Seize the Yay

Ang is back for a World Mental Health Day/Month episode of #yaysofourlives which, as always, involved lots of tangents and digressions before, after and in between our actual serious chats about the topic. Such is the result of voting Ang in as a regular co-host of the segment - you're literally getting our real-life catch up after a weekend of her on night shifts and me being nocturnal, so we're both as delirious and scattered as ever. In fact, I can't even listen back to these episodes and always get a slight vulnerability hangover afterwards because, even for someone quite comfortable with oversharing, conversations with Ang are among my least guarded, least filtered and least planned (unlike our regular episodes where I know the topics and control the structure or on social media where I pick the moment and context). But I think unguarded conversations between friends are the essence of the mental health conversation, so it actually seems like the perfect way to contribute to this month's reflections.

Sadly for you all, but inevitably given that Ang is involved, there's also some poo talk in between, Lonely Planet culture lessons, a few beautiful yayborhood watch stories and who even remembers what else!? I never think anyone is going to share our quirky sense of humour but it's been SO lovely to see many of you do - much love to you all, lovely yayborhood! And don't forget to send in your questions for the THIRD ANNIVERSARY Q&A EPISODE NEXT WEEK!!

PLEASE REACH OUT IF YOU ARE STRUGGLING:

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The fact that this chat came in at an hour and half and we’d already been chatting for half an hour before that confirms just how much I enjoy Grace Brennan’s company and what a great conversationalist she is. It’s not just her fascinating and unique story either (although I did love labouring over all the seemingly unlikely chapters that led to the one I met her in) but just her enthusiasm for asking questions as much as answering them and learning everything she can about the world around her. I can’t entirely recall which parts were on air or off air but I know we veered well beyond the scope of a normal episode to just share opinions and curiosity about aspects of the world. She’s one of those people I’ve only chatted to a handful of times now after our PayPal bootcamp session a few weeks ago but would love to spend more time with.

You may know Grace as the woman behind Buy from the Bush, the movement and now marketplace encouraging consumers in city areas to do some of their shopping in the bush to help support small rural businesses. Just six weeks after launching the movement with a hashtag spurred by the devastating effects of drought on entire communities, Grace had generated a 660% increase for rural business owners and just four months later that became $5 million in revenue. Australia Post even noted a 40% increase in parcel postage in regional areas and the business continues to explode now becoming a full marketplace and booming community supporting rural business owners. And just recently, Grace announced a very exciting new pitching initiative for those outback businesses in partnership with PayPal, Big Break, where applicants can win $30,000 and more towards their businesses – I know, what an absolute inspiration.

What I loved, as always, was not only hearing how Grace catapulted into her yay but how unexpected that was and how long and winding her journey was to get here. You might not know that Grace isn’t actually from the bush and led a very internationally focused life growing up in Sydney, living in London and studying international studies in Chile. She only made the move to the bush 7 hours out of Sydney joining her husband, a farmer, who she’d met at 14 playing trick or treat and with whom she now share four beautiful kids (that’s two episodes recently with a heartthrob farmer, take notes ladies). Grace has so much to share on shifting priorities you’re your identity, compromise and partnership, stumbling up on unexpected purpose and grabbing it with everything you’ve got. What an amazing hero for rural Australia who I know will steal your heart like she did mine.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT BIG BREAK

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Coming to you with a quick solo #yaysofourlives this week to break a vicious cycle of calling Ang Sunday night to record Monday morning for a Monday afternoon episode. Ang didn’t believe that I’d been getting votes for her to join the segment more regularly, so I did a little poll on socials last week and it was a landslide vote off 98% to have her on weekly (and yep, you guessed it - the 2% no vote was mainly just her). So, I’m very pleased you’ve been enjoying our random sisterly banter and laughs, she brings so much yay to my life and love that we’ve been able to bring some to yours together. She’ll be back next week and as close to weekly as we can manage with our schedules but today you’re stuck with me for a very quick one cos I didn’t have time to organise anything else!

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I’m amazed every single week at how generous people are with their time in agreeing to jump on the show, but every now and then a guest says yes who I reached out to 1000% expecting a polite no if not total radio silence. And this week, we have two of them who I admire so much not only as separately very impressive individuals but also as a wonderful couple who navigate careers, compromise and continual growth in a way that made me fall a little bit in love with them as you’ll probably hear.

On the one hand, we have an Adelaide boy, Joe, whose big dream was playing basketball for his state but who went on to find himself at the pinnacle of the game playing for Utah Jazz in the NBA and leading the Boomers to our first Olympic medal ever in Tokyo earlier this year. On the other, we have Renae, a superstar netballer tearing up the court for the Melbourne Vixens and Australian Diamonds pulling in a host of accolades along the way before she retired to become a Mum.

You can see why I couldn’t believe they were happy to sit down to share the yay especially as it was their first interview together in two years and Joe’s first since the Olympics and as usual I loved tracing through their ways to yay but most enjoyed the parts we don’t hear about as much. With everything from the REAL story of how they fell in love, the challenge of moving countries with three kids and juggling two big careers, their son’s diagnosis of autism, and the many endearing in-betweens of the Ingles family, I so enjoyed getting to know two hard-working, family-focused humans who are far more normal than their bios might suggest. Their work with charities Kulture City and 4 ASD kids nearly brought me to tears and Renae is just weeks away from running her first marathon to raise funds for the fight for inclusion and acceptance spurred by her son Jacob and his bestie Oliver who face their own fears and challenges everyday. (and I’d love the yayborhood to get behind her - links below). I hope you guys enjoy this delightful duo as much as I did!

SUPPORT RENAE'S MARATHON FOR JACOB AND OLIVER

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT 4ASD KIDS CHARITY

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT KULTURE CITY

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A #yaysofourlives chat dedicated to the front line workers keeping us all safe (and of course, a side mention of the spectacular win by the Dees over the weekend.)

Don't forget to send your NOMI-YAY-TIONS of any healthcare or frontline workers who you think deserve a little yay-filled care package. Email [email protected] or just send us a DM on Instagram.

The TikTok account we have a good chuckle about can be found here.

The Voice for Victorian nurses account I mentioned can be found here.

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Most of the time, I’ve had a bit of an introduction to our guest’s story or at least done a deep dive into the internet to put together the pieces in advance. Today’s guest, however, was one of those fascinating beings whose story isn’t readily documented in the media meaning we’re all hearing it for the first time together – literally, this was her first podcast EVER. Having discovered Sarah as a self-taught gardener and having followed her In My Patch page for over a year I’ve experienced her passion for growing your own food and making it more accessible first-hand and originally planned this episode to be a bit of a practical first step for anyone like me keen to start growing some more veggies during lockdown. But as you know, I let the conversation go wherever it flows naturally and Sarah’s way to yay bowled me over exemplifying everything about non-linear pathyays and dot points that don’t make sense until decades later.

So there is a section covering some gardening myths and beginner hacks, but there’s also a beautiful story touching on grief and tragedy, striking serendipity and two decades of piecing together her yay. I genuinely had no idea what was coming next in the story at each point and can’t believe how much has come before her hugely successful chapter with In My Patch that now has nearly 100,000 followers and students growing blossoming gardens all around the world. I hope you enjoy getting to know Sarah and her pug Pig as much as I did!

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE IN MY PATCH COURSES AND GARDEN MORONS CLUB

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RE-RELEASE // I know I yak on about it all the time but the weirdest thing about making this show is not being able to reach out to you at the time you’re actually listening, so sometimes bringing you yay the best way possible is a bit of guesswork. I’ve been noticing people posting about episodes with a longer lag time from its release than usual, and while I originally thought lockdowns meant more time to listen to podcasts, I’ve noticed for myself at least without travelling in the car all the time I’m listening less. Ini that light, dropping two episodes this year instead of one each week might be bombarding you a bit! So, for a few #yaysofourlives slots I’m going to re-share some episodes that you may have missed to let some of you catch up (but as always, if I'm totally wrong, please DM me right now to let me know!)

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While it happens a few times in every episode, I’m sure you can sometimes hear when I’ve forgotten that we’re recording for the entirety of an episode because I’m enjoying our guest so much. You’ve had a sneak preview of how much I admire Hugh Van Cuylenberg in #yaysofourlives a few weeks ago when Abbey Gelmi and I bonded over how obsessed we are with his wit and wisdom and this episode took that obsession to another level.

Hugh strikes the most beautiful balance between endearingly self-deprecating and calmly authoritative, navigating effortlessly between hysterical laughter and deep exploration of mental health and personal tragedy. His family’s journey with mental illness is both heart-wrenching and heart-warming and what he has turned that experience into with The Resilience Project is changing the world for the better from classrooms to AFL clubs to wherever you’re listening right now. Through presentations, school curriculum, events and his thought-provoking book (with a second coming soon), Hugh uses humour, vulnerability and storytelling to support the mental health of Australians through the pillars of Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness. With cricket references, puns and relatable stories aplenty, Hugh is changing the way we talk about resilience and wellbeing and he’s quickly becoming one of my very favourite people in the world.

Like all our guests, Hugh didn’t wake up one day with the clarity of purpose he has today and takes us through all the dots that didn’t connect until he looked back years later with hindsight. From professional cricket to school teaching and laying gas pipes before travelling to India for love, everything about this man is fascinating and I couldn’t be more excited to share his passion and energy with you all. Hope you enjoy and laugh as much as I did.

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If you’ve been listening along for a while, you’ll probably know me well enough to notice when I get totally carried in someone’s story and suddenly we’re 50 minutes in and I’m still on their way to yay. It’s generally because our guest has such a densely interesting story that we could do a whole podcast on each theme, which I definitely felt for today’s fabulous guest and I still feel like there are so many things I could have asked but didn’t get to. Despite, hilariously, not having met in person, Kim van Haaster has become my work wife in law since Nic joined the founding team of her incredible clean beauty start-up Bloomeffects and someone I admire immensely. I posted a video recently sharing some of the headlines of Kim’s story and LOVED fleshing out all the chapters in between.

Kim is such a great reminder of one of our favourite themes that life doesn’t always work out how you planned but it often works out better and that finding your dream life takes lots of patience, trust and chipping away. From 10 different primary schools and even more random jobs earlier in her career including as a mattress saleswoman, pure grit and hard work led Kim from Frankston to become a hugely successful corporate in New York becoming Head of Marketing for personal healthcare giant PZ Cussons. Kim was the brains behind St Tropez’s incredible growth globally doubling its space in ULTA and winning brand of the year in 2017 (for all intents and purposes living a Sex and the City-esque dream life so early in her 30s). And yet, she walked away from it all when she met a Dutch tulip farmer on an Ibiza dancefloor and moved to Amsterdam to start a family.

I thought I knew the story of how she ventured into entrepreneurship with Bloomeffects but I didn’t know the half of it. This episode felt like reading a captivating novel while also teaching me SO much about the tulip farming industry, business in Australia vs the US vs the Netherlands, the many uses for sawdust - you know I LOVE diving into a niche community - and also squeezing in lesser discussed themes like divorce, miscarriage and creating change in a patriarchy. Kim is endlessly interesting and I hope you enjoy this one as much I did!

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BUY BLOOMEFFECTS AROUND THE WORLD (use the discount code 20BLOOM)

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RE-RELEASE // I know I yak on about it all the time but the weirdest thing about making this show is not being able to reach out to you at the time you’re actually listening, so sometimes bringing you yay the best way possible is a bit of guesswork. I’ve been noticing people posting about episodes with a longer lag time from its release than usual, and while I originally thought lockdowns meant more time to listen to podcasts, I’ve noticed for myself at least without travelling in the car all the time I’m listening less. Ini that light, dropping two episodes this year instead of one each week might be bombarding you a bit! So, for a few #yaysofourlives slots I’m going to re-share some episodes that you may have missed to let some of you catch up (but as always, if I'm totally wrong, please DM me right now to let me know!)

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I’m so thrilled to have the incredible Maria Thattil joining for #yaysofourlives this week who you may also know as Miss Universe Australia 2021. Once you listen, I'm sure you'll agree with my quote of the yay for this episode from Ralph Waldo Emerson - "To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment," which Maria is doing so bloody well.

Freshly returned from doing our country proud at the global Miss Universe competition in the USA, Maria making the TOP 10 worldwide felt like the perfect yayborhood watch story to dive into. If you have any misconceptions about the pageant, its potential as a platform for impact or Maria’s hopes and dreams in entering, prepare to have them blown out of the water by this incredibly articulate, humble and passionate woman. As the shortest woman in the competition at 5”3 and only the 3rd woman of colour to represent our multicultural nation in this international competition in 7 decades, Maria is shattering ceilings and breaking down traditional beauty standards helping redefine what it means to be Australian. She has such powerful messages about identity, self-belief in the face of critics, the power of positivity and so much more.

I left this conversation filled with SO inspiration, hope, passion and lightness – she is the breath of fresh air we all need. I think it’s safe to say this is just the beginning for Maria, we have an irrepressible change maker on our hands and I hope you enjoy as much as I did.

WATCH MY AUSTRALIA HERE

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Most of you are already aware of my fascination with the military (the origins if which I’m still not really sure about but which I’ve stopped questioning because we also all know that weird things will make you yay, so just roll with them because you're already far better off than those who haven't found their yay yet). So, you won’t be surprised how much I enjoyed this week’s two episodes but I promise the military connection was a timing coincidence!

If you haven’t listened yet, our #yaysofourlives guest Tom Howell, Director of Field Operations for Disaster Relief Australia, a partner of our partner Mitsubishi( so part of the yayborhood). Tom started out as an army combat paramedic doing some fascinating work in Afghanistan, then later worked in the jungles of Papua New Guinea before becoming a full-time firefighter which he does alongside his work with DRA. Today, we’re joined by two fellow veterans and legendary brothers, Ben and Dan Pronk, who along with their close friend Tim Curtis just published (and already sold out) their first brilliant book, The Resilience Shield. All three were elite soldiers in the SAS which is already impressive enough but later went on to complete their MBAs launching successful post-military careers AND the brothers now fondly refer to themselves as two thirds of an author setting today’s warm, self-deprecating tone.

I already gush about Resilience Shield enough in this episode, but whether you’re interested in the military or not, it is a transformative handbook for our crazy times. Aiming to help us build a shield of resilience against the undeniable uncertainty and unfairness of the world, high adrenaline military anecdotes are weaved seamlessly in among dense philosophy, science and research from around the world about timely themes like fulfilment, loss and rebuilding of identity, trauma, modern information overload and goal setting. No size 12 font storytelling, Resilience Shield is packed full of a methodology built over three stellar careers to date but with endearing relatable language like one of my favourite chapters, But what about my dickhead boss?

I’m pretty much just rehashing what we talk about now, so I’ll let the boys tell you more themselves. I truly enjoyed this one so much and hope you do too.

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CATCH UP ON PAYPAL SMALL BUSINESS WEBINAR #1 - Optimising your online presence

SIGN UP FOR PAYPAL SMALL BUSINESS WEBINAR #2 - Social media strategy

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.