Get Off The Bench Podcast

Nicky Williams is the co-founder of Girls With Hammers.

From a young age, Nicky loved writing and dreamed of a life as an author. Throughout her years in corporate work, Nicky penned endless persuasive ministerial papers, but these fell short of giving her life meaning.

In 2019 she put her fears aside and blessed the world with her empathy-filled blogs.

While the majority of her work is published as blog posts on the Girls With Hammers website, she has also written articles for Medium, Elephant Journal, Thought Catalog, and Thrive Global.

Nicky’s goal is to help people feel that they are not alone in their struggles and that there are other people out there just like them.

Socials:

Website: girlswithhammers.com

FB: Girls With Hammers

Insta: Girls With Hammers  girls_with_hammers

LinkedIn: Nicky Williams 

Mentions:

Bronnie Ware - 5 regrets of the dying

Fred Hollows Foundation

Gippslandia 

Gippsland Times 

TRFM 

ABC Gippsland 

Enjoy the visual here on Youtube

Katie Dawson is the co-founder of Cottage Garden Threads, a boutique business nestled in the quiet hills of country Victoria, Australia.

Mother-Daughter duo Pam and Katie along with their passionate team of local women, design, create and produce unique, hand dyed products one-by-one. 

The journey began many years ago when Pam dyed fabric in the family home. Katie, as a child, was given the job of tearing meterage from the rolls of homespun. 

Many years later, a family friend couldn’t source the threads she needed, so asked Pam to create them for her. Cottage Garden Threads was born and the first 35 threads were created at Pam’s kitchen sink. 

6 months in Katie joined the business and the pair were learning the business side if things on the fly.

Over the years they have seen many highs and lows, but Cottage Garden Threads continues to grow beyond their wildest dreams, and with the support of an amazing team, and a global spike in needlework, Katie is convinced things will keep getting better and better.

Socials:

Website: https://www.cottagegardenthreads.com.au/

FB: Cottage Garden Threads 

Insta: cottagegardenthreads 

LinkedIn: Katie Dawson

Mentions:

Startup Gippsland

Full Circle HR

Enjoy the visual here on Youtube

Carmel Murphy is the ‘Communication Queen’ and is known for being an out-of-the-box thinker and an expert in human behaviour, marketing, and business strategies.

She wholeheartedly knows that in Marketing it is vital to get the ‘Right message, to the right person, at the right time’. 

Her passion for people, curiosity, know-how, business acumen and background have come together to develop unique programs around marketing, copywriting and videos designed to create higher conversion and increase sales and profit in business.    

Carmel is the host of the Youtube series ‘For Feck Sake! Marketing Adventures with Carmel’, and also coordinates, hosts, and delivers membership programs, workshops, and events to teach business owners how to build and market a sustainable business.   

She is a staunch believer that the power of copy, video, and clever marketing strategies will monetise your message sooner. 

Socials:

Website: https://www.thecommunicationqueen.com.au/

LinkedIn: Carmel Murphy

FB: Carmel Murphy

Insta:  Carmel Murphy the_communication_queen

Youtube: For Feck’s Sake Marketing Adventures with Carmel

Mentions:

Answer the public

Airtable

Asana

Otter

Canva

Enjoy the visual here on Youtube

Thomas Sartor is an international speaker, partner/event director for the Hero Round Table series of conferences, and the Vice President of the Heroic Imagination Project.

Formerly an owner of an asphalt and concrete paving company in Detroit, Thomas was unable to work in this industry for a while due to a back injury, which is when his journey took an unexpected turn into the world of heroism.

After volunteering for some time with the Hero Round Table global conferences, Thomas was soon invited to become an event partner, where he does his best to make sure every speaker and attendee at the Hero Round Table genuinely enjoys their time at the event.

Thomas is very passionate about the idea that people are capable of having an impact, and that anybody is capable of acting heroically. 

Socials:

LinkedIn: Thomas Sartor 

Twitter: teej @teejsartor 

Website: Heroic Imagination Project

FB: https://www.facebook.com/HeroicImaginationProject

Insta: Heroic Imagination Project @heroicimaginationproject

Twitter: Heroic Imagination Project @HIPorg

Website: Hero Round Table

FB: https://www.facebook.com/HeroRoundTable

Insta: The Hero Round Table @heroroundtable

Twitter: Hero Round Table @HeroRoundTable

Youtube: Hero Round Table

Mentions:

Hero Construction Company 

Pop Culture Hero Coalition 

Philip Zimbardo 

Stanford Prison Experiment 

Enjoy the visual here on Youtube

Lisa Schermerhorn is a transformational leader, award winning speaker and expert in the fields of human behavior, leadership and personal development.  

She also trained in the “Winners Mindset” with Bob Reese, the former head trainer for the NY Jets and helped a professional golfer win Golfer of the Year! 

As a Certified Hypnotherapist and Master Practitioner of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), she helps entrepreneurs and high performers get from where they are to where they want to be much faster than conventional coaches. She has also helped people with pain reduction, memory loss and stress reduction, using virtual reality.

Lisa is also trained as a Why Coach, helping people discover their Why, based on Simon Sinek’s, “Know Your Why”. Lisa not only helps individuals discover their Why, but she also helps people discover the Why of their business and how to use it in your branding. 

Lisa is the mom of two amazing adult children, and lives in Vermont with her rescue dog Lily, who she rescued at 10 years old from a high kill shelter. 

Socials:

Website: https://peakperformancemindsetcoaching.com/

LinkedIn: Lisa Schermerhorn

FB: Lisa Friedman Schermerhorn

FB: Lisa Schermerhorn Coaching

FB: Peak Performance Mindset Coaching

Insta: Lisa Friedman Schermerhorn   lisareiki

Mentions:

WHY Institute  https://discover.whyinstitute.com/

$150USD if you email Lisa and say you saw this on the Get Off The Bench podcast

[email protected]

Enjoy the visual here on Youtube

Sarah began her working life as a mergers and acquisitions lawyer at a leading international law firm. While she enjoyed several years building strong professional foundations, she found it increasingly challenging to reconcile the all-consuming corporate lifestyle with her personal passions for health, wellbeing, creativity and adventure. 

In pursuit of balance, Sarah and her partner started Matcha Maiden closing a gap they discovered in the health food market for matcha green tea powder. Matcha is now one of the world's premier health food trends and Match Maiden leading the way with a very bright (green) future ahead. 

Sarah has now hung up the suits and heels to step into the business full time. In 2016, the matcha mission developed into a physical venue and cutting edge cafe, Matcha Mylkbar, which is taking the food world by storm. 

Sarah now splits her time between the two businesses and is thoroughly enjoying life as a full time funtrepreneur. 

She has also started a podcast, Seize the Yay, which investigates the difference between success and happiness, the importance of cultivating "joy" and showcases the down to earth, human side of her diverse and esteemed guests. 

The podcast became a book in 2020 and Sarah continues to grow the yayborhood as far and wide as possible.

Socials:

Website: https://www.spoonfulofsarah.com/

FB: Spoon Full Of Sarah

Insta:  spoonful_of_sarah

LinkedIn: Sarah Davidson

Pinterest: Sarah Holloway

Youtube: Spoonful of Sarah

Enjoy the visual here on Youtube 

Mandy Horvath, is a bi-lateral above knee amputee, who in 2018, became the first female double amputee to ascend the Manitou Incline, raising awareness for limb loss. One month later, crawled all 13 miles of Barr Trail to the summit of Pikes Peak, using only her arms, to raise funds for Operation Ward 57 & The Battle Buddy Foundation. These historic events garnished local, national and international press.

But when the cameras were off, she struggled with alcoholism, and after a series of events, Mandy found herself in hot water with the law after committing 3 DUIs in a 6 month period and harmed an AMR paramedic who was attempting to assist her. 12 hours after she was awarded a community medal, she was found asleep in her car intoxicated. Because of a series of poor choices, in one night, Mandy went from being recognized as a community icon to being very publicly shamed for her wrongdoings.

Mandy was given a chance to resolve her addiction, and she figuratively ran with it.

Almost 3 years later and sober, Mandy has led a successful excursion of 4 grown men, including fellow bi-lateral amputee US Army Veteran Travis Strong, to the summit of Pikes Peak, became the first documented amputee to crawl up to the crown of the Statue of Liberty, and is now preparing to ascend Mt. Kilimanjaro.

She will be the first female amputee to reach one of the globe's 8 summits without the use of prosthetic equipment, and will be the legacy she leaves for her own children.

Socials:

Website: mandyhorvath.com

FB: Mandy Horvath @lifeproofMandyHorvath https://www.facebook.com/lifeproofmandyhorvath

Insta: @lifeproofbionicwoman 

Go Fund Me (Mt Kilamanjaro)

www.Gofundme.com/f/MandyHKilimanjaro

paypal.me/lifeproofbionicwoman

Mentions:

Cars4Heroes  https://www.cars4heroes.org/

Travis Strong https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78lqEalvm58

Enjoy the visual here on Youtube  https://youtu.be/-4yRejHWrnI

Belle Chapman is a photographer, mum, wife, adventurer, and storyteller. 

When Belle had her first child in 2013, she decided to give up the 9-5 and try her hand as a work from home photographer, after falling in love with photography many years before at high school.

At the age of 5, Belle lost her father to cancer - he was only 36 years old. Losing her Dad and growing up in the days where we didn’t have mobile phones with good cameras, meant she has limited images of him (especially looking healthy). 

This pain has driven Belle’s passion to cement the love and adoration families feel for each other in memories that can be kept for life to hand down through generations.

The pain was also the catalyst to Belle founding the Forevermore Foundation, a not-for-profit that provides a free photography session to families about to be impacted by the devastation of the cancer journey. 

Belle’s aim is to capture the smiles, cuddles and laughter before treatment starts, so that these memories are the ones that last a lifetime, despite the outcome.

Socials:

Website: https://www.bellechapmanphotography.com.au/our-story

FB: Belle Chapman Photography

Insta: Belle Chapman Photo

Website: https://forevermorefoundation.com.au/

FB: Forevermore Foundation

Insta: forevermorefoundation

Mentions:

Footprints Foundation

Enjoy the visual here on Youtube

Katie Underwood is a certified Meditation Teacher &  registered Member of Meditation Association Australia. She has also trained in Remedial & Relaxation Massage, Reiki, Sound Healing Therapy, Yoga of Sound & Traditional Tibetan Sound Healing. 

A multi-instrumentalist, Vocalist, ARIA-nominated and APRA Award winning Recording Artist.  She has been working in the Wellness industry for 10 years and Music industry for over 35 years.

Her current passion & purpose is empowering people to enhance their self-healing with regular meditation, healing sounds & strong social connections, online and in person. 

A prolific music producer, Katie has produced five meditation music albums in the last four years - Madrigal, Journey to Mantra, Awaken, Mantra Dreaming & Mantra Rising - available on iTunes, Spotify, CD & USB.

Socials:

Website: www.underwoodhealing.com

FB: Katie Underwood  @underwoodHC Meditation Centre

Insta: Katie Underwood katieunderwoodhealing  

LinkedIn: Katie Underwood  

Mentions:

Bardot

Gippsland Kirtan website

Live From Your Heart - Gippsland Kirtan event

Enjoy the visual here on Youtube  https://youtu.be/LAPuvAZONSI

Sophie Wilksch is the founder and director of  Shedding Community Workshop Inc. Sophie established Shedding as a not-for-profit organisation in 2018, through her own passion for carpentry and building… But most of all a passion for people and wellbeing!

Shedding’s aim is to provide a unique, supportive and hands-on environment for all members of the community to come together and develop sustainable skills in carpentry, building and everything in between. It is a place to shed your fears and build with curiosity.

In the third year of Sophie’s degree she had the opportunity to join the Design Construct Program co-ordinated by architect-builder David Morris.

The group headed out to a small town in the Australian desert to construct a number of buildings they had designed and prefabricated at the university workshop.

A couple of years later Sophie ventured off on a trip up the coast, but her engine had a major tantrum and she ended up on the side of the road in Mullumbimby.

With a dream to start a little carpentry business, she had just a square, a handsaw, a drill and a block of sandpaper.

This was the beginning of the Shedding journey. Taking all she has learned from mentors, Sophie and her crew have supported over five hundred students and have watched the community come together to support the organisation because they too share the same dream.

Socials:

Website - shedding.com.au

FB - Shedding Community Workshop

Insta - Shedding Community Workshop

Mentions:

Pat Gregory - Woodwork for Women 

Enjoy the visual here on Youtube