Over the Back Fence

This week Nicola and Di chat with the uplifting and inspiring Steffani LeFevour. Steff is one of the world’s top happiness coaches, a best selling author, international speaker and master at manifesting. She’s also a wife and mother of two kids.  

In this conversation Steff shares some really practical tips for how you can manifest your deepest desires, as well as why she believes so many people are caught up in manic manifesting, which ultimately doesn’t work. Steff gives us some powerful mantras that anyone can use to bring great things into their life. 

We hear some incredible stories of the things that Steff has manifested, including how she met Oprah and many other influential spiritual leaders she looked up to. Steff also shares some great tips for how you can change your thoughts when you find yourself stuck in negative thinking, and what the five toxins are that we all need to be aware of and stop doing.  

Steff opens up about the loss that she’s faced in her life and shares some beautiful thoughts about grief and how she has personally moved through it. 

We were so grateful to Steff for joining us from her home in Chicago and being so generous with the tips and guidance she shared. If you’re looking for practical ways to start changing your mindset, this is the episode for you. 

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This week Nicola and Di chat with clinical nutritionist, author and TV presenter Sarah Di Lorenzo. Sarah has a wonderfully holistic approach, and has spent her life helping rejuvenate the health of Australians of all ages. She’s the author of 4 best-selling cookbooks, including The 10:10 Plan and The 10:10 Recipe Book. Sarah is also known for her work on Channel 7’s Sunrise, where she’s been the resident clinical nutritionist for years. She’s also a proud mum of 3 daughters. 

In this conversation Sarah shares why she doesn’t like the diet and weight-loss industry, and why health is about so much more than food and weight. She talks about the importance of self-care and finding the things that you love so you can take care of yourself really well. 

Sarah gives some great tips on how to eat in a healthy way that nourishes you, how to get the balance right when it comes to alcohol as well as how to get back to sleep in the middle of the night when you wake up and your mind’s racing. 

We also hear Sarah’s professional opinion about Ozempic, and why she’s personally worried about this prescription medication that’s become a real trend in the weight loss industry. 

You’ll want to stay tuned until the end to hear why Sarah loves aging and what she’s looking for when it comes to dating in her 50s. 

We loved having Sarah’s energetic and bubbly energy with us in the studio and we hope you’ll feel as inspired as we did when we chatted with her. 

Follow Sarah Di Lorenzo on IG here

Follow 10:10 SDL on IG here

Buy Sarah Di Lorenzo's Cookbooks here

Sarah Di Lorenzo 10:10 Plan

Sarah Di Lorenzo 10:10 Simple Recipe Book

Sarah Di Lorenzo The Gut Repair Plan

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This week Di and Nicola chat with the hilarious and uplifting Kathy Lette. Kathy is a celebrated comic writer who has penned 20 novels, many of which have become international bestsellers and been turned into films, TV series and even an opera. Kathy’s career began when she wrote the iconic novel Puberty Blues when she was just 17. She went on to do stints as a singer, a newspaper columnist and a sitcom writer for Columbia Pictures in LA. These days she’s an author, travel writer and TV presenter and her latest book, The Revenge Club, is a must-read for every woman. 

Kathy talks about life in her sixties - or as she lovingly calls them, her sexties. She shares how life just gets better, you enjoy life more and you can finally put yourself first for a change. Kathy shares about the importance of female friendships and how much of a positive impact they’ve had on her life. 

We hear what it was like for Kathy when she fell in love with Geoffrey Robertson after appearing on a TV show with him, when she was still married to her first husband, Kim. Kathy tells great stories about her life in London with Geoffrey and some of the incredible people that stayed in their attic - James Hewitt, Julian Assange and Salman Rushdie to name just a few. 

You won’t want to miss Kathy’s story about that time she got asked out by George Clooney (an unknown, fresh-faced actor) and said ‘No’. The good news is, it’s all worked out for Kathy who met her current partner whilst walking through the park on a hot summer’s day - another great story you’ll want to hear. 

We also talk to Kathy about the benefits of laughter, her positive spirit, and the joy that she brings to the world. It was an absolute delight having Kathy entertain us in the studio and we hope you laugh as much as we did. 

Follow Kathy Lette on IG here

Buy The Revenge Club here

Find more of Kathy’s books here

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This week Nicola and Di chat with longevity coach, author of Your Exceptional Life and podcaster, Marcus Pearce. This is such a fun and lively conversation full of incredible tips for how you can live an exceptional life. Marcus is a journalist, who has been studying longevity and blue zones for years - in fact, his podcast 100 Not Out has been going for more than a decade and has over a million downloads! Marcus is also a husband to his wonderful wife Sarah, and they have 4 kids who they’re bringing up in beautiful Mullumbimby, NSW.

In this conversation we hear about how Marcus transformed his health in his twenties when he met his now-wife Sarah and went from a Red Bull-guzzling, meat-eating smoker to a ginger-tea sipping teetotalling vegan, to somewhere back in the middle.

Marcus has been lucky enough to interview so many centenarians in his career and he shares all the secrets of longevity and aging gracefully in this chat. You’ll be happy to hear that there’s so many simple things that you can do that have a remarkably positive impact on your health. 

Marcus also shares all about his trips to the Greek island of Ikaria, which has been identified as one of the world’s blue zones, and is known as “the island where people forget to die”. Marcus takes groups of people there to experience the way of life in Ikaria and learn first-hand from the people who are living long, healthy and happy lives. 

It was so inspiring to talk to Marcus about all his research and ideas for how you can make the rest of your life the best of your life. We hope you feel as uplifted as we did when we had him at the back fence. Enjoy! 

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Listen to Marcus’ 100 Not Out Podcast here

Buy Marcus’ book Your Exceptional Life here 

Find out more about Marcus’ work here

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We have a bonus episode for you this week as Di and Nicola sit down with two wonderful women, Marcella Zemanek and Sue-Ellan Vasiliou to hear about their stories from grief to giving. Marcella and Sue-Ellan both lost loved ones to brain cancer, and they’re now passionate about raising money for brain cancer research and doing their part to support other families who are going through a similar journey. We want to let all our listeners know that one of the ways you can help raise money for this important cause is by getting your gear off and registering for The Sydney Skinny on March 17th.

Marcella shares her story of what it was like when her husband, radio broadcaster and TV presenter, Stan Zemanek came home one day with the news that they’d discovered a brain tumour. He was told by his doctor at the time he’d have 6 weeks to live, but thanks to a surgery by Charlie Teo, he was able to have another 15 months and spend quality time with his family, and meet his new granddaughter. 

We then hear from Sue-Ellan who lost her beautiful 6-year-old daughter Alegra to brain cancer in 2017, just 10 months after diagnosis. Sue-Ellan talks about how painful it was, and still is, but how you learn new ways to manage the grief, and in Sue-Ellan’s own words “she’s worth all the pain”. After losing Alegra, Sue-Ellan setup Little Legs Foundation which has raised over $2 million so far for brain cancer research.

If you want to hear a heartfelt and incredibly inspiring conversation with two women who have lost so much, but have chosen to keep living in hope and do all they can to give back to others, then please tune in to this episode. And even better, if you live in Sydney, come and bare all to beat brain cancer with our very own Nicola at The Sydney Skinny on March 17th.

Register for The Sydney Skinny here

Follow The Sydney Skinny on IG here

Find out More about Little Legs Foundation here

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This week Nicola and Di chat with Australian food icon and restaurant royalty, Matt Moran. Matt is best known for the incredible restaurants he’s created, including Chiswick, North Bondi Fish, The Opera Bar, and of course the stand out of them all, Aria - and that’s only a handful from a very long list. But it’s not only his restaurants that make Matt an icon, he’s also worked on 12 popular TV shows including Master Chef, Paddock to Plate and The Great Australian Bake Off alongside his dear friend, Maggie Beer. Add to that 4 best-selling cookbooks and a bunch of national and international awards, Matt certainly has an awe-inspiring career in the food industry. What we also love about Matt is how much he gives back - through the charity work he does for organisations like OZHarvest, through mentoring and guiding other young chefs as well as through his own sustainable farming - that’s right, Matt is a fourth generation farmer!

In this conversation we hear about Matt’s lifelong passion for food and cooking, which began when Matt started as an apprentice at The Belle Helene restaurant when he was just 15. By the time he was 22, he had already opened his first restaurant in Sydney, The Paddington Inn Bistro. Matt’s long and successful career has been shaped by hard work, persistence and perseverance - but above all, it’s his passion that’s been the driving force. As Matt reminds us - if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. 

Matt opens up about his friendship with Gordon Ramsay, and what they get up to on the yearly trips they take together to Iceland. He also shares about the strong sense of community and mateship amongst chefs and the wonderful friends he’s made over the 40 years he’s been in the industry. 

It was so lovely to chat to Matt about his life story and the remarkable imprint he’s made, and continues to make, on the Australian food industry. He’s such a down-to-earth and genuine guy and we loved having him at our back fence - we hope you enjoy listening. 

Follow Matt Moran on IG here

Find out more about some of Matt Moran’s iconic restaurants below:

Aria

Opera Bar

Chiswick

North Bondi Fish 

Chophouse Sydney

The Rockley Pub

Buy Matt Moran’s Cookbooks here

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This week Nicola and Di chat with the fascinating travel expert, Captain Greg Fitzgerald. Greg had an incredible career with Qantas, where he flew for 35 years. He was involved in some pretty amazing flights during that time and shares with us some great stories. After retiring from Qantas during the pandemic, Greg was offered the opportunity to work with Antarctica Flights and provide historical commentary for flights over Antarctica, another passion of his. And it’s not just flying that Greg loves, he’s also involved with Vintage Rail Journeys, where he takes 5-day train tours on the old Southern Aurora. Greg is also a husband to Donna, his wife of 40 years and they have 3 wonderful daughters. 

In this chat, we hear how Greg was initially knocked back from Qantas, but how that setback turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because it gave him the experience of flying regionally in Papua New Guinea. Not deterred by his knock back, Greg reapplied to Qantas years later where he ended up working for 35 years. Not only that, he became a key part of Qantas pilot recruitment. We hear what it takes to be a pilot for Qantas and the rigorous process and testing they go through. 

Greg shares what the most frightening experience was for him as a pilot, as well as some of his proudest and most memorable moments. We hear what it was like to fly burn victims back to safety after the Bali bombings in 2002, the covert operation Greg was a part of during the Iraq war and the rescue flight he captained from Wuhan back to Australia in February 2020 at the start of the pandemic. 

Greg was also involved in one of the stand-out moments in recent aviation history, when he was part of the crew that flew the last Qantas 747 jumbo from Sydney to the Mojave desert. He tells the story of the planning that went into that special day and how emotional it was to farewell the 747 aircraft. 

It was so great chatting to Greg about all of his travels and hearing how passionate he still is about exploring Antarctica and beyond. We hope you will feel as inspired as we did by all of his tales. 

Find out more about Antarctic Flights here

Find out more about Captain’s Choice travel here

Find out more about Vintage Rail Journeys here

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This week Nicola and Di chat with the absolutely amazing Dr. Gladys McGarey. Gladys is a 103 year-old holistic doctor, who’s written several books and has so much wisdom to share. Her latest book, The Well-Lived Life, has become Nicola and Di’s bible and is full of Dr. Gladys’ secrets for living a healthy and happy life. 

In this chat Gladys shares some incredible stories of what it was like growing up in the Himalayas of India with her parents who were both doctors, well ahead of their time. Gladys says she knew she wanted to be a doctor ever since she was a little girl and announced it to her parents as soon as she could speak. She witnessed the power of love as a healer and medicine, which led her down the path of holistic medicine. 

We hear about the 5 ‘L’s that Dr. Gladys says we all need to live a good life and how love is the key that activates them all. Dr. Gladys also tells a heart-wrenching story of what it was like when her husband of 46 years asked for a divorce, and how she was able to turn that around and ultimately see the gift of the end of her marriage. You’ll need to listen in to hear the end of that story - you won’t believe what happens! 

Dr. Gladys also shares some beautiful and powerful advice for the small steps that you can take to give love, receive love and tap into the flow of life. We talk about the importance of community and how we can each build it together. 

This is such a beautiful and special conversation with a woman who knows what it’s like to live a happy, healthy and long life. We are so grateful Dr. Gladys gave us her time and shared her wisdom and stories with us and we hope you’ll be as captivated as we were. 

Follow Dr. Gladys on IG here

Buy Gladys’ Book The Well Lived Life here

Find out more about Dr. Gladys’ work & become part of her Be Glad Family here

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This week Nicola and Di chat to the inspiring Lisa Greenberg about her journey from alcohol addiction to sobriety. Lisa is a fitness professional, wife of former NRL CEO Todd Greenberg, mother of 2 wonderful children and as we hear in this interview, soon to be grandmother. From the outside, Lisa’s life looked pretty perfect. She had the waterfront home, the BMW, the designer wardrobe and was walking the red carpet, but she was wearing a mask. In this chat, you’ll hear how Lisa went from the high life, to rock bottom, but thankfully made her way out again and is now living a happy and healthy life in her 50s. 

We hear all about Lisa’s life and how everything appeared ok, until suddenly it wasn’t. Lisa talks about her slippery slope into alcoholism, and the combination of factors that led her down that path. As her husband got one of the biggest jobs in the country, becoming CEO of the NRL, Lisa decided to close her personal training business and in the process, lost her purpose. Add to that, her children were growing up and needed her less and Lisa began to feel that she didn’t have anything of value to contribute - and alcohol became her coping mechanism. 

Lisa opens up about what it was like in the depths of her addiction and how she almost lost her life to the disease. We hear about her lowest moments, but also her incredible resilience and strength which helped her to crawl out of that hole and reclaim her life.

Lisa also shares about her sober life and how incredible it feels to have focus, clarity and joy in her life again. She talks about the power of choice and how we can all make positive changes in our life if we take things one small step at a time.

This is a powerful story of resilience, love, support and positive change and we hope you’ll find it inspiring, and ultimately uplifting. 

If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction or suicidal thoughts and needs support, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14. 

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Welcome back to Season 2! Nicola and Di are so excited to be back with the first of many inspiring guests they have lined up for you in 2024. This week we kick off the new season with the utterly amazing David The Medium. David has a true gift and is able to  connect with those who have departed the physical world and crossed into the afterlife. He’s able to hear, see and feel their presence and provide guidance, peace and clarity. You’ll get to hear his gift first-hand in this episode as you listen in on a reading he does for Nicola and Di. David also shares his word of the year for 2024, and what he sees will be the theme for the world this year.

In this conversation David talks about how he first started connecting with spirits in his twenties. He was sceptical at first, but completely opened up to this world after he started working with a mentor and was able to connect with a man who had passed away, an undeniable and powerful experience that led David to learn more and hone his gifts. 

Stay tuned for the reading David does for Nicola and Di, because you won’t believe the messages he brings through for them from the other side. He connects with many of their family members, who have beautiful and wise words to share. David also shares how everything is energy, and how we can all learn to tune in more, listen to our intuition, be present and aware of what is going on around us and start to see the signs that our loved ones who have passed are showing us. They are always with us. 

There was definitely magic in the studio as we recorded this chat with David and everyone was covered in goosebumps. We hope you will be too when you listen. 

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Learn more about David’s work here

Book an online group workshop with David here

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