Content note: This episode includes discussion of experiences of domestic abuse and birth trauma.

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In this honest conversation, Danni and I explore what identity really means and what happens when the person you’ve become no longer fits the life you’re building.

Danni shares her own journey of shedding old versions of herself—from her addiction to approval and fear of being seen to rebuilding her sense of self after difficult life experiences— and evolving from a “winging it” entrepreneur into the strategic businesswoman and leader she is today. We talk about the tension between who we are, who we’ve been and who we’re becoming — and why every version of ourselves deserves gratitude.

Danni also shares practical ways to start uncovering your “highest self”, including the role of identity work, self-awareness, language, communication, and simple journaling practices.

About Danni:

Danni Vee is an international award-winning high-performance leadership and business coach, keynote speaker and trusted advisor to leaders, executives and business owners ready to expand their performance, influence and impact.

Her work focuses on what sits underneath performance: the identity, mindset, habits and unconscious patterns shaping how people lead, make decisions, communicate, sell and grow. Danni is known for seeing the pattern beneath the problem, helping high performers identify what is really getting in the way and make the shifts required to lead and operate at their next level.

With more than 27 years in business, Danni combines real-world commercial experience with leadership coaching, neuroscience-informed tools and a deep understanding of human behaviour. She helps her clients strengthen their self-leadership, make better decisions, increase their presence and influence, and build businesses and careers capable of supporting the level of success they want to create.

Her work has supported leaders across mining, health, education, government and major Australian organisations, as well as ambitious founders and entrepreneurs navigating growth, visibility and greater responsibility.

In 2026, Danni was named National Coach of the Year and received two International Business Awards, recognising a body of work centred on helping people become more effective leaders of themselves, their businesses and the people around them.

Her philosophy is simple:

Who you become determines what you build.

Connect with Danni:

Danni's website: https://www.dannivee.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danniveecoach/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/danniveecoach

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danni-vee/

The Identity Project is hosted by Olivia Muir — curious conversations about who we are beyond our work. Follow the show so you don't miss an episode, and if this one resonated, leave a review or send Olivia a message at https://theidentityprojectwitholivia.com/

"I did all the things, but I don't feel how you told me I was going to feel."

Alison Rice had the job, the title, the access, the travel — everything she'd been told to want — and she left it to pursue something that, at the time, had no shape but a podcast.

We talk about what it was like when the industry invites stopped arriving, the version of herself she had to let go of, why clarity arrives in the action rather than before it, and what happens when you finally get the seat at the table and realise it was never built to hold you.

Alison Rice is a 10x award-winning leader, speaker, host, mentor and the founder of Get Offline — established in 2018.

Get Offline is a world of mentorship and community for women reimagining success and building richer, deeper, more sovereign lives offline in the age of algorithms and artificial intelligence.

Prior to Get Offline, Alison held editing and publishing roles at The Walkley Foundation For Excellence in Journalism, ACP Magazines and Allure Media.

She led the award-winning localisation and launch of Who What Wear into the Australian market and led POPSUGAR to become one of the country's most-read women's lifestyle websites. Alison has been featured on B&T's Women In Media Power List twice, and is the recipient of some of the Australian publishing industry's most coveted awards including Publish Executive of the Year, Launch of the Year and Website of the Year.

Connect with Alison on Substack: https://offlinewithalisonrice.substack.com/

And her website: https://getoffline.co/

Or check out her 'paused' accounts at:

Alison's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alisonlarsenrice/

Get Offline on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getoffline.co/

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The Identity Project is hosted by Olivia Muir — curious conversations about who we are beyond our work. Follow the show so you don't miss an episode, and if this one resonated, leave a review or send Olivia a message at https://theidentityprojectwitholivia.com/

In this conversation, Jacqui shares the moment she knew the Miss Bliss chapter was done, the trip to southern Italy where she realised she was becoming someone new, and how she thinks about grief, belonging, and doing life off the expected timeline. Plus why her next season is deliberately uncomfortable.

Jacqui Toumbas is a Brisbane-based founder and host who has built her life around a slower, more deliberate version of success, one measured in good food, real connection and time well spent rather than hustle.

She hosts intimate small-group culinary retreats through Savour the Slow, taking women through Southern Italy to travel solo but not alone. She shares The Flavour Journal on Substack, gathers strangers around long tables at her Dinner with Strangers events, and shares food, travel and slow-living stories with her community online.

Before all of this, she built and sold a wholefoods café, Miss Bliss, and today she also mentors other women building service businesses through Business Banquet. Across everything she does, the throughline is the same: a belief that success should feel like a life you actually want to be living.

Connect with Jacqui:

Jacqui's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jacquitoumbas/

Jacqui's Website: https://www.jacquitoumbas.com/

Savour the Slow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/savourtheslowretreats/

Business Banquet on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/businessbanquet_/

The Identity Project is hosted by Olivia Muir — curious conversations about who we are beyond our work. Follow the show so you don't miss an episode, and if this one resonated, leave a review or send Olivia a message at https://theidentityprojectwitholivia.com/

You can also follow along on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theidentityprojectwitholivia/

What happens when your job becomes your whole identity?

Chanel Clark knows the question well. She's lived the version where work took over completely, and she's honest about the season she's in right now.

We talk about the pressure of everyone else's timeline, goalposts that never stop moving, delusional optimism as a strategy, and what it takes to show up as yourself on a platform built for masks.

Chanel Clark is the founder of The Marketing Club, Australasia's fastest-growing marketing communities, connecting over 17,000+ marketers and counting across Australia and New Zealand.

She specialises in community-led growth, building engaged ecosystems that drive real connection, opportunity, and commercial impact. Through events, content, and education, Chanel has grown TMC with zero ad spend into a highly active network spanning multiple cities. She now helps brands and founders build communities as a growth strategy—focusing on connection over transactions and long-term brand equity over short-term wins.

Connect with Chanel:

Chanel’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chanel-clark/

Chanel’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themarketingchanel

Chanel’s Website: https://www.chanelclarkmarketing.com

The Marketing Club: https://www.themarketingclub.org/

The Marketing Club on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themarketingclub_aunz/

The Marketing Club on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-marketing-club-au-nz/

The Identity Project is hosted by Olivia Muir — curious conversations about who we are beyond our work. Follow the show so you don't miss an episode, and if this one resonated, leave a review or send Olivia a message at https://theidentityprojectwitholivia.com/

Who did you have to become to get here—and what did you have to leave behind?

The Identity Project is a series of curious, honest conversations about identity and who we are beyond our titles, labels, and work.

Host Olivia Muir sits down with guests to talk about the becoming, the unbecoming, and what versions of themselves they've had to leave behind along the way.

The first episodes drop Tuesday 11 August 2026. Follow the show so they find you when they land.

theidentityprojectwitholivia.com| @theidentityprojectwitholivia