Welcome to BIZ - the podcast that's rewriting the rules of work for a new generation.

Join Em Vernem (ambitious but efficient), Michelle Battersby (launched Bumble APAC) and Soph Hirst (ex-Google) as they tackle everything from dealing with difficult bosses to knowing if your side hustle can become your career.

In this first episode:

Asking for a pay rise is about as comfortable as explaining to your boss why you've been late three times this week. But what if there was a way to do it that actually works?

Biz career coaches Michelle Battersby and Soph Hirst to share their proven framework for getting what you want at work (spoiler: don't mention your expensive oat latte habit). 

Plus, they bust the myths about asking every year, using other job offers as leverage, and what to do if you get a 'no'.

Consider this your cheat sheet to having the money conversation - minus the awkward sweating.

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I mentioned the crazy revelation in our last episode that our first was back in 2018 making 2025 our seventh year. And that makes this one of many beautiful full circle moments as we welcome back our first guest EVER, the inimitable Lisa Messenger, without whom the show would not actually exist. I so often talk about sliding doors moments and sometimes those come in the form of a person taking a leap of faith on you that changes your life forever. Lisa said yes when we hardly knew each other, I had zero proof of concept, and was so green in business so I’ll always be grateful to her and just reminding all of you to always ask because you never know who might say yes…

What’s even more special about this one is that while Lisa has been back a few times, we’ve now added motherhood to the bonds of our friendship AND pathways to family that transcend DNA. Lisa was just 3 years into trying when we first spoke, but 18 rounds of IVF would follow until, 2922 days after starting trying, Lisa welcomed her beautiful son Hugo into the world via surrogacy. Being adopted, I have always been so invested in making less traditional pathways to family more accessible, so PORED over the incredible book Lisa and her wonderful surrogate, Sarah Megginson, co-authored, The Power of Two. They broke their hearts all the way open to share every detail of their experience and we are SO lucky to have them BOTH on the show today.

I’ll let them tell you more themselves but I personally was so curious about the mechanics and logistics of surrogacy with it still being rarely spoken and perhaps a bit stigmatised. On the chance it might reach even one or two of you who needed a scrap of new information or a glimmer of hope, it felt perfect for Seize the Bebe and I hope you enjoy as much as I did


LINKS

You can follow Lisa here.
You can follow Sarah here.
You can buy the book here.

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I couldn’t think of anyone more special to help us start the year (and to mark our 300th episode) than my very best friend, Ebony Beggs, whose story embodies the idea of new beginnings both in itself and in the fact that this was her first time properly telling it in her first podcast interview ever. Some of you may remember we had the incredible opportunity of doing a live episode at SXSW with All Pacific and Novotel last year and I peer pressured Eb into being my guest promising her it wouldn’t be recorded... but then, as we all knew she would, she absolutely blew us all away and I HAD to re-record it to start your 2025 with a bang.

You may have already heard me talk about Eb and her sister Ashlee’s exquisite women’s label, Eupheme, which is revolutionising the professional woman’s wardrobe with a high quality, slow fashion ethos and life-changing technical fabrics that they have gone to the ends of the Earth to source (think non-crush no-iron shirts, machine-washable silk, literally changing the game). In this episode, we tell the story of how Eb and Ash left high flying careers (in NEW YORK mind you) to bring their dream to life. Even more interesting? There’s a dash of Diane von Furstenberg, chemical poisoning, ex-NYPD detectives and Parisian exchanges (yes, that’s indeed where we fell in love)... Eb still doens’t believe it herself, but it’s the MOST fascinating story and I hope you enjoy as much as I did.

LINKS

You can follow Ebony's personal page here.
You can check out Eupheme here.

+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah
+ Join our Facebook community here
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Whether you are a child, have a child or have ever met a child, you will undoubtedly know of The Wiggles and not just at home here in Australia - they have also captured the hearts of families around the world since their beginning back in 1991. Speaking of capturing hearts though, in their latest evolution with eight wonderful members, one particular Wiggle has shot to global fame as the "sexy wiggle" (or officially, Big Strong John) and we’re lucky to have him here with us today.

Like many of our guests, you’ll probably have seen John Pearce many times (either with The Wiggles or on his very busy socials) before hearing him today without knowing much of what came before his chapter in the purple suit. My favourite part of the show is getting to know the person behind the scenes and you may not have known that John was a member of The Justice Crew beforehand creating a very different kind of a music, that he was a member alongside his TWIN brother - one of 7 siblings, that his original ambitions were in sport and nutrition with a previous appearance on Australian Ninja Warrior and career in PT AND that he is about to become a father for the first time (in fact, any day now!) 

I had read so much about him but knew nothing about his upbringing either and the amazing journey from commission housing to global superstar while keeping such a level humble head on his shoulders. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!

LINKS

You can follow John's personal page here.
You can follow John's Wiggles page here.
You can follow The Wiggles here. 
You can find out more about Hello Fresh and their Climate Superstars resources here.

+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah
+ Join our Facebook community here
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Our first #yaysofourlives episode in a while and our last for a while as Ang has some big news!!!

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You all know I find every single guest amazing in their own way and use a lot of superlatives to convey that, but every now and then a conversation leaves me almost speechless (which is very rare) and this was one of them. I recorded this one at Producey Studios who - shout out to the team - have been incredible for our return to in-person interviews since maternity leave, but it also meant we had a producer in the room who could validate my reaction so I knew I wasn't imagining how special this was - the minute John Kim left the room, both of us just stared at each other open-mouthed and in awe! And this chat isn’t just special because of its timing with the new Cruel Intentions series premiering which stars John in one of the lead roles OR because he was also just announced as part of the cast of the live-action feature Voltron along the likes of Rita Ora... I mean, he's absolutely SMASHING it over in Hollywood... It’s also special because - as you’ll hear - it came at a pivotal time in his life with a lot of reflection and change AND happens to be the first podcast he’s ever done. What. An. Honour. John's been friends with Nic through our dear mutual friend, Dave Higgs, for years and I’ve wanted to share his story for a long time covering his incredible rise from the Eastern suburbs of Melbourne to Hollywood. But I didn’t expect the privilege of catching him at this particularly pivotal moment in time and to be able to share his vulnerability, humility and eloquence to a podcast audience for the first time. I hope you are as awe struck and enjoy this as much as I did!

LINKS

You can follow John here.

+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah

+ Join our Facebook community here

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My first blood relative arrived when I gave birth to my son Teddy.

Growing up, I always knew I was adopted; brought to Australia from South Korea at just five months old, it was never a secret.

But even after finding out you're adopted there are so many other questions, some of which people may choose to never find answers for. 

As Adoption Awareness Month comes to a close, find out what life growing up adopted in Australia is really like. 

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CREDITS

Host: Claire Murphy

With thanks to: Sarah Davidson, host of Seize The Yay podcast

Executive Producer: Taylah Strano 

Audio Producers: Tegan Sadler 

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This week, we have a voice in your ears that needs no introduction - his music has been a formative part of so many of our lives and I’m pinching myself to have him here for you today. I’m talking of course about multiplatinum-selling singer and songwriter, Pete Murray. My husband, Nic, doesn’t fangirl many people (if anyone) but as an OG follower who had Pete’s very first original independent EP, the only person more excited about this interview than me was him and that's rare! Pete's incredible career selling over 1.2 million albums, releasing three ARIA chart-topping albums and amassing 17 ARIA nominations is no secret, but perhaps even more so than any guest we’ve had on before, it’s what came before that’s so powerful in reminding us all that not only does nothing happen overnight, some magic strikes later in life than you’d expect. While the tender age of 21 years isn’t old by any normal standards, I would never have guessed that this was the FIRST TIME Pete picked up a guitar after his earlier years showing every indication of a career in sport. I loved learning about his younger years, his process for writing, his fascinating combination of self-doubt and self-belief and everything in between. With fresh new music (check out his first new independent single in 20 years, Wouldn't It Be Good, here) and a new tour on the horizon we had so much to chat about and I hope you enjoy!

LINKS
You can follow Pete here.
You can see the tour dates and get tickets here.
+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah
+ Join our Facebook community here
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We are back with a guest episode and I’m thrilled to have one of Australia’s most known and loved voices on the show this week, Jessie Stephens. Many of you will probably recognise Jessie as one of the hosts of Mamamia Out Loud (among many other shows in the prolific Mamamia network of which she is also an executive editor and which we are so excited to have joined in a new chapter for the show). While now she is dominating the airwaves (and has authored two books), you may not know she actually began as junior burger editorial assistant a decade ago and worked her way up the ranks to become one of the few people who can say they’ve been in the one workplace for ten years - an example that you don’t have to leave your job to grow and find new yays. And one of the coolest parts? Jessie is an executive editor alongside her twin sister, Clare Stephens, who after studying different things but both doing their Masters of Research left academia to BOTH become newbie editorial assistants and they’ve worked their way up in different but parallel ways. And the two also have twin brothers, so it was fascinating to learn about such a uniquely special facet to her pathyay. She is also a little bit ahead of me as a working mum and a great source of inspiration having lent her wisdom to a chapter of The Juggle by my friend and manager Genevieve Day who you heard from a few episodes backs. Despite having many mutual friends, I’d never chatted to Jessie before but you’d never know she’s such a great conversationalist and I hope you enjoy as much as I did.

LINKS You can follow Jessie here. 
You can buy her books and more here.
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+ Join our Facebook community here
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We are back with our third episode of Seize the Bébé on a topic that’s definitely been the most requested in my DMs and that I personally found sparked a level of desperation in me for information that I’ve never experienced before. We are talking, of course, about the elusive and emotionally charged topic of sleep and more particularly the dreaded "sleep regression" or (regressions as supposedly there are several). Even within parenthood where most topics are already a bit emotional or judgy, sleep seems especially sensitive, often because you’re usually only talking about it if you’re not getting enough, which is never anyone’s best version of themselves. So, as with all these episodes, a big disclaimer to start - this is all anecdotal and not an exhaustive fully researched guide. I have no professional experience or scientific backing, just answering your questions about what we did and there are many sleep specialists who you can turn to for actual advice. I actually found this one quite hard to write as not only there an infinite amount of variables when choosing sleep techniques, every baby and family is different (perhaps moreso in this area than any) plus even what worked for us this time might not work next time. Having said that, I didn’t care when I was in the depths of it - I still wanted to know what everyone else did just to get ideas or guidance even on where to start. So I’ll lay out what we ended up doing (which, to reassure anyone out there in the thick of it, did work wonderfully and quicker than I expected) and how we decided on that pathway, but just reminding you this area is VERY specific to you. For context, I’m talking about our experience getting through the so-called four month regression which is the first major one that gets talked about. Teddy was born two weeks early and this hit almost exactly at 4 months and two weeks - he’s punctual that boy. I'm sure we'll be back again with new and different views and answers for regressions in future! But for now, I hope even parts of this are useful!

LINKS

More info on Dr Golly's guides are here.
You can follow Dr Golly on instagram here.
More info on Baby Spa's sleep consultations here. 
You can follow Baby Spa on instgaram here.

+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah + Join our Facebook community here + Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.