44 years ago, Mark met his wife Christine while engaging in youth work in townships, prisons and various church groups. In 1988, after studying in the US, Mark and Christine founded a church and school in the town of Empangeni, Kwa Zulu Natal. In 1990, they moved to Durban starting Grace Family Church. Over 30 years Mark played a leadership role in bringing Grace to its current status which includes 5 campuses, a large staff compliment and a diverse congregation. 

Recently, after over 30 years of ministry, Mark has had to navigate retirement from his pastoral role. 

In this episode, Mark unpacks the four phases of retirement with us, which he does so while sharing his own story of navigating retirement in a vulnerable and authentic way.

There is much to learn from those who have gone before us, so wether you are approaching retirement or have a long way to go, I know that you will take a lot out of this insightful conversation with Mark.

Links:

The Four Phases of Retirement TED Talk.

Mark Van Straaten's You Tube Channel

Insights from Mark on money and retirement and three things he resisted when retiring. 

The Middle Podcast is hosted by Travis Gale, founder of The Middle.

Find out more about how The Middle can support you, your team or organisation to develop the grit and resilience needed to overcome challenges and achieve ambitious goals.

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In this episiode, we talk to professional South African mountain bike rider, Omphile Motaung. 

Omphile found out at an early age what it takes to navigate adversity. After losing her Dad at age 8, she then lost her mom to cancer at age 14, resulting in her entering into the foster home system. 

Omphile talks openly with us around what it took for her to break through her limitations, both self imposed and imposed by others. Her story reveals the way endurance events can teach us so much about who we are, and how mentorship is critical to release potential. Not only that, Omphile also shares with us her vision to see the next generation find themselves through the world of endurance, as well as her passion for making a difference in the lives of those affected by cancer. 

A truly inspiring and encouraging conversation with Omphile Motaung. 

The Middle Podcast is hosted by Travis Gale, founder of The Middle.

Find out more about how The Middle can support you, your team or organisation to develop the grit and resilience needed to overcome challenges and achieve ambitious goals.

Links:

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In this episode, we return to one of our previous guests, Madz Deysel, as we continue with a focus on mental health.  Our previous conversations with Madz got a lot of traction and feedback so it is a pleasure to have her back again!

In this conversation with Madz, we talk about the idea that if you can define it, you can defeat it. As Madz says, depression is something that starts with an unprocessed thought. So often, people are struggling but are unsure as to the cause of their struggle or it simply feels to complex. This may result in a never ending journey which leaves people feeling defeated. 

Madz unpacks  practically what it means to define it and how defining the cause supports our ability to deal with it and improve out mental health. 

The Middle Podcast is hosted by Travis Gale, founder of The Middle.

Find out more about how The Middle can support you, your team or organisation to develop the grit and resilience needed to overcome challenges and achieve ambitious goals.

Links:

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In this episode, we talk all things Cause Driven Endurance with Ingrid Avidon.

Last year Ingrid set herself a challenge to complete 12 endurance events every month of the year! We explore each of those in more detail and find our what Ingrid has learned through tackling these ambitious goals. We find out more about her passion; to diversity the endurance world by encouraging more woman to take part, as well as to create endurance opportunities for those who cant afford to take part in mainstream endurance events.

This was a powerful conversation around digging deep, overcoming limiting beliefs, dealing with fears and achieving ambitious goals.

Links:
Ingrid's Instagram
Ingrid's website

The Middle Podcast is hosted by Travis Gale, founder of The Middle.

Find out more about how The Middle can support you, your team or organisation to develop the grit and resilience needed to overcome challenges and achieve ambitious goals.

Links:

Website
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This episode is dedicated to all of those who are actively working to address needs within our society, but are struggling with the constant onslaught of challenges.  It’s tough to continuously wade against the tide, taking three steps forward and two steps back.

In this episode we speak to Raymond Perrier. Raymond is the Director of the Denis Hurley Centre, an interfaith community centre in the heart of Durban, South Africa, working with the the poor and marginalised. 

In this episode we ask Raymond how he has sustained his passion and commitment for his work despite the numerous challenges he has had to face each day. We talk through how he navigates The Middle of social justice and active citizenship. We explore how he keeps his perspective in a healthy place and how he has avoided burn out or the desire to give up. 

Keep Going!

The Middle Podcast is hosted by Travis Gale, founder of The Middle.

Find out more about how The Middle can support you, your team or organisation to develop the grit and resilience needed to overcome challenges and achieve ambitious goals.

Links:

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We continue our conversations around Mental Health in The Middle by unpacking functional depression with Dr Wendy Greyvensteyn. Wendy has a PHD in Clinical Psychology, runs her own private practice and is a sought out public speaker.

Many of us will identify with what it means to be functioning in our daily lives, achieving goals, being affirmed for what we do, portraying a picture of success yet having an inner world in turmoil. We may be experiencing a strong desire to withdraw or isolate, or be feeling restless and empty.

In this episode we unpack what functional depression is, who is at risk, what the symptoms are, what the consequences are and then what to do should you find yourself in that space. It’s an incredibly insightful and encouraging conversation and one that I feel is relevant for so many today.

Links:
 Shamar Clinic

The Middle Podcast is hosted by Travis Gale, founder of The Middle.

Find out more about how The Middle can support you, your team or organisation to develop the grit and resilience needed to overcome challenges and achieve ambitious goals.

Links:

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In this episode we talk to Travis Warwick Oliver, who has certainly turned tragedy into triumph. 

In 2020, Travis was involved in a motocross accident which resulted in the amputation of his right leg below the knee. Prior to the accident, Travis was a personal trainer and an avid ultra-marathon runner, swimmer and all-round thrill seeker. I (Travis Gale, founder of The Middle) met Travis 422 days after his amputation at the start line of Ultra Trail Drakensberg 100 miler trail race, where he managed an impressive 142km before he had to pull out due to issues with his stump. 

In this podcast we go back to the accident and hear what he went through in dealing with the tragedy. We chat through how he made his decision to amputate his leg and what he went through emotionally and mentally in the months leading up to his surgery. Then we hear about how he has turned that tragedy into triumph taking on some exceptional human endurance challenges, living life to the full and making an impact through his non profit – Rejuvenate SA. 

If you are dealing with some exceptionally tough circumstances right now, then this episode is for you. If you are passionate about trail running you will enjoy this to! 

Links:
Travis Instagram 
Rejuvenate SA 
Run Nation 
Iron Born Endurance 

The Middle Podcast is hosted by Travis Gale, founder of The Middle.

Find out more about how The Middle can support you, your team or organisation to develop the grit and resilience needed to overcome challenges and achieve ambitious goals.

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In this episode we unpack what do to when we FEEL STUCK. 

Feeling stuck comes with tough emotions such as regret, frustration and anger and could, if not dealt with, lead to depression, anxiety or burnout. In this episode, we unpack some practical insights which you can apply to your context if you feel stuck right now. We make some links back to previous episodes, especially our conversation with Madz Deyzel in episode 2.  This episode will leave you with some practical next steps and hopefully shift you into a healthier space. 

Keep going! 

The Middle Podcast is hosted by Travis Gale, founder of The Middle.

Find out more about how The Middle can support you, your team or organisation to develop the grit and resilience needed to overcome challenges and achieve ambitious goals.

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This is a start of a series of conversations around the topic of Mental Health. So many are navigating The Middle with limited capacity, feeling overwhelmed and seriously fatigued. When we are in that space we are tempted to check out, have no energy for relationships, feel anxious more often and battle to make decisions. We need to talk about it!

In this episode we begin out conversation with Madz Deyzel. Madz directs Edify - Building the Soul, an organisation which equips lay counsellors in many communities around South Africa, to deal with the demand for counselling today. Madz is well positioned to speak into what she is observing and of course, the skills and tools we all need to apply to navigate The Middle, maintain good mental health, and finish well.

Links referred to in this episode:
Made Whole Conference - https://qkt.io/OtYB6L
Edify - https://edify-buildingthesoul.com/

Backing track: Yrii Semchyshyn

The Middle Podcast is hosted by Travis Gale, founder of The Middle.

Find out more about how The Middle can support you, your team or organisation to develop the grit and resilience needed to overcome challenges and achieve ambitious goals.

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Mlondi's journey has been one of staying true to who he is, and what he is passionate about, despite adversity. Growing up in rural South Africa, the expectation was to do well at school and continue on to an 'accepted' profession; teacher, policemen or lawyer. Mlondi knew that was not his path. He thought creatively. He had a vivid imagination. And he found his authentic expression through dance. 

What does it take for a young man growing up in that context to stay true to his passions? What does it take to create a profession as a performing artist? What can we learn from someone who is now a mentor and a sought after advisor in his family and in his community? What does it take to keep going and reach ambitous goals?

There's no better way to find out than to join Travis Gale as he explores The Middle with Mlondi Ndlovu.

Watch this episode on YouTube.

Find out more about how The Middle can support you, your team or organisation to develop the grit and resilience needed to overcome challenges and achieve ambitious goals.

Contact us on the following channels:

Website | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube

The Middle Podcast is hosted by Travis Gale, founder of The Middle.

Find out more about how The Middle can support you, your team or organisation to develop the grit and resilience needed to overcome challenges and achieve ambitious goals.

Links:

Website
facebook
instagram
youtube