What happens when you wake up and the title is gone… the paycheck is gone… and the identity you built your life around disappears overnight?

In this deeply human conversation, Merry Korn shares the moment she was fired just two months into a role and found herself at what she calls “ground zero.”

Single mother. No income. No plan.

But what felt like collapse became excavation.

Instead of rushing into another job, Merry began the inner work. The deep questioning. The alignment process that many of us avoid. That inner excavation eventually led her to build Pearl Interactive Network, Inc., a for-profit social enterprise that grew to 1,300 employees across 30 states, prioritising hiring people with disabilities, disabled veterans, and those often excluded from opportunity.

This is not a hustle story.

It is a story about identity.
About DNA-level resilience.
About listening to the whisper before building the platform.
About discovering that job loss is often not failure… but information.

If you’ve ever tied your worth to your work, this episode will land deeply.

📝 Show Notes

In This Episode, We Explore

• The hidden danger of outsourcing your worth to your job title

• Why alignment matters more than income alone

• The role of informational interviews during career transition

• How inner excavation precedes sustainable success

• Hiring people with severe disabilities and untapped talent

• The power of giving disabled veterans meaningful work

• The intersection of business strategy and heart-led leadership

• Spiritual guidance, synchronicity, and trusting the unseen

• Why resilience is often inherited… but must be consciously accessed

• How purpose transforms survival into contribution

Key ReflectionsJob loss is not always rejection.
Sometimes it is redirection.

Your worth was never meant to be housed inside a role.

The bravest work isn’t rushing to the next solution.
It’s staying present long enough for the true step to reveal itself.

About the Guest

Merry Korn is a serial entrepreneur, speaker, author, and founder of Pearl Interactive Network, Inc., one of the world’s most successful for-profit social enterprises.

Over two decades, she built a company that created thousands of meaningful jobs for disabled veterans, people with disabilities, and individuals in economically challenged communities.

Today, Merry shares her story to help others navigate career disruption, rediscover purpose, and build work aligned with heart and mission.

#SuddenlyDifferent
#FromGroundZero
#CareerRedirection
#PurposeDriven
#LeadershipWithHeart
#DisabilityInclusion
#VeteranEmployment
#SocialEnterprise
#IdentityAndWork
#Resilience
#TrustTheProcess
#InnerWork
#WomenInLeadership
#FaithAndBusiness

What if one of the most powerful mental health interventions on the planet was free, universally accessible, and biologically contagious?

In this episode of Suddenly Different, Leigh-Anne sits down with rural Victorian speaker and counsellor Sally Pymer, whose deceptively simple message carries profound weight: a smile can rewire a brain, restore safety, reduce stigma, and strengthen entire communities.

With over 20 years’ experience in psychology, AOD counselling, community development and coaching, Sally has seen firsthand how loneliness, addiction, shame and disconnection quietly erode wellbeing. But she has also witnessed something extraordinary — how one small gesture can interrupt that cycle.

Together, they explore:

• The neuroscience behind smiling and the chemical cascade it triggers
• Why smiling rewires the brain for resilience
• The ripple effect of anonymous smile cards left under windscreens
• Rural loneliness and the power of incidental connection
• Socially accepted addictions — work, exercise, achievement
• Why compassion, not shame, is the only pathway out of addiction
• Prevention vs treatment in mental health
• How micro-moments of connection reduce long-term harm

This conversation is about returning to our humanity through the smallest doorway.

Because small things save lives.

Connect with Sally:
🌐 www.empoweredwithsally.com.au

If this episode moved you, share it with someone who might need a reminder that they are seen.

Show Notes

Guest: Sally Pymer
Speaker | Counsellor | Community Advocate
Founder of The Smile Movement
Rural Victoria, Australia

In This Episode We Explore:00:00 – Introduction: The Smile as Free Medicine
02:30 – Discovering the Smile as a Life Message
10:30 – The Neuroscience of Smiling (Dopamine, Serotonin & Endorphins)
14:30 – Rewiring the Brain for Happiness
17:00 – The “Soul of a Smile” and Feeling Seen
19:30 – Anonymous Smile Cards & Ripple Effects
23:30 – Loneliness in Rural Communities
28:00 – Micro-Moments of Social Connection
31:00 – Socially Accepted Addictions: Work & Exercise
38:30 – Disconnection from Self & Identity
41:00 – Why Compassion Beats Shame in Recovery
44:00 – Prevention vs Treatment in Mental Health
48:00 – Big Vision: A World Connected Through Smiles
49:30 – One Action You Can Take Today

Key Takeaways

✔ Smiling releases dopamine, serotonin and endorphins — even if it starts as intentional
✔ Micro-moments of connection have measurable health impacts
✔ Addiction often masks disconnection and identity wounds
✔ Shame increases suffering; compassion creates safety
✔ Prevention begins in everyday interactions
✔ A smile is inclusive, universal and free

Resources Mentioned

• Research by Abel & Kruger (2010) on smiling and longevity
• Martin Seligman on positive psychology and resilience
• Kevin Hines’ story of survival and acknowledgment

🌐 www.empoweredwithsally.com.au
📧 Contact via website for speaking and community events

#TheSmileEffect
#SuddenlyDifferentPodcast
#SallyPymer
#MentalHealthAwareness
#CommunityConnection
#AddictionRecovery
#LonelinessMatters
#PreventionNotJustTreatment
#PositivePsychology
#Resilience
#CompassionInAction
#RuralAustralia
#Wellbeing
#ConnectionHeals
#SmallThingsSaveLives

Some differences arrive quietly.
They don’t announce themselves.
They simply change how you learn to move through the world.

For Pamela Cass, that difference was dyslexia — identified at seven years old and misunderstood in a way that slowly taught her to stay out of the way. Being removed from class, separated from peers, and left without language for what was happening, Pamela learned early that invisibility felt safer than being noticed.

What followed was a lifetime of compensating. Working harder. Proving worth. Staying busy. Staying agreeable. Staying unseen.

Show Notes

In this episode of Suddenly Different, Pamela reflects on how childhood experiences shape adult behaviour — from overworking in leadership roles, to losing her voice inside a long-term marriage, to eventually reclaiming her sense of self through grounding practices, gratitude, and deep inner work.

This is a conversation about dyslexia beyond diagnosis.
About self-worth beyond achievement.
And about visibility that doesn’t require performance.

Pamela is the co-author of The Quiet Gift and a coach supporting people to step out of survival patterns and into sustainable influence — gently, honestly, and without abandoning themselves.

If you’ve ever felt quietly different, this episode offers language, perspective, and permission.

In this episode, Leigh-Anne Sharland speaks with Pamela Cass about the long arc from childhood difference to adult identity — and what happens when survival strategies are no longer needed, but still running the show.

We explore:

• How dyslexia was first experienced, not explained

• The unintended impact of classroom separation and early isolation

• Why invisibility can feel safer than belonging

• Overworking as a learned response, not a personality trait

• Leadership, imposter fear, and emotional intelligence

• Living with chronic stress — and what it costs the body

• Gratitude as a practice that shifts physiology, not just mindset

• Letting go of survival without losing drive

• • What it really means to be seen

  This may resonate with you:

• learned to stay small early in life

• equate effort with worth

• hide behind competence or productivity

• are neurodivergent or quietly different

• are redefining success on your own terms

A central thread:

Invisibility isn’t who we are.
It’s something we learn — and something we can unlearn.

Pamela’s story offers a grounded reminder that influence doesn’t require volume, and healing doesn’t require reinvention — only permission to return to what was already there.

#SuddenlyDifferentPodcast
#TheQuietGift
#DyslexiaAwareness
#SelfWorthJourney
#CourageToBeSeen
#NeurodivergentVoices
#InvisibleNoMore
#EmbodiedHealing
#RedefiningSuccess

What do you do when life takes everything you thought you could rely on, your marriage, your safety, your bank account, your sense of self, and it all collapses at once?

In this deeply human conversation, Leigh-Anne sits with Belinda J. Shaw, author of Resilience Is a VERB, to explore resilience as something we practice, not a trait we either “have” or “don’t.” Belinda shares how she rebuilt after narcissistic harm, financial devastation, and returning home to live with her mum, later becoming her mum’s carer, and how small, conscious choices became the stepping stones back to self.

You’ll hear why Belinda believes resilience is human evolution, not “bouncing back,” and how boundaries protect your energy, values guide your decisions, and tiny actions can shift a life that feels impossible.

This episode also shines a light on an urgent reality: women over 50 are the fastest-growing cohort experiencing homelessness in Australia, and what that means for our communities, our compassion, and our responsibility to each other.

Show notes In this episode, we exploreIf you’ve ever laid awake at night with fears about money, retirement, safety, or feeling trapped, this episode is for you.

• When life “dismantles” you: identity loss, financial collapse, and rebuilding from zero

• Resilience as evolution (not “bouncing back”)

• The power of small choices in hard seasons

• Why boundaries contain your energy and “no” is a full sentence

• Values and expectations: how misalignment drains you

• Grounding practices that change your state (earthing, routine, memory-stacking)

• The late-night fears many women over 50 carry: retirement, money, homelessness, feeling trapped

• The growing reality of homelessness among women, and how community can respond with dignity and care

• Belinda’s frameworks: Resilience Is a VERB + the Resilient ROAR (above/below the line)

• “Resilience is part of human evolution.”

• “No is a full sentence.”

• “Your boundaries contain your energy.”

• Belinda Shaw: belindajshaw.com

• Book: Resilience Is a VERB (Belinda Shaw)

• A woman over 50 who is quietly carrying late-night fear

• Someone rebuilding after heartbreak, control, or financial loss

• Anyone who needs practical steps to regain agency, one choice at a time

#ResilienceIsAVerb #BelindaShaw #SuddenlyDifferentPodcast #Resilience #RebuildingYourLife #Boundaries #Values #Expectations #PersonalGrowth #HealingJourney #NarcissisticAbuseRecovery #TraumaRecovery #WomensWellbeing #WomenOver50 #MidlifeReinvention #FinancialWellbeing #HomelessnessAwareness #CommunityCare #NervousSystemSupport #ChooseAgain

What happens when you arrive in a new country with skills, experience, and ambition — and are told it still isn’t enough?

In this episode of Suddenly Different, Leigh-Anne Sharland is joined by Fabiola Campbell, founder of Professional Migrant Women and author of Own It, for a powerful conversation about the invisible barriers facing skilled migrant women in Australia.

Together, they explore the emotional and systemic impact of being told you lack “local experience,” the loss of social capital that comes with migration, and the quiet grief of starting again in a place that doesn’t yet know how to see you.

Fabiola speaks candidly about accent bias, cultural intelligence, and the moment she stopped trying to fit into systems that weren’t designed for her — choosing instead to reclaim her identity, her voice, and her power.

This episode is a call to rethink how we define merit, inclusion, and leadership — and an invitation to build workplaces where difference is not managed, but valued.

If you’ve ever felt unseen, underestimated, or asked to prove yourself again and again… this conversation is for you.

“No Local Experience”: The Invisible Wall Facing Migrant Women | Fabiola Campbell

In this deeply human conversation, Leigh-Anne and Fabiola explore what it means to lose your professional identity overnight — and how reclaiming it can become an act of leadership and advocacy.

• The hidden cost of being told you don’t have “local experience”
• How accent bias and unconscious assumptions shape opportunity
• The loss of social capital that comes with migration
• Why qualifications may be recognised — but experience dismissed
• The emotional impact of starting again as an accomplished adult
• Humanistic leadership and healthier models of power
• Why diversity of thought matters more than surface-level inclusion
• Creating real pathways for skilled migrant women to thrive

• “When you own every part of who you are, nobody can use it against you.”
• Belonging is not granted — it is built, claimed, and embodied
• Leadership is not power over, but power with and power within

Fabiola Campbell is the founder and principal mentor of Professional Migrant Women, an organisation dedicated to closing the gap between migration and meaningful employment for women in Australia. Drawing from her own lived experience as a skilled migrant, Fabiola advocates for cultural intelligence, inclusive leadership, and systemic change.

Leigh-Anne Sharland is the host of Suddenly Different and founder of Building Your Mindset Muscle. Through lived experience, data, and deep conversation, she explores what happens when life, identity, or health changes unexpectedly — and how we rebuild with honesty, compassion, and courage.

• Professional Migrant Women
Home - Professional Migrant Women• Own It by Fabiola Campbell available on AmazonSupport Links

If this episode brings up difficult emotions, please reach out for support:
• Lifeline Australia — 13 11 14• Beyond Blue — 1300 22 4636

What if the behaviours you were punished for…
labelled for…
or shamed about…
were never the problem at all?

In this deeply honest and confronting episode of Suddenly Different, Leigh-Anne Sharland is joined by Jason Blyth, a youth advocate and speaker whose life was shaped by extreme childhood trauma, violence, neglect, and systemic failure.

Together, Leigh-Anne and Jason explore what happens when children grow up in environments where safety is unpredictable, adults are carrying unhealed wounds, and survival becomes the first language the nervous system learns.

Jason shares his lived experience of growing up in a violent home, being misunderstood and misdiagnosed by the systems meant to protect him, turning to addiction as a survival strategy, and eventually reaching a “suddenly different” moment where choice became the way out.

This is not a story about blame.
It’s a conversation about truth.
About how behaviour is often communication.
About how addiction is often an attempt to cope.
And about how rewriting the story begins when we stop asking, “What’s wrong with you?” and start asking, “What happened to you?”

Together, Leigh-Anne and Jason also turn their attention to youth advocacy and systemic change — questioning how child protection, education, and mental health systems continue to fail vulnerable children, and what must change if we want a safer future for the next generation.

This episode is for:

• anyone who grew up in chaos and learned to adapt to survive

• parents and educators wanting to understand behaviour through a trauma-aware lens

• leaders and policymakers willing to confront uncomfortable truths

• and young people who need to hear this clearly:

You were never the problem.

📝 Show NotesIn this episode, we explore:

• What it feels like to grow up without consistent safety or emotional protection

• How childhood trauma shapes identity, behaviour, and nervous system responses

• Why so many children are mislabelled instead of supported

• Addiction as a survival strategy, not a moral failure

• Jason’s “suddenly different” moment and the power of daily choice

• The role of one safe adult in changing a child’s trajectory

• Why systems focused on symptoms continue to fail vulnerable children

• The urgent need for trauma-literate education, parenting, and policy

• How rewriting the story begins with reclaiming agency and authorship

  
  

Key TakeawayBehaviour is not the problem.
Pain is not the problem.
Survival strategies are not the problem.

The problem is systems that don’t listen, environments that aren’t safe, and a culture that mistakes adaptation for defiance.

And the solution begins with one brave truth:
You are not broken. You were adapting.

Support NoteThis episode includes discussion of childhood trauma, violence, abuse, addiction, and mental health challenges. Please listen with care. If this conversation brings up difficult emotions, consider reaching out to someone you trust or a professional support service in your area.

In Australia, Lifeline is available 24/7 on 13 11 14.

About the PodcastSuddenly Different is a podcast about the moments that change everything — and what we choose to become next.
Hosted by Leigh-Anne Sharland, the show explores lived experience, nervous system truth, identity shifts, and the second-order consequences of life upheavals.

What happens when survival becomes your default — until your body says “no more”?

In this powerful episode of Suddenly Different, financial advisor and Ironman triathlete Amanda Thompson shares her harrowing and inspiring journey through domestic violence, financial trauma, and rebuilding from rock bottom.

After collapsing during a morning run and waking up in a cardiac ward, Amanda discovered she had blood clots from a violent attack a year earlier — hidden scars her body could no longer carry in silence. What followed was a full-body reckoning: with trauma, with denial, and with a lifetime of endurance pushed to its limit.

Amanda speaks with fierce clarity and compassion about:

• The different faces of domestic abuse — including coercive control and financial restriction

• The guilt, shame, and silence that keep women trapped

• Why money is never just money — and how to reclaim your financial voice

• How to begin again — with courage, planning, and support

This is a raw, wise, and deeply human conversation about turning survival into sovereignty.

Trigger Warning: This episode includes discussion of domestic violence, trauma, and psychological abuse. Please listen with care.

🎧 Guest: Amanda Thompson
💼 Founder, Endurance Financial
📘 Author: Financially Fit Women
🌐 Website: www.endurancefinancial.com.au
🔗 LinkedIn: Amanda Thompson
📩 Speaking enquiries: [email protected]

• Amanda’s “suddenly different” moment and life-threatening collapse

• Financial abuse and how it’s often disguised as “care”

• The impact of coercive control, gaslighting, and identity erosion

• What it means to become your own CFO: Confident, Focused, On top of your Finances

• The link between physical endurance and emotional resilience

• Why we need to teach our daughters — and sons — differently

• How Amanda helps women step into financial autonomy without shame

• From silence to storytelling: the power of owning your truth

If you or someone you know needs support:

• 1800RESPECT – 1800 737 732

• Lifeline – 13 11 14

• Financial Counselling Australia – 1800 007 007

• Women’s Legal Services – [Check your state directory]

• Share it with someone who might need it

• Leave a review or rating on your favourite podcast app

• Connect with us at leigh-annesharland.com or follow Suddenly Different on Instagram

📌 Spotify Show Notes🔥 Topics We Cover:📞 Support Services (Australia)🗣️ If this episode speaks to you:

What if you were asked to write your own eulogy — not once, but twice?

In this deeply honest episode of Suddenly Different, Leigh-Anne Sharland sits with Ashley Jo Janssen, author of Tides of Great Waves of Grace, to explore the moment that radically changed the trajectory of her life.

During addiction recovery, Ashley was asked to write a eulogy as if her life had ended due to substance abuse. Later, she was asked to write a second eulogy — one that reflected a long life shaped by sobriety, healing, forgiveness, and truth. Placing those two eulogies side by side revealed something undeniable: two possible endings, and one powerful choice.

In this conversation, Leigh-Anne and Ashley explore:

• How trauma and unresolved grief shape coping mechanisms

• Why self-forgiveness is one of the hardest and most essential parts of recovery

• The difference between surviving and truly living

• The role of family, faith, and community support in healing

• Why sobriety is not just about abstaining, but relearning how to feel

• And how choosing a little “razzle dazzle” — joy, presence, and intention — can be an act of rebellion and hope

Before you listen, a gentle note: this episode includes references to addiction, grief, and recovery. Please take care and pause if it becomes heavy.

If you’ve ever felt caught between who you’ve been and who you could become, this episode is a reminder that the pen is still in your hand.

Because even after destruction, redemption is possible.
And even after the storm, life can be Suddenly Different.

For more information about Ashley Jo here are the links

website: https://www.thisisashleyjo.com/

book: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0FV134LCV/

Also available on Kindle Unlimited

⚠️ Trigger Warning:
This episode includes discussion of child sexual abuse, exploitation, trafficking, and trauma. Listener discretion is advised.

Silence is not neutral.
Silence is where abuse hides.

In this powerful and unflinching episode of Suddenly Different, I’m joined by Fur Wale, award-winning speaker, founder of SHE Talks, and ambassador for Project Karma.

Together, we break the silence around child sexual exploitation and trafficking — crimes that continue to thrive in secrecy, stigma, and social taboo.

Fur speaks with raw honesty about:

• The global and local reality of child exploitation

• Why silence protects perpetrators and isolates victims

• How grooming, abuse, and trauma hide in plain sight

• The long-term nervous system and identity impact of childhood sexual abuse

• Why speaking openly is not just healing — it is protective

We also explore what ordinary people can do to help protect children, how survivors can reclaim voice without re-traumatisation, and why awareness must lead to action.

This conversation aligns deeply with my advocacy around Taking the Boo out of Taboo — because when we name what is hidden, we reduce its power.
When we speak truth, we create the possibility of safety, justice, and healing.

If this episode brings up difficult emotions, please don’t carry them alone.
In Australia, support is available via Lifeline (13 11 14) or 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
International listeners can find local support at findahelpline.com.

To learn more about Fur’s work, visit shetalks.com.au.
To support or learn about Project Karma’s work in rescuing and rehabilitating children, visit projectkarma.org.au/what-we-do.

Because silence is the abuser’s shield — and voice is how we begin to dismantle it.

What happens after suicide — for the people left behind?

At nineteen, Katie Bingham lost her ex-boyfriend to suicide. In this deeply honest conversation, Katie shares what it truly means to live on after sudden loss — navigating PTSD, numbness, grief, and the long journey back to safety in her body.

Together, we explore how trauma lives in the nervous system, why shutdown and hypervigilance are natural protective responses, and how understanding neurodiversity can change the trajectory from shame to healing. Katie reflects on receiving her ADHD and autism diagnosis later in life, and how that understanding helped her make sense of patterns that began after trauma.

This episode is not about the act of suicide. It is about recovery, choice, embodiment, and creating safe spaces — especially for neurodivergent children — so fewer people carry invisible wounds into adulthood.

A gentle and grounding conversation for anyone living after loss, supporting someone with PTSD, or seeking trauma-informed understanding of the nervous system.

Content note: This episode includes discussion of suicide and mental health. Please take care as you listen and reach out for support if needed.