Kyl Reber Podcast

There are people in your life I feel you meet at the right moments, and then when you do meet those people, you probably don’t realise until years later, how much of an impact they had on your life, and still continue to.

When I first met Kas Seden I was new to the bright lights of the city, and soaking in all I could take from it, working inner city Brisbane nightclubs 30 years ago.  Kas guided me through the maze, and influenced my development in that area greatly, and to this day, is still someone I so greatly admire and respect.

He is one of my mentors.

I love him to bits, and he is a person that will talk to anyone, which is why this is such a great chat, and an honour after all this time to still call him a mate.

Have a listen, and you will agree that he is a great storyteller, and you just cannot fall in love with the guy.

It’s always a little surreal when I talk to this guy, because every time I do, I just stop for a brief moment, and just to myself, wonder how this is even possible.

And now, I would call this guys a mentor, a mate, and someone I can literally just sit down with, and talk for HOURS, as you will see in this chat.

If you have been doing Martial Arts in Australia for any amount of time, Richard Norton would be a name so many of us are familiar with, and without this pioneer in not just Australian Martial Arts, but Martial Arts on the world stage, the world for me would be very different.

60 plus years of training, travelling, learning, teaching, and innovation in the worlds of martial arts, security and body guarding, action movies, and stunt coordination.  Many hats, that all come down to a desire even at 74 years of age, to always be improving.

This is an excellent chat that Richard admits pulls him a little out of the comfort zone, as it asks him questions he’s not used to getting in interviews, and that I love.

This is one of my most favourite yet.

Have a listen.

This was a real interesting chat, and one I think we may all need to hear, because a great deal of what we think we know about food, and the way it affects our body, may be a much bigger picture than we have ever thought.

I met Rachel through training, and her expertise on food, and it’s relationship to mental health I find fascinating.  She has helped so many people from all walks of life, find a healthier way to holistically look at what they eat, and understand why it makes them feel the way they do.

In an age where everywhere we turn, there is a different influencer or “expert” giving us advice on what, when and how to eat, Rachel has some real explanations on this, which is so good to hear.

But as I said, the big one for me, is how she can explain what a connection our food has to our mental health, and how much our food choices can affect our overall well being, and how we feel about ourselves when we look past the mirror, and into our souls.

And as you will hear, she has her own story to tell, and practices what she preaches.

Three things really stood out in my mind after this chat.

1.Never let an opportunity pass you by, no matter how hard ot may be.

2.Opportunities can if you work hard at them, grow into something bigger than you could have ever dreamed, and lead to even more opportunities.

3.There never has been, and never will be, a substitute for hard work.

There were many moving parts to this chat I had with Damien, but hey all cam back to opportunity and work, every single time.  He is living proof of what happens if you knuckle down, make some sacrifices, sleep a little less than you might want to, get out of bed, and just work hard.

I loved all the moving parts of this chat.  The family dynamic growing up, the time in the military, the fight career, the family man, and the Martial Arts facility that has quickly become one of the largest and highest quality in Brisbane.

Have a listen and see what happens when you just understand nothing is achieved without a little hard work.

 There’s a few people out there, that you meet, and you can see how much passion they have for what they do, and how much joy it brings them to know that this is what they do. 

This is Jaymee Watkin in a nutshell. 

From learning how to play music at an early age in rural Australia, to touring the world playing out a kids dream, to now mentoring and guiding so many kids through to young adults, showing them and being a living example that if you want something, get after it. 

The Buttery Music School has become a safe haven and place of learning and growth for so many kids in Brisbane, and as we will see, Jaymee is fully invested in it, and is not afraid to fight for it, and give everything she has for it. 

And I think there is much more to come from Jaymee and her team.  Much more. 

I have known Brad for some time, and when you say “I would trust this guy with my house”, that in his case is actually very true.

But, besides being really good at selling things, after what he will admit not the most productive earlier years in life (listen and you’ll see), he has turned all that around, and with hard work, a work ethic that is admirable, and a commitment to his family that will never be broken, he is travelling forward in life now in leaps and bounds.

And what is even better, is now he is mentoring so many others on how to do the same, and, just show them maybe all they have to do to get where they want to be in life, is work bloody hard, when everyone else has left, and everyone else has given up.

I really enjoyed getting inside Brad’s head, and I think you will too.

I have a massive amount of admiration for this man, which I guess you could also define as a major man crush (there, I said it). Wayne Spear is to me what a Martial Artist should be.  Strong, humble, intelligent, progressive, a role model, and a protector. But, here’s the part of Wayne that I admire the most.  

A man of his calibre, and his stature, is firstly never afraid to say he does not know it all, he is always keen to learn, but more than anything else, he is not afraid to admit when he needs help, and ask for it.

That, is what I admire the most.  He has endured immense hardship, seen things that no one should have to see, but always through it all, been a protector, thought of others, and put others needs in front of him.

To me, he is the perfect example of not just a Martial Artist, but a human being.
I absolutely loved this chat with Wayne Spear, and was locked in for the whole time.  The message he sent really resonated with me, and I hope it can be as insightful for you, as it was for me.

I met this guy about a year and a half ago, and what impressed the most about him initially, was how much drive he had, and how much he wanted to make people better.
Since then, we have formed a friendship, and he has assisted in not just helping me turn my business around and take it very much to the next step, he has also become a mate I can have a chat to, bounce ideas off, and know that I am going to get an honest answer.

He is helping so many people in the business of Martial Arts navigate themselves through all that comes with running a small business, to help them grow their business into something that is truly amazing. But as always, there is a lot of moving parts to this human, and in this chat it was very interesting to learn and see how he has evolved into what he does today.

This interview with George Fourie may help you see that anyone, can do anything.

It’s funny how you can have known someone for years, and not have fully realised that there is a passion inside them to excel at something you did not even know they were diving into head first, and now it is really paying off.  And I mean REALLY coming together.  

We worked it out, and I think I met Connor over 10 years ago now, and until not long ago, I knew he was in a band, but now they are really hitting their stride, fronting stages around the world with a bunch of his mates, working his arse off, and living a dream that so many teenage kids (pardon the pun), can only dream of.

It has not been without its hard work, struggles, some very hard decisions, and all along, what he has learnt from doing Martial Arts has helped him stay true to himself and his craft, and I honestly believe the sky is the limit for this kid and his mates, as they right now are touring overseas.

It was an absolute honour to chat to Connor McLaughlin.  My mate, awesome Martial Artist, and also guitarist of Australian Band Teenage Dads.

Official Website - https://www.teenagedadsofficial.com/

Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/artist/0GEHcYh6naBVfaLKy7CEhw

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

TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@teenagedads?lang=en

This person is a real example of three things.

Evolution
Discipline
Self-Belief.

The then 19 year old girl that I started training in fitness classes, having very avid discussions on not wanting her arms to get too bog from push ups, has now gone onto becoming a very successful personal trainer, CrossFit Athlete, winning MuscleMania in the United States and earning a pro card

But now at 38, she herself is also now evolving as a mother of a very active one year old, running a thriving online coaching business, where she uses her experiences as being a young mother trying to make all the pieces fit, to guide other women who are “lost”, and help them find their way in the world by taking charge of their health and wellness.

I have so much time and respect for Tammie Sarkozy, and have loved watching the little kid evolve to someone I deeply admire.

She is showing so many other women, that it can be done.  You aren’t being selfish, you are giving yourself self love.