Sparta Chicks Radio: Mindset | Confidence | Sport | Women

Melissa Browne first joined me on the podcast way back in early 2017 and then spoke at our conference, Sparta Chicks Unleashed, in 2018.

And now she’s back with a vulnerable new book and for a very personal and brave conversation.

Mel has just published a new book - her fourth book - called “Budgets Don’t Work (But This Does)”. It’s the culmination of her career first as an accountant and now a financial advisor.

Her philosophy; just like diets and one-size-fits-all eating plans or training programs don’t work, budgets don’t work either.

So Mel has developed a process that helps you discover (what she calls) your “Financial Phenotype”. It’s the combination of your Money Stories, your Money Environment and your Money Type. Knowing these things about yourself then allows you to custom design your own financial plan, habits and tactics that draw on your natural strengths (while minimising the impact of your weakness). Simply genius!

What makes this book so powerful is Mel’s vulnerability around her history and her story and how it has shaped her financial decision making over the years.

From the outside looking in, Mel appeared to have it all. 

Yet as she reveals in this conversation, for years Mel was stuck in a ‘sabotage loop’ in her business and that she carried a victim mentality and story that she wasn’t “good enough” that caused her to work so hard she ultimately experienced burnout and a breakdown in 2017.

So she initially started working with a coach to help her navigate her ’sabotage loop’ in her business.

However, Mel quickly realised she would also need to unpack the trauma she’s experienced and the way it and the stories she’s carried with her have shaped her personal life as well.

Get the full show notes for the episode here.

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A Clearance Diver in the Australian Navy, in 2009 Paul de Gelder was working in Sydney Harbour when he was attacked by a bull shark (the first attack inside the Harbour in 60 years).

Paul lost his right hand in the attack and his right leg was amputated a week later.

What’s remarkable about Paul is not that he was attacked.

What’s remarkable is what he’s done since then.

Not only has he returned to the open water, but he also confronted his fear and dived with bull sharks and even learnt to feed them by hand.

He’s also become an advocate for the protection of sharks and has hosted documentaries for the Discovery Channel during Shark Week.

In this conversation, we discuss his troubled childhood, what he gained when he joined the Army, his decision to become a Clearance Diver despite a “massive” fear of sharks and how he was able to overcome his fear to get back in the water.

Get the full show notes for the episode here.

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Follow Paul on Instagram: @PauldeGelder

Kemi Nekvapil is, quite simply, a force of nature.

You know one of those people that when you talk to them, you know they are fully ‘in’ the conversation. That’s Kemi.

Kemi has worked in the wellness industry for over 20 years.

First as a pioneer in the raw food movement in Australia and now as an accredited executive and personal coach, she is committed to helping women like you and I change how we feel about ourselves and how we express ourselves, so we can set boundaries and pursue what we want from life, without guilt or apology.

How good does that sound?

Kemi is the author of two books, Raw Beauty and the Gift of Asking.

She’s also a powerful speaker which is why I choose her to both open and close Sparta Chicks Unleashed, the conference we held in 2018.

Plus she’s a runner - a trail and ultra-marathon runner, Kemi has completed 11 x marathon distances races and two ultras of 100km or more. So she ‘gets’ us.

Kemi was my ‘secret weapon’ during 2018 when she was my coach for 6 months so I know what a powerhouse she is.

Get the full show notes for the episode here.

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Follow Kemi on Instagram: @keminekvapil

Dianne Whelan is the first to admit she is not an ‘extreme’ or endurance athlete. She describes herself as “just an artist from Vancouver”.

But there is no doubt the project she’s currently undertaking is pretty extreme.

In 2015, she set out to travel the length of the Great Trail (or the Trans Canada Trail) which stretches from one side of Canada to the other and is the longest trail in the world.

It’s a 24,000km / 15,000mi journey across Canada - including 7,000km of water - that she is travelling by foot, bike, canoe and snowshoe.

Dianne initially thought it would take her about 500 days and so she named the project, and the documentary film she is simultaneously making in the process, ‘500 Days in the Wild’.

5 years later, she is about 3,000km from finishing her epic journey.

And when she does so, she’ll become the first person to complete this epic traverse of Canada.

What makes Dianne’s perspective unique (at least to this podcast) is that this journey is not about the challenge or the athletic achievement.

Instead, she describes as an ecological pilgrimage to honour both the land and to pay respects to the First Nations people of Canada, to learn their stories and share their lessons.

Get the full show notes for the episode here.

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Follow Dianne on Instagram @diannewhelanphotos & @500DaysintheWild

Jamie Moreno is a Latina woman on a mission to empower girls and women to get involved in motorsports and to follow their dreams regardless of age, race or gender.

Jamie grew up with a passion for cars after spending hours with her dad as a child in the garage working on cars.

However, she didn’t start racing until she was 25 because she didn’t realise it was an avenue that was open to her (sadly, another example of the effect of  ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’).

It was also her love of motor racing that led Jamie to investigate health problems she had since childhood that left her with anxiety and depression for most of her life.

In fact, she credits motor racing with saving her life.

In this conversation, we discuss:

- her childhood, the time she spent hanging out with her dad in the garage working with cars,

- one of her favourite memories from childhood that involves wanting to go fast on a ride at Disneyland (but being stuck being a slow older man!),

- the pressures of growing up in a Latino family and the expectation to conform,

- her experience as a woman, and a woman of colour, in a male-dominated sport,

- why it’s important to her to be a role model for young girls,

- how she regained her confidence after it was shattered after a particularly bad crash, and

- the 4 lessons she’s learnt from racing and how those lessons are equally relevant in endurance sports.

Get the full show notes for the episode here.

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Follow Jamie on Instagram: @theracingchica

Jeanette McGill grew up in South Africa and mountains and the outdoors were a massive part of her life up until her mid-late 20s.

And then her career took over - and took off.

A geologist by training, Jeanette began working in the mining industry and she has gone onto to become a senior mining executive and was named as one of the Top 100 most influential women in mining in the world.

But unfortunately, that came at the cost of her health, fitness and her time in the outdoors.

However, some soul-searching and a moment of synchronicity while channel surfing in 2013 reignited her passion for the mountains and she set a seemingly audacious goal; to summit an 8,000m mountain!

In this conversation, we discuss the importance of understanding your ‘why’ and the role it plays in securing your self-confidence, and how she was able to reframe her biggest ‘Imposter’ moment

Get the full show notes for the episode here.

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Follow Jeannette on Instagram: @jnntmcg

Nadine Champion is a Thai Boxing and Kickboxing Champion. Now, I’ll be the first to admit I don’t have any interest, whatsoever, in martial arts (and I tell Nadine this early in our conversation).

But this isn’t a conversation about martial arts.

It’s a conversation about a normal woman with big dreams trying to find a way through her fear and self-doubt, realising she was seeking approval and validation from her Sensei because she didn’t believe she was ‘enough’ and who (in order to achieve her goals inside the ring) had to confront the reality of who she was outside the ring.

These days, Nadine is a professional speaker after her talk at TEDx Sydney talk in 2015 (also, her first-ever public speaking gig) produced a standing ovation and has since been described as one of the most memorable TEDxTalks of all time.

Nadine is also the author of a book called “10 Seconds of Courage”. It’s a very real, raw, emotional and honest account of Nadine’s career as a kickboxer, her battle with cancer and her experience of letting her guard down (for once) when she walked onto the TEDxSydney stage.

Get the full show notes for the episode here.

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Follow Nadine on Instagram: @nadinechampion_

Hanny is no stranger to the trail running and outdoor adventure communities in Australia.

In 2006, Hanny won the Junior and Senior World Orienteering titles. In doing so, she became the first non-European to win an Orienteering World Championship and the first person, male or female, to hold both the Senior and Junior title in the same year.

In the years since, she’s achieved a long list of victories, records and placings in the worlds of mountain and trail running, ultramarathon running and sky running.

She’s also the co-founder of my favourite retail and online store - Find Your Feet - based in Tasmania with her husband Graham.

And on top of all that, she’s a performance coach and the host of an incredible podcast also called ‘Find Your Feet.

We cover all of that, and more, in our first conversation (which you can find here).

This conversation is very different.

This is a conversation about Hanny finding her feet.

She has just released a memoir - her first memoir - called ‘Finding My Feet’.

I was lucky enough to read an advance copy. And the best way to describe it as soul-full.

It's Hanny's incredible story (so far) that is brave and vulnerable and heartbreaking and awe-inspiring. It will make you laugh and it will make you cry. It’s one of the most honest memoirs and autobiographies I’ve read in a long time.

Get the full show notes for the episode here.

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Follow Hanny on Instagram: @hanny.allston

Eloise grew up in a family of runners and, while watching the Olympics at the age of 10, set the goal to become an Olympian.

By 16, she had qualified for her first Olympics; the Sydney Olympic Games in 2000.

But sadly, Eloise’s early career was beset by injuries.

As one article I read so painfully wrote, ‘it would be 12 years, 11 stress fractures and 3 failed attempts later’ before she finally made her Olympic debut at the London Olympic Games in 2012.

Eloise and I recorded this conversation in midst of the Covid-19 crisis and so that’s where we start our conversation today - with how she’s navigated the impact of it with two small children at home and how it’s affected her training and her attempts to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (now being held in 2021).

Eloise is also the co-founder of an extraordinary organisation called the Love Mercy Foundation which she co-founded with Ugandan Olympian and former child soldier, Julius Achon that works to empower communities in Northern Uganda to overcome poverty caused by the horrors of war.

Eloise shares how you can help to support the work of Love Mercy by participating in their virtual “Mother Run” which is on this month (May, 2020).

Get the full show notes for the episode here.

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Follow Eloise on Instagram: @elzywellings

Michael Milton knows all about fear, self-doubt, bravery and courage.

After losing his leg to bone cancer at the age of 8, he has gone onto become one of Australia’s most talented, decorated and all-round athletes.

He is a 5x Paralympic Gold Medalist who has competed in 6 Paralympic Games, both in Winter for skiing and in Summer for cycling.

Michael also holds World Records for speed skiing and for the fastest marathon on crutches. And he’s also summited Kilimanjaro and walked the Kokoda track twice.

In this conversation, we discuss:

- what it’s like to ski over 200km/hr (132mph),

- his experience with fear, self-doubt and the Imposter Complex,

- why he’s entered many races over the years knowing he’ll finish last,

- why you should keep pushing forward when your instinct is telling you to back off, and

- his experience competing in the Ultra-Trail Australia 50km race in 2017.

Get the full show notes for the episode here.

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