Storytellers

Nature enthusiast, holistic healer, symbiotic creature.

Asher Cloran didn’t have a childhood immersed in nature. Often stuck in front of a TV, with unhealthy eating habits to match, Asher suffered from a multitude of illnesses and mental health issues that consumed his happiness as a young man. 

And it’s precisely the reason he has spent the last eight years not only transforming his own life, but also helping educate other young adults and children on the immense value of health and nature. 

Asher speaks so passionately and poetically about the magic of nature that it’s abundantly clear the profound impact it has had on his life. Now the owner and program director of Life Rocks, a science-based education company, Asher is dedicated to teaching children and parents alike about the power of the natural world.

https://www.liferocks.com.au/

Yogi, teacher, master of change.

Amy Carmody knows how to pivot. It’s not just the 10 years of classical ballet, or over a decade as a much-loved yoga instructor that has helped her with this flex. It’s also her innate instinct to seamlessly adapt in times of change.

It’s what sets her apart from many of her peers – a kind but no bullshit approach to her practice. It’s not about the music that is playing, the scent of the candles burning or the “vibe” of the studio you’re flowing in. Core to her practice, is the practice itself. Strong, slow, considered, informed.

Amy Carmody Yoga is about strengthening the anatomical building blocks of the body, to help her students live a happier, pain-free life. I think Amy’s ethos is why I connected so easily to her practice. It’s smart, it’s educational, and dear god it’s hard. Just try one of her resets, I dare you!

I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Amy over the past couple of months and watching her, the platform and her community flourish. We caught up again recently to discuss how it’s all going, the power of finding your niche, and the knowledge she is passionate about instilling in every one of her community members.

https://www.amycarmodyyoga.com.au/
https://www.instagram.com/amycarmodyyoga

Teacher, spa maven, mother.

This was a bit of a special interview for me, because this is my mum, Leanne. Now this might seem like a little bit of nepotism, and my sister will most definitely call me a suck up, but my mum is one of the people in my life who has inspired me the most. To work hard, to be a caring, loving human, and to bring joy and light into the world.

A self-proclaimed below-average student, Leanne started teachers college at the tender age of 17, with a determination to keep furthering her education beyond just learning a skill. A teaching career that has now spanned around 40 years (with a break somewhere in the middle), she is renowned and celebrated for her innovative and exceptionally creative approach to the classroom, becoming a much-loved and much-requested leader for students and teachers alike.

In a stroke of chance and perfect timing, Leanne bought the very first two franchises of the highly successful Endota Day Spa, in Mornington and Red Hill on the Mornington Peninsula, mid-way through her career. 

The pair sold businesses off at the height of its success, and without an ounce of regret, besides maybe the loss of free treatments (or maybe that’s just me). Not one to sit still or even contemplate retirement, at least as long as my dad is spending like it’s going out of fashion, Leanne is back in the now-virtual year six classroom, helping guide our female leaders of the future.

I spoke to her about teaching now and then, how expectations around the role have changed, taking the leap to start a business in your 40s, and how her fear of failure has ensured she’d never settled for less than she knows she can achieve.

Lauren Smith

Survivor, integrative practitioner, nurturer.

Western society promotes a sense of pride in being busy, in being relentlessly overwhelmed and overworked. Because if you’re not, you’re not trying hard enough, you’re lazy. For Lauren Smith, being up-against it, stressed to the eyeballs, was her sense of achievement. That was, until it brought her world crashing down.

For over a decade Lauren slogged it out in the competitive world of TV news and sports production, working ridiculous hours, barely sleeping, all to prove that she could make it in that male-dominated world. And while her head was determined, her body had other ideas. After two years of unbearable facial seizures, at the age of 28, she ended up in the emergency ward undergoing brain surgery.

That wakeup call saw Lauren completely reassess her life and her priorities, and undertake a Pilates teacher training course, a skill with which she then got to spend a number of years running retreats in far-reaching tropical locations.

Now back in Melbourne and running her (currently online) studio The Balanced Base, we caught up to discuss her previous life of chaos, her incredible story of survival, and while she will never stop convincing people to take care of their mind, their body and their soul. 

https://storytellers.id/2020/10/07/lauren-smith/

Diversity leader, firefighter, thriving in chaos.

It takes a special type of person to be a first responder. To witness tragedy, death, injury and unspeakable horror through everything from fires and floods, to accidents and acts of terror. But like many high-stakes vocations, those who choose to take on that responsibility are those who not only also thrive in chaos, but have an unwavering dedication to help their fellow human. Dawn De Pew Hartog is one of those people.

I met Dawn during my time working in communications in the emergency services space, where she was briefly my manager, and also a team leader within the State Control Centre (SCC). Dawn is also not only a volunteer at the Country Fire Authority (CFA), but also her local brigade’s Captain and on the CFA Board. For someone who is immersed in a very intense, often sober environment, Dawn is a bundle of positive energy.

On top of this, Dawn’s day job is as the Senior Program Manager in Forest Fire Management Victoria’s (FFMVic) Culture and Diversity team, where she is working to bridge the gender gaps across the fire and emergency services space, as well as create greater cultural diversity.

I spoke to Dawn, from what I shall call her forest log cabin, about her journey to the fire frontline, looking after the mental health of yourself and your team in a crisis, and being a female leader in a traditionally male-dominated world.

www.ffmvic.vic.gov.au