When pain is invisible, so is the understanding. In this raw and heartfelt conversation, Michaela Overman sits down with her best friend Emily.

Emily’s pain didn’t show up on scans — until it did. One of just 20 people globally with both cyclical Cushing’s and acromegaly, she shares the years of “it’s all in your head,” the friendships stretched thin, the surgery that changed everything, and what healing really looks like after.

This is a conversation about invisible illness, repair, and choosing hope — even when your nervous system isn’t there yet.

Leadership is often measured by targets and strategy - but the real story is human. In this Heart On My Sleeve episode, KPMG Australia’s National Managing Partner for People & Inclusion Dorothy Hisgrove opens up about the moments that reshaped her leadership: grief, self-reflection, and the courage to prioritise both results and wellbeing. We explore the gendered expectations on women leaders, how psychological safety unlocks high performance, and why joy and connection are not perks but infrastructure. Dorothy shares practical rituals to prevent burnout, the power of honest storytelling at work, and a simple rule for modern leadership: replace fixing with presence. If you’re stretched thin or leading teams through relentless change (hello, AI era), this conversation is a field guide to leading sustainably - without losing yourself.

Mitch sits down with lifelong friend Ash Thomsen for a raw, generous account of her son Bodhi’s birth - and the identity shift that followed. Ash shares how a gruelling 36-hour labour, medical complications, and postpartum anxiety/depression culminated in PTSD, and how she found her way back through support, medication, CBT, and especially EMDR - the trauma therapy that helped turn a terrifying event into a tolerable memory.

They talk control vs surrender, the “rebirth” of the mother, partnership under pressure, and why community matters in the first year.

This episode is for expectant parents, those recovering from birth trauma, and anyone reshaping themselves after a life-altering moment.

Disclaimer: birth trauma, postpartum mental health, PTSD.

Please listen at your own pace and reach out to supports if needed.

Interior designer Anna Carin joins host Michaela Overman for a tender, honest conversation about living with both beauty and pain at the same time. Raised on a Swedish farm and now three decades in Australia, Anna shares how a single incident of childhood sexual abuse (content note) shaped her relationship with shame, intimacy, control, and creativity —and how her lifelong “pursuit of beauty” became both refuge and expression.

She opens up about therapy, hypnosis, her short film What Will Be, and practices that help her reconnect with her body — yoga, drumming, and somatic movement. Together they explore inner-child work, releasing self-blame, and the possibility of seeking pleasure safely after trauma.

Anna leaves us with a powerful reminder: emotions soften when we stop adding stories and make space for them to settle.

In this deeply personal episode of Heart on My Sleeve, Luke Cook sits down with neuro-transformational coach and keynote speaker Nerissa Trindade to explore the heartbreak that doesn't come with a funeral but still requires mourning - separation and divorce from those we thought we'd be with forever.

Both hosts share their parallel journeys through relationship breakdown, discussing the power of surrendering not as defeat, but as an invitation into possibility. Narissa opens up about hitting rock bottom and the transformative reframe of "letting go of control to embrace what could be," while Luke reflects on how past traumas shaped his relationship patterns.

This raw, honest conversation offers hope to anyone facing major life transitions, reminding us that what's meant for us won't miss us, and sometimes the most courageous thing we can do is allow ourselves to float with the current instead of swimming against it.

This week on the Heart on My Sleeve podcast, Mitch Wallis sits down with NSW MP Adam Crouch for a raw and deeply moving conversation about love, loss, and resilience.

After losing his wife Jill—an oncology nurse who cared for others while bravely fighting her own battle with cancer—Adam shares the realities of grief, the weight of supporting a partner through terminal illness, and the importance of community, vulnerability, and honest conversations.

With courage and authenticity, Adam shows us what it means to keep living in honour of those we’ve loved and lost.

In this episode, Michaela Overman sits down with Gavin Fingelson - former professional baseball player, father of two, and CEO of Feel the Magic.

Gavin shares his journey of navigating deep personal loss from a young age, the lessons baseball taught him about failure and resilience, and how vulnerability and communication became his anchors.

From growing up in South Africa to representing Australia on the world stage, Gavin reflects on grief, fatherhood, and why giving back is the legacy that matters most.

For additional resources or to donate visit:

https://www.heartonmysleeve.org/

https://www.feelthemagic.org.au/

When lawyer and mum Sarah Susak was told she had a rare - and deadly - cancer just a year after the birth of her “miracle baby,” her world cracked. In this uncompromising conversation, she takes us through surgery, grief, and the path of spiritual rebirth that followed. Sarah shares how Vedic meditation, ancestral wisdom, and radical acceptance helped her heal more than her body - they healed her identity. This episode is a testament to the deep resilience we discover when life demands it of us - and the power of becoming your own guru. If you've ever wondered what your “Yiru” - your inner wisdom - is, let Sarah’s journey guide you toward your own quiet strength.

Web: https://www.sarahsusak.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarah_susak/?hl=en

In one of our most raw and powerful episodes to date, I sit down with my dear friend Zoe Marshall - TV presenter, author, manifester, podcast host, and mental health advocate - for an unfiltered conversation about her journey through Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

Together, we peel back the layers of what it's really like to live with intrusive thoughts, compulsions, and the mental gymnastics of emetophobia (fear of vomit) - a condition Zoe mistook for decades as just anxiety or a phobia.

We explore:

• The moment Zoe realised her lifelong fear had a name

• The four-hour lunch that changed her life

• Her terrifying but transformative experience with Exposure Response Prevention (ERP) therapy

• The fluid fusion between her identity and OCD—and how she's learning to separate the two

• How one word—maybe—has given her the freedom to live again

This conversation is deeply personal, sometimes confronting, often enlightening - and full of hope. Whether you live with OCD, love someone who does, or simply want to understand the inner world behind a smile, this episode is for you.

Zoe’s vulnerability is a gift. Her story is a mirror. And her healing is a reminder that even in the darkest confusion, trust and surrender can light the way.

👉 Connect with Zoe: @zoebmarshall | arise.com.au

Dani Lombard - PR powerhouse, unapologetic truth-teller, and lifelong “friend collector” - joins psychologist and HOMS clinical director Michaela Overman for her first-ever podcast appearance. But this isn’t about publicity. It’s about pulling the curtain back.

In this raw and revealing conversation, Dani shares the story she’s never told publicly - her decades-long journey with anxiety, panic attacks, and the shame she carried behind a high-functioning, always-laughing persona. From a life-changing panic attack on a San Francisco street corner at 21, to quietly spiraling into agoraphobia while seemingly "thriving" in PR, Dani explores how she masked deep mental anguish behind success, sarcasm, and survival.

Together, Michaela and Dani unpack what it really means to heal, why taking medication isn’t failure, and how two realities can coexist: being both okay and not okay. Vulnerable, funny, and disarmingly honest, this episode is a powerful reminder that mental health doesn't look one way—and that you're still worthy, even if you're not wearing a medal.