Ellen Newman was kind enough to invite me over to record at her Brisbane home. And I loved it. It was so minimalist and chic. Just like Ellen. Ellen is the quiet powerhouse behind The Great State - an all over, all natural beauty balm that can be applied anywhere! Ellen talked me through her beauty purchases, including a Kara Rosenlund fragrance. We talked about supporting small business and the beauty of the beach and the great outdoors.
Follow The Great State on Instagram @_thegreatstate
✨Music: Ghost Hands by Cal Folger Day
⚡️Thank you to our Season 4 sponsor In Good Co Your besties mean better buys. Download the app today. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Brisbane mum Ellen Newman feels alive when working on her business The Great State

Interviews with creative, ambitious types. Interesting women living life, man. Chatting with folks all over the 

Society & Culture

Personal Journals

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

Jiawa Liu is @BeigeRenegade on Instagram and her feed is fantastic. She creates clever, stylish, eye-catching cinemagraphs and short-form videos with a humorous kick. 
Jiawa was born in China and attended primary school in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. She studied law in Perth and practised as a lawyer in Canberra. She now lives in Paris, to Jiawa it’s the most beautiful city on earth. 
In this episode Jiawa talks about creating her handle @beigerenegade, her issues around the word “influencer”, her addiction to mobile game Simpsons Tapped Out and what she hunts for in thrift stores. 
Find Jiawa on Instagram


Jiawa Liu aka Beige Renegade makes content with a humorous kick

Megan Morton has written four books on styling: It's Beautiful Here, Things I Love, I Love My Room and Home Love. She has The School, The Studio  and The Excursions. The question is, can a woman have too many businesses? Megan says no and envisions her multi-pronged enterprises like a sushi train where she picks up different roles and tasks. 
In this episode Megan talks about growing up on a banana farm in southeast Queensland, juggling careers, writing letters by hand and where she stores her children’s teeth. 
Find Megan Morton on Instagram 

 

Stylist extraordinaire Megan Morton on taking herself to Paris for her birthday each year

When I interviewed Melissa Leong it was before the MasterChef announcement. Back then, I was excited about her upcoming Netflix fame. 
There was so much to chat about with Melissa aka @fooderti on Instagram. The zig-zag of her career, two years living in Tasmania on a self-imposed sabbatical, writing cookbooks and hosting and judging on The Chefs’ Line on SBS and now, Netflix.
In this episode Melissa talks about the role of food in her Singaporean-Australian upbringing. We chat about the role of SBS in Australia, diversity and representation on the small screen. I also shamelessly crush on Melissa’s style.


New MasterChef host Melissa Leong on food and hard work

Yolanda Edwards was the creative director at Conde Nast Traveler for five years. She now has her own magazine, Yolo Journal - the most wonderful, dream-like travel periodical. The launch issue of the magazine was solely fixed on Italy.
In this episode Yolanda talks about her life and career. Her life changing experience living on a Greek Island, her wanderlust and her entree to the world of magazines (it was a shop assistant in Agnes B who told she looked like the kind of person who should work in magazines) and her experience with Instagram. She also shares a Helmut Newton anecdote.
Yolanda is a woman of many Instagram accounts. Find her @YolandaEdwards, her house in France @maisonmedoc and of course, @yolo.journal.

 

Yolanda Edwards on remaking the travel magazine with YOLO Journal

Brooklyn-based Laura Tucker has written over 20 books - two of which were New York Times bestsellers - Standing Tall with Vivian Stringer and A Mother’s Reckoning with Sue Klebold. 
But in this interview we chat about All The Greys on Greene Street - Laura’s YA fiction debut. The book takes place in New York City in 1981 and our 12-year-old hero Olympia is struggling with a mother who won’t get out of bed, a father who has gone missing and there’s an art mystery afoot. 
Laura talks about that particular moment in SoHo history, kids roaming the city and the writer’s life Laura has created for herself.  Find Laura on Instagram and buy her book from your fave indie bookseller. 


Brisbane mum Ellen Newman feels alive when working on her business The Great State

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