Dot to Dot

Currently stationed in San Diego California Wing Commander Jonathan McMullan joined the Royal Australian Air Force in 1991 as an Airborne Electronics Analyst. His journey has been marked by personal and professional challenges. For example, despite having marked on his original recruitment file ‘not Officer material’ he not only commissioned as a Navigator in 2001 but upon graduation from Officers’ Training School he received the annual Leadership Sword for the best Junior Officer. Spurred on by both a desire to prove he could but also significantly a desire to lead in a way he felt others were missing. 

A significant part of how he has shaken up leadership has been to openly discuss his experience of PTSD, how that has shaped him and how important it is for people coming through the ranks both within the air force and within the population at large to understand that it’s OK to experience mental ill health, whoever you are.  

In 2003 Jonathan served four tours flying in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He was then posted to the Air Combat Transition Office to support the introduction of the Australian Super Hornet. In 2011 he was selected to be the Detachment Commander for the Heron Remotely Piloted Aircraft rotation in Kandahar, leading a team in Afghanistan. 

Jonathan was awarded a Commendation for Distinguished Service in the 2012 Queens Honours List for leadership at war and his meritorious Command of the RPA detachment in Afghanistan. He then returned to Kandahar for a further two commands of the Heron RPA team. At the conclusion of a nine month tour he was awarded the US Bronze Star for meritorious and heroic leadership at war and the seamless transition of capability. 

To hear more from me or know about follow up conversations with Jonathan please follow me at:

Instagram: www.instagram.com/fiona_murden

Twitter: https://twitter.com/fionamurden

Facebook: https://facebook.com/fionamurden

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fionamurden/

For more on Fiona visit www.fionamurden.com 

Ask us any questions on:

Instagram: www.instagram.com/fiona_murden

Twitter: https://twitter.com/fionamurden

Facebook: https://facebook.com/fionamurden

Or for Lou

Instagram: www.instagram.com/loupylou78

Twitter: https://twitter.com/louisejones78

There’s a chapter on empathy in Fiona’s latest book (out July 7th UK, 15th Sept rest of world) Mirror Thinking How Role Models Make Us Human:

https://bit.ly/MirrThink

https://amzn.to/2yKpf4j

https://bit.ly/2ylrc7H

#mirrorthinking #rolemodels #rolemodelschangelives #psychology #awareness #whoareyou #blacklivesmatter #personaldevelopment #rosaparks #insight #thinking #consciousness #mindful #mindfulliving #mindfulness #advise #help #tips #habits #behaviour #behavior 

For more on Fiona visit www.fionamurden.com 

Some of the topics we explore this week – needing to look to part to get the part and how important 'non controllables' are to whether you land a role in acting (e.g. height, hair colour, eye colour), juggling 8 shows a week in a West End production with motherhood, the stresses and strains of failure that build up resilience, the issue of youngsters not having exposure to that in today’s social media reality and how self-assurance not cockiness is the way to success. 

In November 2009 Kirsty won the TMA Award for Best Supporting Performance in a musical for playing Young Viv in Spend Spend Spend at the Watermill Theatre, directed by Craig Revel Horwood; the production went on to tour nationally in 2010. Other work includes The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, The Three Musketeers, Arthur and George, HMS Pinafore, The Ghosts of Ruddigore and The Burglar’s Opera for Opera Della Luna (Covent Garden Festival, National Tour), The Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan, King Cotton, Jerry Springer the Opera, Ken Hill’s Phantom of the Opera, The Beggar’s Opera, Sweeney Todd, Nunsense and Barnum and the 25th Anniversary Production of Side By Side By Sondheim. She has also performed as a lead vocalist in concerts and cabarets throughout the UK and abroad, most recently soloist with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and at the Leeds Castle Classical Prom.

Kirsty also works as a session vocalist. She has recorded vocals for Warner Chappell, Disney, Sony and for numerous feature films including Mary Poppins Returns.  

For more from me and to hear about upcoming guests go to

Instagram: www.instagram.com/fiona_murden

Twitter: https://twitter.com/fionamurden

Facebook: https://facebook.com/fionamurden

And for my latest book (out July 7th UK) Mirror Thinking How Role Models Make Us Human go to:

https://bit.ly/MirrThink

https://amzn.to/2yKpf4j

For more on Fiona visit www.fionamurden.com 

The questions we leave you with:

1. What’s worked before and what are you still doing with that?
2. What’s not working and what do you need to change and do differently?
3. Within this new situation what are the new skills that would actually support that?

It’s critical to remember to make time for yourself and to talk. It sounds obvious but both so often gets lost in the to do list. It’s also OK to be low and is fairly normal given the circumstances that we’re all living in currently. 

Ask us any questions on:

Instagram: www.instagram.com/therealdot2dot

Twitter: https://twitter.com/therealdot2dot

Facebook: https://facebook.com/therealdot2dot

Or to contact Fiona go to:

Instagram: www.instagram.com/fiona_murden

Twitter: https://twitter.com/fionamurden

Facebook: https://facebook.com/fionamurden

There are lots of tools to help build resilience and self insight in Fiona’s book Defining You How to Profile Yourself to Unlock Your Full Potential 

UK: https://amzn.to/30wiMEy

USA: http://bit.ly/DefiningYouPaperbackUSA

Australia: http://bit.ly/DefiningYouAus

For Fiona’s latest book (out July 7th UK) Mirror Thinking How Role Models Make Us Human go to:

https://bit.ly/MirrThink

https://amzn.to/2yKpf4j

https://bit.ly/2ylrc7H

#mirrorthinking #rolemodels #rolemodelschangelives #psychology #awareness #whoareyou #blacklivesmatter #Mondaymotivation #personaldevelopment #rosaparks #insight #thinking #consciousness #mindful #mindfulliving #mindfulness #advise #help #tips #habits #behaviour #behavior 

For more on Fiona visit www.fionamurden.com 

Jim regularly gigs on the comedy circuit (or did before lockdown), he has written and performed for sketch shows and presented for Yahoo's The Football Show and JOE.co.uk's Friday Football Live as well as featuring on BBC 5live, BT Sport, London Live and TalkSPORT. He also has a strong social media following for his original, sports-related comedy content especially on YouTube where he posts hilarious sketches regularly (under Jim Daly Comedy). 

Jim plays down his abilities. I laughed a bit too loud at some points during the interview so had to cut my sound out. He is a great guy who has an astute understanding of what it means to be human. Something that I personally believe comedians have to be incredibly skilled at. I admire his honesty about all things Jim and I’m sure you will too. 

Laughter builds emotional resilience which is surely something we all need more than ever before currently. We can’t lose comedy. Please sign the open letter at savelivecomedy.co.uk to put pressure on the government to include live comedy in their arts funding package. Please also share the #SaveLiveComedy hashtag and dont stop making a noise until a package is sorted to help comedians and clubs to survive.

Find Jim on:

Instagram: www.instagram.com/jimdalycomedy

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jimdalycomedy

Facebook: https://facebook.com/jimdalycomedy

Website: http://jimdalycomedy.com/

For my latest book (out July 7th UK) Mirror Thinking How Role Models Make Us Human go to:

https://bit.ly/MirrThink

https://amzn.to/2yKpf4j

https://bit.ly/2ylrc7H

For more on Fiona visit www.fionamurden.com 

Suzy is a mother of two, an author, Chartered Psychologist and coach. She specialises in self-care, helping people manage their stress, emotions, and energetic bank balance.It was her life experience of motherhood colliding with the terminal illness of her father that sparked her passion for self-care which she now teaches to her clients, young and old, to cope during periods of stress, loss and change and to boost their resilience in the face of future challenges. Suzy is on the editorial board for Motherdom Magazine, the Psychology Expert for wellbeing brand Neom Organics and is a founding member of the ‘Nourish’ app. She figure-skated her way through her childhood, growing up on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, and now makes her home in hills of Hertfordshire, UK. Her first book ‘The Self-Care Revolution’ published by Aster came out in 2017, 'Stand Tall Like a Mountain: Mindfulness & Self-Care for Children and Parents' and 'The Little Book of Self-Care came out in 2019 and her new book ‘Self-Care for Tough Times’ is hot off the press.

Join Suzy’s Wellbeing Community at: 

Instagram: www.instagram.com/suzyreading/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/SuzyReadingPsychologyAndYoga/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SuzyReading  

www.suzyreading.co.uk

For more on Fiona visit www.fionamurden.com 

Louise Jones has been supporting Athletes, Coaches and Performance Directors within British sport for over 18 years. Throughout this time she has supported athletes at 4 summer Olympic Games, 1 winter Olympic Games and 5 Commonwealth Games. She has worked with Olympic medalists, World Champions, European Champions, Commonwealth Games medalists, X Games medalists and other top performers across a large number and variety of sports.

 

For more on Fiona visit www.fionamurden.com 

Emma Pears says ‘I don’t have all the answers but I want to help people find more joy in life’. She studied music, creative arts and composition at university before spending time  working in refuges for the homeless on a volunteer basis. There she saw the complexity of life on the streets, the myriad of reasons people find themselves there which can’t be fixed by simply ‘making them a cup of tea’. This sparked a desire for her to help these people move forward, if they wanted to and she went on to study for a Masters at Cambridge exploring how to do that. Emma went from that to starting ‘SingingNation’ bringing people from across generations together in community choirs.  Her choirs have allowed people to feel  that they belong, to feel a sense of connection, to feel valued and to often change mindsets. People who come afraid and faced only by psychological barriers begin to consider that change is possible. Time and again she has seen how individuals become empowered with the belief that they can make decisions that make them happy. 

We discuss giving your brain time to think and making thinking something that should be on our to-do list, especially given that it’s not something modern life gives us time for. Emma says ‘If I allow my brain time to think it will then come to the answer more quickly’.  We look at the process of writing a book and the process of writing a song ‘There’s a difference between writing a song on a whim and writing a song as a job’. Emma is an inspiration to me and to many others, I’ve no doubt that she will provide you with encouragement and curiosity simply through listening.

For more on Fiona visit www.fionamurden.com 

Kenny spent the majority of his career working for another symbolic brand - Levi’s in roles spanning the globe, which he describes as being hugely informative in his development as a leader. He began working with a coach 20 years ago and has never stopped seeing it as essential to his growth saying that “As a leader the first step is being able to lead yourself” going on to say being a leader is about asking the right questions “You don’t need to have the right answers or to be the smartest person in the room”. Although having worked with Kenny I would wager a bet that he often is. He also describes how he prepares for each day as a leader by thinking “Not what needs to be done but how to be.” Because people will remember how you make them feel. 

In this episode Kenny describes growing up on a council estate in Aberdeen and how that didn’t make him “hard done by” but did focus his drive. He also explains how the form that his drive has taken has changed over the years. We discuss bringing up girls and how he wants his daughter who is now at university, to grow up as a strong independent woman able to make her own decisions about how to live her life. Also, how hard that is to do, far harder than any leadership role. Despite giving up a career in football Kenny has remained an avid supporter of Aberdeen and has been going to matches with his daughter since she was 7 years old. He shares how football is about his roots, where he grew up, unwinding and spending time with mates who couldn’t care less that he’s a CEO. Kenny also shares how important it is to him that people are respectful, no matter who they are talking to or where they are from. I hope you find him as interesting and motivating to listen to as I do. 

For more on Fiona visit www.fionamurden.com 

Do you think anyone was covering the story of Weinstein 15 years ago? If they were, why did it take so long to ignite international interest? Is Covid-19 going to create a fresh start for women or set equality back? Can a fashion and beauty brand embody a genuine feminist agenda? These are all topics we explore in the second episode of Dot to Dot ‘Behind the Person’ with this week’s guest Andrea Thompson.

In this episode we talk about growing up in London with an English mother and father from Barbados and what it felt like to be ‘different’. We explore how seeing the way in which her father was treated compared to her mother made Andrea determined to allow marginalised voices to be heard. Andrea tells me about her time as a fearless young reporter meeting Weinstein face to face, exposing one of Trump’s businesses, investigating Russian companies and uncovering sweatshops in India. We discuss the four pillars that underpin the values she really cares about: women’s empowerment, sustainability, education of girls and women and mental health, and how this is driving the current agenda at Marie Claire. 

Andrea is passionate about unveiling injustice but doing so in a way that provides people with the everyday relief and inspiration to make a difference and get on with their own lives with a spring in their step. This underpins everything she does including the fashion and beauty at Marie Claire which is about celebrating women as they are, instead of as they 'should be'. I’m sure that you will be able to feel the energy that she puts into her career and ensuring that people are heard seep through the recording to positively infect your day, week and maybe even your year ahead. 

For more on Fiona visit www.fionamurden.com