Claiming Your Confidence

It’s hard to think of a more iconic Australian brand that inspires confidence, than the Royal Flying Doctor’s Service 

They operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, delivering the finest care to more than 330,000 Australians each year: that's one person every two minutes!

From babies born mid air, to dental services, to now rolling out the covid vaccine to the most rural locations in the country: you might have seen some of their heroic stories brought to life on the small screen on the new RFDS tv drama series that’s airing on Channel Seven in Australia right now.

I’ve been lucky enough to partner with the RFDS as an ambassador for many years and I’ve gotten to know their equally inspiring and trailblazing Qld CEO Meredith Staib pretty well and it's her story I wanted to share with you today. 

Meredith has smashed a few glass ceilings, starting as a nurse; doing her MBA; then providing leadership to some of the most reputable healthcare providers in the world.

She’s an inspiration not only for women in business but for anyone looking to shift career paths or step up their ambitions. And in this insightful chat she shares with us the confidence lessons she’s learned along the way. 

Thanks to Marc from Term Six Podcast Productions for audio on this episode. 

Follow @katrinablowers or @claimingyourconfidence on Instagram for more. 

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We’ve all had those days, right? Where we feel tired and crappy… where our health just hasn’t been right. Maybe you’ve even consulted Doctor Google and either panicked, laughed or both when it spat out a cancer diagnosis. 

But what if that diagnosis was actually right. And your whole life was flipped upside down in an instant.

Mamamia’s Briony Benjamin was 30 years-old. Riding high in her career interviewing celebrities, producing hilarious viral videos and thinking she had her whole life ahead of her, when after feeling pretty crap for a while and brushing it off she received some crushing news. 

“When I think back on it, my body was sending me all the warning signs that something wasn’t quite right but I didn’t know how yet to trust that.”

This conversation is about how to rise to the challenge when things go pear shaped. And how not all storms come to disrupt your life. Some come to clear your path.

Briony shares how to figure out what’s truly important in life, grab onto the job and gain the confidence to bounce back from the lows. 

Big thanks to Marc from Term Six Podcast Productions for audio on this episode. 

Follow @katrinablowers or @claimingyourconfidence for videos and behind-the-scenes. 

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When you think of the words honest and inspiring… well Talitha Cummins fits the bill. 

As a television journalist, she became a well known figure in loungerooms across Australia… reading the news on Sunrise and for the Seven network. 

But behind the scenes… Talitha was fighting a secret battle with alcohol addiction… stemming from a lack of confidence and self worth that began when she was a child. 

“There was a lot of time when i felt unsure of what I was doing and I didn’t disclose that I didn’t ask anyone for help because I felt that would show weakness.”

In this intimate and beautiful conversation Talitha shares the power of speaking your truth

This is an episode for anyone needing a dose of bravery to conquer their own demons,who has a yearning to reinvent their life or find the confidence to forge a new path. 

Thanks to Marc from Term Six Podcast Productions for audio on this episode. 

Follow @claimingyourconfidence for behind-the-scenes or @katrinablowers for more info. 

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MARK WALES is a former special ops commander…whose dream career became a nightmare in a cornfield in Afghanistan where he saw his mentor gunned down and learned the true meaning of resilience. 

But Australia knows him best from his time as a contestant on the show Survivor.

Mark’s appearance on a reality show was all part of his mission to rebuild himself after the SAS. 

Today he shares how to find the confidence to turn your life around, the power of reinvention… and how to go about gaining new meaning in life. 

“They call it moral injury, I think that’s the more recent term for it, but it is… it’s so disconcerting to have your values torn up like that. And I think, that’s what war does. It’s degrading for everyone.”

Mark and I had this chat just after his regional Victorian home with his wife, fellow survivor Samantha Gash was severely damaged by a wild storm and it says so much about him that he remained committed to doing this interview, even though they were living at a friend’s house and dealing with that natural disaster with their young son. 

Thanks to Term Six Podcast Productions for audio on this episode. 

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“Am I a perfect human? No, I’m absolutely not. But did I do those things, am I an absolute bully of a human? Absolutely, 100% I am not.”

You might recognise Emma Husar’s story from the news headlines of a few years ago.

The Former federal MP for Lindsay was portrayed as a bright young hope for Labor… until all that came crashing down when she resigned three years ago in a storm of controversy over allegations of lewd conduct, bullying and sexual harassment in her office. 

In this vulnerable and honest chat Emma shares the secrets of digging deep to gain resilience through the darkest moment of her life. And how she’s learning to rebuild her confidence on the other side of the country after losing everything she’d worked for. Anyone who’s lost their job, been accused of something they felt was wrong or had to reinvent themselves is going to get so much value from this deep conversation. 

Follow @katrinablowers or @claimingyourconfidence on instagram for more episodes or behind-the-scenes. 

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Jan Fran is an award-winning Australian journalist, who you might know from The Project or The Feed or her online opinion segment The Frant, which she now makes for the Guardian.

I’m fortunate enough to co host the Briefing Podcast with her and I just love our chats off air. I knew she’d make the perfect guest to talk about confidence.

Yes, she’s wildly successful, she’s become a vintage fashion icon and she has a huge platform where she speaks her truth now. But it hasn’t always been an easy ride for her.

Jan Fran shares the one thing from her childhood she finds really difficult to move past. 

"It’s been over 15 years now and I’m not over it.”

She also reveals how, despite the way she puts herself out in the world, confidence is still a work-in-progress for her.

This is an insightful and real conversation where you’ll get to know Jan Fran a whole lot better. 

I’m Katrina Blowers and this is Claiming Your Confidence. 

Follow @claimingyourconfidence or your host @katrinablowers on Instagram. 

Thanks to Marc from Term Six Audio Productions for editing this episode. 

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Michael Clarke has been called abrasive and polarising… flashy and arrogant.

But when I sat down with him to talk about confidence, I found someone refreshingly real and delightfully introspective who’s learned a lot of lessons in the fire of life. 

As one of the best batsmen of all time who went on to become Australia’s 43rd cricket captain, it might surprise you to learn the swagger was all a bit of a show. 

“All through my career, even from a young boy when I started, I always got nervous.”

In this conversation we cover the glamorous girlfriends, the insane media attention and his biggest and best confidence journey to date- as a single dad. 

So here's Michael Clarke, on Claiming his Confidence. 

Thanks to Marc from Term Six Audio Productions for editing this episode. 

For more episodes or behind-the-scenes, follow @katrinablowers or @claimingyourconfidence on Instagram. 

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TRAILER FOR SEASON THREE

Do you wish you could claim your confidence? Boldly put yourself forward, stop letting fear hold you back and fulfil your true potential?

I’m Katrina Blowers and as a journalist I’ve interviewed many high achievers and gone through my own confidence struggles… and I’ve asked these same questions of celebrities, athletes, business leaders and other inspirational people

In Season three of Claiming Your Confidence, we go even deeper with a new group of guests who, in honest and surprising conversations, share the biggest confidence challenges of their lives and how they overcame them.  

Former Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke on why being a single dad has changed him.

Presenter Jan Fran reveals how confidence is still a work in progress.

Psychologist Rebecca Ray teaches us how to set boundaries.

Mark Wales shares lessons from the SAS about resilience.

And former federal MP Emma Husar takes us behind the scenes of becoming front page news.

In this season three, these new conversations show that no matter who we are, we ALL go through the same stuff…  delivering so many nuggets of wisdom and uncovering the daily, meaningful actions you can take…. to help you claim your most confident life. 

Choose confidence today. Search Claiming Your Confidence the podcast. It’s free to download wherever you get your podcasts. 

Follow host @katrinablowers on Instagram or @claimingyourconfidence for behind-the-scenes. 

Thanks to Term Six Productions for audio. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So most of us have heard the story of Mao's Last Dancer, Li Cunxin, but I doubt as many of you have heard of his beautiful wife Mary Li.

 
Mary grew up as Mary McKendry, one of eight kids, in Rocky in Central Qld. Her story of wanting to be a prima ballerina as a little girl, then dancing on stage in London and all over the world, even training with the legendary Rudolf Nureyev; is actually the stuff of fairytales. And so is the love story of how she met her future husband, both of them principal dancers. 

But it's actually the story of their little girl Sophie, who was born profoundly deaf, that led Mary to sit down and write a book. And this is what we chat about today. The confidence of stepping on stage in front of Royalty. The confidence of raising a child with a huge challenge ahead of her, in an era where medical advancements aren't what they are today. And in the ultimate act of love, to give up her own glittering career to be a champion for her. 

I'm so excited to announce that after 29 years away from the stage, Mary is making her dancing comeback. If you are lucky enough to be close to Brisbane, Australia, you can see her onstage at the Lyric Theatre on the 8th, 10th and 15th of June. 
So here's the fabulous Mary Li on Claiming Her Confidence. 
Thanks as always to Marc from Term Six Productions for audio on this episode. Link is in my bio. 

Follow @claimingyourconfidence or your host @katrinablowers on Instagram for more confidence tips and behind-the-scenes. 

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I so enjoyed this chat with Billy BIllingham, who you might know from the TV show SAS Australia. 

We spoke while he was in hotel quarantine in Sydney ahead of his Australian tour, where he told me all about his tough upbringing in a UK council estate, running with gangs and joining the British armed Forces at 16… 

BIlly served for nearly 2 decades in the SAS. He was awarded the Queen’s commendation for bravery, jumped out of a lot of planes into war zones and then became a celebrity bodyguard to stars including Tom Cruise, Michael Caine and Brad and Angelina

In this episode we talk about how it’s never too late to turn your life around, how to get the confidence you need to step up to extraordinary missions like freeing hostages and why his life motto is ‘always a little further’. 

Annnnd did I mention Billy is doing a tour?? You can hear his stories LIVE. 

•            7th May – Sydney – City Recital Hall

•            9th May – Brisbane – The Tivoli

•            10th May – Melbourne – Athenaeum Theatre

His first novel ‘Call to Kill’ will be released May 13. 

So here’s the super fun BIlly Billingham… on Claiming His Confidence. 

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