I had the pleasure of being interviewed on 15 March on Noosa.FM 101.3 - Shaken & Stirred with Synoxie Program (Synoxie is the radio name for Nikki Creber). Nikki has kindly shared the recording of the interview with me this week. So, where better to listen to it than on my own podcast show #coffeeandcontemplationwithsusan.

Nikki asks me a number of questions including what is life coaching? We chat about the development of my craft as a coach and touch lightly upon all the arrows I've got in my quiver these days. 

Thank you Nikki for the opportunity to be your guest. 

PS. Nikki, when will we get to share that lychee martini?

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I am the coach to women who have set their intention to be the highest expression of themselves and follow their highest vision. 

Visions for:

In opening up to explore their highest vision, and why it is important to them, they:

That is such a freeing, pleasurable, life-enhancing experience to gift yourself as a woman, at any age. 

Come coaching with me and I will guide you on that exciting journey. 

Please rest assured that if you do join my members community, I know how much we're all being bombarded with newsletters, sales funnels and all kinds of information overload. I've been in the business world before the advent of the first eNewsletters and I promise that I will not be contributing to that bombardment of your inbox. Worthwhile content guaranteed!

Take care of yourself today,

Professional Coach ICF NLP | NLP Practitioner

Certified in Hypnosis and Therapeutic Art | Member ICF and ABH

www.susandunlop.com.au | [email protected]

Content warning - we touch briefly on the topic of Alexandra's experience of sexual abuse. If anything discussed in this podcast causes concern for you, the incredible counsellors at 1800respect are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, by phone on 1800 737 732 or web chat via their website at 1800respect.org.au.

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Alexandra Skoeld, is a woman who found her soul's calling, her purpose, as a result of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and what happened to her as a young teen. The light that came from that darkness has led Alexandra to found, then grow, her successful sex and intimacy coaching practice, "Soul Intimacy", in Sydney. 

Some of Alexandra's words that stood out the most to me during our podcast chat:

"Have a look outside the bedroom first. Do you allow yourself to receive outside the bedroom? Very often as women, we are nurturing everyone else, making sure everyone else has everything they need, before we look after ourselves.

Start outside the bedroom and allow yourself to receive. As women, when we allow ourself to be turned on by life; and we allow ourself to feel sexual and sensual; and we access our sexual energy, our creative energy, we are able to move forward towards our goals and dreams; because we are starting to learn to trust the wisdom of our body."

We talk about:

If you listen to this episode after May 2021, yet were interested in attending My Voice, My Body, My Pleasure, Alexandra has a waiting list for future dates so please reach out to her via Soul Intimacy directly; and have a chat with her, about whether that course is right for you.

Alexandra and I are going to have a further podcast chat after her 6-week course ends in mid-June; so please also feel comfortable to send questions through that she can answer, not just for you, but for the other listeners who might be wondering the same thing. 

Thank you Alexandra for sharing your story today.

__________________

Do you have questions you'd like me to ask Alexandra in the 2nd episode? Please email me: [email protected].

Coffee and Contemplation with Susan is a podcast of real women doing extraordinary things. A place where stories are shared, for the storyteller's benefit, as well as those listening.

I'm Susan Dunlop, a professionally trained life & business coach, from Noosa, Queensland, Australia.

Take care,

Susan Dunlop

Professional Coach | NLP Practitioner | Member International Coaching Federation

I met Lucy Holland, senior social work clinician, psychologist, researcher, personal and professional coach at an International Coaching Federation #ICF members event recently. 

Lucy, now a Sunshine Coast local, is founder of Simplify Coaching & Consulting, a woman in her 30s, with a background of 15 years working in health and adolescent health. Lucy's specific expertise is in social work care and counselling of young people and families and in the context of chronic disease and palliative care.

Lucy talks today on what led her to become involved in adolescent health in the first place.

We centre our conversation around the most significant darkness-to-light piece that Lucy experienced in her life. Particularly, the learnings Lucy has taken from that major life hurdle, that "blew apart my world and really shattered my sense of self, worth, direction, home and life." Lucy shares the messiness and the blessings that were the reality of what she experienced and came out stronger from. Lucy shared that it wasn't easy, yet her life is just much more full and real now than it ever was before. 

We talk about working with young people, in relation to managing relationship breakups; the education system; and the false image social media platforms paint - devoid of reality and real connect, which leads to difficulty in drawing together an authentic, caring, loving tribe, when you need them most. 

Lucy shares what her mum's best words of advice were to her that she's brought forward into life today. 

Plenty more... I won't be a spoiler!

Thank you Lucy for sharing your story today.

Take care,

Susan

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Coffee and Contemplation with Susan is a podcast show of real women, doing extraordinary things.

A place where stories are shared, for the storyteller's benefit, as well as those listening in.

I'm Susan Dunlop, a professionally trained life and business coach, living and working in Noosa, Queensland.

Our heads are full of stories. I get to listen to stories everyday in my coaching and see the benefits of my clients' sharing their stories out loud, then exploring those more deeply.  Reflection is also an incredibly powerful tool that's not put to use so much in modern society. Reflection and the sharing of stories across generations cannot be underestimated.

Please contact me if you or another woman you know is a real everyday human-being doing extraordinary things and has a story to share.

Also, if you, or someone you know or love, is a real everyday someone with great plans to do extraordinary things, and could do with a thought- and belief-partner, by way of a professionally trained life or business coach, to help you get where you want to go!

[email protected]

www.susandunlop.com.au

#icfcoach #lifecoachnoosa #leadbelievecreate #thekidsarewatching.

Part 2 of 2 Parts: Mish Thurlow wrote her first book in the year of 2020 when everything was topsy-turvy in our world, and her support network back home in South Africa, seemed more distant than ever before.

Through the process of writing her book "Truth Seeker - finding your light" Mish explored her own inner truth, and on reflection, came upon a significant acknowledgement of her truest self that she hadn't expected. 

Mish gathered up her courage and spoke her truth, to those she loved most. The most freeing, albeit risky, choice she could make to be the truest version of herself. Expecting to be burnt in the process, or to be rejected, Mish is instead full of love and admiration for the incredible people who love her unconditionally.

It made me think of the quote: 

"By coming out to ourselves, we free up the energy we spent keeping that part of ourselves hidden." - Patrick Califia, Author.

We talk on: 

We end with:

Thank you so much Mish for coming back to chat today. 

You'll find Mish's beautiful smiling face and can buy her book directly at www.mishthurlow.com.

_____________________________________________________________________

Coffee and Contemplation with Susan is a podcast show of real people, doing extraordinary things. 

A place where stories are shared, for the storyteller's benefit as well as those listening in. 

I'm Susan Dunlop, a professionally trained life and business coach, in Noosa, Queensland. 

Our heads are full of stories. I get to listen to stories everyday in my coaching and see the benefits of my clients' sharing their stories out loud, then exploring those more deeply.  Reflection is also an incredibly powerful tool that's not put to use so much in modern society. Reflection and the sharing of stories across generations cannot be underestimated.

Please contact me if you or another woman you know is a real everyday human-being doing extraordinary things and has a story to share; or if you, or someone you know or love, is a real everyday someone with great plans to do extraordinary things, and could do with a thought- and belief-partner, by way of a professionally trained life or business coach, to help you get where you want to go!

[email protected]

www.susandunlop.com.au

#icfcoach #lifecoachnoosa #leadbelievecreate

Part 1 of 2 parts: Mish was introduced to me by our mutual friend, Rae (Episode 3). At the same time as I was inviting Mish onto the podcast show, I heard that her book "Truth Seeker' was being launched here on the Sunshine Coast. I was intrigued to find out more.

Today we speak on all manners of important life decisions and serendipitous moments that led to Mish turning all the rich ingredients of her life, so far, into a captivating guidebook for readers who seek to live life to its fullest and most vibrant capacity. 

We step back firstly to Mish's leap of faith 11 years ago. A gigantic leap of faith at the age of 18, leaving her close family circle and a small town in South Africa to find herself on campus at the University of Sydney. From 'fitting in' to 'finding the light'. Making a life that honoured her mind, body and soul, in that very bright, eclectic, alternative and busy end of the city. Mish is now living a joy-filled life on the Sunshine Coast as the truest version of herself. 

I'll let you listen to where we take the chat. This is Part 1 of 2 - being all the stepping stones that led to the launch of the book. 

Part 2 next week will be Mish sharing what change the actual writing of the book brought about in her own life, in which she went next level in finding her own truest self, during the process. We talk on where she's taking the book, and her wishes for people once they've read it; plus plenty of words of wisdom. 

I said I would share the contact details for Mish here if you'd like to make contact or purchase her book:

www.mishthurlow.com - ha, that just made me smile again. Click on that link and the brightest, smiling face that greets you, is the one I just had the joy of sitting opposite in recording this podcast show. You know, those conversations, that leave you smiling long after they're finished. 

That's Mish for you!

_____________________________________________________________________

Coffee and Contemplation with Susan is a podcast show of real people, doing extraordinary things. A place where stories are shared, for the storyteller's benefit as well as those listening in. I'm Susan Dunlop, a professionally trained life and business coach, in Noosa, Queensland. Our heads are full of stories. I get to listen to stories everyday in my coaching and see the benefits of my clients' sharing their stories out loud, then exploring those more deeply.  Reflection is also an incredibly powerful tool that's not put to use so much in modern society. Reflection and the sharing of stories across generations cannot be underestimated.

Contact me if you're a real everyday person doing extraordinary things and have a story to share; or if you're a real everyday person with great plans to do extraordinary things, and could do with a thought- and belief-partner, by way of a life or business coach, to help you get where you want to go!

[email protected]

www.susandunlop.com.au

Jodie was referred to me for the podcast episode by her sister, Lisa Williams (Episode 11) as a woman doing purposeful, extraordinary things for her community. 

Jodie Williams, is the founder of Black Ant Gourmet, commercial kitchen, cafe and store in Kin Kin; co-owner of Mayan Farm, accommodation her partner and his team have built from rammed earth and recycled timber, with a Tuscan / antique / industrial / hippy feel and helipad in the hinterland of Noosa; and a woman with incredible vision and entrepreneurial spirit! 

Jodie is a woman in her 40s, born in Cooroy and has lived here almost her whole life. 

We talk about childhood in this once quiet holiday town we call Noosa; roller skating down Goodchap Street and riding horses along Noosa River; and what it was like to know everyone and that everyone knows you too; what Jodie has seen change - be it good, bad or otherwise. 

Jodie, her partner and children decided along the way that they wanted to have more of a say about the food they would choose to put on their table, and thus one of Jodie's many great projects was born - Black Ant Gourmet. 

Jodie is very much a woman creating a ripple effect from her passion for sustainable living. She shared that "supporting local businesses has an amazing benefit for the whole community. Keeping the economy in a tighter unit, with a village-like relationship, has an incredible impact for employment, everything!"

Jodie is also in the planning stage of her new project of affordable housing, something she has just tabled to her local MP and Mayor. A project that she and her partner had a vision for 6 years ago. They can now see there is far greater urgency for this alternative living, given the impact of Covid-19 on the housing and rental situation in the Noosa shire. 

I smiled at seeing Jodie come online to record our episode this week, after our having first met on screen a week ago. It was immediately obvious to me that something had caused a massive shift for her, in little over a week. She was positively glowing! What could that change have been? Jodie will talk on that in our chat. 

'The way the body functions or nature functions are all miracles, despite our ability to name the individual aspects. Just because we are now able to name them, they are no less awe-inspiring (or at least they shouldn’t be). The deeper I get into this, my ideas of healing and practice continue to evolve, and have lead me to the energy work and an appreciation for the quantum.' - Marti

Marti Davis MD of Denver Colorado and I continue with Part 2 of our 2 episode chat focused on what came next in Marti's search for understanding healing from a more complete incorporation of mind, body, and spirit.

If you're interested in getting in touch with Marti, I said somewhere along our 2-Part chat that I would share details of her practice, #IntentionalBalance here:

Website: https://www.intentional-balance.com/

Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/IntentionalBalance

Thank you for listening today.

Susan Dunlop

Professional Coach ICF NLP

www.susandunlop.com.au

Email: [email protected]      Mobile: +61 0439 333 740

Marti Davis MD of Denver Colorado shared with me that her path into medicine, her studies to become an Emergency Doctor, and then what led to her departure from that profession, has been circuitous. Her words made me visualise one of those childhood dot-to-dots; which then led me to think about Steve Jobs’ words:

“You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So, you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.”

In Part 1 of Marti's episode, we look back, to what were the dots that influenced Marti to depart from traditional western medicine, retiring at the age of 49, and come to be in the place we met, and where I joined in singing "happy 50th birthday" to her, at Ayurvedagram in Bangalore, India.

That was in July 2017. 

I invited Marti to be my guest as I was curious about what had led Marti to retire from the noble profession as a doctor; to be exploring Ayurvedic medicine; and where Marti's taking her practice, Intentional Balance, now and into the future.

This is Part 1 of 2 Parts. Part 2 next week we'll continue our chat about Marti's passion and work in delivering personalised, balanced, consciousness-based health and healing.  We'll begin with contemplating Marti's words: 

'knowing that the entire person needs treating for a healing to actually be possible, I started asking myself if I wanted to be a doctor who brought in the spiritual or a spiritual guide who brought in the physical.'  

and that

'more and more people are becoming convinced that they have more control over their own health (not simply the absence of disease) and that the western approach, while appropriate at times, is less effective and more harmful, than more ancient methods.'

__________________________________________

Hello, I'm Susan Dunlop Life Coach of Noosa, Queensland, Australia.

Coffee and Contemplation with Susan is a podcast series across 8 platforms, of conversations with extraordinary real people I've met in my travels, or whom have intrigued me along my own life path. As I coach people in all areas of their lives, I listen to people's stories every day. As a coach I see it as my role to hold space for people with a fierce tenderness and a warm tenacity. Remembering that it is the client's journey, not mine. As an extension of that work, I decided to spread the benefits of storytelling further, and that led me to try my hand at hosting this podcast, launched in February 2020. 

As said so beautifully by Michelle Obama "It's the sharing of stories that reminds us of the humanity in each other. When we take the time to understand each other's stories, we become more forgiving, more empathetic and more inclusive."

Our brains are boxes full of stories. If, like these real extraordinary people, you have a story you'd like to share, or would like the opportunity contemplate a series of questions, that are both a reflection on your past, as well as a vision of your future and life purpose, please don't hesitate to reach out to me at [email protected]. 

Please take care until next week,

Susan 

www.susandunlop.com.au 

Find me also on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn and Pinterest.

Making Sobriety Sexy? Yes, Rebecca (Bex) Weller is doing just that! 

One day Bex took a leap of faith in herself and left her old life behind. She embarked on a 3-month sobriety experiment that became a quest for self-discovery, and transformed her entire life.

Bex shares her own story for the benefit of others. How she took her own experiment in sobriety to creating a growing business that was recognised nationally. 

Bex is the writer of A Happier Hour and newly released, Up All Day, plus the award recognised creator of sexysobriety.com. 

I invited Bex to come on the show today with our coffee and contemplation focus point being on binge-drinking and the slow creep of increased drinking. 

Bex' work has been featured by The Telstra Business Awards, The Australia, Sydney Morning Herald, The Huffington Post, MindBodyGreen, Better Homes & Gardens USA, SBS Food, Good Health Magazine, Marie Claire Australia and Elle Quebec, to name a few. 

It's crystal clear in listening to Bex that she's positively impacting the lives of an ever-widening international community of followers.

Bex talks about her desire to provide her online members with a 'soft place to fall' as they take baby steps towards a new life. The questions we contemplate range from:

1. when you are planning your 90th birthday party, what 3 things would you like to think your 3 favourite people will say you achieved already in this one precious life you've lived?

2. The feeling and impact of being recognised as Finalist of the Telstra Business Awards - just 3 years into that business' life cycle.

3. What's the last straw, if there is one, that Bex sees as the most common STOP SIGN for someone signing up to experiment in sobriety. 

4. How can we change from 'oh, really, you're not drinking tonight, go on, just have one...' to 'oh, you drink, I don't do that anymore / I don't have time for that anymore'. How not drinking is seen as the odd behaviour.

5. Bex shares her thoughts on two quotes from one of the world's most revered thinkers on the psychology of addiction, Dr Gabor Mate's book 'In the Realm of the Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction

'Not why the addiction, but why the pain'.

and 

'It is impossible to understand addiction without asking what relief the addict finds, or hopes to find, in the drug or the addictive behaviour.'

Plus the usual favourite quote or mantra - in Bex' case she has 2 favourite quotes she'll share.

Thank you for joining me in this very comfortable chat with Bex today.

If you have any key takeaways from today's episode I'd love to hear. My email is [email protected]. 

Take care,

Susan Dunlop

Professional Coach ICF NLP

www.susandunlop.com.au

Having recently listened to Clarissa Pinkola Estes' "Women Who Run with the Wolves" audiobook and enjoyed Clarissa reading out old fables or fairy tales and the relevance and meaning of them to us as women; I then stumbled upon a beautifully presented book when I walked into Berkelouws Book Store in Eumundi, that I knew I had to buy.  The book, written by author, Lucy Cavendish, is "Magickal Faerytales", an enchanted collection of retold tales.

Both of these brought back memories of me as a little girl, going to the library on a Thursday night, with my dad.  I knew exactly where the Fairy Tale Book section was and would walk out holding a library bag full of new wonders, to go home, find a quiet corner, and get lost in the magic and adventure. 

Lucy explains in her book what fairytales, such as Red Riding Hood, were about. That they're "about survival. Surviving our families most often, and being sent out into a world which is hostile and navigating the new worlds in which we find ourselves, without bitterness or rancour". 

Sharing stories is the theme of this podcast series, and stories read by us at an early age might be something to contemplate as well. 

Serendipity: these 2 books - one a beautifully illustrated hardcover and the other, a worthy 2-hour audiobook, both appeared in my life, in the same month, this year. A month earlier, in August this year, I gained my certification in hypnosis.  In hypnosis, we use metaphors (stories). My plan is to incorporate hypnosis into my life coaching as a value-add service to my coaching clients and also as a separate service where requested. 

Hypnosis is beneficial for anxiety relief, stress reduction, releasing bad habits, making the change to become lean and healthy, or quitting smoking and best of all, performance enhancement. I wrote metaphors and they even mesmerised me when writing them! 

Maybe, it is just my time to have returned to the magic of storytelling.  Maybe, I am adult enough now to understand the magic of stories shared, even more. 

Yesterday I opened registration to "Your 4-Week ELEVATE Course" (starting Monday 16th and Tuesday 17th November). So, yes, you'll guess right, that it does incorporate a bit of magic across each week of the 4 weeks of 1:1 coaching and group sessions. How could it not?

Maybe, it's the right time for you too, to re-explore your childhood enjoyment of reading fairytales or your favourite stories - whether to benefit yourself or a child you love, or both.