Seize the 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!+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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! + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 [email protected] 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!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Dads here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 SERIESSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 [email protected] 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!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Patch page 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!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 hereSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 strategySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 HERESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Australia earlier 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!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Richard here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 medals and you can catch up on her Seize the Yay episode here.Here's a link to Ariarne Titmus' coach losing his bananas with joy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Follow Khanh Ong hereSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 hereSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Mami here+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 HERESee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 hereSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 hereSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 hereSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 hereSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 hereSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.