I’m thrilled to be back on the podcast and this time, welcoming Laura Poole! Laura is a renowned Vedic meditation teacher, the visionary founder of Mahasoma, and a passionate community builder dedicated to weaving feminine-led Vedic wisdom into everyday life.

Laura has spent over 15 years studying and training with revered masters across Australia and India, deeply immersing herself in the ancient lineages of Vedanta, Ayurveda, and Vedic meditation. Based on a beautiful three-acre homestead in Noosa, she also travels regularly to teach in Melbourne, Sydney, Byron Bay, and India - leading thousands of sessions, retreats, and teacher trainings.

Her unique approach combines simple, heart-based meditation techniques with embodiment practices, earth‑rooted living (she’s even growing a food forest!), and uplifting community events. Laura believes meditation is not just a personal tool — it’s a way to discover who you truly are, connect with your purpose, and live in loving service to the world.

She’s also the host of the Mahasoma Podcast, where she shares transformative stories and ancient wisdom to challenge old beliefs and inspire a new way of being.

And — I’m excited to say — Laura and I will be co-leading the COMPASS retreat together from 18th - 25th August in Bali. It’s a week-long journey into clarity, purpose, and deep reconnection… and we can’t wait to share it with you.

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Mahasoma - https://www.mahasoma.com/

Laura Poole - https://www.laurapoole.com/

Laura Poole IG - www.instagram.com/laura_poole

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Another Way - www.anotherway.au

Another Way IG - www.instagram.com/anotherway_au

COMPASS Retreat - www.anotherway.au/compass

Matt Defina - www.instagram.com/mattdefina_

What does Existential Kink actually look like in practice?

In this special follow-up episode with Dr Carolyn Elliot, author of Existential Kink, I step into the client seat and allow Carolyn to coach me through a powerful session (note: I suggest you listen to the previous episode if you don't know what EK is).

We dive into the challenges I’m facing in leadership, life and business, and she guides me through a pretty damn expansive EK practice (that isn't actually even in the book).

I’ll be honest—sharing this episode makes me nervous. It’s one of the most vulnerable conversations I’ve ever had on the podcast.

But I believe there’s value in being open about the messy, human side of growth, and I hope my experience will resonate with you and offer some insights for your own journey. I also hope you get to see and feel the power of EK in action too.

IG - Carolyn Elliot - www.instagram.com/carolynlovewell_

IG - Matt Defina - www.instagram.com/mattdefina_

I am so excited to share this episode with you - Existential Kink is a practice that has changed my life and changed the lives of so many people and clients around me and this episode I'm talking to the creator and author of the practice.

Dr. Carolyn Elliott, now known as Carolyn Lovewell, is a writer, educator, and expert in shadow integration, with a PhD in Critical and Cultural Studies from the University of Pittsburgh. She is best known for her book Existential Kink: Unmask Your Shadow and Embrace Your Power, which explores how embracing repressed parts of ourselves can unlock personal transformation. The book blends Jungian shadow work with a unique approach to finding pleasure in difficult or undesirable experiences.

In addition to her writing, Carolyn runs online programs like the "Sleep Over Mystery School," teaching occult philosophy and practical magic. She also founded the online community Electric Yes, where she offers coaching and workshops focused on her "Existential Kink" practices. Carolyn has traveled extensively, lived as a digital nomad, and now resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with her family​.

On the episode, we talk about:

Carolyn's Links

Matt's Links

This week's guest is a powerhouse! Alfie is an entrepeneur, fitness coach, model, actor and former corporate professional who left the rat race to pursure something more. Alfie shot to social media fame earlier this year (2024), after he created a Instagram account called @alfiegetshard, to share the journey of him completing the 75-hard challenge (go look this up if you don't know it!).

In just a few months, Alfie's account grew to over 100k followers (now 247k), and he then used this momentum to launch a fitness, health and coaching business off the back of it. Originally from New Zealand, but relocated to Bondi Beach, Alfie is the epitomy of what's possible when you back yourself and create your own way.

He's now living the life of his dreams with a bunch of other Kiwi mates who have all created the same lifestyle for themselves. He's team up with best mate Jake Blundell (aka @elastaboy - 661k IG followers) and they've now got their own IG accounts and businesses together, @purebodyeat and @trainpurebody (links below).

I met up with Alfie at Waves Podcast Studio in Bondi while I was up for a trip earlier this year and the pleasure of going for a run with him and his run club while I was up.

As you'll here in the episode, I first met Alfie because I complete one of his diet and fitness challenges and it had a real impact on me - I loved his philosophy and how much he simplifies things down.

Naturally, I was keen to meet with him and start to uncover some his secrets. As you'll hear in the episode, Alfie's attitude to life, work and training are exceptionally positive and inspirational.

In this episode, Alfie and I talk about:

• How he got into this world of health and fitness
• What it takes to actually show up day in, day out
• How to build a brand and business that's aligned with your life
• How to squeeze the most out of life, in all areas

Alfie's got a heap of really accessible programs online, go and check him out at the links below.

Alfie's Links

• IG - @alfiegetshard
• IG - @purebodyeats
• IG - @trainpurebody
• IG - @elastaboy

Another Way

Our podcast and business exists to help purpose-driven professionals create a meaningful life and career, without burning out. If you know of any guests that you think should appear, or have topics you'd like us to cover, please let me know via my details below.

Contact Details

As always, I'd love to hear your feedback! You can find me at the links below:

• IG - @anotherway.au
• IG - @mattdefina_
• Email: [email protected]

Working together

Want to chat about collaborating or working together? Book a discovery call with me here

Enjoy!

Alison Rice is a 10x award-winning leader, conscious career and business mentor, regenerative brand strategist and podcast host.

It all started in 2018 with the launch of the now-acclaimed Offline, The Podcast. An antidote to hustle and grind culture, it remains dedicated to exploring more conscious and sustainable definitions of success. To date, it's been downloaded over 1.5 million times.

Her ever-evolving body of work exists to serve anyone seeking a more spacious, sustainable and purpose-driven version of success.

Which includes…

• Spiritually informed and highly strategic career mentorship and business programs. 

• Regenerative brand, community and content strategies that start with deep listening and emerge to meet the need of the time.

• Inclusive and aware community spaces that offer people a safe place to land, recover and redefine the role their work plays in the overall storyline of their lives.

Prior to Offline, Alison held writing, editing, programming and publishing roles at The Walkley Foundation For Excellence in Journalism, ACP Magazines and Allure Media. In 2015 she led the award-winning localisation and launch of Who What Wear, Byrdie and MyDomaine into the Australian market and from 2013-2018, led POPSUGAR to become one of the country’s most-read women’s lifestyle websites.

Key Projects

Explore Alison's conscious career and business mentorship space at getoffline.co/off.

Enrolments for the only four-month season she's running in 2024 are now open and will close at midnight on Sunday, April 28.

Contact - Alison

If you'd like to get in touch with Alison, the email address to write to [email protected]. You can find her on Instagram @alisonlarsenrice. 

Meet Sammy, a dynamic individual who has worn many hats and experienced a multitude of life's adventures in a remarkably short span of time.

Stepping off the conventional path at an early age, Sammy ventured into the realm of electrical work, instilling in him a profound appreciation for the value of hard work. 

However, fate had a different calling, and at the ripe old age of 20, he bid farewell to the electrical trade to immerse himself in the vibrant world of music. This career change ignited his creative spark, inspiring him to craft and produce events that resonated with his own unique vision. 

Over the past decade, Sammy has poured his heart and soul into curating extraordinary music festivals, food extravaganzas, and captivating community shows. His biggest triumph to date? An awe-inspiring long weekend gathering that united a staggering 35,000 people in Melbourne.

Yet, amidst the glitz and glamour of the event scene, Sammy confronted his own battles with mental health, a struggle that had plagued him since his formative years. It was during his lowest point, when hope seemed to elude him, that he realized a transformation was essential. 

Introduced to mindfulness by his family doctor, Sammy began to venture down a new path. 

The transformative tools of meditation and mindfulness became the bedrock for nurturing and sustaining his mental well-being, elevating his overall quality of life to new heights.

Driven by an unwavering passion, Sammy's mission is clear: to share the profound benefits of meditation and mindfulness with the world.

Through his own remarkable journey, he aspires to guide and inspire others on their path to finding balance, cultivating inner peace, and unlocking their true potential. Sammy's story is a testament to the transformative power of meditation and mindfulness, and he stands ready to empower individuals from all walks of life to embrace a higher quality of existence

Connect with Sammy

• One Minute Meditator
• Sammy Swayn

Connect with Matt

• Matt Defina
• Another Way
• Mt Kilimanjaro Retreat

Support Services

• Lifeline - 13 11 14
• Beyond Blue - https://www.beyondblue.org.au/

How do you actually say YES to the adventure of life? What do you do when life keeps throwing your curveballs, hurdles and stop, wrong way signs? What do you do when life keeps whispering in your ear and nudging you to go another way? Well, my guest this week knows a thing or two about the above! On this episode, we spoke about:

• How Dre got into marketing and made some bold moves in her career at an early age
• The health challenges Dre navigated as a result of not choosing her true path
• The magic that has transpired in Dre's life since she did say YES

Andrea Beck

Andrea is a Cultural Futurist, Business Strategist, Creative Mentor, and CEO. She’s the founder of All Rise, the next gen business development agency that innovates for impact (or “idea lab for transformational leaders and orgs”). There, she helps purpose-led brands launch, scale and establish themselves in their market, so they can become more influential and make a real difference in the world.

From working for the Big 4 Management Consultancies, to pursuing art as a law school drop-out, to designing the strategies for major multinational brands like Barbie, Colgate and Chanel, to changing the law multiple times with marketing (e.g. removing taxes on tampons, introducing new Power of Attorney legislation to prevent abuse).

Andrea has worked in every corner of the creative industry, as a researcher, analyst, business / brand / marketing strategist, content creator, partnerships manager, sales representative, brand ambassador, and business owner. With business of all sizes. She’s fascinated by the power of stories to drive change, here to give future visionaries a voice, and raise the leaders our world needs.

According to Andrea, we live in an extremely exciting time, where anyone has the opportunity to get their message and idea out there. But, having worked with many first-time creators, she also knows how daunting this can be!

30-day challenge

To remove some of the barriers many aspiring business owners and thought leaders have, she’s leading a 30-Day Challenge, where she’ll be building a completely new brand and community from scratch, covering the exact steps it takes, from defining your vision, to finding your edge, to growing your audience, and beyond.

She invites those who have always wanted a side hustle, or to take their brand to the next level, to join her. The creative revolution is here, and there has never been a better time to pursue your purpose or passion project!

Dre's Links

IG - @andreabeck

www.allrise.com.au

Matt's Links

IG - @mattdefina_

www.anotherway.au

This is a very special conversation with a dear friend and brother of mine, Joshua Payne. Josh and I have done so much together in the last 6 years since meeting in his job interview for The Man Cave, and today we sat down to talk about his Bucks Party, or as he renamed it, his Bucks Portal.

Bucks parties are realistically designed to celebrate a man stepping into becoming a Husband, but unfortunately we have lost the meaning and significance behind this event. And, Joshua wanted to do something about that and make it a truly memorable weekend that prepared him for his wedding. He recruited his nearest and dearest, including myself, to create a weekend for him that would do this.

This is a juicy conversation about: 

• Rites of Passage and why they should be intentionally re-integrated back into society

• What it means to Josh to become a Husband and choose to get married

• Why he wanted his Bucks Party to instead be a 3-day, intentional Rite of Passage

• How we designed the weekend, including sharing a few key moments!

__________

Bio

As a seasoned professional with over 6 years of experience in the coaching and mentorship domain, Joshua has worked with thousands of individuals nationwide. Serving as a senior facilitator at The Man Cave, a renowned preventive mental health and emotional intelligence charity, Joshua has personally guided over 5000 young men towards embodying healthy masculinity, while also providing world-class facilitation training and emotional support to fellow facilitators/role models within the organisation. 

Beyond his extensive role at The Man Cave, Joshua has continued to expand his impact by designing and delivering leadership and character development programs for organisations such as Movember, Monash University, The Olympic Committee, and The Rites of Passage Institute, spanning various age groups.

Now Joshua is stepping forward and birthing an offering of his own. 

“Your Window” is a brand new coaching and mentorship program that is the cultivation of all the tools and resources Joshua has been deeply initiated into across 6 years of facilitating and participating in various trainings worldwide. The concept behind 'Your Window’, which offers group and 1:1 support to both men and women, revolves around the idea that individuals experience life through their unique lens shaped by their emotions, their belief systems, their wounding, and their core memories.

These core memories we have experienced and the pain we have endured across the timeline of our lives often fogs up our window, leading us to see the world, ourselves, and others through a distorted lens. Through compassionate witnessing and gentle guidance, Joshua will support and empower you in cleaning your window, creating a far clearer connection to your fullest expression, deepest desires, and your own sovereign power. 

____

Joshua Payne

IG - https://www.instagram.com/joshen.around/ 

Matt Defina

IG - https://www.instagram.com/mattdefina_/ 

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewdefina/ 

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/matt.defina/ 

Another Way

IG - https://www.instagram.com/anotherway.au/ 

Website - www.anotherway.au 

Join Book Club

https://www.anotherway.au/book-club 

Come to Basecamp

A new, monthly community gathering for the holistic health community of Melbourne

https://www.anotherway.au/basecamp

The Kilimanjaro Experience - 2024 

https://mountainsandmarathons.world/thekilimanjaroexperience-matt/ 

Julia Vogl is an Australian Journalist, Video Communication Coach, now a good friend AND a personal coach of mine. She was also on MAFS Australia in 2026 and has been outspoken about her participation in the show.

Her credentials include working for Australian Primetime TV shows like The Project on Channel Ten, Channel Nine, Hoyts and Foxtel, as well as newspapers and digital platforms like Cut.com spanning the last decade in Australia, the UK, and Indonesia.

She is renowned for her razor-sharp wit, her love for bright popping colours, and a true dedication to bringing out the 'REAL' in all those she meets. 

Her penchant for provocative video creation extends across entertainment, sport, music and celebrity having interviewed the likes of Cher, Harrison Ford, Kate Winslet, Matthew McConaughey, Justin Timberlake, Baz Lurhmann and many more.

Julia’s unique personality and willingness to turn her flaws into her flair have been her edge in standing out from the saturated market that is social media.

Julia is currently based in Melbourne Australia, running online programs for On Camera Confidence and also in person public speaking workshops. 

On this episode, we talk about: 

• How to build an iconic brand and business

• How to show up with confidence on Camera

• Julia’s personal journey with mental health and an eating disorder

• Her favourite Hollywood A-Lister that she interviewed (it’s epic) 

• How to do all the above, sustainably AND enjoy it along the way 

Julia Vogl

IG - https://www.instagram.com/juliavogl_/ 

Talk Is Cheap Academy

Website - https://www.talkischeapacademy.com/ 

Matt Defina

IG - https://www.instagram.com/mattdefina_/ 

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewdefina/ 

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/matt.defina/ 

Another Way

IG - https://www.instagram.com/anotherway.au/ 

Website - www.anotherway.au 

Join Book Club

https://www.anotherway.au/book-club 

The Kilimanjaro Experience - 2024 

https://mountainsandmarathons.world/thekilimanjaroexperience-matt/ 

Shelley Oak is a mother, a somatic ceremonialist, a facilitator of sacred spaces such as women's circles, retreats, and workshops that support people to connect to their bodies, truths, gifts and to live in their fullest expression and purpose. 

She is a coach, a witch of many sorts, the owner of a holistic ritual product brand called Dark Mother, she is a yoni steaming specialist, and a badass birth doula. With fiery passion in emotional and spiritual wellness, ancient women’s work, nervous system regulation, somatics and cultivating intimacy as a mode of healing. 

Shelley’s mission is to build a heart-lead, deeply connected community of raw and regulated souls. Shelley’s flavour is all about bringing play, presence, and pleasure to all of her work and believes that is the key to integration and long lasting transformation. 

Shelley supports her growing community to expand their range of embodied expression while also having a trauma informed, ritualistic and mega fun approach to doing the work. 

On this podcast we talk about: 

Shelley Oak

IG - https://www.instagram.com/shelley.oak/ 

Shelley Oak - https://www.shelleyoak.com.au/ 

Dark Mother - https://darkmother.com.au/ 

Matt Defina

IG - https://www.instagram.com/mattdefina_/ 

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewdefina/ 

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/matt.defina/ 

Another Way

IG - https://www.instagram.com/anotherway.au/ 

Website - www.anotherway.au 

Join Book Club! 

https://www.anotherway.au/book-club 

The Kilimanjaro Experience - 2024 

https://mountainsandmarathons.world/thekilimanjaroexperience-matt/