Sisters in Stoke

You wanna hear two women geeking out on movement practices they love?  This is the episode for you!  It was so fun to speak with Katarina Balmazan (aka Coach Kat) about so many things.

Born in Zemun, Serbia, Kat began a life journey that would shape her into a multifaceted individual.  The backdrop of her early years was painted with both the beauty of her homeland and the tumult of war and in 1997, her family made the life-altering decision to move to Canada. This transition marked not only a change of scenery but also a pivotal moment in her personal growth.

After completing high school, she delved into her passion for the arts at the Dundas Valley School of Art, eventually pursuing higher education at the University of Windsor, specializing in Art and Art History.

While exploring nonprofit endeavours and the captivating realm of So Called Art- an art gallery where she could breathe life into her creative expressions- a dare introduced her to the exhilarating world of

Her newfound passion for fitness led her to an unexpected crossroads, prompting her to return to academia. She undertook studies in Health, Wellness, and Fitness and as a personal trainer discovered the profound joy of guiding others on their transformative journeys.

During the pandemic, she discovered mace training and found solace in its rhythmic flow.

Certified in Steel Mace Flow in 2021, she founded Steel Mace Queens, an endeavour fuelled by her desire to cultivate a community of like-minded individuals, united by their passion for growth and empowerment.

We talk about steel mace, movement modalities, being an artist, community building, the importance of finding your people, giving yourself permission to play, creativity, backing yourself, embracing your complexity, living a life of exploration, the transformative power of creativity, art in motion, risk taking, failure, growth and so much more.

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More about Kat here:

Insta

Steel Mace Queens

Kat's Art available here

I was fangirling HARD before, during and after this podcast. I cried more than once, laughed a lot and shouted into the mic several times (sorry to your earholes). It was every bit as magical and inspiring as I’d hoped it would be and I can’t wait for you to listen.

Oorbee Roy, better known as Aunty Skates, learned to skateboard at age 43 so she could spend more time with her family. Then she went viral on TikTok for sharing her skateboarding journey and, as they say, the rest is history.

Since then, she’s helped hundreds [I suspect thousands] of adults get on a skateboard safely, learn to skate a mini-ramp and bowl, drop-in, face their fears, and get stoked through lessons, events, corporate retreats, and being everyone’s favourite stoke coach or Skoach™.

She is a motivational speaker. skateboard instructor and content creator and has coached hundreds of people on how to carve out their passion and start living their best lives by sharing the lessons she’s learned as a skateboarder. In life and at the skatepark, she teaches people how to enjoy the journey and not take the bumps, bruises, and falls so seriously. 

She is about so much more than skateboarding. We talk about skating (of course), her upcoming retreat in Costa Rica, dealing with fear, living authentically, being guided by your values, honouring ourselves, family, intergenerational trauma and how we can work toward healing it, South Asian culture and how it has shaped her, becoming a full-time content creator, finding your stoke, taking risks and embracing failure as a good thing. 

No matter what your dream is, this conversation will be the kick in the pants you need.

Find her here:

Insta

TikTok

Website

Costa Rica Retreat (tickets are selling FAST!)

Skate Clinics

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I currently have limited 1:1 neuroaffirming ADHD and general coaching opportunities available (via Zoom) and online courses launching later in 2023. 

Join my email list on the website or get in touch today for a free discovery call to see if we’re a good fit.   More information about who I am and how I

Big love,

Meghann

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I acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land where I live, work, play and love: the Boonwurrung & Bunurong People of the Kulin Nation. I pay my respects to their elders past present and emerging. I acknowledge that these lands are unceded and that the struggle for the lands and rights of Indigenous peoples around Australia is ongoing.

When I reached out to today’s guest, it felt like a shot in the dark.  After all, she’s pretty busy travelling the world having her own adventures and encouraging other women to do the same.  When she got back to me almost immediately with a “Hell yes!” I screamed out loud and did a happy dance that left me a gasping mess.

Kanoa Greene is proof that athleticism, strength and confidence can come in all shapes, sizes and colours. An internationally celebrated

This is really a story about being the change you want to see in the world.  Kanoa saw how plus size bodies were excluded from the outdoor space, both practically (gear sizing, access to equipment that fits, training that can be adapted for different levels of abilities and experience) and emotionally (what we’re

We talk about vulnerability, shame, managing burnout, dealing with fear, being a role model, diversity, inclusivity, how to change the narrative, the power of being outdoors, surfing, skiing, rock climbing, yoga, how adventure helps us grow, getting comfortable with being uncomfortable, embodying

You can find out more about Kanoa here:

Kanoa's Instagram

NAKOAadventure (adventure trips and brave spaces for plus size bodies)

Workouts, gear, inspiration

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Today’s conversation was so much fun! As a huge fan of what is now a global movement, No Lights No Lycra, I was so excited to speak

Alice Glenn is a collaborator, entrepreneur and a wild, abandoned dancer. She is the founder and former CEO and current Chair of Schoolhouse Studios, a not-for-profit organisation providing work spaces, events and professional development to more than 140 artists and creative business across two sites in Melbourne.

We talk about the healing power of dance and movement, body positivity, self-love, art, collaboration, creation, inspiring systemic change and creating opportunities for artists, community development, working in the non-profit space, increasing access to the arts and the obstacles still

I was left so inspired to tap into my own creative energies and to have a wild dance in the dark. I hope you are too!

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Find out more about Alice and No Lights No Lycra here

No Lights No Lycra Insta

No Lights No Lycra website

No Lights No Lycra Schools Program

Alice's TedX Talk

Schoolhouse Studios Creative Space website

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To celebrate 20 episodes (!!!) of Sisters in Stoke, I’m sharing a conversation with one of my favourite people in the entire world.

Azimah Azmi is a multidimensional embodiment coach specialising in mindful movement and emotional autonomy.  Originally from Singapore, she is now based in San Diego, CA and serves people all over the world.  Her passion for guiding others into empowerment began from growing up in a fitness centric family and over the years this has evolved into guiding people to free themselves from various manifestations of pain- physical, emotional and spiritual.

She has put together the mechanisms and tools that have helped her over the past 15 years in battling depression, disordered eating, chronic

This will definitely be a Part One, because there is way too much to cover in one episode.  We talk about movement as medicine, sexuality and sensuality, addiction, trauma, pain, healing, polyamory, vulnerability, taking responsibility for our choices, emotional autonomy, the power of our pu**y, pleasure, Brazilian Ju Jitsu, growing up Muslim, relationships, living with intention, what it means to “do the work” and more. Phew.

This conversation is honest, raw and vulnerable and definitely NSFW. I laughed, I cried, I learned, and I hope you do too.

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You can find Azimah on Insta here

Coaching and Workshops here

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Today’s guest is someone whose work has had a huge impact of my relationship to pleasure, sensuality and self-love and I am so excited to share this conversation with y’all!

Naomi Batiste is a queer sensuality coach, a performance artist, writer, doula and a fierce advocate for people to reclaim their pleasure. She uses a variety of modalities in her work and hosts in person and online programs, retreats and intensives all over the world. A powerful facilitator, she invites all women to rethink their relationship to pleasure, play and power.

We talk about sensuality, sexuality, pleasure, bringing a sense of playfulness to our relationship with our bodies and self, connecting to and cultivating our power, what it means to become embodies and how to gently do that if you’re disconnected, shame, vulnerability, expanding our experience of pleasure and much, much more.

This is a juicy, juicy episode that I guarantee will leave you thinking about sensuality in a whole new way, and will invite you to dive into how pleasure and play can be a daily part of your life.

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You can find Naomi here:

Insta

TikTok

Courses, Workshops, Retreats

Today’s guest describes herself as a “natural born leg jiggler” so y’all KNOW she’s a kindred spirit.

Jenny Valentish might alternatively be called a stunt journalist, a human guinea pig or a professional amateur - such is her wont to put her mind and body in the firing line for a story. She is the author of books including Woman of Substances: A Journey into Addiction and Treatment; and Everything Harder Than Everyone Else: Why Some of Us Push Our Bodies to Extremes.

We cover a LOT of topics in this episode including discipline, addiction, sobriety, her career as a writer and memoirist, trauma, telling our stories, putting her body on the line for a story, bodybuilding, ADHD, self-worth, body image, the importance of movement, mental health, being “too much” [spoiler alert: you’re not], creativity, finding productive outlets to manage and release energy and restlessness, hyperfocus and more.

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You can find Jenny on Insta here

Buy her books

Read her work here

Find out how to work with her here (under the Services tab)

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Sign up for my mailing list to stay up to date with events, announcements and coaching oopporunities!

Welcome back to the Sisters in Stoke podcast! I’m so pumped to be kicking off the second half of this season with a guest who is a dose of fun, positivity and inspiration.

Susan Terry- aka Surfer Susie- was born in the good ol’ days in the sleepy beach community of Ventura, California. She was a total “tomboy” (and proud of it!) with a smart-ass mouth and was always the best friend to the most picked on kids. Some used to say she was intimidating but she was really just a confident kid who didn’t fall victim to all the bullshit. After seeing the original Gidget movie in 1959, she decided then and there she would be a surfer girl even though she knew zip about surfing and had never even met a surfer before.

Her first surf was at the south side Ventura pier all by herself, where she ate shit and freakin' loved it. After her school years she got married (to a guy who ran her ass down in the waves)  and had her son, Dave who’s now in his early 50’s and is also a surfer. She had an absolutely fantastic 30 plus year career in the fitness industry and still works out everyday. In her own words, “If I miss it I become a real ‘bitch’, ha!” She’s a self-described pain in the butt highly self-motivated girl who wouldn’t change a thing. In the 1980s, she gave her life to Jesus (“Yep, still a sinner and saved by grace!) and prays for whoever needs it.

Aging sometimes really makes her mad but the minute she throws her board in the water and turns it over to start paddling, she’s just another surfer and age doesn’t matter.

We talk about aging (disgracefully), how she became a surfer, what it was like being one of the only women in the water, how the surf scene has changed, how her Christian faith has shaped her, dealing with the challenges of aging, staying positive through hard times and injury, why doing what you love is so important, giving back to others and how the ocean and community can heal.

My face hurt from smiling after this interview and I know you’ll love it too!

You can find Susie here on Insta.

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Today’s episode is really, really important.  It is a must listen, and a must share. Today I am speaking with Kayla Cartledge, a proud Gurindji woman living on Bunorong land.  Our conversation is wide ranging and we cover a LOT of important topics but specifically this: why it is time for Australians to vote YES for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament.   

The proposed constitutional amendment would establish an independent and permanent advisory body that would give advice to the Australian Parliament and Government on matters that affect the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This includes issues such as education, health, housing, justice and other policies with a practical impact on First Nations people.

After many years working to create safe working and learning environments for mob, Kayla founded her own business, Our Songlines which has since branched into Our Dilly Bag and the community cultural day, Our Survival Day. Kayla’s ambition is to create a safe place for people to tell their stories, ask questions and support First Nations businesses. Motivated to show Australia what First Nation’s Culture really is she offers mindful activities that encourage cultural learnings in safe, creative ways.

Today’s episode is an honest conversation about Kayla’s own experiences with moving away from and reconnecting to culture, her activism, how she connects people to First Nations businesses and culture, why we need to open our hearts and our ears right now and why we must, as a nation,

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More about Kayla here:

Kayla’s Insta

Our Songlines Insta and website

Our Dilly Bag Insta and website

Our Survival Day

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice website

Uluru Statement from the Heart

Reconciliation Australia

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Sisters in Stoke acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on where I live, work, play and love: the Boonwurrung & Bunurong People of the Kulin Nation. I pay my respects to their elders past present and emerging. I acknowledge that these lands are unceded and that the struggle for the lands and rights of Indigenous peoples around Australia is ongoing.

Today’s conversation is another deep dive and was a really cool moment for me: Allie was the subject of one of my first major feature articles when I was writing for magazines over a decade ago.  At that time, she had just summitted Everest for the first time and her climbing career has not stopped since!

She is Australian mountaineer with 23 years of climbing experience and believes the biggest challenges offer the greatest rewards in life. It is during these

Allie didn’t discover rock climbing until she was 23 when she signed up to an Outdoor Recreation course at a local TAFE College. A 10-day technical mountaineering course in New Zealand in December of 1999 changed her life as she found a sport that she was passionate about. Since her first expedition on Aconcagua in Argentina she’s been hooked on high altitude mountaineering.

She has reached the summit of Everest, the fore-summit of Manaslu and in April 2022 she became the third Australian to achieve the summit of Annapurna 1, the most dangerous of all the fourteen 8000m peaks. On May 24th,2023 she reached a height of 8450m on Everest without O2; the highest altitude that any Australian woman has been without using supplemental oxygen. Check out her website for her entire resume- it’s far too long to list where there’s a word limit!

In this episode, we talk about how she stumbled upon mountaineering, taking big risks for big rewards, having an intimate relationship with death, busting through limiting beliefs, why mindset is everything, the sacrifices we make and coming to peace with them, knowing who you truly are, recognising and taking responsibility for how we create our reality, fear, menopause in the mountains (hint: it kinda kicked her ass before she found the support she needed) and more. 

Whether the adventure you seek is physical or spiritual, this episode is sure to leave you feeling ready to tackle some summits of your own!

PS- If you or someone you know wants to sponsor Allie’s latest project, check out the link below!

More about Allie here:

Insta

Website

Sponsorship information for Allie’s latest project here

WellFemme (Online Menopause Support and Doctors)