Get Off The Bench Podcast

This weekend I went away with my sister to Byron Bay Yoga Centre for a long weekend retreat. While there was some element of self care replenishment, we also hoped it would give us a great opportunity to get away from everyday life to connect on a deeper level. That certainly happened. 

But what else happened was a realisation that two worlds can collide in the exact same space and the outcome can be two completely different perspectives and realities. We all know that, and on a surface level that’s ok, but what happens with our buried emotions? Do we suddenly release them with the acknowledgement that realities are vastly conflicting? Or do we hold them deep down until they make us sick, or until we consciously confront them?

This episode looks at how open honest conversation can lead not only to deeper connection, but also to healing.

Evie Wilson is a mindset coach, positivity rebel, dream chasing guide, group space enthusiast and podcast host of the podcast Wildly Positive. She is also a mother to two small girls, a marriage celebrant and feminist, always.

As a mindset coach, Evie creates spaces for women to open their minds to lush, audacious dreams for their lives, pairing it with the essential mindset work required to fully step into making these dreams their new realities.

Her favourite ways to do this are within group spaces such as her monthly, in person small community event Hype Club and her fast growing girls empowerment sessions, Clubhouse.

Evie is also the creator of Dance Dance Dopamine, where women can experience the full joy of dance without all the stress and anxiety of dressing to impress.

Positivity, joy and connection are the pillars Evie builds her life and work on, and she fully believes in guiding women and girls on how their wild and bold positivity can truly change their lives, championing them to strive for more and to forever take up more space.

Socials:

Website: https://eviewilson.com.au/

FB: Evie Wilson - Marriage Celebrant + Mindset Coach

Insta: Evie Wilson @__eviewilson

Insta: Gippsland Celebrant @eviewilson_celebrant

Mentions:

Beautiful You Coaching Academy

DJ Nige

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Simon Alexander Ong is a personal development entrepreneur, coach and public speaker. His clients are from all walks of life but they share one trait; they all believe that the greatest investment you can make is in yourself. His work has seen him invited onto Sky News and BBC to be interviewed, while Barclays featured him in a nationwide campaign asking him questions on how families could embrace better lifestyle habits. 

His insights have seen him featured in HuffPost, Forbes, Virgin and the Guardian. He also regularly speaks at organisations (these have included Salesforce, Microsoft, EY, Adobe and Unilever) and keynotes public events and conferences across the globe. 

His debut book Energize was published by Penguin in April 2022 and became an instant bestseller. It also received endorsements from the likes of New York Times bestselling authors Simon Sinek, Marie Forleo and Dr Marshall Goldsmith.

Socials:

Website: https://www.simonalexanderong.com/

LinkedIn: Simon Alexander Ong

Insta: Simon Alexander Ong @simonalexandero

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Tim Bye is The Gay Farmer, and also the proud creator of The Gay Farmer Candles.

In 2016, Tim was working in the Northern Suburbs of Melbourne, and was bullied, harassed and discriminated against in the workplace, simply for being gay. He was then terminated after complaining about the treatment he was receiving from the manager. 

Tim hoped WorkSafe Vic would help, but sadly they didn’t. This led to Tim’s mental health declining badly, and he now suffers with severe mental health issues.

In 2022, Tim’s niece visited and told Tim about how she made candles, and how it was relaxing and a great creative outlet. Recognising his own creative spark, Tim wanted to try this in the hope that his mental health would improve. He started making candles for his friend, Molly Irvine to raise money for her to compete in a World Championship Triathlon event.

Falling in love with candle making, Tim now makes 100% Soy Candles in drink ware, so the candle jars have a second use and people get something other than a jar they would ordinarily throw out.

Socials:

Website: https://thegayfarmer.com.au/

FB: The Gay Farmer Candles

Insta: The Gay Farmer Candles @thegayfarmeraus

Mentions:

Macquarie Injury Lawyers

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At the end of 2021, Laura set herself a a massive challenge…. Go for a walk everyday for a year! At the time she honestly thought she would last a week, or maybe a month tops. There were a few reasons for the challenge but one of the biggest ones was listening to someone who had lost a massive amount of weight, describe how they could finally be happy now they are living in a thinner body. 

Laura had heard this before, but this time she reflected and realised she was already happy. She had a wonderful family, a great job and a wonderful life… she was just frustrated that she had been trying to change her body every day for at least 25 years and nothing had ever worked. 

It was in that moment of reflection that Laura realised she had been doing so much damage to her body and her mind while striving for something that really in the grand scheme of things didn’t matter. She needed to be kind to herself like she would be to her family or best mate! What really mattered was that her 3 kids had a great role model that didn’t obsess over their weight and could keep up with how busy they were. Ultimately the decision to walk every day was for the kids, but she also needed to fit it in around them and was working almost full time. 

The more walking Laura did, the better she felt physically, but she also felt better emotionally and mentally. Within the first few weeks she discovered so many more amazing benefits and became acutely aware how much her mindset was changing. She also realised that of all the people she was following on social media, not one of them was like her. While there was extreme dieting or extreme fitness models, and loads of weight loss surgery accounts, nobody was taking a gentle approach. 

Laura decided that ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’ so began sharing her journey on Instagram. The community that has grown from this experience has kept Laura inspired to continue encouraging and inspiring people to be as kind as they can be to themselves, and to spread kindness across the whole community in the hope of making this world a more loving and nurturing one.

Socials:

Insta: Laura Robinson @legging_it_with_laura

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Whilst working at a country bank in rural New South Wales in 1993, Graeme was witness to an armed robbery from behind the service counter.  On this day, police dramatically arrested the offenders as they exited the bank. This moment proved pivotal in his decision to apply for the Victoria Police, graduating from the police academy in 1994.

Graeme worked the ‘beat’ across many suburbs of metropolitan Melbourne before being promoted to Detective in 2003. In 2006 he transferred to the prestigious Homicide Squad, honing his skills from the legends of Victoria Police Homicide.

He then led small teams in the highly dynamic and pressured world of armed robbery investigations. He obtained two departmental commendations for some high profile, infamous investigations before moving to the North East of Victoria as the Officer in Charge, Wodonga Detectives.

Graeme is the recipient of the National Emergency Medal (Black Saturday Bushfires 2009), National Medal (25 years service), National Police Service Medal and Victoria Police Ethical Service Medal. He has a Bachelor of Policing (Investigations) and Graduate Certificate in Fire Investigations, both from Charles Sturt University, New South Wales.

After an esteemed career as a Detective Sergeant with Victoria Police, Graeme went on to establish Peregrine Investigations and Consultancy in 2021. He is also the lead investigator on the Ch10 TV show ‘Hunted’.

Socials:

Website: Peregrine Investigations and Consultancy https://www.peregrineconsultancy.com.au/

LinkedIn: Graeme Simpfendorfer

Insta: Graeme Simpfendorfer @simpfofficial

Insta: Graeme Simpfendorfer @peregrineconsultancy

Hunted (TV - Ch10)

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Prasiddhi Singh, Age 10, Prime Minister National Child Awardee (Highest Civilian Honor Under 18 years). She is the founder of the Prasiddhi Forest Foundation. She is the youngest Fruit Forest Creator of India-by-India book of Records.

Prasiddhi is Brand Ambassador for the Nationwide Girl literacy campaign – “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” by Tamil Nadu Government. She has also been appointed as Child Ambassador of Green Tamil Nadu Mission. Prasiddhi has been featured in Wikipedia for her plantation program & environmental contribution. 

Prasiddhi has planted over 1Lac trees and created several Prasiddhi micro forests in government schools, colleges, Panchayat & farmer’s land. Prasiddhi is an advocate of biodiversity, she has created her own eco army of 40,000+ eco-warriors spread across the globe through 600+ (online & in-person) workshops on topics like climate change, circular economy, sustainability, 3Rs and how to be an impact creator to students, corporates, villagers & farmers successfully. 

Two times TEDx speaker, Prasiddhi is also the youngest keynote speaker of Harvard Model United Nations, India. Now she is working on Web3 Climate technology & Nature Based Solutions. 

Awards /Recognition: 

The Diana Award - U.K (Highest & Prestigious global accolade for social Action & Humanitarian efforts). 

Zee TV Born to Shine Award. 

The Global Child Prodigy Award, Dubai. 

TV18 Byju’s Young Genius Award 

Finalist “Indian of The Year” CNN News18. 

Eco Hero Awards, California USA. 

Earth Day Network Rising star (USA). 

Global Sustainability Award by GCPIT 

Young Changemaker by Cartoon Network- Warner’s Brothers.

Prasiddhi, young social entrepreneur, is a true inspiration for countless kids and people of all age groups. At an age when kids are busy imbibing the basics of life, she is leading global environmental initiatives. Prasiddhi has also initiated her G3 PROJECT - (Generate your oxygen, Grow your own food, Gift your community) with an aim to widespread environment awareness to every school & every student of India.

Socials:

Website: Prasiddhi Forest Foundation prasiddhiforest.org

LinkedIn: Prasiddhi Singh

Insta: Prasiddhi Singh @prasiddhi.official

Insta: Prasiddhi Forest Foundation @prasiddhiforest

FB: Prasiddhi Forest https://www.facebook.com/PrasiddhiForest

FB: Prasiddhi Singh

Youtube: Prasiddhi Singh

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Sue Centra is an energetic optimist, passionate about bringing people together and creating a stronger community.

Right before Covid started, Sue retired with big plans to caravan around Australia. Sue and her husband sold the family farm and headed north. Locked out of Victoria due to Covid, Sue and Mick took the long way home and found themselves at a Traveller Caravan Group get-together in South Australia, which would continue to play in Sue’s mind long after the gathering.

Upon arriving back in Victoria, Sue was asked to head up a specialised Covid team, and it was then that Sue really knew she was meant to be working for the community and helping people.

Eventually Sue decided to emulate the get-together she enjoyed so much, but this time in her beloved Gippsland town of Sale.

She called this event the Sale Traveller’s Extravaganza, and with some local support, Sue delivered the very successful event, helping others to create deep friendships and boosting the local economy by more than $30,000 over a few days.

Mentions:

Middle of Everywhere

Wellington Shire

Northland Caravans

Traveller Caravans

The Uncles (band)

Dane Nicholls (solo musician)

Gippsland Baked Potatoes

Sporting Legends (venue)

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Lewis Swire is a 16-year-old social entrepreneur from Scotland, whose entrepreneurial journey started at the age of 10 when he founded Aurora Bath Bombs, and at 12 founded Cheeky Lemonade.

He then founded The Curious Times (curioustimes.co.uk), an award-winning international online magazine ‘By Young People, For Young People’, dedicated to amplifying the voices of young people. He founded the non-profit in the April lockdown of 2020, in response to the isolation and disconnection being experienced by young people globally. Since then, he has built a community of hundreds of thousands of young people passionately sharing the issues facing their generation and striving to enact positive change in the world. With a core editorial board of 12 and a greater team of over 200 writers, the magazine also operates as a hub for young people to read the latest news on a variety of topics.

In February 2021, Lewis co-founded The Global Young Entrepreneur Society (GYES), a completely youth led international non-profit organization that supports exceptional young people in realising their aspirations by giving them a platform for entrepreneurial growth. GYES frequently publishes ‘signature’ content on their website (gyes.org) and YouTube channel, making interviews with some of the most successful entrepreneurs, politicians and academics freely available to the GYES community. 

Lewis has recently founded Scranables, a subscription based snack bar line, which is currently in product development phase.

In September 2022, Lewis was invited to the Summit of Minds in Chamonix, France, in recognition of his work to-date on The Curious Times and GYES. At the three-day conference, Lewis embraced the opportunity to speak face to face with world-leaders and heads-of-state. His opening and closing plenary speeches provided him a platform to represent and amplify the issues concerning young people today, ensuring that these are brought to people in power and change is acted upon. 

Beyond the business world, Lewis is a talented field hockey player and trains as a ballet dancer with Scottish Ballet Associates and Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Associates programmes. He began ballet dancing when he was just three years old and now spends evenings, weekends and holidays rehearsing in the ballet studio – he finds the studio a great place to clear the mind. Lewis is in full-time school and preparing to sit his first set of national examinations (National 5s) this year.

Socials:

Website: The Curious Times https://www.curioustimes.co.uk/

Insta: The Curious Times @curious.times

Website: Global Young Entrepreneur Society (GYES) https://www.gyes.org/

LinkedIn: Lewis Swire

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This episode takes a look at some questions to ask yourself if your project or idea has made you wonder whether you should quit.

Quitting is not failure, and actually takes enormous strength and courage.

If you have lost your passion, are frustrated, have lost connection with other things you care about, or are gaining no traction, this episode will give you some things to reflect upon, if you have the courage to be honest with yourself.

Happy listening 😁

Website: kerrynvaughan.com