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Facing the open ocean despite a lifelong fear of water and motion sickness wasn't exactly how I'd planned to celebrate turning 50. Yet there I was, boarding a cruise ship for the first time, determined to make this milestone birthday unforgettable.

My 10-day journey through the South Pacific became so much more than a holiday. It transformed into a personal voyage of conquering fears and embracing new experiences. After struggling through two days of debilitating seasickness (green apples and magnetic wristbands didn't stand a chance), I finally found my sea legs and discovered the joy of life at sea.

The birthday itself was magical, consisting of a couples massage, professional photos at sunset and a spectacular dinner at a celebrity chef restaurant. But the real gifts came in unexpected moments, snorkeling for the first time at Mystery Island, jumping from platforms into crystal-clear waters in Vanuatu to even summoning the courage to sing karaoke onboard because "nobody knows me, it's my 50th!"

Throughout this adventure, I discovered that cruising offers a perfect balance of exploration and relaxation. Each port brought new discoveries, while onboard activities from theme nights to gourmet dining experiences kept us thoroughly entertained. The ship became a place where time slowed down and we could simply enjoy being together, creating memories that will last far longer than any physical gift.

Whether you're considering your first cruise or looking for inspiration for celebrating your own milestone birthday, this episode offers honest insights, practical tips and hopefully, the encouragement to step outside your comfort zone. Because sometimes, our greatest adventures begin when we face our biggest fears.

Would love to hear about your own milestone celebrations or bucket list adventures! Share your stories or questions, and don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode of the Everyday Warriors podcast.

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Music Credit: Cody Martin - Sunrise (first 26 episodes) then custom made for me.

Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and stories shared on this podcast are personal to the host and guests and are not intended to serve as professional advice or guidance. They reflect individual experiences and perspectives. While we strive to provide valuable insights and support, listeners are encouraged to seek professional advice for their specific situations. The host and production team are not responsible for any actions taken based on the content of this podcast.

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When a doctor's call on a lazy Sunday afternoon revealed that his wife Lynn had stage four lung cancer, Tony Stewart's world imploded. What followed was a six-year rollercoaster of clinical trials, spine surgeries, moments of hope and crushing setbacks as they navigated life with terminal illness. 

Throughout Lynn's cancer journey, Tony took on the role of dedicated caregiver, tracking treatments and attending appointments while attempting to maintain his own career. But beneath his composed project manager exterior, he was crumbling. It wasn't until a series of personal accidents culminated in an emotional breakdown that Tony finally admitted the truth, he couldn't do it alone. 

Tony speaks with remarkable candour about the reality of grief following Lynn's death. Despite their years of preparation and beautiful final conversations, the loss plunged him into an abyss of emotion that defied his expectations. "I will grieve Lynn for my entire life," he reflects. "The challenge is finding a way to live your new life even while you are still grieving."

The most controversial chapter of Tony's story emerged just months after Lynn's passing, when an unexpected connection with a woman named Cordelia blossomed into romance. Their relationship, founded on a shared understanding of loss, brought both healing and intense guilt. Tony describes the complex emotions of finding joy amid grief, and the judgment he faced from some friends who felt he had moved on "too soon."

What makes this conversation truly exceptional is Tony's willingness to reveal the messiness of the human experience. His journey challenges our cultural assumptions about grief timelines and reminds us that healing rarely follows a predictable path. Through his book "Carrying the Tiger" and conversations like this one, Tony offers a lifeline to others navigating similar terrain, particularly men, who often lack models for expressing grief openly.

Have you experienced grief that didn't follow the "expected" timeline? Share your story or grab a copy of "Carrying the Tiger" to continue this important conversation about love, loss, and finding your way forward.

Connect with Tony on Instagram here

Visit Tony's website here

Purchase a copy of Carrying the Tiger

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Music Credit: Cody Martin - Sunrise (first 26 episodes) then custom made for me.

Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and stories shared on this podcast are personal to the host and guests and are not intended to serve as professional advice or guidance. They reflect individual experiences and perspectives. While we strive to provide valuable insights and support, listeners are encouraged to seek professional advice for their specific situations. The host and production team are not responsible for any actions taken based on the content of this podcast.

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What if the most powerful healing tool was already at your fingertips? In this profound conversation with holistic counsellor Jo, we explore how the simple act of journaling became her lifeline while raising a son with cerebral palsy who required round-the-clock care.

Jo shares her deeply moving journey from overwhelm to acceptance, revealing how writing helped her process the "cluster emotions" that arose from being thrust into roles she never expected, nurse, therapist and full-time carer. More surprisingly, journaling helped her recognise and heal from childhood emotional neglect that had caused her to disconnect from her body decades earlier.

"I was feeling disconnected from my body, as though I was living on my shoulder but not in my body," Jo explains. "For years I never told anyone about that because I thought I was the only one." Today, we understand this dissociation as a classic trauma response, but Jo discovered her path back to embodiment through putting pen to paper.

The beauty of journal therapy lies in its accessibility, it's free, doesn't require appointments and can take whatever form works for you. Whether through traditional writing, artistic expression like mandalas, or even voice memos captured while driving, the goal is creating space to process emotions that might otherwise remain stuck in our bodies.

Most touchingly, Jo reveals how her son now 40, became her greatest teacher by challenging everything she'd been taught about having to "be, do, or become" to have value. Through journaling, she worked through her fears and eventually reached profound acceptance and unconditional love.

Whether you're navigating caregiver stress, processing past trauma, or simply feeling disconnected from yourself, this episode offers practical wisdom about how meeting your pain on paper can transform your relationship with yourself. As Jo reminds us, what we do to heal ourselves today ripples forward to impact future generations.

Connect with Jo on Facebook here

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Contact me directly at https://everydaywarriorspodcast.com.au or head to
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Support the Podcast - Buy me a Coffee

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Music Credit: Cody Martin - Sunrise (first 26 episodes) then custom made for me.

Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and stories shared on this podcast are personal to the host and guests and are not intended to serve as professional advice or guidance. They reflect individual experiences and perspectives. While we strive to provide valuable insights and support, listeners are encouraged to seek professional advice for their specific situations. The host and production team are not responsible for any actions taken based on the content of this podcast.

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From the moment Paul begins sharing his story, you can feel the weight of his journey and the lightness that comes from true transformation. Born in North London to a hardworking taxi driver father and stay-at-home mother, Paul recalls a relatively happy childhood despite modest means. Everything shifted when his parents separated when he was 11. In an unusual arrangement for the time, his mother moved out while his father retained custody with help from Paul's grandmother. 

This thrust young Paul into a protective role for his younger siblings, especially when facing bullies on the way home from school. But the defining tragedy struck at 19, when Paul and his brother returned home one day to discover their father had taken his own life. The devastating impact cannot be overstated. Suddenly responsible for his family, managing legal matters, and processing overwhelming grief, Paul transformed into someone unrecognizable even to himself. 

Anger became his constant companion and trust evaporated. For 13 years, he cut off all communication with his mother and he followed in his father's footsteps as a London taxi driver, poignantly describing his cab as "my black coffin, with my back to the world", a physical manifestation of his emotional isolation.

Transformation arrived unexpectedly through a personal development program that created space for Paul to articulate his pain for the first time. In that vulnerable environment, he challenged his self-blame and reconnected with his mother after those 13 silent years. The impact was so profound that Paul dedicated the next 25 years to leading similar transformational experiences for others, working with approximately 100,000 people worldwide.

Today, Paul coaches business owners who find themselves trapped working in their businesses rather than on them. Drawing from his extraordinary life journey, he helps them improve not just productivity but overall wellbeing, understanding that workplace satisfaction directly impacts relationships, family life and personal fulfillment.

Paul's story powerfully reminds us that while past traumas shape us, they need not define us. As he says, "We don't have to get stuck with what's actually happened in the past. We can have a completely different way of relating to it and be free to be ourselves." Ready to transform your relationship with your past? This episode offers both inspiration and practical wisdom for your journey.

You can connect with Paul on

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Contact me directly at https://everydaywarriorspodcast.com.au or head to
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Support the Podcast - Buy me a Coffee

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Music Credit: Cody Martin - Sunrise (first 26 episodes) then custom made for me.

Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and stories shared on this podcast are personal to the host and guests and are not intended to serve as professional advice or guidance. They reflect individual experiences and perspectives. While we strive to provide valuable insights and support, listeners are encouraged to seek professional advice for their specific situations. The host and production team are not responsible for any actions taken based on the content of this podcast.

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What happens when you're told your diagnosis is terminal, but something inside refuses to accept that timeline? In this deeply moving conversation, Kirsten shares her extraordinary journey with stage four metastatic melanoma, diagnosed just days before New Year's Eve in 2023. 

As a seemingly healthy 37-year-old homeschooling mother of two running a successful cake decorating business, Kirsten's world transformed when unexplained pain led to the discovery of tumours in her spine and hip. Rather than succumbing to fear, she made a conscious decision to approach her diagnosis differently. "I'm not going to fight this," she reveals. "I'm going to learn to love myself through this."

Kirsten's story challenges conventional approaches to cancer treatment as she navigates both Western medicine and holistic healing modalities. From initially declining immunotherapy to eventually incorporating it alongside naturopathy, energy healing, and spiritual practices, her journey illuminates the power of an integrative approach. Through spinal surgery, hip replacement and periods of extreme pain and weight loss, Kirsten maintained an unwavering belief in her body's ability to heal.

Perhaps most poignant is how Kirsten balanced motherhood with her health crisis, protecting her children from her diagnosis while ensuring they could still experience childhood joy. Her account of community support, from her husband who told her "this is your time to heal" without guilt, to friends who sat with her in bed while she rested, showcases how crucial loving connections are in the healing journey.

Through plant medicine experiences, meditation and a profound practice of gratitude, Kirsten discovered her higher self and the wisdom that comes from facing mortality directly. "From the moment we're born, we are all terminal," she reflects, a perspective that freed her from the burden of an imposed timeline and allowed her to focus on healing moment by moment.

Listen in as Kirsten shares how learning to receive help after a lifetime of giving became one of her greatest lessons and how seeing her diagnosis as happening for her rather than to her transformed a medical crisis into a profound spiritual awakening.

You can connect with Kirsten here

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Contact me directly at https://everydaywarriorspodcast.com.au or head to
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Support the Podcast - Buy me a Coffee

Buy my Book here

Apply to be a guest here

Music Credit: Cody Martin - Sunrise (first 26 episodes) then custom made for me.

Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and stories shared on this podcast are personal to the host and guests and are not intended to serve as professional advice or guidance. They reflect individual experiences and perspectives. While we strive to provide valuable insights and support, listeners are encouraged to seek professional advice for their specific situations. The host and production team are not responsible for any actions taken based on the content of this podcast.

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What happens when your entire life changes in a single moment? For Kiwan Amey, that moment came on May 5th, 2017, when a driver pulled out in front of his motorcycle on a North Carolina highway. One month later, he woke from a medically induced coma to discover he had lost his eyesight completely.

Before the accident, Kiwan was living a full life as a US Air Force in-flight refueling specialist, entrepreneur, and student with dreams of becoming a commissioned pilot. With a 3.87 GPA and a thriving web design business, his future seemed boundless. After the accident, he faced the crushing reality of losing his military career, his independence, and the life he had known. In those dark early days, suicidal thoughts plagued him as he struggled to accept his new reality.

What makes Kiwan's story so remarkable isn't just his survival against medical odds, but how he transformed his tragedy into triumph. He coined a personal mantra that became his north star: "I lost my sight, but not my vision." This profound perspective shift opened doors to possibilities most would consider impossible for someone without sight. He mastered adaptive sports including rowing, archery, powerlifting, and even downhill skiing on real snow. His athletic prowess earned him an invitation to the Paralympics Team USA rowing tryouts. He returned to his love of music, playing drums professionally and learning keyboard. As the self-proclaimed "excuse destroyer," Kiwan now works as a motivational speaker, sharing his journey to inspire others to overcome their own limitations.

This episode offers a masterclass in resilience, forgiveness, and redefining purpose after trauma. Kiwan's infectious optimism and determination shine through as he explains how losing his sight ultimately gave him clearer vision for what matters in life. His story will challenge you to reconsider what's truly possible when you focus not on what you've lost, but on what you can still become.

Listen to this powerful conversation, then ask yourself: what excuse is holding you back from living your fullest life?

Connect with Kijuan on Instagram

Connect with Kijuan's website

Purchase Kijuans book Dont Focus on Why Me

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Contact me directly at https://everydaywarriorspodcast.com.au or head to
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Support the Podcast - Buy me a Coffee

Buy my Book here

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Music Credit: Cody Martin - Sunrise (first 26 episodes) then custom made for me.

Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and stories shared on this podcast are personal to the host and guests and are not intended to serve as professional advice or guidance. They reflect individual experiences and perspectives. While we strive to provide valuable insights and support, listeners are encouraged to seek professional advice for their specific situations. The host and production team are not responsible for any actions taken based on the content of this podcast.

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Meet Em, an incredible woman whose world began to shift in the most powerful way after receiving an ADHD diagnosis. What once felt like constant chaos and confusion finally started to make sense. The way she thought, felt, worked and related to those around her. Suddenly, pieces of her childhood, family dynamics and business life started falling into place.

In today’s episode, we have a deeply honest conversation about what it’s like to navigate the world with a neurodivergent mind, especially as a parent, a partner and a business owner. We talk about the pressure we put on ourselves, the stories we carry from childhood and what it means to take responsibility in our lives without sacrificing our wellbeing in the process.

This is about doing life in a way that actually works for you. Not what the world expects, not what the books say, but what feels true to your nervous system, your rhythms and your capacity. Em’s story is one of unravelling, relearning and reclaiming. I can’t wait for you to hear it.

You can follow Em on Instagram here

You can connect with Em here

Purchase Em's collaborative book here

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Contact me directly at https://everydaywarriorspodcast.com.au or head to
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Support the Podcast - Buy me a Coffee

Buy my Book here

Apply to be a guest here

Music Credit: Cody Martin - Sunrise (first 26 episodes) then custom made for me.

Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and stories shared on this podcast are personal to the host and guests and are not intended to serve as professional advice or guidance. They reflect individual experiences and perspectives. While we strive to provide valuable insights and support, listeners are encouraged to seek professional advice for their specific situations. The host and production team are not responsible for any actions taken based on the content of this podcast.

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Trauma doesn’t always scream. Sometimes, it whispers in sleepless nights, sudden mood swings or a nervous system that never really switches off.

In this episode, I open up about my own experience with trauma, of how it crept into my life in ways I didn’t fully understand at the time. The anxiety, the depression, the moments of hypervigilance that made it hard to trust anyone or relax. The flashbacks, emotional outbursts and deep exhaustion that seemed to come from nowhere… it was my body and mind trying to keep me safe.

I talk honestly about what those signs looked like for me, the physical and emotional toll it took and what helped me start to cope, process and eventually, begin to heal.

For me, the allopathic route of medication didn’t feel aligned. That doesn’t mean it’s wrong, it just means we all deserve options. I chose a more holistic path, leaning into modalities like breathwork, meditation, hypnosis and other nervous system regulating tools. I didn’t just want to mask the pain, I wanted to understand it and work through it.

Healing isn’t about being “fixed.” It’s not about being 100% okay all the time. It’s a life-long journey of choosing to meet yourself with compassion every single day. Some days I’m thriving while others I’m just getting through. But I no longer choose to suffer in silence. I live a life I have created and a life I now love.

If you’ve experienced trauma (recent or past) I hope this episode reminds you that you’re not broken and you’re definitely not alone. Tune in now and let’s walk this healing path together, one breath, one moment, one choice at a time.

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Contact me directly at https://everydaywarriorspodcast.com.au or head to
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Support the Podcast - Buy me a Coffee

Buy my Book here

Apply to be a guest here

Music Credit: Cody Martin - Sunrise (first 26 episodes) then custom made for me.

Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and stories shared on this podcast are personal to the host and guests and are not intended to serve as professional advice or guidance. They reflect individual experiences and perspectives. While we strive to provide valuable insights and support, listeners are encouraged to seek professional advice for their specific situations. The host and production team are not responsible for any actions taken based on the content of this podcast.

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Meet Christina, a proud mum of two who made the brave move from Indonesia to Australia, chasing a new life filled with hope and opportunity. In the beginning, her marriage felt strong and full of dreams for the future. But after the birth of their children and the pressures of a struggling business, cracks began to show.

Cultural differences and being so far from home left Christina without a reference point for what was acceptable and without a village to lean on. What unfolded was a different kind of domestic violence, not physical, but emotional, controlling and deeply manipulative.

Today, Christina shares her powerful story of saying 'enough is enough', of losing everything in her marriage except her greatest treasures, her children. From that rock-bottom moment, she rebuilt with a new job, a new degree and a new purpose for life.

This is a story of resilience, courage, and what it truly means to start over on your own terms.

You can connect with Christina on her Instagram here

Christina's LinkedIn profile is here

Trigger Warning: This episode discusses experiences of domestic violence, including emotional and psychological abuse. Please take care while listening and reach out for support if you need it. 

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Contact me directly at https://everydaywarriorspodcast.com.au or head to
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Support the Podcast - Buy me a Coffee

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Music Credit: Cody Martin - Sunrise (first 26 episodes) then custom made for me.

Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and stories shared on this podcast are personal to the host and guests and are not intended to serve as professional advice or guidance. They reflect individual experiences and perspectives. While we strive to provide valuable insights and support, listeners are encouraged to seek professional advice for their specific situations. The host and production team are not responsible for any actions taken based on the content of this podcast.

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Welcome to Part VIII of my time with WA Police, the final chapter in a series that’s been deeply personal and incredibly emotional for me to share. A journey that spanned almost eight years and changed my life in ways I’m still learning to understand.

In this final instalment, I talk about the long, drawn-out process of medical retirement, the waiting and uncertainty. The months of living in limbo, unable to work, unable to plan, just… suspended. I open up about facing the Medical Board, having my future decided in just 15 minutes by people who didn’t know me, and the final decision from the Commissioner that brought it all to an end.

But through it all, I held my head high.

This story isn’t just about paperwork or process. It’s about grief. About letting go. About rediscovering my worth outside the uniform. And above all, it’s about honour. I gave a portion of my life to serve my community and my state and despite how it ended, I’ll always be proud of that. I’ll always be grateful.

So, if you’ve walked this road too, or if you’ve ever felt like your identity was tied to a title, a role or a uniform, I invite you to listen in. This episode is for you.

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Contact me directly at https://everydaywarriorspodcast.com.au or head to
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Support the Podcast - Buy me a Coffee

Buy my Book here

Apply to be a guest here

Music Credit: Cody Martin - Sunrise (first 26 episodes) then custom made for me.

Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and stories shared on this podcast are personal to the host and guests and are not intended to serve as professional advice or guidance. They reflect individual experiences and perspectives. While we strive to provide valuable insights and support, listeners are encouraged to seek professional advice for their specific situations. The host and production team are not responsible for any actions taken based on the content of this podcast.