This week Nicola and Di chat with the dynamic Pete Simson. He’s an entrepreneur, a farmer, a philanthropist, the co-founder of RedBalloon and a loving father to his 2 children. Pete is also a single man in his 60s, navigating the world of online dating and we wanted to get his thoughts and insights into what this has been like for him as well as any tips he might have for our listeners. 

Pete shares with us some of the highs and lows of online dating including some funny stories of dates that went wrong. He also shares the different lessons he’s learned, the psychological principles that help him to notice red flags, such as attachment styles, and the things he’s on the lookout for when it comes to dating profiles and meeting up with a potential match.

In this episode, you’ll also get to hear more of Pete’s story - growing up on a farm in rural Victoria, and the fateful day he got home from school as a 10 year old and saw that his family home had burnt down. There are tears in the studio as Pete recounts that day, and shares stories from his childhood. 

We talk about his entrepreneurship as the co-founder of RedBalloon, the company he built in 2001 with his wife at the time, and how they were ahead of their time as an online gifting experience company. And we chat about what Pete is up to now - an exciting new film project that is shedding light on white collar domestic violence and raising awareness around this important issue. 

We had such a great time with Pete in the studio - he’s full of energy and the conversation just flowed. We hope you enjoy this chat as much as we did. 

This episode is proudly sponsored by Eir Women. Use code OTBF20 at checkout to receive a 20% discount on any purchase. 

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Follow Pete on IG here

Books Pete referenced in this episode:

Attached by Amir Levine and Rachel S.F. Heller

Everybody Lies by Seth Stephens Davidowitz

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This week Nicola and Di chat with the bold and dynamic Erika Cramer aka The Queen of Confidence. Erika is a confidence coach, keynote speaker, best-selling author and podcast host who has transformed her story of trauma and adversity into a journey of healing and success.

In this episode Erika shares her incredible personal story, and the extremely difficult circumstances she’s had to overcome and heal from in her life. When you hear what Erika has been through, you’ll be so inspired by how she’s been able to transform her life and the wisdom she has to share. 

Erika has the most wonderful energy and shares real, no BS tools that you can use in your life to step into courage, live with confidence and attract the life that you want. Not only that, she keeps things fun, and we were all laughing in this chat.

We also talk about Erika’s new book, Becoming Magnetic, and the 5 phases that help you to naturally draw in the right opportunities, people, and experiences that align with who you really are.

This was such a fun interview and we hope you feel as inspired and uplifted listening to Erika as we did. 

This episode is proudly sponsored by Eir Women. Use code OTBF20 at checkout to receive a 20% discount on any purchase. 

Follow Nicola and Di on IG here

Follow Erika on IG here

Buy Erika’s book Becoming Magnetic here 

Buy Erika’s book Confidence Feels Like Sh*T here

Listen to Erika’s podcast here 

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Welcome back to Over The Back Fence! It’s 2025 and we’re so excited to be kicking off Season 3 with you all. This week Nicola and Di chat about their summer break - what they got up to over the silly season, the holiday fun, including trips to Melbourne and the most exciting news of all, that both of them have recently met someone - so stay tuned to hear more about their brand new romances. 

After Nicola and Di have their summer catch-up, they interview our most popular guest, David The Medium, who’s back for a third time.

We check-in with David on the incredible predictions he made for 2024, many of which came true, and get him to give us the latest on what he’s predicting for 2025. His word of the year is revolution because David tells us there will be a lot of change, with old things that no longer serve us being dismantled, and new opportunities being birthed. 

You’ll also get to listen in on a powerful reading that David does for Nicola and Di where he’s able to connect with their loved ones who have passed, and they have some thoughts and guidance to pass on to the ladies about their new relationships. 

David also talks to us about the importance of managing our energy and how we all need to pay attention to our inner circle and the people we’re spending our time with. He has some helpful insights for us all to hear. 

We always love having David The Medium join us on the show and we continue to be blown away by his spiritual readings and psychic predictions. We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did! 

This episode is proudly sponsored by Eir Women. Use code OTBF20 at checkout to receive a 20% discount on any purchase. 

Follow Nicola and Di on IG here

Follow David The Medium on IG here 

Visit David’s website here to join his manifestation events, book a private reading or buy his daily guidance cards

Buy your Eir Women products here. Use code OTBF20 at checkout for a 20% discount

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Join Nicola and Di this week as they reflect on 2024 and their favourite moments and highlights from some of the incredible guests they’ve had on the podcast this year. They’ve been lucky enough to chat to psychics, actors, comedians, journalists, doctors, psychologists, artists, life coaches, entrepreneurs, sailors and the list goes on. It’s true what they say, variety really is the spice of life. Share in some laughs and stories, as we remember some of our favourite moments from Season 2. 

We want to thank all of our guests for sharing their stories (and their hearts), our team at DM podcasts for their constant support, and most importantly our listeners - we love creating this show for you and we’re thrilled that you tune in each week. We wish you all a very happy and healthy holiday season and we can’t wait to be back in 2025 with even more amazing conversations for you to enjoy. Thanks for being part of our Over The Back Fence community. 

This episode is proudly sponsored by Eir Women. Use code OTBF15 at checkout to receive a 15% discount on any purchase. 

Follow Nicola and Di on IG here

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This week Nicola and Di chat with the authentic and entertaining Cameron Daddo. Cam has been part of the Australian entertainment scene since the late 80s. He became the youngest prime-time game show host in Aussie TV history for Perfect Match and since then has gone on to become an award-winning actor, broadcaster and singer-songwriter. He’s also the author of a new book - Keep It Smooth: Life Lessons In Confidence and is passionate about men’s mental health, which led him to set up his non-profit organisation My Men’s Team. 

In this wonderful chat, we talk about so many different things. There’s laughter, tears and everything in between. We go right back to Cam’s childhood and the struggles he went through as a kid because he had a stutter. Cam talks about how he couldn’t even say his own name and how his stutter caused him so much anxiety. We also hear about the incredible teacher who reframed everything for Cam and how that changed his life. 

We chat about the early days of Cam’s career and what it was like after being such a successful actor in Australia, to move to LA and start all over again as a complete unknown and experience hundreds of knock backs and rejections.

Cam opens up about his marriage with Ali, and is honest about the affair he had with his Models Inc co-star in the 90s, and how grateful he is that Ali was willing to stay and work on rebuilding their marriage. Cam is candid about how much therapy helped them work through everything and shares how they continue to work on their marriage - even after 33 years. 

Cam shares so many hilarious stories from his acting days and time in LA, as well as the adversity he went through after losing almost everything in the financial crisis of 2008. This difficult time prompted Cam to write an open letter to other men at the school his kids attended, inviting anyone going through similar struggles to talk. This led to the first Men’s Team, which is now a non-profit organisation, and is a place where men can come together, talk, listen and learn to become more resilient.

We also chat about Cam’s brilliant new book, Keep It Smooth, and the different things he’s learnt about confidence throughout his life. This is such a wonderful conversation and we loved having Cam in the studio. He took us on a ride of highs and lows and we hope you get as much out of listening to it as we did. Enjoy. 

This episode is proudly sponsored by Eir Women. Use code OTBF15 at checkout to receive a 15% discount on any purchase. 

Follow Cam on IG here

Buy Cam’s book Keep It Smooth - Life Lessons in Confidence here 

Listen to Cam and Ali’s podcast Separate Bathrooms here

Find out more about My Men’s Team here 

Follow Nicola and Di on IG here

Follow Eir Women on IG here 

Find out more about Eir Women here and use code OTBF15 at checkout

 

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This week Nicola and Di chat with one of the top global thought leaders in mental health, Mitch Wallis. Mitch is most well known for being the founder of Heart On My Sleeve - a leading global mental health movement that helps people drop the brave face and be real about how they feel. He is also the author of Real Conversations, a powerful book which helps you connect with confidence and create healthy, supportive relationships. Mitch truly is an expert in his field, with a master’s degree in clinical psychology, he’s been an advisor to the United Nations on the topic of youth mental health and won a Man of Impact award by GQ. Not only that, Mitch is a talented speaker who has delivered talks to tens of thousands of people, and we were so lucky he shared so much of his wisdom in this episode. 

In this chat, Mitch gives us powerful ways that we can all learn to have meaningful and real conversations with one another, and how it is that we can truly connect. He explains the difference between talking and connecting, and why it is that if you try to fix someone’s problem, you will only make things worse. As Mitch says, the goal of a real conversation is not to fix a problem, but to understand the person.   

We hear about the 5 key mistakes that people make when they’re trying to connect with someone, and why we need to take a counter-intuitive approach. Mitch gives us so many ideas for how we can avoid these mistakes and learn to truly understand and support people.

Mitch also opens up about his own personal struggles with mental health, his lowest moments and the words from his mum that saved his life. We talk about the loneliness epidemic and how it’s vital that we prioritise connection, and Mitch reminds us how we can all do that. 

This was an incredibly powerful and inspiring conversation and we learnt so much from having Mitch in the studio with us. We hope you love it as much as we did, and we encourage you to share this special episode with your loved ones as everyone can benefit from hearing this. 

This episode is proudly sponsored by Eir Women. Use code OTBF15 at checkout to receive a 15% discount on any purchase. 

Follow Mitch on IG here

Follow Heart on My Sleeve on IG here

Buy Mitch’s book Real Conversations here

Listen to Mitch’s Podcast here

Find out more about Mitch’s work here

Find out more about the Heart on My Sleeve movement here 

Follow Nicola and Di on IG here

Follow Eir Women on IG here 

Find out more about Eir Women here and use code OTBF15 at checkout

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Nicola and Di chat with the incredibly inspiring changemaker, Taryn Brumfitt. Taryn is an award-winning filmmaker, bestselling author and speaker on a mission to help people redefine the way they think about themselves and to end the global body-hating epidemic. She is best known for founding the Body Image Movement and her inspiring documentaries Embrace and Embrace Kids. Taryn has reached more than 200 million people with her inspiring work and in 2023, her efforts were recognised nationally when she was named Australian of the Year.

In this chat we get to talk about how it all started back in 2013, when Taryn posted a non-traditional before and after photo of herself that went viral. Her intention was to show some friends of hers that were struggling with their own body image, that even though she had reached her ‘perfect bikini body’ through dieting and bodybuilding, she was actually happier when she let go of that extreme way of treating her body and learnt to embrace her body exactly as it was. What Taryn didn’t know at the time was that the photo would go viral, reaching tens and tens of millions of people, leading to worldwide media attention and changing her life forever. 

We hear about the deeply moving emails and messages that Taryn received from people all over the world sharing their own stories of body hatred and Taryn was determined to help these people and spread the message of self-love and body acceptance far and wide. Taryn has some wonderful tips in this episode for how you can begin to reframe the way you see yourself and start to focus on the way your body feels and what it can do for you, rather than simply your appearance.

Taryn also shares what some of the pivotal moments along the way have been like - from winning Australian of the Year, to addressing the National Press Club in Canberra, and getting an invite to a State dinner at The White House with President Biden.

This was a wonderful conversation with a brilliant woman who is doing such important work in the world. We loved chatting with Taryn and we hope you enjoy listening to her wisdom as much as we did. 

This episode is proudly sponsored by Eir Women. Use code OTBF15 at checkout to receive a 15% discount on any purchase. 

Follow Taryn on IG here

Join the Embrace You community here

Find out more about Taryn’s work here

Buy Taryn’s books here 

Follow Nicola and Di on IG here

Follow Eir Women on IG here 

Find out more about Eir Women here and use code OTBF15 at checkout

Listen to Lisa Walker's episode here

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This week Nicola and Di chat with the interesting and entertaining Jordanna Levin. Jordanna is the best-selling author of several books including Make It Happen and her latest book, All Signs Point To You. She’s also a gifted astrologer and host of the popular podcast, Lunar Lover. 

In this chat we get to talk about all things astrology! Jordanna gives us great insights about the qualities of the different star signs, explains what a natal chart is, and why we can’t just rely on a person’s sun sign when we’re trying to find a compatible partner.

We hear a bit about Jordanna’s dating life, what she’s learnt about herself and which star signs she’s attracted to and feels the most compatible with. Jordanna also shares with Di and Nicola who she thinks might make a good match for them. She has a great tip for how to know which signs you’re compatible with - and it’s not one we’ve heard before, so you’ll want to stay tuned for that. 

We also talk about what astrology tells us is on the cards for next year, and hear Jordanna’s predictions for 2025. This was such a fun and fascinating episode and we hope you love learning about astrology as much as we did. 

Follow Jordanna on IG here

Listen to Jordanna’s podcast - Lunar Lover - here

Buy Jordanna’s latest book All Signs Point to You here

Follow Nicola and Di on IG here

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Nicola and Di chat with the hilarious and fun Claudia Bursill aka Miss Double Bay. Miss Double Bay is Claudia’s alter ego and she’s best known for her take on the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney and influencer culture and her razor sharp memes and deadpan humour. She’s the queen of satire and is also the co-host of the popular podcast, Certified Yappers, with her friend Roj. 

In this chat we hear the funny story of how Miss Double Bay started, when a mouldy avocados review that Claudia did as part of a university assignment went viral and earned her the nickname, Miss Double Bay. Claudia talks about how she started the instagram account a couple of years later and it began to really gain popularity during covid. Initially the account was completely anonymous and nobody knew who Miss Double Bay was, but after a couple of years, as things were really taking off, she decided to come clean and reveal who she was. 

We have a good laugh about the latest trends in this episode. From personalised dog harnesses, to what’s happening on the dating scene with run clubs, and communal ice bath sessions - Aussie culture at its finest. Claudia also tells us about her other Instagram account where women submit the cringe worthy things they see and hear on the dating app Hinge - she shares a few voice notes with us in the studio, which we hope you’ll find as funny as we did. 

We also talk about our philosophies on life - having a good laugh, not taking things too seriously, treating people kindly, having positive energy, an attitude of gratitude and a focus on fun! This conversation made us laugh so hard and we hope you enjoy listening to the silliness. 

Follow Miss Double Bay on IG here

Follow Hinge Boiz on IG here

Listen to Claudia’s podcast - Certified Yappers - here

Buy your own Miss Double Bay Water Bottle here

Follow Nicola and Di on IG here

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This week Nicola and Di chat with the wise and encouraging Dr. Kristin Neff. Kristin is an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Texas and is one of the world’s leading experts in self-compassion. Kristin was the first person to conduct research on self-compassion more than 20 years ago and she created a scale to measure it, which is used by thousands of practitioners all over the world. She’s written numerous academic articles as well as several books on the topic and has been recognised as one of the most influential scholars in the field of psychology. Well over 5000 studies have been conducted on self-compassion by various scholars since her ground-breaking articles were first published in 2003. She really is a trailblazer in this field. 

In this conversation, Kristin describes what self-compassion actually is, the benefits of practising it in your life, and she shares some simple yet powerful tools which you can use to build your self-compassion. 

She talks about the important difference between self-pity and self-compassion, and why self-compassion is actually a gift that benefits everyone. Despite being known as self-compassion, as Kristin explains, it’s not all about the self, it’s actually a powerful force that connects us to other people and acknowledges our common humanity. 

Kristin gives some really practical tips for how you can get started and the good news is - the benefits can be felt immediately. Our producer Sam also shares with Kristin how her work on self-compassion changed her life. There were tears in the studio that day. We are so grateful to Kristin for this conversation and we hope you love this episode as much as we did. 

Follow Kristin on IG here

Find out more about Kristin’s work and access free self-compassion tools here

Take the free self-compassion test here

Order Kristin Neff’s books here

Follow Nicola and Di on IG here

 

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