tangents about family, Uber Eats and Guy’s original demo CDs and of course signature Seize the Yay cackles.Of course, knowing I would be recording this at their home studio with ALL the fancy equipment, I upgraded my usual set up with a new adapter so they wouldn’t have to share a microphone. The sound is a little different to usual – of course it happened with the Sebastians, I’m such a flipping noob – but hopefully you will enjoy it all the same.+ Follow Guy and Jules here+ See more on AMEX Platinum here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!Image credit: Who Magazine
Welcome back to the second episode we recorded over in the West during our quick visit to Perth. In case anyone has been waiting for an example of someone who didn’t have to leave the law to find their yay, my dear friend Amy Barber is your woman. As you’ll hear, her legal career would have been my dream career if business hadn’t fallen into my lap and I am continually in awe of her resilience, open-mindedness and sense of social justice. While she too started out in corporate law at the same firm as two time Seize the Yay guest Samantha Gash for whom we were both recently bridesmaids, Amy shifted quickly towards the realm of international and humanitarian law to build one of the coolest careers I’ve encountered.Amy’s first step out of corporate was a dramatic one into the United Nations as a prosecutor in the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. From there, she has worked in East Timor, Cambodia and Liberia and developed a keen interest in military law in the process. On returning home to Australia to settle down with her husband and start a family, she has also joined the Army Reserves part time as a legal officer (now officially Captain Barber) and works full time as legal counsel for the Australian Red Cross so also has some insights into the bushfire relief work the organisation has been doing. (In her spare time, she teaches yoga in a women's prison - I mean, seriously). She is endlessly fascinating and I hope you enjoy as much as I did.+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Thank you all so much to everyone around the world who participated in the Relief Run over the weekend. There were over 18,000 of us running in almost 200 countries and we raised over $1 million for the Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery fund. Special thanks to those of you who joined our Seize the Yay community runs, this yayborhood continues to blow me away with your generosity and spirit.This episode worked out with such perfect timing, I’m delighted to have our dear friend and legend Cam Cranley on the show to talk about his career as a firefighter. We’ve been trying to tee this up for months and months, but it worked out to align with a time when our interest in understanding the role of firies is more relevant than ever. I thought it would be good to get some understanding of what our firefighters have been facing, especially because we often take emergency services for granted until we need them most. And of course, we covered both the serious and the more lighthearted including Cam’s moment to shine as Mr May in the annual firefighters calendar and season 2 of the Bachelorette alongside former STY guests Georgia Love and Lee Elliott. Cam is basically a human Labrador and is one of the few people who talks as fast as me, so I hope you enjoy as much as I did!+ Follow Cam here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I hope you all enjoyed last week’s early first episode and that Lisa, Samantha and I weren’t too delirious for you to take something from it. Since then, the Relief Run has raised over HALF A MILLION DOLLARS for the Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery Fund with over 8000 people participating all over the world. Hopefully see some of you at our group runs this weekend, I’ll chat more about that at the end of the show.For now, this episode is 2020's original first one back with the wonderful Jeremy Muijs (the pronunciation of which you’ll understand better after you listen). Unlike many of our guests, I hadn’t met Jeremy before our chat but as you’ll hear, we got along like old friends. Neither he nor his brother, Keston, started out in beauty or wellness but in true Seize the Yay fashion their way to yay took many unexpected twists and turns leading them to co-found one of my favourite beauty brands, Grown Alchemist. Despite beginning way before wellness was really part of our daily vernacular and natural beauty had become the booming trend it is today, they pioneered a holistic scientific approach to skin and beauty creating their “bio-compatible beauty” revolution.With formulas based on a unique synergy between biology and cosmetic chemistry, they have made a name for themselves globally leading the way in anti-ageing technology with labs in London, Paris, Switzerland, Spain and Australia. I found Jeremy to be a wonderful storyteller and hope you enjoy hearing more through our chat.+ Find out more about Grown Alchemist hereRELIEF RUN + SEE ALL RELEVANT LINKS HERE+ SIGN UP TO RELIEF RUN HERE+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
We’re back a little earlier than planned, given what I’m sure wasn’t quite the start to the year most of you envisioned. Our beautiful Australia is burning and the effects of the bushfires have been devastating and widespread. People have lost their lives, loved ones and homes as well as millions of wildlife and hectares of land being destroyed.It’s been terrifying to see things unravel, especially as we have family in affected parts of Gippsland. If you’ve been directly impacted in any way, you have my deepest, most heartfelt sympathies. What has been uplifting to see though is the way the national and global communities have started to mobilise to offer as much support in as many ways as possible. Thank you all to everyone out there who is doing their bit in the best way they can.You’ll probably have seen we’ve been doing bits and pieces with our businesses, particularly with the Relief Run that my dear friend Samantha Gash and husband Nic have started. With the universe working its magic, Sam and I had planned an escape to Bangalow with our wonderful friend Lisa Messenger who has also been working furiously with Food Bank Australia and we ended up in throes of a non-stop bushfire relief working bee. As we have been struggling against the density of information despite the brevity of social media, I thought a podcast episode would give us a longer form chance to discuss what’s been happening but also to touch on some broader important themes on new beginnings, getting started and breaking through action paralysis. Lisa was our very first guest and Sammy joined last year, so it was a delight to get on the mics again to bump brains.Warning – It’s not particularly polished and there’s some delirium in the air, but hopefully there’s some useful parts and some lighter giggles too.+ SEE ALL RELEVANT LINKS HERE+ SIGN UP TO RELIEF RUN HERE+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Last episode of the year, and what a year it’s been! I’m absolutely buzzing from all the amazing things we’ve done with Seize the Yay this year and every day I’m so grateful for you wonderful listeners for being part of the yay-borhood and making it possible. Not gonna lie though, I’m definitely feeling the exhaustion and am ready for a little bit of time off – don’t forget that a big part of seizing your yay is taking time to rest, rejuvenate and PLAY while you let your mind and body recover. So while I pushed through last year, we’re taking a little break for a few weeks but I’ve triple dosed over the last week so that should keep you going!Before we sign off, I’ve got one last episode with one of my dear friends and huge inspirations, Michael Ramsey. Like many of these chats, I’m not only honoured to be sharing his amazing story but also got to find out a heap of things I didn’t know before! You might have encountered Ramsey before through one of the six F45 studios he once owned including the world’s #1 studio in Port Melbourne. You could have also seen the buzz created by his amazing Journey retreats that have collaborated with the Keep It Cleaner Girls, Simon Hill from Plant Proof and many more to come next year. Or it could be his brand new venture, Strong, bringing the rowformer to Australia for the first time that caught your eye. And that’s only a few of the many facets of this fascinating human.But of course, there have been so many diversions and learnings along the way and as I always love to remind you the way to yay is never linear. Before he shot to fame in the fitness world, Ramsey started his career in the oil and gas industry and also had a boating technology start up among many other things that belied the success he’d later have in a completely different world. Such a great story to finish with showing again the patience and resilience it takes to finally find your yay. Hope you enjoy!!+ Follow Ramsey at @ramslegit+ Follow Strong at @strongand Journey Retreats at @journeyretreats+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Welcome to our second last episode of the year!!! As we approach the height of the silly season, you might be feeling like it’s all a bit too hectic so it’s the perfect time to introduce you to the wonderful Bloom App and its co-founders, Chloe Szep and Molly Jane. These two started off as country town girls but ended up riding the original waves of social media from the early days and crafting careers for themselves. While they both might have felt something was still missing, those initial careers led them to each other through Bondi Sands and ultimately resulted in the birth of their baby, the Bloom App. Designed to help you bloom into a better version of yourself, Bloom focuses on reducing stress levels, overactive minds, and positively impacting mental and physical health. It has guided meditations, movements, mindful colouring, journaling, music and so many other tools with much more to come – hope you enjoy finding out more!DOWNLOAD THE BLOOM APP HERE+ Follow Bloom App at @bloomappand the girls at @chloeszep and @mollyjane+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Beautiful people, this is the audio from our first ever LIVE show, so for the first time you’ll hear some giggles from the audience. It was SO surreal but incredible to actually see some of you face to face, thank you all so much for coming and packing out Mercedes Me Melbourne for the occasion. I’m sure our guest needs no introduction, but just to reiterate, the gorgeous Olivia Molly Rogers won all our hearts when she was crowned Miss Universe Australia in 2017. Before you let any beauty pageant stereotypes creep in, Olivia is far from just a pretty face and is also a qualified speech pathologist specialising in paediatrics and an incredibly talented artist. She has also become a keen ambassador and advocate for body positivity and mental health awareness using her social media influence as a platform to create change for the causes closest to her heart. I’ll let our chat unveil the rest, so hope you enjoy!I can’t wait to do more of these next year, so if you missed out don’t worry we’ll be doing it again! I‘ll be sending around a follow up email with links for the Butterfly Foundation, the photos and more in the coming week.+ Follow Olivia at @oliviamollyrogers+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Even though we have our first ever live event this week, I’ve got a fresh new episode for you that I’ve had up my sleeve since my LA visit a few months ago. I was so lucky to catch our legendary friend, Lincoln Younes, for a chat about his amazing journey from country Victoria to the bright lights of Hollywood where he is fooling even his co-stars with his American accent. I recorded this almost straight off the plane after 24 hours of transit and was a little jet lagged so while I’m usually not terrible at managing time and guiding our conversation through each segment, I’d say I was a little less on the ball this one and got carried away in the way to yay more than usual (which is still fascinating and filled with chuckles) so apologies there. Linc is incredibly ambitious, switched on and humble and I hope you enjoy this chat as much as I did.
+ Follow Lincoln at @iamlincolnyounes+ Shop Thankyou's Christmas range here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I just cannot believe how quickly 2020 is approaching. Speaking of 2020, I am SUCH a big fan of the Olympics I get so excited when they come back around and in the lead up to Tokyo 2020, I’m so delighted to have 4 x Olympic Medallist, Emma McKeon, on the show for today’s episode.Being born into a swimming family with her dad as her coach and her brother also an Olympic swimmer, Emma competed at the Summer Youth Olympics before she had even finished school. She missed out on selection for London 2012, but came back in Rio to win a gold, two silvers and an individual bronze and is now preparing rigorously for Tokyo 2020. Knowing absolutely nothing about the swimming world, and LOVING finding out about worlds I’ve never ventured into, I had a blast chatting to Emma all about her training, what it’s like to swim in the Olympics, goal setting and then of course, how she plays. She is also a fellow converted runner adding running to her training having proudly joined the Nike family a few years ago. We did this over the phone so her audio isn’t as clear as usual, but hope you enjoy nonetheless.+ Follow Emma at @emmamckeon+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Having been aCarman’smuesli nut since back in my school days, it was such a pleasure to join the wonderful Carman’s Kitchen founder, Carolyn Creswell, at her offices for this instalment of yay. Especially since we entered the world of food businesses and FMCG with Matcha Maiden, Carolyn’s story has been an ongoing inspiration in our scale up. Despite the giant it is today, Carman’s began back when Carolyn was only 18 when she bought the hand-made muesli business for just $1000. Within a few years, she grew it to national ranging in Coles followed soon after by Woolworths and now it boasts over 1000 products in over 35 countries including 1000 outlets in China! As you will have heard before, I love seeing businesses grow to the point where they can use their network and influence to give back and Carman’s is doing this in a big way. This Sunday 1 December, the annual Carman’s Women’s Fun Run is back again seeing 6000 participants run, fun run or fun walk at Catani Gardens in St Kilda to raise funds for the Breast Cancer Network Australia. There are 5km, 10km and 21km options and I’ll be joining the 10km to get the running legs going again. See link below to join and I'll let Carolyn tell you more about it. Enjoy!+ Follow Carolyn at @carolyncreswell+ Join the Carman's Women's Fun Run here+ Buy tickets to our live event here+ See more on AMEX Rewards here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
If I thought I’d experienced pinch me moments before, recording this episode redefined that concept for me. Not only was I lucky enough to spend a week on Necker Island with the incredible Business Chicks team, a bunch of other amazing women and Sir Richard himself (who you will know threw me a pretty outrageous bachelorette party), I got the chance to hear from and then sit down with the inimitable Laura Brown. There aren’t really words to describe this woman - Laura is an absolute force to be reckoned with making her way from a NSW dairy farm to Manhattan to take over the reigns of one of America’s biggest and most influential titles as Editor in Chief of InStyle magazine. She is truly one in a million with her vibrance, grandeur (or delusions thereof as she likes to say) and creative vision but also her humility, sense of humour and the inner Sheila that the US is unable to beat out of her.Despite a network that encouraged even Sir Richard to jest at her name dropping and the ability to rub shoulders with the world’s elite with ease, Laura is also incredibly easy to get along with and more down to earth than you’d expect as are most of our guests – I know I sometimes sound like a broken record but it’s something that stands out so much for me. We jump all over the place in this chat while enjoying the soothing sounds of the Caribbean ocean that we left in for your enjoyment, so there’s lots of random chatter and giggles but her crazy brain is why I love this woman so much – hope you love her too!+ Follow Laura at @laurabrown99+ Buy tickets to Business Chicks' 9 To Thrive+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Today’s guest is possibly the only other person who talks as fast as I like to talk so don’t worry about popping this chat on double speed. Priscilla Hajiantoni is the founder of hugely successful business, Bangn Body, known for its hero debut product Yellow Tube of Goodness but with several more exciting launches on the way. It’s one of those lovely full circle situations where I’d been stoked to read interviews with Priscilla where she names Seize the Yay as one of her favourite podcasts and then, months later we sat down to record her episode. In another wonderfully non-linear example of way to yay, Priscilla worked in hair and beauty, high end accounting and then business management before her business idea was even on the horizon but has taken to business like she’s never known anything else. Bangn Body exploded onto the scene closing a gap in the market for skincare for those with acne prone, inflamed or otherwise troubled skin and the results have been outstanding.This was recorded a few weeks before we got married so excuse the time specific giggles. Hope you enjoy this little ray of sunshine!+ Full show notes here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Welcome to November beautiful people, this year has just flown by I can’t believe we’re already thinking about Christmas! Still on a total wedding high and getting used to the new name - we’re actually in Byron Bay this week for our mini moon so it seemed the perfect week to release this episode with Mullumbimby girl, Renée Bargh. I was lucky enough to record this one in Renée’s beautiful home in Venice Beach when I was in LA on the way to Necker Island a few weeks ago and she had literally just come out of the ocean, what an absolute goddess. Despite an incredibly successful career over in the US, she remains a down to earth, Aussie beach baby whose family and friends mean more to her than anything.Having always lived for the performing arts, presenting was not Renée’s first or even second love. After studying at Brent Street, Renée first set her sights on a career in dancing but then got picked up by Sony as part of a girl band (very originally called Girlband). It was a happy accident that got her into presenting with National Bingo Night on Seven then Surfari on Channel 9, followed by Channel V which then led her to her current position in LA as host on Extra TV alongside co host Mario Lopez and this is her ninth year on the job. Holding her own in Hollywood on the most fancy of red carpets, Renée’s charm and talents have won her TWO Emmy awards that you’ll hear I made her whip out during our chat. She speaks candidly about making it, homesickness and finding balance and I hope you enjoy as much as I did.+ Follow Renée at @reneebargh+ More about our videographers, Moon and Back Co+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
We’ve chatted across a couple of episodes now about therapy and psychologists and I’ve had so many people mention how positive this was for them to have mental health normalised and discussed more openly. You may know I regularly see a psychologist and have for years now, and while I didn’t think it was quite appropriate to have my own therapist on the show, one of our beautiful long time followers and listeners Amy Kate Isaacs very kindly stepped in for a chat AND flew in to Melbourne from Brisbane for the occasion – what an absolute legend (you can clearly tell we're in Melbourne from the background tram noises - soz!)Amy Kate took the long academic road to psychology practice finishing with her Master’s degree and is now a Developmental psychologist and founder of the Mindful Collective. She uniquely combines the technical science of psychology with the increasingly important notions of mindfulness and lifestyle factors in promoting good mental wellbeing. I loved exploring both the vocational depths of studying the mind with her but also finding out the many different parts of her journey from being a school chaplain to now practising with a THERAPY DOG, Evie. I’m so grateful that she also openly shared her personal experiences with therapy following two sexual assaults to help open up discussions that we haven’t yet covered on the show and to show that finding your yay can sometimes involve the darkest obstacles but that the right help and support can put you back on a path of lightness and joy. SIDE NOTE: Amy Kate has just announced that she is opening up her very own The Mindful Collective studio in Paddington in November!!!!! HOW EXCITING!!!! Stay tuned! + Follow Amy Kate at @themindfulcollective+ More about the American Express Platinum Business Card+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Only one sleep to go until we tie the knot!!!
Thank you all so much for submitting your questions and for getting so excited with us, we did our best to answer most of them and had a great giggle along the way.
+ More about the American Express Platinum Card+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
This guest is one of my favourite human beings who I’ve known since way back in our school days! You’re in for a solid hour or so of hysterical laughter - I was laughing out loud on the plane editing this, it is FULL of yay. There are many reasons why you might have heard of the beautiful Olympia Valance – her sister Holly, her four years on the iconic Neighbours, her incredible talents on Dancing with the Stars… but today we’re celebrating season two of PLAYING FOR KEEPS that starts TONIGHT (Oct 16th) on Channel 10 at 8:30pm. The first season kept us on the edge of our seats with the drama, affairs, and heartbreak of the wives and girlfriends of the fictional Southern Jets AFL club in Melbourne and, as you’ll hear Olympia spill, the next season is bigger and better than ever.After earning her stripes as girl-next-door Paige on Neighbours, Olympia absolutely nails her new role as the fiercely powerful, incredibly bitchy but, as time goes on, vulnerable Thalia – wife of the Captain of the team. I won’t bang on too much because this episode is longer than usual, but it was one of the most enjoyable hours I’ve spent finding out more about creating roles, her life outside of acting, the woes of having hobbit feet and everything in between.+ Full show notes here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Hello beautiful people. You’ve probably noticed that this year has involved a big conversion from non-runner to running lover and I’ve had a lot of questions from fellow curious but reluctant runners about getting started and building up to finding the joy in running. So, I figured I’d turn to one of the experts to help out who also has a super interesting way to yay and is our first Kiwi on the show!I met the lovely Lydia O’Donnell through the Nike family just after she had WON the Surf Coast marathon. As well as being an elite marathon runner, she’s also a running coach AND qualified geologist of all things! As you’ll hear, one of the things I love about her is that while her elite level might seem very serious and intimidating (and she might have treated it that way at times), she ultimately came back to running purely for joy and for her mental health and she’s even founded her own running community, One Step is All It Takes, to raise awareness of the benefits of running and movement for anxiety and depression. We had such a fun chat in the Joyride lab at Nike HQ in Melbourne and she also shared some of her practical coaching wisdom to help us all get out and pound that pavement – hope you enjoy!+ Follow Lydia here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
We’ve had a truly amazing 2019 so far and I didn’t think things could really ramp up much more, but the past few weeks have been a blur of excitement and I can’t quite believe where this episode is being published from. For the coming week, I’ll be on Necker Island in the Caribbean with Sir Richard Branson and twenty other amazing business women facilitated by the incredible team at Business Chicks. I won’t start gushing or I’ll take up the whole intro, but I don’t think you could seize more yay than that so I’m sure I’ll be bombarding you in no time.If you haven’t heard the Business Chicks story you can head back to founder Emma Isaacs’ episode to catch up and we’ve had several other wonderful members of the Business Chicks community on the show. Today’s is another one of those who I’ve been so excited about, as it’s our first medical professional to join for a chat. Yep, the wonderful Dr Nikki Stamp is our guest for this episode, one of Australia’s 11 cardiothoracic surgeons. Originally from Perth with dreams of being a performer, her father encouraged her to first complete a degree during which she fell in love with medicine and never looked back. Having completed the gruelling years of training to become a surgeon she is now not only saving lives on the daily but has also just released her second book the day we recorded a few weeks ago, Pretty Unhealthy, is a public speaker, mentor and passionate supporter of women in medicine. I’m a bit squeamish so couldn’t have hacked it in medicine but still have SO much curiosity about it as you’ll hear very clearly, and I hope you find it as fascinating as I did to hear about life as a surgeon.+ Full show notes here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I know it’s a little late this week, so please excuse my travel brain - I released the wrong episode then didn’t have this one ready but it’s here and you’ll probably get another very shortly. I pinch myself during most Seize the Yay chats, but this one in particular felt like a beautiful full circle I never thought was possible. I’ve been a customer of Endota Spa for so many years now (since as far back as uni) but especially during my legal career when it was my absolute saviour and could never have dreamed I’d be sitting down with founder Melanie Gleeson at Endota HQ for a gasbag. Self-care didn’t come as naturally to me back then but an hour at Endota Spa would bring me back to life and my monthly Endota visit has endured to this day. It’s such a beautiful haven that started on the Mornington Peninsula when Melanie was just 26 and has now grown to a multimillion dollar network with over 100 locations and 1000 staff. It was a such a pleasure to hear about Mel’s way to yay from an exchange to Scotland, a career in theatrical hair and make-up before founding what was one of the very first day spas in Melbourne well before it was trendy. It’s also probably one of my favourite play to yay chats too where we discover some mutual quirky interests and spend the rest of the episode in hysterics. Hope you enjoy!+ Follow Endota here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I’ve been so excited to put this episode out into the world since we recorded it a few weeks ago. If there wasn't already enough yay going on up until this point, we were lucky enough to head to Adelaide to record this one on location at Adelaide Zoo!!! Nic and I are both absolutely obsessed with animals and one of the jobs I’ve been super keen to showcase on the show is zoo-keeping, so I’m delighted to have Senior Zookeeper Michelle Birkett on the show to confirm that it is in fact the best job ever. And we didn’t just to get to record our chat, we spent a full day exploring and meeting the beautiful animals at the zoo beforehand.I loved meeting Michelle not only because she adores what she does, but also because it’s been something she’s wanted to do since she was younger and kept at it despite everyone telling her she’d “eventually grow out of it”. She’s also one of the first people we’ve had on who doesn’t struggle as much with the productivity pressure and relentless achievement conveyer belt that we’ve talked about a lot in prior episodes. It’s so refreshing to hear her perspective on ambition and how that doesn’t always have to go upwards. I also loved that she still squeezed in some time overseas and lots of different jobs along the way but nothing swayed her away from life at the zoo. Hope she lights you up as much as she did us!+ Full show notes here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
There are so many people who have contributed time, wisdom and hugs to getting me to where I am today, but this guest is one who I can absolutely say I wouldn’t have started without. In fact, Jess Hatzis might just be the first person I ever told about the idea for Matcha Maiden and I am forever grateful for her overwhelming love and support then and at every stage of the journey since. And it’s no wonder I continue to turn to her for wisdom being a co-founder of global skincare sensation, Frank Body, as well as trailblazing creative agency Willow & Blake and more recently, a new gym Frame Cremorne with her husband. She has been a business woman laying the groundwork for the entrepreneurial boom that was to come since before most of us had ever been exposed to start ups and leaving corporate jobs to follow dreams. It’s not often that your second job ever is your own business and even rarer than your second business then explodes just a few years later. Starting with $5000 and a production line of friends, family and whoever else they could get together, Jess and the four other co-founders of Frank Body grew the business to tens of millions of dollars of revenue in a few short years. Theirs is the ultimate social media start up sensation story and there are few corners of the world that Frank Body hasn’t reached. It was a delight to hear the journey again I can never hear it too many times and loved hearing what's happened since I heard it last. I have looked up to Jess for the longest time and am so grateful she joined the show to share some of her pearls of wisdom, biggest lessons and why Kipfler potatoes are the best. + Full show notes here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
This week, we welcome our first tri-citizen to the show who became an Australian citizen the day before we recorded. I always feel so lucky to have such incredible and supportive people around me and Kemi Nekvapil is one of the wisest and most empowering – how lucky Australia is to have her and if anyone has heard her speak before, you’ll no doubt agree. With British, Nigerian AND Australian citizenship, Kemi spent her childhood in five different foster families and her early adulthood with as many different careers covering stage and television acting, professional baking and yoga teaching before she even touched on her current calling as a coach, author, speaker and now podcaster! Through challenge, open mindedness and a lot of self-development, Kemi has developed a unique resilience, agility and power and I always leave her presence feeling enlightened and excited for human potential.In true Seize the Yay fashion, Kemi was an open and honest book and I loved exploring the concepts of cultural identity, self-acceptance, the marvellous workings of the universe and the incredible moment when you realise you have CHOICE with her in such depth. This is the perfect blend of serious, life-changing imparting of wisdom and hysterical laugher about nipple pinching, body hair, and home births... As you’ll hear, she’s starting her own podcast this week and the launch is only a few days away on 5th September, so if you’re in Melbourne I’ve popped the link for tickets in the show notes, she’d LOVE to meet you all. Hope you enjoy and are seizing your yay!+ Full show notes here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I’m so excited to finally share the chat we recorded on our whirlwind trip to Seoul for the global Nike Joyride launch. It was such an incredible experience especially at the peak of my non-runner to running-lover conversion and so cool to head back to the motherland after 17 years (a long story that I’ll tell another day). After he hosted the global launch event, I was so lucky to sit down with Nike Senior Product Line Manager, Will Moroski, to chat in more detail about this incredible shoe as well as sharing his own amazing way to yay in the process. Another wonderful example of ending up exactly where you never expected but where you were absolutely meant to be.While nurturing a love for sport from very young, Will’s nerdy side also flourished through his journey. While competing seriously in track and field, he started college at UC Davis undeclared but then found himself in biomedical engineering. Loving it so much, while others took a gap year, Will headed to Oxford to do his Masters in Biomedical Engineering completing a casual thesis on Malaria in Pregnancy: Assessment of Effect Using Image Texture Analysis. This then took him to Thailand for field work and research followed by a clinical studies engineer position at pacemaker company Biotronik. It was Biotronik that moved him to Portland, the home of Nike HQ, where he found himself teaching spin classes to Nike staff who encouraged him to make the jump. Five years later, he’s working on world class innovation and changing runner’s lives with new technology. I’ll let him tell you the rest but hope you enjoy!!!!+ Full show notes here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
As promised last week, this week’s guest is the beautiful second half of the greatest power couple going around. Hearing Mark’s incredible story you’d be forgiven for thinking it’d be impossible to find a worthy match, but my dear Samantha Gash is just that and more. After meeting each other through mutual obnoxious eagerness in our first year of law studies, we’ve had a beautiful and enduring relationship for over a decade seeing each other through many different adventures, phases and careers. She may be small in stature but she’s a big personality and even bigger inspiration to myself and many hundreds of thousands of others who her story has touched and it’s no surprise our chat goes well over an hour and even closer to two so buckle in!Having united her early passions in a Performing Arts/Law degree, Sammy’s love for the extracurricular has been around a long time seeing her work in Texas on capital cases, in Indigenous communities throughout Australia and everything in between. Sport was never her strong point, and yet, in the first display of what has become a characteristic love for discomfort and challenge she randomly undertook the 100km Oxfam challenge and has never looked back. From there, she has continued to defy even our wildest imaginations leaving law to pursue her career as an elite ultra marathon runner and incredible public speaker starting by becoming the youngest person and first female to complete the four desert series – 4 x 250km races across the hottest, windiest, coldest and driest deserts in the world. She then ran 1968km across South Africa and 3253km across India both to raise awareness and funds for causes close to her heart. Nic and I have been so lucky to be part of her crew on a few different adventures as you’ll hear and she continues to open my mind every day. I could bang on forever but I’ll let her tell you the rest! Enjoy!!+ See show noteshere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
This week’s guest was on the very first list of potential guests that I ever made for the podcast and while our crazy schedules full of travel and adventure mean it’s taken us a little while to coordinate, I’m SO excited to have Mark Wales on the show today and his beautiful fiancé Samantha Gash to follow next week. You might already know that Samantha is one of my dearest friends and soon to be bridesmaid and that Sam, Mark and their bubba Harry are pretty much family. And yet, somehow even after hearing both of their stories many times, I am still completely blown away by these powerhouses every single time and count myself so lucky to have them as friends. They are truly just another breed of human being and their stories add something very different to the yay we’ve seen so far. Starting off with Mark, you may know I’m almost as obsessed with the military as I am with crime (you can’t help what makes you yay) and Mark was not just in the army but an SAS platoon commander in special ops – SO COOL!!!! Having his eyes on the prize from year 9 when he first heard about the SAS, he made his way through the gruelling training to join the SAS and ultimately complete tours in East Timor, Afghanistan, Lebanon and more. Impressive enough as that is alone, his stellar career in the military was just one of many chapters on Mark’s way to yay who, after coming back to the academy to teach then retired and headed to New York. And not just for a gap year or gardening leave… oh no – he went to do an MBA at Wharton and become a Management Consultant at leading international firm, McKinsey. If you thought that was enough, you don’t know Mark and Sam. I can’t really imagine Mark in an office environment especially after being in combat and it turns out he felt much the same so tried out for Survivor Season 2 back in Australia. On the show, he met our beautiful Sammy and the two now have the most beautiful little boy, Harry, who absolutely lights up all our lives. On top of that, Mark also started his own business called Kill Kapture designing luxury streetwear to help the ex-military transition back into their lives with armour for their day. And quite understandably, he is now a coveted public speaker sharing his wisdom and knowledge from his amazing experiences along the way. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!+ See show noteshere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Today's is one of those guests who I have admired from afar for many, many years (since way before I ever contemplated starting a business myself). So, I feel even more privileged and excited than usual to have sat down with the incredible Cyan Ta’eed, which is saying something. Cyan founded her first business just one year after entering the workforce but it’s her third, Envato, that propelled her onto the international stage.Envato is world's leading marketplace and community for creative assets and creative people and Nic has actually been a customer for over 10 years! You’ll hear all about Envato's crazy growth to over 7 million members and nearly $100 million of turnover and, for most people, that would be enough but Cyan went on to start a CHOCOLATE social enterprise called Hey Tiger, which is absolutely DIVINE (and which just released a bunch of vegan friendly flavours to its already delightful range of delectable choccies - think caramelised popcorn and balsamic strawberry).But most excitingly, this week her brand new baby Milkshake has launched, solving the age old frustration of only having one link in your Instagram bio and not being able to edit your website on your phone. Milkshake allows you to build your own Insta website to pop in your bio and bring ALL the boys to the yard making insta work harder for you. I’ll leave Cyan to tell you the rest and hope you enjoy!!!+ See show noteshere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I know I say this all the time and let’s be real, it would be impossible for me to ever choose one sole favourite episode, but I think this one really stands out for how much practical advice my wonderful friend Shelley Laslett generously imparts throughout. While we explore her way to yay and the non-linear nature of the journey like many other episodes, I love this one so much because she demonstrates at the same time why she is so incredibly brilliant at what she does and why she was meant to end up exactly where she has.While it took her a while to realise it, Shelley was born to be a neuroscience coach and this is a taste of the transformative work she does unlocking your best you, shifting mindsets and backing it up with the hardcore brain science. Honestly, it’s like getting free coaching so get your pens and paper out kids, you’re in for a rollercoaster ride! From politics and philosophy to advising start ups then a Masters of Neuroscience to founding her own coaching business, Vitae, Shelley is among the most articulate people I’ve had the pleasure of speaking too but still never without a good chuckle or two – you’ll hear us have a good laugh over cowboys, cowgirls and the more appropriate cowperson. I hope you take as much out of this as I did.+ See show noteshere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
What a wonderful week it’s been, beautiful people, if you haven’t already seen we started a Seize the Yay facebook community last week and it is already brining me SO much joy every day. Thank you to the 200 of you who have already joined and started sharing the little things that make you smile. It’s also a lovely place to be able to leave any feedback or further questions for our guests that I can pass on and I’ll also share any new events or products there first so if you want to join, I’ll pop a link in the show notes.Remember it takes so little to make someone else’s day brighter, so why not try do it everyday. Little sneaky shout out before we start to Miah, Al, Jill and Alisha, four beautiful listeners who made MY day last week when they came over at a friend’s birthday to say hello and sang the WHOLE seize the yay sing off by heart. NOTHING brings me more joy than to meet you listeners and hear how you’re seizing your yay so don’t hesitate to share or reach out, it means the world! Because you’re not there when we record I always forget people are actually listening so I love being reminded, thank you so much ladies!Back to today’s episode, we’ve got a double dose of Sarah for you with the delightful Sarah Hamilton, co-founder of Bella box and more recently Sand and Sky. Bella box is Australia’s largest sampling service bringing 10s of thousands of subscribers the latest of everything trending in beauty. Sand and Sky is the original Australian pink clay mask that has gone viral tightening pores all over the globe and showcasing Australian natural botanicals to the world.You’ve probably seen me ramble on about both before as I’ve been a long time customer and admirer of Sarah and her twin Emily since many years ago when we first met at a speaking gig. From working the grill at McDonald’s to a career in finance overseas, I love that Sarah’s greatest successes weren’t even a blip on the radar until her 30s proving again that your way to yay is not only NOT linear but also not predictable. As always, there’s many a chuckle and I hope you enjoy our chat as much as we did.+ See show noteshere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
It’s been a long time coming, but I’ve been working away on getting some awesome jobs into the mix and this episode is the first to kick us off with the fabulous Emma Lewis, an undercover cop (or covert cop as you will learn is the correct terminology) who also has an amazing side hustle called Canvast. Emma reached out earlier this year during a little social media hiatus which led her to find this and many other podcasts and I am so delighted to have connected to share her story – you’ve probably gathered I’m fascinated by crime and police so I nearly chewed her ear off. She is not only still a Queensland policewoman but has also created the beautiful Canvast planner – a dateless yearly planner reminding us all that you don’t need to wait for a new year or month to get started on your dreams. She shares some wonderful insights including that time she peed her pants in front of a sergeant, the kind of down to earth chuckles that you know I love so much!This also motivated me to finally get a Seize the Yay Facebook group going, so that even if only for a few of us, there is an easy, centralised place to share the things that bring yay to our day! Click HERE to join or search "SEIZE THE YAY COMMUNITY".+ Follow Emma here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I think you’ll agree that we’ve had some seriously impressive human beings share their ways to yay on the show, but I was completely blown away by our first guest for the new financial year. I’m always so grateful that our guests feel comfortable enough to show the lesser known sides of themselves (especially when it’s not often that they do), which is perhaps why I was so captivated by the gorgeous Jesinta Franklin this week.While I, like most of the country, am no stranger to Miss Universe 2010 and the striking looks that have carried her through a successful career as a model, brand ambassador and TV presenter I wasn’t as familiar with Jesinta’s eloquence, utmost professionalism and genuine care for others (that earned her the real life title of Miss Congeniality). As you’ll hear, she radiates warmth and honesty belying the fame that surrounds her both independently and together with husband and AFL superstar, Buddy Franklin.I feel very lucky that I got to steal her away this week for a delightful chat on the very day that her brand new self-funded, self-produced Jesinta App launched two days ago along with the new issue of Women’s Health Magazine with her on the cover. You’ll hear more about it in the episode and of course I’ll pop a link to it in the show notes. We also chat about everything from idyllic Gold Coast childhoods to meeting Donald Trump, and from WAG life to the five love languages. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!+ See show noteshere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Very lucky that today’s guest squeezed me in during her recent visit to Australia for the amazing Business Chicks event, 9 to Thrive, in Sydney a few weeks ago. Miki Agrawal is the true definition of a game changer taking on some of society’s most taboo and unglamorous areas of life and shifting the way we think about and experience them. Born in Montreal and moving to the US with her twin for college and then a corporate career in investment banking, she experienced a transformative turning point in her life after a sliding doors experience on 9/11 and decided that life was too short not to live your dreams so she left banking to pursue three of them – start a business, play sport professionally, work on films. She excelled in all three of them, which you’ll hear about, and yet none of those pursuits are what really lit her trailblazing fire.It is the business she co-founded in 2011, THINX, that may ring more of a bell and that really allowed her to create change where it is most needed developing anti-microbial, moisture-wicking, absorbent, and leak resistant underwear. If it weren’t challenge enough to make period pants exciting, her latest venture is TUSHY, shedding light on the outdatedness and expense of toilet paper and the superior hygiene, convenience and sustainability of bidets. She’s one of the most fascinating person I’ve spoken to and I was captivated by everything she had to say. There’s so much more I wanted to ask but she’s written several books so I’ll pop links to those at the end as I’m sure you’ll want more by then like I did!+ See show noteshere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
You have probably seen (and heard in the last episode) about the latest issue of Women’s Health that I am SO grateful to have been included in – super chuffed and still pinching myself at the experience and my family has bought every copy within a 100km radius. The same day, the Men’s Health magazine hit the shelves and both magazines are Nic and my go-to sources for anything new or noteworthy in health/fitness and wellbeing.Men’s Health readers may have noticed things being shaken up a bit for the better in recent times and it’s mostly due to legendary editor, Scott Henderson, who has taken a more holistic approach to what constitutes fit and inspiring than what tradition has dictated since taking over the reigns quite by surprise. I was lucky enough to sneak him away when I was in the office to chat to him about his pathway to get there, his love of matcha and what an editor actually does and it was an absolute blast!Such an interesting journey that didn’t actually start in journalism and crosses both founder life and working up a corporate ladder (with some spanish rapping in between). Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!+ See show noteshere+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I’m sure I’m not alone in having been touched by this woman’s career at some point or another in one of the many stellar roles she has portrayed that have made her an Aussie household name. Kat Stewart is one of our most outstanding actresses winning many accolades for her talents including AACTA and the coveted Logie awards.But as you’ll hear today, despite her immense gratitude for the recognition she has earned, she is the ultimate professional and passionately dedicated to the art form in both TV and theatre and I love her attitude of just putting her head down and getting the job done well. Extremely down to earth and originally from Bairnsdale where my own family is from, she was such a pleasure to chat to and I loved her honesty about not only the fun and glamorous moments but the very nitty gritty parts of forming an acting career.You may recognise her as Roberta Williams in Underbelly or Billie Proudman in Offspring (with many TV and theatre roles in between) but what I’m so excited about is her new show Five Bedrooms on Channel 10. A comedy drama based on the disaster of buying property these days, it focuses on 5 different people who end up at the singles table at a wedding and eventually buy a house together with each episode narrated by a different character. At the time of recording, it was just before the first episode but at the time of publishing, TONIGHT is the first episode led by Kat’s character Liz. You’ll hear more about it in the episode and should absolutely tune in tonight (and all Wednesdays) at 8:40pm!+ See show notes here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
So much thought goes into the guests you hear from with my main concern being the YAY their story can instil in you (whether founders or not and whether big profiles or not). Today’s guest is a perfect example – yes, she’s a founder and has a big profile but she is definitely not same same!Tiff Hall is an exceptional human being in just about everything she turns her attention to – incredibly book smart but also infinitely creative, a master of several instruments, a linguist, a fitness expert with 20 years of experience, an elite athlete, an author, a TV personality, a businesswoman and a mother. While she sounds like the last person any of us can identify with, she comes from the humblest beginnings as a simple girl from Essendon growing up around the taekwondo centre her parents still own in Brunswick. And despite her incredible success since then, you’ll hear that her roots stay close to her heart. While many would have taken on the reigns of the family business and felt more than accomplished, Tiff is one of the most motivating people for her appetite for challenge. With Taekwondo as her first love, she is not only a black belt but a 6th DAN black belt. She has 20 years of fitness experience that she has channelled into a role on Gladiators, The Biggest Loser and now into her own amazing online fitness program TiffXO and has also joined Chris Hemsworth’s team on the Centre App. I could keep going and giving it away now but you’ll hear it all in the episode so I hope you feel as motivated by this one as I do!+ See show notes here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
So excited to introduce you guys to one of my unofficial mentors and role models, although I’m not sure she knows it. Rachel Kelly is one of the SMARTEST and most switched on businesswoman that I’ve been lucky to have met and while she is absolutely knee deep in business at all times, it hasn’t been by the founder route which I find really interesting. (You'll hear in the intro a few words about showing variety of life paths on the show, as I know things have been a bit founder-biased mainly because of their flexibility of time to record. Just know, I'm working away in the background on keeping things broad and diverse and thank you for all your submissions for guests - the pipeline is super exciting!)Rachel is a retail superstar having jumped from her own Red Earth franchise in Adelaide to climbing up the retail ladder and into executive mode in the Just Group to then taking the reigns as Global CEO of T2 and now looking after all of Sales at booming start up Afterpay. In between, she’s been an investor, start up advisor and executive mentor and is an absolute fountain of knowledge when it comes to helping complex businesses achieve growth, focus and longevity.I feel very lucky to have had her in my ear at some of the tougher times in our journey. She is an incredible leader and shares some incredible insights for any person owning, working on or in any business and I hope you gain some pearls of wisdom from our chat.+ See Rachel's website here+ See more on Afterpay here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I’m so excited to welcome one of my favourite Aussie icons to the show for this episode – positively pinching myself to have the stunning Megan Gale here today. After winning a modelling competition at 18 years old in her hometown of Perth, Megan has had a stellar career as a fashion icon and become a household name gracing the covers of many a glossy magazine both in Australia and overseas, holding the longest fashion contract in Australia with David Jones, and becoming an ambassador for L’Oréal joining the likes of Beyonce and J.Lo. But she’s not just a pretty face (and smoking hot body), Megan has also enjoyed success in film and TV including Getaway, Australia’s Next Top Model and Project Runway. If that weren’t enough, she started her own swimwear range, Isola, in 2010 AND has also conquered motherhood with two beautiful children River and Rosie to fiancé Shaun Hampson (who is actually an old friend of mine!)For many, that would be more than enough to feel deserving of putting up the feet but Megan has added another incredible project to her repertoire. This May, she debuts Mindful Life, a conscious children’s skincare collection that’s been 5 years in the making. Made in Australia from ethically sourced, cruelty-free and naturally derived ingredients, the range is designed to nurture the relationship between parent and child and encourage presence in an endlessly busy world of stimulation and time paucity. I’m honoured to have her on the show to tell us a bit about the brand and the story that led her to this moment.+ See show notes here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I know I always say each guest has an amazing story, but it’s because they’re all so interesting in such different ways. I’m so excited to have the amazing Erin Deering on the show today, co-founder of global swimwear giant, Triangl, which you’ll hear she has now exited but which is still very close to her heart.
Hers is a fascinating story of going from eating tin soup to get the business off the ground to becoming a multimillionaire in less than a year and getting her swimwear onto the hottest bodies in the world including Kim Kardashian and Miley Cyrus and the rollercoaster that you can only expect came with it. We cover so many topics from having two children and dealing with her separation, the challenge of losing yourself in the scale up process of a booming business, eating disorders and control, the interaction between money and happiness and the process of learning to treat yourself with kindness.
I’m so honoured that she spoke so openly about the challenges and journey along the way, and hope you enjoy getting to know her a little more.
+ Follow Erin here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I finally convinced the mysterious Ang (spelling debated in the episode haha) to come on the show and tell her story. I’ve had so many requests to hear from Ang so here she is in all her hilarious glory. While we have heard from many incredible guests who are well on their way to seizing their yay, Ang is just 22 and at the very beginning of her journey so I thought it would make for something a little different to have a younger guest on the show. Having said that, she has nonetheless squeezed more into her life than people decades older than her which is part of what makes her so interesting.While she is studying physio full time at uni and absolutely loves all things science and anatomy, she has also built and recently sold her own food truck business, created a solo charity ride from Adelaide to Melbourne covering 800km on her bicycle to raise $22,000 for Stand Up Events combating homophobia and discrimination, started boxing from scratch and trained for her first fight where she won by technical knock out after just 1 and a half rounds, tried out for fun but successfully been listed in the VFLW for this year, worked across many different businesses and industries now going freelance in creative and digital marketing and that’s just half of it. You can see why she’s such a motivating and life loving person to be around.While we met through our businesses, she is one of our closest friends and a human ray of sunshine. You can tell we get a bit off track from time to time probably forgetting we were recording and not just chatting between mates, but hopefully you enjoy nonetheless.+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
After the week full of public holidays, got some motivation to kick start you all again in the form of Pippa Hallas – CEO of one of the oldest and most beloved beauty brands in the world, Ella Baché. Created in Paris in 1936, the brand was founded by Madam Baché who defied her times as a powerful and pioneering woman leaving Czechoslovakia after being denied a place in medicine at university due to her gender.
Decades later and after a long break without a family member in the business, Pippa stepped into her great aunt’s shoes (yes, she is Madam Baché’s great niece_ and climbed her way up to the position of CEO of the business which she now holds today. Her book, Bold Moves, is an amazing collection of her learnings along the way, but I’m so excited to be able to share some of those here today with you!
+ See show notes here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I feel very lucky to have connected with this episode's guest very early on in the Matcha Maiden journey and to have gone from insta friends to a real-life mutual love fest in the process. As one of the pioneering leaders of the wellness world, starting out before Instagram even existed, Jess Sepel has built her personal blog into a multi-faceted booming business changing the lives of hundreds of thousands of the members of her highly engaged, loyal and nurturing JSHealth community. Jess was just 14 when she developed an eating disorder as she grappled with her new environment after moving from South Africa to Australia and I’m so grateful for how openly she shares her struggles and the process of healing in this episode. Having been confronted with how far she had strayed from looking after herself during her studies in Health Science at Macquarie and later nutritional medicine, Jess has since devoted herself to helping others nurture positive relationships with nutrition, exercise and themselves and has now written several books, developed an 8-week transformative program, has an incredible App, has built a hugely successful range of JSHealth Vitamins and continues to innovate to help us be our best selves.Her honesty and self-awareness is incredibly refreshing and I have long since admired Jess as a role model, business woman and huge supporter of other women in business. It was SUCH a pleasure to spend this hour with her and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.+ See show notes here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
This episode's guest is a beloved household name, although you’re likely to know the brand more than you do the person, which is why I’m even more excited to share his story. Despite what might be the busiest time of year for him in the lead up to Easter, Pana Barbounis made time to share the story of founding the eponymous Pana Chocolate now rebranded as Pana Organic and growing it from a solo operation with him delivering on his Vespa to the multimillion dollar business it is today sold in 25 countries around the world. I’ve had the pleasure of spending time with Pana in his Richmond HQ several times over the course of our business journeys in the wellness industry and the smells from the kitchen are unrivalled as is his cheer and energy. Pana’s trail blazing rich and luxurious chocolate is unmistakable and while it is free from dairy, gluten, refined sugar and soy it is celebrated by health nuts and average joes alike, the flavour belying its healthful and sustainable origins. While most of you will have heard of the brand that has a following of 100s of thousands of loyal fans all over the world, Pana is perhaps less known so I loved hearing more about who is he especially when he isn’t the king of chocolate. You’ll have to excuse a few sounds from the bustling streets of Richmond – adds to the ambiance!+ Follow Pana Organic here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
If you haven’t heard of the Shameless podcast yet, I’m SO delighted to be able to give you the best podcast recommendation you might ever get. Being the podcast for smart women who like dumb stuff, Shameless speaks to a special piece of my soul and turns out hundreds of thousands of others agree getting a weekly intellectual and highly entertaining spin on pop culture from the amazing Zara McDonald and Michelle Andrews.Created in 2018 while in their early 20s working together at Mamamia, this dynamic duo now podcast full time and have grown Shameless to 1.4 million downloads in its first year, being named in Apple’s best of 2018 list, and selling out 700 live show tickets in 24 hours which happened just last week. So chances are if you’re listening to this, you’ve probably also listened to Shameless but you might NOT have heard from Zara and Michelle about their lives PRE shameless and all the behind the scenes which, as you know, is my favourite part of Seize the Yay. And even if you haven’t heard of them, there’s a reason their banter has gone viral so I’m guessing you’ll enjoy the chats regardless.+ Full show notes here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
The immediate post-30th brain explosion diaries. Thank you so much for submitting your questions, I've tried to answer all of them as honestly and spontaneously as possible so hopefully the rambling isn't too much!!!!! SO many feels!!!!
Today is International Happiness Day so the perfect opportunity to release a new episode looking a little deeper at seizing the yay. I’m so excited to have Dr Elise Bialylew as our guest for the occasion, a doctor and psychiatrist turned coach, meditation teacher and social entrepreneur AND founder of Mindful in May as well as author of The Happiness Plan. Just a few things on her plate and yet she juggles them so well! Having also considered everything from life as a jazz pianist to running a chocolate making business and from graphic design to documentary filmmaking along the way, she is another reassuring example that the path to yay is NOT linear and that happiness is definitely a journey not a destination.Just one year out from finishing psychiatry, she made the big jump on her way to yay to go full time on Mindful in May – a global campaign that teaches participants how to meditate through daily video interviews with world leading mindfulness teachers and audio guided meditations. So far the initiative has not only taught over 30,000 people to meditate, it has also raised over $600,000 for Charity Water and in doing so helped over 12,000 people get access to clean water. Her book is also an amazing resource for achieving a lifetime of happiness and I’m so excited to share some of the highlights with you today.+ Full show notes here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
This guest is possibly one of the best speakers I’ve ever heard and I’m so excited to have him on the show as we have been following each other’s stories for a few years now. You’ve probably heard of the amazing Thankyou, but in case you haven’t, it’s a trailblazing social enterprise that commits 100% of their profits to helping end global poverty and Daniel Flynn is a co-founder and Managing Director. Starting the business as Thankyou Water at just 19 years old with his now wife (but then girlfriend) Justine and best friend Jarryd, they revolutionised an already saturated industry allowing consumers to make a positive impact with their choices of bottled water directing profits towards funding water projects in developing nations. Over 10 years later, they have over 55 products in over 5500 outlets including Coles and Woolworths after a spectacular campaign you will hear more about and are about to enter a new chapter. Daniel has also written his own book to help fund the business, Chapter One, with a pay what you want price-tag and printed in landscape exemplifying his defining tendency to ask “but what if it works?” And, what better timing to sit down with this amazing human to hear his story then at the beginning of their National Shower for Good Day Campaign this week that you’ll hear more about in the episode.+ Full show notes here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I hope you all enjoyed last week's double drop of episodes - wish I could release two episodes every week! This week has been a beautiful celebration of women for International Women's Day 2019 - I'm not sure if just it’s me, but I feel like it’s been the biggest one yet with so many campaigns and outpourings of love going around. So, today I’m celebrating just one of the many incredible women who I am so lucky to have in my life who is doing a particularly amazing job at connecting women in business and supporting their journeys as well as being a hugely successful female CEO and founder herself.Some of you may now her as The Lazy CEO but her name is Jane Lu and she’s the founder of booming international fashion business, Showpo. You’ll hear all about her going from a corporate accounting career to a failed business to starting Showpo in her parent's garage and turning it into a multimillion dollar empire (that has hit over $30 million per year) with a string of awards far too many to list that acknowledge their game-changing success.She’s also founded Like Minded Bitches Drinking Wine (LMBDW) where she was speaking the night before our podcast and has a bit of a cold/hangover as a result, so she asked us to excuse the croaky-ness although I though it was husky. She's helping women everywhere connect and support each other on their business journey. She’s such an absolute crack up, so I hope you enjoy!+ Full show notes here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Back again already, beautiful people! Thought I’d squeeze in a bonus episode this week to celebrate MARDI GRAS, so this is the very first SEIZE THE GAY with my dear friend Khanh Ong. You may have already seen his stellar performance in last year’s season of Masterchef making it to the top 3 with his incredible innovation and culinary flair. But whether or not you watched the show, there are so many more dimensions to this wonderful human and I wanted to share some more of his inspiring and multifaceted story.Born in an Indonesian refugee camp and emigrating with his Vietnamese family in the 1990s, Khanh has come out of the closet twice, had careers in fashion design, styling and music (DJ-ing for the likes of Justin Bieber) before cooking was even on the cards and even did a stint in London before the age of 20. He is another wonderful example that finding your yay isn’t a straightforward, smooth ride and takes tenacity, resilience and self-exploration. But he’s finally getting there seizing his newfound career in food with both hands recently launching his new venue, The George on Collins with many more exciting projects to come. Like episode 23 with Georgia and Lee, this is a beautiful mix of audio-blowing laughter and the more serious tear-jerking reflections so I hope you enjoy the rollercoaster as much as I did.+ Full show notes here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I am SO excited to share our first couples episode with two of THE best human beings going around. You can probably tell from the snippet that we had an absolute blast, which is always the case where Georgia Love and Lee Elliott are concerned. There are so many wonderful things about these two both separately and together, but one of my favourites for Seize the Yay purposes is that neither of them found their joy in the ever so trendy entrepreneur pathway and in fact both have long-term successful and very happy careers in their respective fields, showing that you can find joy within an industry you love. Another thing I love is that while many of you will know them from the Bachelorette, I didn’t spend much time on that experience (despite it being a beautiful and obviously enduring love story), because they both were already incredibly accomplished BEFORE that and so much of their stories predates the show.Georgia was not only in TV before the show, but a primetime news anchor before she even turned thirty and well before Batchie and Lee has been a very happy mechanical plumber for 17 years AND his modelling career starting well before then including taking out the Victorian and Tasmanian title in Australia’s Hottest Tradie competition in 2011!!! Plus, they have remained incredibly humble, down to earth and adorably dorky and I am so grateful to have them on the show. I hope you have as many laughs as I did and that this brings you a smile if nothing else! Side note for context – they had been to see Eminem the night before this show – watch out for the RIPPER puns along the way.+ Full show notes here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
This episode took a little longer to get to you than usual but, like a fine wine, all good things take time! Today’s guest is an amazing entrepreneur, investor, public speaker, co-founder and CEO of Vinomofo – the legend Justin Dry.Like many good ideas, Justin started Vinomofo with his brother in law at the time over a shared belief that wine should not be about “bowties and bullshit”. On Christmas Eve 2006, they decided to start a business together which led to several further wine related businesses that ultimately ended up in the creation of Vinomofo in 2011. Vinomofo now operates in Australia, NZ and Singapore where it has grown quickly to over $50m in annual revenue, 500,000 members (or "mofos"), and a team of 100. Their incredible success has been recognised by a host of accolades include Online Retailer of the Year 2015 at the ORIA’s, Telstra Victorian Business of the Year in 2016, and Hottest Aussie Online Retailer in 2018. Justin himself has been Awarded Spotify Young Entrepreneur of the Year at The Australian Startup Awards is a BRW Young Rich Lister and has been named one of the Top 50 People in E-Commerce 2016, 2017 and 2018 by Internet Retailing.I loved hearing how his love for wine and business have persisted throughout his life and his vision has gone through multiple iterations before he landed at “the one”. Plus, as you’ll hear we had a good cackle, so it was a seriously enjoyable chat and I hope you love it too!+ Full show notes here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
For this episode, we're joined by another intrapreneur but one who also has her own side hustle and can speak to both sides of the yay-type fence. Justine Bloome is an absolute powerhouse and fellow Aussie but now lives in the big apple (as you may hear every now and then in her slightly New York accent) doing incredible things in the world of digital marketing and tech.She has an incredible CV to her name and is currently right hand woman to Gary Vaynerchuk aka Gary Vee and the first Chief Strategy Officer of VaynerMedia since 2017 (aka dream job). I’m assuming you’ve heard of Gary Vee but if not, he’s an investor in Facebook, Snapchat, Venmo and Uber and CEO of Vayner Media and VaynerX – just come out from the rock you’ve been living under and google him. Prior to that, Justine served as executive vice president, head of strategy innovation at #1 Global Media Network, Carat, from December of 2014. Before her move to the Big Apple, she was a senior brand strategist consultant for The Brand Institute of Australia, head of client strategy for the Victoria region for Nine Entertainment and business strategist at Jack Morton Worldwide, as well as founding and serving as CEO of The Village Agency, “a network of independently successful marketing and communications experts.”If that weren’t enough, Justine is also the founder, author and publisher of the Mindful Series, and a transformation coach, empowering mindful professionals and wellbeing brands to thrive. Across two decades as a strategist inside frenetic media, advertising and agency environments in Australia, London and New York, she developed her approach to mindfulness and reflection as a means to unlocking her best potential and self. She’s a sought after speaker delivering TED Talks, speaking at Walt Disney’s Media Summit and many more.+ Full show notes here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
The first intrapreneur of the year literally landed her dream job two years ago and hasn’t looked back. Michelle Battersby is an amazing example of how you can leave corporate but not necessarily to start your own business (although, technically as you’ll hear, she did kind of start from scratch). Michelle started out as a competitive rower with her heart set on the Olympics but ended up studying Arts and then a Masters in HR once she realised how much she was sacrificing for her training. She entered the workforce with Citibank and spent several years climbing the corporate ladder in banking getting a job at UBS, returning to Citi and then even ending up at PWC.But, it’s her latest role as Country Lead and Marketing Director of Bumble Australia that changed her life completely when the opportunity landed in her lop just over two years ago. With no former experience but an intuitive belief that this was her opportunity of a lifetime, she quit her job that day and has been building Bumble Australia into the wonderful community it is today. It’s not just a dating app, there’s also Bumble BFF and Bumble Bizz, all based on the premise that the woman makes the first move which is ground breaking in the industry. She’s an absolute HOOT and I’m so happy to have her here on the show to show that dream jobs really do exist!+ Full show notes here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I flew to Sydney last week to chat with one of the most tenacious, well-rounded and motivating young women, Eleanor Pendleton, and we got along like a house on fire. Eleanor is the founder of Australia’s first dedicated online beauty magazine, Gritty Pretty, known for its pioneering beauty without the bullshit coverage of the industry.I LOVE her story so much not least because unlike many of us who still don’t really know where we’re heading, Eleanor has always known she wanted to end up in magazines and beauty and wasted no time getting there. She entered the workforce at 19 having landed a job at Cosmopolitan halfway through her qualification, under Sarah Wilson and under the mentorship of Zoe Foster Blake. She then became the youngest beauty editor Australia has seen for FAMOUS magazine when she was just 20 and the moved on to the more global In Style magazine where she found her dream job.But her insatiable thirst for growth and challenge soon had her itching for more, so she resigned and revived her old blog Gritty Pretty, which is now four years into an incredibly successful journey. So excited to share our wonderful chat from the beautiful Freshwater on the Northern beaches.+ Full show notes here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
So, it finally happened. We convinced Nic, my partner in life, business and golden retriever parenthood into coming onto the show. I know a few of you have been eagerly waiting to hear this one and I’m always surprised to hear when people say Nic’s quiet or mysterious but then I remember he’s actually quite shy (which to some of our closer friends is laughable as he’s the OPPOSITE once you get to know him). When I think about how he probably comes across in my stories or in take 527 of a photo together, you probably don’t see much of who he really is or how we are as a couple so I’m excited to share what I think is one of the most inspiring ways to yay so far. One of the things I love about him most is that there are so many dimensions to his personality, but if you only know one of them then you’ll meet a few of the others in today’s episode! And perhaps I’m a bit the same – we’re both equal parts nerdburger and arty farty” as I always say which is why we’re 10 years in and getting married later this year!As for his bio which I’ve had to write many a time, it still astounds me all the things he’s managed to squeeze into his 34 years. I don’t think he gives himself enough credit for most parts of the story, so I’ve tried to weasel some of it out of him. Starting off as a country boy in outer Devonport, Tasmania, Nic’s a serial entrepreneur and often laughs at how he’s never actually had a real job. His first career was as an international athlete which took him all over the world and, as mentioned in Jana’s episode, he was Jana Pittman’s training partner on his own Olympic journey until ongoing injury stopped his career short. On returning to Melbourne, he was poached from his retail job into the night club scene where he really cut his business teeth building Baroq House into its glory days and let me queue jump which is the romantic story of how we met. While there was definitely a lot of partying, he and his team started to develop their own marketing and design skills to take things in-house, which eventually morphed into his current full service digital agency, the Bushy Creative.His self-teaching and inner dork has gone to such lengths that Nic’s tech skills ventured even as far software development and he’s had two full scale tech spin offs that he talks about in the episode. He’s also got an aerial asset capture business taking photos out of helicopters and that’s all before Matcha Maiden or Matcha Mylkbar were even a dot on the horizon. So sometimes, he’s a very serious tech head businessman but most of the time he’s a serial joker – life is NEVER boring when Nic’s around. He’s the sole reason I was able to leave law for my funtrepreneur life and turned this regimented, conservative lawyer into a crazy adventurer. His abs aren’t bad either, as you’ve probably noticed. This was the hardest episode I’ve done so far as I’m way too close to be objective so hopefully I’ve done him justice! Introducing, Nic Davidson…+ Full show notes here + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
In this episode, we are joined by one of my business idols, the amazing Janine Allis, who many of you will know as the founder of pioneering wellness empire, Boost Juice, and an investor on Shark Tank. She launched Boost in 2000 from a kitchen table in Melbourne after seeing the juice bar trend in the US at the age of 30, with no previous business experience.She is now the founder of Retail Zoo which is the mother company not only of Boost Juice, but also, as of 2007, Salsas and another business she founded, Cibo Espresso, which has since been acquired in 2012. Retail Zoo turned over just on $2 billion dollars (as of May 2018) with over 630 stores in 15 countries, sales of over $250m per annum and 7000 staff.Unsurprisingly, she has been recognised as Telstra Business Women of the Year, Amex Retailer of the year, Awarded Exporter of the year and this year BRW named her one of fifteen people that changed the way Australia does business in the last 35 years. She works alongside husband Jeff Allis and is a mother of four. I was lucky enough to speak alongside Janine recently in Fiji at Nurture Her and was captivated by her energy, sense of humour and wisdom. So excited to have her hear today for an express episode that we squeezed in to her crazy schedule to kick start your year and give 2019 a boost!+ Full show notes here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Our first guest for 2019 couldn't be a more perfect inspiration to kickstart a new year. Jana Pittman is an iconic Australian athlete who not only represented the country at three Olympic Games, but was also the first female athlete to compete in both the Summer and Winter Olympic games. She's a 2 x world champion and 4 x Commonwealth champion PLUS, when injury cut her hurdling career short, she pivoted to bobsled to compete in the Winter Olympics landing in the top 15. And the best bit? Her athletics career was only the warm up...If Jana didn’t already have you in awe, she is also a Mum of three, author of Just Another Hurdle, motivational speaker and... wait for it... FUTURE DOCTOR currently undergoing her studies in Medicine. She will graduate with several different degrees (likely top of her class the way things are going) and is doing her Masters and Honours in different things at the same time while also undergoing charity work with various organisations including the Australian Cervical Cancer Foundation. Her incredible achievements are too many to list and I can only imagine that her motivation and drive will continue to shine through in her medical career.Fun fact – Nic was her training partner way back and a groomsman at her wedding and I’m so lucky to have known the absolute powerhouse that is Jana Pittman for quite a few years now!!+ Full show notes here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
This one's been a little delayed after a technical glitch destroyed our first recording, but the second time around was even bigger and better PLUS conveniently timed after both Steph and Laura's partners proposed!!!!!! If you haven't heard of this dynamic duo, Steph and Laura are passionate advocates for instilling confidence in young women and are helping thousands of girls around the world with their booming business, Keep It Cleaner, that has a fitness and nutrition app, a delicious grocery range, an inspiring blog and community events throughout the year.Both starting out as successful international models, Steph and Laura have openly shared their experiences and challenges in the modelling industry, finding body confidence, navigating their relationship with food and building resilience to inspire other young women on their journey. If that weren't enough, Steph also co-owns Soda Shades and Midnight Co as well as continuing her career as a sought after model and brand ambassador for the likes of Bondi Sands, Bras N Things, and more leveraging her 1 million+ followers. Laura is also completing her Law/Business degree (just casually) and has some epic brand ambassadorships of her own, particularly as face of Jaggad activewear.Still only in their early 20s, they have both been incredibly smart about their success and also own houses and, as mentioned, are now planning for their weddings! They've also just released their first book, A Girl's Guide to Kicking Goals, which shows how down to earth and real they both are and shares such important messages about confidence, positivity and balance. LOVED chatting with these two so much that we went over an hour and a half, so consider it a little festive bonus!+ Full show notes here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Today’s guest is not only one of the most breathtakingly stunning people I’ve ever met, but also one of the hardest working, motivated and down to earth despite her many successes. While many of you will know Elyse Knowles as a leading Australian model and winner of the Block in 2017 with her legend of a partner, Josh, we’ve known Knowlzy since years before that and she’s as humble, outdoorsy and unpretentious now as she always has been.Among a string of impressive achievements in just 26 short years, Elyse is an ambassador for Myer, Seafolly, Aveda, Davidoff and Vital Everyday as well as a charity ambassador for WaterAid. She is also a savvy business woman launching her own fashion label, Evrryday, and she and Josh are continuing as a killer renovation duo having recently moved into their second home after selling their completely transformed Coburg home in November last year.If you follow Elyse along with nearly a million other people, you’ll know she can do full glamour better than most but prefers to go make up free by the Murray and loves camping, cleaning up the local beaches, motorbikes and her fur babies, Isla and Harlow. To top it all off she has just released her first beautiful book, From Me to You, sharing her story, challenges and top tips on beauty, fashion, health and fitness. So excited to have her here to chat more about the book and how she seizes her yay!+ Full show notes here + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I know they say you don’t have to reinvent the wheel, but Dany Milham has shown that reinvention can be an incredible platform for success. Dany and co-founder Mitch Taylor have reinvented the mattress with their booming business, Koala, which has skyrocketed to a multimillion-dollar empire and disrupted an age-old largely uninteresting industry. If you’re the 7 people in Australia who haven’t seen their ads yet, they developed their own foam that prevents you from feeling your partner’s movements in bed, the mattresses can be shipped to anywhere in Australia within 4 hours and are now the highest reviewed mattresses in Australia.Starting with just a mattress, the vision for Koala was always a furniture brand with tool-less 5 min assembly furniture delivered in 4 hours and they have an exciting, innovative pipeline of furniture products ahead. They are also a social good business in that they adopt koalas for every mattress sold and turtles for every sofa they sell with conservation project around Australia.While some grow into their entrepreneurial selves, Dany has always had a business brain. Born in laid-back Byron, he swapped the boardies and surf life for computers and tech, finding his love for tech and business as young as 13 years old when he founded his first startup. He has also launched a successful app, his own digital agency, has a computer science degree and was poached by prestigious agency, Ogilvy, before his Koala journey. And this was all by the age of 25!!! What an absolute legend, so excited to have him here to pick his brains!+ Full show notes here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
You may have seen a couple of weeks ago that I joined legend Danny Kennedy on his own chart-topping podcast, The Fitness And Lifestyle Podcast, and if you’ve ever listened to it before you’ll know he is a FOUNTAIN of knowledge giving people a fresh, simple approach to wellbeing and fitness and helping them achieve incredible results. In a few short weeks, he’s already helped me enormously and if you watch my stories you’ll see I’ve doubled the weight I’m lifting already, so I figured especially as we enter Summer and the silly season of splurges is upon us, we’d get him on to share some of his wisdom.He’s a certified strength and conditioning coach with a cert ¾ in fitness and diploma in sport and management and is all about flexibility and sustainability when it comes to workouts and nutrition. With a background in many different sports, injury led him to try his hand on stage as a men’s physique athlete which helped him develop his expansive knowledge on healthy weight control, leaning up and building strength. He’s also the trainer for Keep it Cleaner alongside the amazing Steph Claire Smith and Laura Henshaw along with many other big names in the community which is a testament to his talents. So excited to have him on the show to share some of his top tips and how he seizes his yay.+ Full show notes here+ Find DK’s podcast here+ See DK’s website here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
In most cases, being a mother of five is an all-consuming role in itself but Emma Isaacs isn’t your average woman. Running her own show since the tender age of 18, Emma is the definition of business woman and is now the founder and global CEO of Business Chicks – Australia’s largest networking community for women that has now also entered the US market where Emma and her family now live.Emma bought Business Chicks at only 250 members after seven years of running her own successful recruitment company (which followed her dropping out of her business degree as it wasn't moving fast enough) and has now grown it to its present glory running 100 events annually, publishing a magazine called Latte, and bringing the likes of Kate Hudson, Richard Branson, Seth Goden and Nigella Lawson to her audience. She has also just published her first book, Winging It, documenting the process with a refreshingly honest and practical approach and I’m delighted to have her on the show.There were a couple of technical glitches but we got there in the end and you can enjoy a bit of typical LA background beats along the way...+ Show notes are available here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
We’ve had some incredible guests so far and I’ve said before that I feel like I’m running out of positive adjectives to do them all justice! But Kayla Itsines is truly one of the world’s most inspiring and influential leaders and very special to me as she topped off the “dream guest list” when I first started the podcast.Kayla doesn’t really need an introduction having fast become a worldwide household name through her life changing Bikini Body Guides, but just to recap quickly, she is an Adelaide born personal trainer, author and entrepreneur who has educated and encouraged millions of women around the world to improve their health and fitness. Her 28 minute workouts have revolutionised the fitness world, focusing on strength and confidence through both training and recipes. She has also released an incredible meal planning and workout app, Sweat, founded by her fiancé Tobi (also featuring leading trainers Kelsey Wells and Sjana Elise) and at just 26 she has created the world’s biggest female fitness community with over 10 million followers on Instagram and 23 million on Facebook!Her success has been recognised with many accolades including Time Magazine’s 30 most influential people alongside Kanye West, Cosmo Woman of the Year, and the BRW Young Rich List. More importantly, Kayla is incredibly down to earth and endearingly family focused embracing her Greek heritage and always making time for her relationship, her relatives and her huskies, Ace and Junior. While most of us are well acquainted with Kayla’s work and her online persona, I am SO excited to share a snippet of the beautiful human behind the scenes.+ Show notes are available here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
This is our first duo interview with two incredible people both in their own right and as a couple. Few people have faced the adversity and challenge that Barney and Kada Miller have endured, again, both separately and together and even fewer have come through it with such positive energy and resilience. They have taught me so much about visualisation, the power of your thoughts over your body, and the strength of your human spirit. I am so excited to share their story of seizing their yay.I won’t reveal too much here because the episode covers a lot of the story, but for some quick context Kada’s happy country NSW childhood was shaken with several tragedies of suicide and accidental deaths among her friends leading to a downwards spiral of bad decisions and habits. Barny was a promising young surfer also in country NSW looking to go pro when he was a passenger in a terrible car accident and was told he would never breathe independently or use his legs again. Ever stubborn, Barney refused to be defined by his quadriplegic diagnosis and has since made leaps and bounds in regaining mobility and even become a world champion adaptive surfer.I’ll let them inspire you with their grit, determination and beautiful love story that followed ending in Barney even standing to dance at their wedding. They also have a documentary, You & Me, and a book, The Essence of You & Me, that I cannot recommend more highly (with a box of tissues nearby) and I’m so excited to have them join us from California where Barney is working with world leaders on his rehab.+ Show notes are available here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
Agapi is one of the most effervescent and energising people I’ve ever met and a true Greek Goddess, born and raised in Athens with her sister, Arianna Huffington, founder of Huffington Post. Given her jam-packed schedule, this is an "express episode" that we squeezed in during our amazing Nurture Her immersive retreat in Fiji, but to get even half an hour one on one with her is a blessing.She is an absolute powerhouse of wisdom and love and I can’t say this short chat really captures her true essence, sense of humour and energy so consider it a taster that you can find out more about in her latest book, Wake Up to the Joy of You: 52 Meditations and Practices for a Calmer, Happier Life. As even Agapi mentions, to tell the full story would involve a Greek odyssey along the lines of Homer and the Iliad!! Taking a different pathway to her older sister, Arianna left Greece for London to study acting at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art with her heart set on Hollywood. One of my favourite quotes from her is that everything good in her life now is the result of not getting what she thought she wanted.When her acting career didn’t take off, she began a soul-searching journey leading her to receive her master's degree in psychology from the University of Santa Monica and go on to become a world-renowned speaker, best-selling author and spiritual leader whose meditations are among my very favourite. She’s even very kindly included a bonus meditation at the end of this episode about finding the joy of you. She is currently conducting workshops for Thrive Global, another company founded by Arianna, to help change the way we work and live. She divides her time between New York and Los Angeles and is one of the most inspiring people I’ve ever met. I’ll include links to all her books, meditations and other resources in the show notes and hopefully this short half an hour gives you some insight into her vibrancy and wisdom.+ Show notes are available here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
In this episode, we welcome our second male guest to the show, Tim Robards (another Bachelor connection, but I promise that's not the criteria for all guests!) What I love about Tim is that while he was indeed the FIRST ever Australian Bachelor (and the first marriage to come out of the show with the beautiful Anna Heinrich), he is far more than just a pretty face.
As a sports chiro by trade, Tim has degrees in physics and medical science as well as a masters of Chiropractic. He is also a wellness educator through his program, the Robards Method, which we’ll chat about in the episode and now an ACTOR making his debut on Neighbours as Pierce Greyson earlier this year. If that weren’t enough he’s also moved into producing through Robards Productions, is a pianist, and has a more woo woo side than you might expect. Introducing the multifaceted and all-round legend, Mr Tim Robards…
+ Show notes are available here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
While I've mentioned I don't want Seize the Yay to be about just business, health and women, I couldn't help but showcase another incredible female founder and CEO in the wellness space, Julie Stevanja, who I am also lucky to call my friend. Like Lisa and Rach, I met Julie at my first major speaking gig a few years ago and am continually in awe of how stylish, successful and savvy she is! She is CEO of one of my favourite online retailers, Stylerunner, which grew by 1736% to a multimillion dollar company value in the first three years. The website ships to 100 countries around the world and stocks more than 50 brands, including their own label Flight Mode which I absolutely adore.She is the epitome of style, somehow integrating Activewear into street style in a way that very few others could pull off. At that very first speaking gig when I was super nervous, she told me she was a closet introvert and gave me a quick schooling on the psychology of power posing and I’ve never forgotten it. So glad to have her on the podcast to share some of her many other pearls of wisdom. And since the sun was shining on this beautiful day we recorded outside so the birds provide some beautiful ambiance but you’ll have to excuse an airplane or two!+ Show notes are available here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I've been pretty blown away by ALL our guests so far, but I’m truly in awe of this one. I am so grateful to have the legendary Osher Günsberg (aka Andy G, Spidey, Batchie host, etc.) on the show to chat about his new book, Back, After the Break, the accompanying live show, and the heart wrenching story that both tell more candidly than most would expect.Starting with the more conventional story, there aren’t many Aussies who have had a more successful TV and radio career starting with Channel V, through to Australian Idol and now Australia's favourite The Bachelor, The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise. Osher also has an incredible podcast of his own, the Osher Günsberg Podcast, lots of other highly sought after gigs, a family and now of course a book deal.But what the book has revealed is the tumultuous battle with mental illness and addiction that lies under the effervescent and charismatic demeanour of Osher’s TV persona. From his name change, to rehab, to going plant-based, to becoming a father, it’s a moving and honest memoir that sheds light on the unfortunately still stigmatised issue of mental health and goes a long way to breaking that down. It’s an inspiring example though of how you can find your yay again and I'm so grateful to have had him share so openly and generously in this episode.It's a little longer than usual and I could have gone for hours longer, but it's a ripper with lots of laughs, almost tears, dog woofs and cameo appearances from Nic too. I was so worried about doing his story justice and I hope it's gone some way to doing that and showing a VERY different perspective of seizing the yay....+ Show notes are available here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
I know I said this wouldn't just be about business, health and women (and the coming episodes ensure that) but I am just so lucky to have some incredible business women in wellness around me and Rachael Finch is one of my all-time favourites. This was actually the very first episode I recorded and I couldn't have picked a more down-to-earth yay-type personality (see what I did there?) than the beautiful Rach to kick us off.We met when she was MC at my first major speaking gig a few years ago, so she's talked me through the newbie jitters more than once. She's not only more beautiful in real life than in photos or social media, but also the warmest, kindest and humble person despite a hugely successful career under her belt. From Miss Universe to business to motherhood, Rach shares her highs, lows and in betweens candidly and with lots of laughs in between.With legs starting at my shoulders, she is not only a stunning model but also a TV presenter, qualified PT, health coach, published author, savvy business woman with Bod by Finch Activewear and Body by Finch online health and fitness program to her name, she's also a mother to two beautiful children and a family woman first and foremost – a modern Wonderwoman, right?+ Show notes are available here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
So excited to host another incredible woman who epitomises the "seize the yay" life philosophy, and who shares my great love for motivational quotes and beautiful stationery. Joining us from her motherland in Sweden, our second guest is Kristina Karlsson, founder of my favourite stationery brand, Kikki K.I was lucky enough to meet Kristina in her Melbourne home (although it would have been lovely to visit the one in Sweden) on International Women's Day for fika (a Swedish coffee and cake break) and she truly lives and breathes her brand in everything she does. She is insatiably curious and the ultimate dreamer, which she has captured in beautiful Swedish style in her new (and first) book, Your Dream Life Starts Here.Her philosophy on dreaming is fascinating and the book is filled with practical tips, anecdotes from her impressive network and insights from her own inspiring journey behind the scenes of one of our most beloved Aussie brands. She is celebrating the book release with a series of Dream Life Masterclasses too along with Dr Tererai Trent (Oprah's favourite guest) and an amazing line up. So excited to share our chat and some of the lesser known things about this wonderwoman!+ Show notes are available here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
What a fabulous person to kickstart the podcast - the woman who not only epitomises the "seize the yay" life philosophy, but who has dedicated her life to helping others do the same. Yep, our first guest is the entrepreneur for entrepreneurs, Lisa Messenger - CEO of Messenger Group, founder of globally acclaimed Collective Magazine, prolific author, inspiring speaker and all-round legend.When I met her a few years ago, I was completely taken aback by her uncensored, down to earth and crazily passionate nature belying the seriously successful CEO that she is on paper. She hasn't changed one bit and is all the more inspiring for her openness and authenticity. Her latest book, Risk and Resilience, shares in surprising detail the nitty gritty of her rollercoaster closure of the much-loved Collective Magazine and we caught up to chat a bit more about why the biggest loss in her career has turned out to be a blessing in disguise.If there's anything I wanted for Seize the Yay, it's to show some of the less glamorous behind the scenes of finding your "yay" and explore the ups and downs of creating a life you love. Lisa has gotten us off to an amazing start, showing the importance of pivoting, cultivating resilience and finding the silver lining.+ Show notes are available here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!
The very first episode of the Seize the Yay podcast giving some context to who I am and what this is all about. If you've heard the story already, feel free to jump ahead to the first official interview which will follow in a few days.I roped in my mini-me, Ang Roan, who works across all our businesses and is a dear friend for some casual get-to-know-you banter since I get bored with my own voice after a while so can't expect you not to!Our Q&A covers not only what Seize the Yay means but also my lawyer to funtrepreneur transition, some of the nitty gritty behind the scenes along the way, being adopted, a special guest appearance from Mama Holloway and lots of laughs in between. Hope you enjoy!+ Show notes will be available here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Subscribe so you don't miss out on the next instalment of YAY!