Resilience Unravelled

In the final episode of Resilience Unravelled, Dr Russell Thackeray reflects on recording nearly 450 episodes that began as a way to build interest in resilience thinking, once focused on topics like burnout, mental toughness, and emotional intelligence.

He explains his growing frustration with repeatedly revisiting old ideas and with organisations requesting “resilience training” to compensate for poor leadership, low psychological safety, and workplace burnout without changing systemic issues.

Emphasising that resilience includes building capacity to bounce forward and seize initiatives, he recalls standout guests who challenged, debated, or collaborated with him, and notes that early guests have gone on to do great things.

Concluding that it’s time to move on when it’s no longer fun or adding value, he thanks listeners and agents, teases three new projects, and says goodbye for now.

00:00 Final Episode Announcement

00:39 Why Resilience Got Recycled

01:02 Resilience Training vs Culture

01:45 Podcast Highlights and Guests

02:19 Knowing When to Move On

02:47 New Projects Ahead

02:58 Thank You and Farewell

03:29 Closing Wishes

You can contact us at [email protected]

#resilience, #burnout, #intuition

In this episode of Resilience Unravelled, Dr Russell Thackeray and guest Carol Murray discuss her resilience after a skydiving accident 29 years ago in which both parachutes failed, causing a 3,100-foot fall; she endured 26 surgeries, chronic pain, two and a half years in a wheelchair, and relearned to walk, noting fear was a major psychological barrier and that hydrotherapy helped rebuild confidence.

Murray reflects on risk, emphasising considering consequences and ripple effects, and critiques inadequate safety training and oversight at the skydiving school. She explains her career as a professional fundraiser who has helped raise over $50 million, describing fundraising as donor-centered relationship building across mail, major gifts, and legacy giving. Murray shares a resilience framework focused on community, values, perspective, and mindset, and encourages being true to oneself, not giving up, and “borrowing strength” from others; she can be found at carolmurray.ca.

00:00 Welcome and Introductions

01:33 Meet Carol Murray

01:55 Skydiving Accident Story

02:36 What Went Wrong

05:16 Aftermath and Recovery

05:47 Risk and Consequences

07:52 Learning to Walk Again

10:50 Career in Fundraising

11:49 How Fundraising Works

15:12 Resilience Framework

17:17 Borrowing Strength

19:22 Connect and Closing

You can contact us at [email protected]

Host Russell Thackeray welcomes guest Andrew Gregor, a British-born, California-based architect and residential remodelling contractor who has transitioned into publishing novels.

Gregor recounts being born in Beirut, sent to UK boarding school at 10, studying architecture, building an award-winning practice in Germany, then moving to the US and starting a renovation company.

He discusses how architecture taught him practical skills like managing people, money, and materials, and reflects on AI’s potential impact as he plans to retire and write.

Gregor’s novel ‘Roscoe,’ set over 12 hours in the life of a homeless man in San Francisco, draws heavily on his own voice and experiences, including briefly sleeping in his truck after the 2009 crash and divorce.

He describes outreach work, the need to treat unhoused people with dignity, and endorses Housing First; the book won first place at the New York Book Festival and is available on major platforms.

00:00 Welcome and Introductions

00:46 Andrew’s Global Journey

01:52 From Building to Books

03:11 Architecture Skills and AI

05:19 Beirut Roots and Languages

07:07 Writing Roscoe and Voice

07:49 Orwell and Experiencing Homelessness

10:19 Close to the Edge in 2009

12:29 Dignity and Outreach Stories

15:32 Humanising Homelessness Solutions

17:56 Veterans, War, and Hypocrisy

19:41 Where to Find the Book

20:15 Connect and Closing Thanks

You can contact us at [email protected]

Resources can be found online or link to our website https://resilienceunravelled.com

In this Resilience Unravelled episode, host Dr Russell Thackeray interviews Dr. Joel Davis Brown about consciousness as worldview and self-positioning within society, and how marginalised communities often lack the “luxury” of drifting through life unaware of systemic inequities.

Brown defines marginalised communities as those denied full access to life, liberty, and freedom, and discusses causes of marginalisation including discomfort with difference, scarcity thinking, greed, apathy, and historical inequality.

He explores reclaiming the term “queer,” describing it as a generationally contested but increasingly inclusive political and cultural umbrella within LGBTQ+ identity. Brown outlines his work as an author, poet, professor, and organisational development consultant focused on culture, strategy, and leadership, arguing effective leadership requires self-interrogation, inclusion, and resisting groupthink.

He explains why he wrote Souls of Queer Folk (2023) to uncover LGBTQ+ values and leadership lessons, and previews his upcoming healing book, I Had to Become the Father, releasing mid-August.

00:00 Welcome and Banter

00:53 Who Is Joel Brown

02:02 Defining Consciousness

04:08 Awake in Margins

06:58 What Marginalised Means

10:19 Why Marginalisation Happens

13:37 Reclaiming Queer

19:38 What Joel Does

23:02 Souls of Queer Folk Origins

29:54 Leadership Lessons From Queer Culture

41:16 Healing Book Preview

43:43 Where to Find Joel

44:18 Closing Thanks

You can contact us at [email protected]

Resources can be found online or link to our website https://resilienceunravelled.com

Host Dr Russell Thackeray interviews Georgina Woodley in Perth, Australia about her background in big-four consulting, strategy, and 20+ years in market research, and her interest in applying personal-development “energy” concepts to organisations.

They discuss how people sense workplace culture, how individual mood and “underlying human state” affects meetings, authenticity, and leadership responsibilities to support mental wellbeing.

Woodley introduces Joy-o-meter, a measurement framework/program that assesses customer and staff experience plus the underlying human state to reveal patterns, capacity, and friction points affecting performance, loyalty, burnout risk, absenteeism, and turnover.

She argues joy is a strategic advantage linked to creativity, flow, and psychological safety, and contrasts joy measurement with satisfaction and NPS. Joy-o-meter uses succinct quantitative surveys with open-ended comments, can isolate current issues from past experiences, and is delivered flexibly via reporting, workshops, or dashboards.

Contact is via LinkedIn and joy-o-meter.com.

00:00 Summer vs Aussie Winter

01:39 Meet Georgina Woodley

02:30 What Energy Means at Work

06:19 Authenticity and Mood Responsibility

10:11 Measuring Joy with Joy-o-meter

12:59 Why Joy Drives Performance

16:36 Beyond NPS and Satisfaction

19:34 How Joy-o-meter Works in Practice

21:57 Finding Friction and Burnout Risk

26:30 Expectations and Better Signals

29:08 Where to Learn More

29:56 ROI Proof and Closing Thoughts

You can contact us at [email protected]

Resources can be found online or link to our website https://resilienceunravelled.com

Host Dr Russell Thackeray welcomes Fort Lauderdale–based visual artist, therapeutic arts practitioner, author, and two-time cancer survivor Nerissa Balland, who discusses her work at the intersection of creativity, resilience, and personal growth.

After being diagnosed with metastatic melanoma in 2016 while pregnant and parenting a toddler, she navigated surgeries, immunotherapy, later recurrence, chemotherapy she stopped due to low odds and side effects, and advocacy challenges including being told to terminate a pregnancy; she is now 8.5 years NED.

Balland distinguishes therapeutic arts from art therapy and reframes resilience as engaging with adversity and moving forward, focusing on process over product, identity, and what can be controlled.

She describes interviewing 100+ young mothers with cancer and her book, "Canvas of Courage," featuring 19 stories with practical “grace notes,” addressing gratitude, creativity, and how to show up for others.

00:00 Heatwave Welcome

00:48 Meet Nerissa

01:47 Art and Resilience Mission

04:07 What Visual Artist Means

05:20 Redefining Resilience

07:24 Therapeutic Arts Explained

10:24 Identity and Honest Expression

12:12 Corporate Toxicity Lessons

17:51 Control and Moving Forward

19:38 Creative Coping Stories

21:48 Melanoma Diagnosis Journey

30:14 Advocacy and Treatment Choices

32:28 Canvas of Courage Book

38:14 Where to Find Nerissa

38:57 Final Thanks and Goodbye

You can contact us at [email protected]

Resources can be found online or link to our website https://resilienceunravelled.com

Dr Russell Thackeray interviews Melbourne-based clinician and BBM (Brain Benefit Movement) founder Aram Cargill, a father of nine and former musician who developed a protocol to improve self-regulation and executive function, informed by raising a daughter with level 3 autism and two sons with ADHD and publishing multiple journal papers.

They discuss ADHD diagnosis via DSM indicators, how ADHD traits vary by individual, and how ADHD-like symptoms can arise from stress, trauma, environment, and modern “base load” pressure.

Cargill differentiates ADHD and autism, describing autism as more insular and emphasising expectation management and transition “thresholds,” and explains hyperfocus and detail-noticing as strengths.

They explore higher burnout in neurodivergent people, concerns about short-form scrolling (including a child’s stutter resolving when iPads were removed), and his book “Seven Pillars of Mental Fitness,” arguing for proactive mental fitness in schools and a physiology-first lens; he outlines pillars including vision, attitude, awareness, adaptability, grit, recovery, and connectivity, and shares where to find the book and his research.

00:00 Welcome and Introductions

00:27 Aram Background and BBM

01:58 What ADHD Really Is

04:01 Symptoms vs Diagnosis

07:10 ADHD and Autism Differences

08:23 Autism Expectations and Safety

12:16 Hyperfocus and Tech Careers

15:41 Burnout and Modern Stress

18:21 Social Media and Kids Brains

22:20 Why Mental Fitness Matters

27:10 Seven Pillars Overview

29:45 Physiology First Psychology

31:14 Who the Book Is For

33:51 Where to Get the Book

34:58 Find Aram and Closing

You can contact us at [email protected]

Resources can be found online or link to our website https://resilienceunravelled.com

Host Dr Russell Thackeray interviews Dr. Kim Foster, an MD and former family doctor now living on Vancouver Island and spending summers in London, about identity and change.

Foster explains identity as the “I am” stories people tell themselves, often inherited from parents, teachers, or society, and argues even positive labels can be limiting.

She shares her own shift from being “the artistic one” to embracing science and medicine, and describes her current work as an author, speaker, YouTube creator, coach, and educator.

Foster outlines her three-step process—recognise, redesign, ritualise—emphasising building “identity evidence” through small daily actions rather than affirmations, illustrated by her learning golf in her 50s.

They discuss gendered identity pressures around work and motherhood, the risks of over-identifying with diagnostic labels, and her new book, "Redesigning You: Change Your Inner Story, Transform Your Health," plus her website drkimfoster.com.

00:00 Welcome and London Intro

00:31 Canada UK Summer Life

02:07 From GP to New Career

05:10 What Identity Means

06:59 Identity Shifts in School

08:58 Reclaiming Your Identity

10:47 Building Identity Evidence

12:18 Golf and Bridge Identities

14:30 Gender and Role Identity

19:20 Three Rs Framework

21:51 New Book Redesigning You

24:39 Labels and Being Unwell

26:55 Client Success Story

29:04 Where to Find Kim

29:39 Closing Thanks

You can contact us at [email protected]

Resources can be found online or link to our website https://resilienceunravelled.com

In this episode of Resilience Unravelled with Dr Russell Thackeray, Antonio Michael Downing discusses growing up in Trinidad and Tobago with his grandmother, who taught him to read from the King James Bible and to sing Anglican hymns, before her death led to his move at age 11 to rural Northern Ontario.

He describes the shock of migration, being renamed “Michael” at school, and how losing familiar culture and language prompted questions about identity, belonging, and the self, shaping a lifelong focus on fluid identity and resilience.

Downing links resilience to flexibility and performance across contexts, from multiple musical personas to a corporate career at BlackBerry, and notes that those who migrate between ages 9–14 often become “a third thing” between cultures.

He connects these themes to his memoir Saga Boy and novel Black Cherokee, explains his creative process as a “visitation,” and shares that Black Cherokee has an Audible audiobook, a paperback coming in August, and that he can be reached on Instagram @antoniomichaeldowning.

00:00 Welcome and Introductions

01:24 Growing Up in Trinidad

02:22 Grandmother’s Gifts

04:26 Move to Canada

07:01 Reinventing Identity

11:17 Neither Here Nor There

13:45 Two Jackets Life

19:08 Resilience Through Fluidity

23:13 Themes in Music and Books

26:24 Toronto and Belonging

28:37 Writing as Visitation

33:35 Books Formats and Where to Find

34:53 Final Thanks and Goodbye

You can contact us at [email protected]

Resources can be found online or link to our website https://resilienceunravelled.com

#resilience, #burnout, #intuition

In this Resilience Unravelled episode, host Dr Russell Thackeray interviews Chris Hill, a London-based “lived experience practitioner” who helps people with mental health and addiction by teaching an educational “separation model” that distinguishes the conscious self from mind/body mechanisms.

Hill shares his own 20-year history of addiction and explains addiction as dopamine-driven habitual wiring that can be harmful when it causes damage to self or others, spanning substances (nicotine, alcohol, drugs) and behaviours (gambling, sex, porn, shopping, social media).

He argues modern society “hacks” survival mechanisms, highlights environmental risks such as youth vaping and its gateway effects, and criticises willpower-only approaches.

Hill outlines his book Get Your Life Back, his private mentoring via beatmyaddictions.com, and his charity robhillfoundation.org, founded after his twin brother’s fatal overdose in 2014.

00:00 Welcome and Introductions

00:37 Chris Hill Background

01:10 Personal Addiction Journey

02:49 What Addiction Means

05:46 Physical vs Behavioural Addictions

08:24 Who Is Most Vulnerable

10:33 Environment and Youth Vaping

13:48 Education and Rewiring Solution

16:59 Separation Model Explained

22:13 Natural State and Breaking the Cycle

23:38 Book and Program Options

26:24 Support Community and Faith

28:01 Charity Links and Closing

You can contact us at [email protected]

Resources can be found online or link to our website https://resilienceunravelled.com

#resilience, #burnout, #intuition