When we speak about bravery, we often correlate it to standing our ground and doing what we need to do for ourselves. While this is a valuable component of bravery in many situations, we often forget that another huge part of being brave is speaking up and standing your ground for the sake of others rather than yourself.

Angela Vithoulkas is a first-generation Australian making big waves in business and politics with a unique viewpoint. Angela’s mother arrived in Australia at the young age of 15 years old with not so much as language on her side, yet she managed to build a successful business while raising her children. Angela and her brother ultimately followed in their parents’ footsteps and collaborated to build multiple businesses in the hospitality industry. 

Anglea went a step further to start a business in radio and television as well as jumping into the political scene head first where she is using her voice to speak on the injustices that she sees. The bravery to go for whatever she wants without the thought of barriers is inspiring and has provided her with the opportunity to achieve so much more than she thought she was capable of.

Much like any other type of bravery, we often don’t realize that it’s happening in the moment and it’s only something that we understand as bravery when looking back. Angela speaks to these moments of realizing that she was brave when she looks back at something and considers it to be one of the hardest things she’s ever done. But it’s the hard things and the scary things that teach you the biggest and most valuable lessons in life. 

Tune in to hear more about Angela’s story and how she’s making big brave moves on the business and political scene in Sydney! Everyone needs this dose of inspiration and I know you’ll love it.

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A huge component of being brave as a woman is using one of the most powerful tools that we have - our voices. For so long, the voices and opinions of women have been hushed and marginalized. The more we choose to speak out against injustices, the louder we become and the more we are heard. 

I spoke with Natasha Stott Despoja on The Very Brave Podcast this week and, if anyone knows what it’s like to speak up about injustice, it’s her. Natasha was the youngest woman to ever sit in federal parliament at the age of 26. She has held roles as a politician, senator, and political party leader.

She spends her time now as a diplomat, ambassador, and a nonexecutive director of multiple non for profit causes as well as a member of the UN Treaty Body Committee on elimination of the discrimination against women.

Natasha and I speak about what it means to be brave enough to speak out against the injustices we see, even if it’s not popular or the consequences may be unfavorable. By being the voice of women everywhere who may not have a voice for themselves, we can light the way for others to speak up and unify our voices to be heard. Together, we can make a better life for the women who come after us. 

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We talk a lot about imposter syndrome and how it can be difficult to overcome the voice inside your head that tells you that you either can’t accomplish something or that the things you have achieved aren’t significant. 

One of the reasons that Imposter Syndrome may be so deeply ingrained in our psyche may be due to the more widespread issue of Tall Poppy Syndrome. 

Tall Poppy Syndrome really gets under my skin because it shows a complete lack of empathy and understanding for others when we immediately turn to envy or jealousy as opposed to applause and celebration. This type of thinking not only causes women to make themselves smaller in the face of their successes, but it causes them to doubt that their success is even valid, to begin with.

You can’t compete with me if I want you to win too. There is room for all women to stand up and succeed and there is no reason why we can’t cheer each other on as opposed to tearing each other down.

By coming together and being brave enough to unify and support each other, we can set the tone for generations of women who come after us to continue to encourage one another. 

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Casting the opinions of others aside in the face of making brave decisions is something that we often speak about on The Very Brave Podcast. However, there is a different type of bravery that is required to quiet the voice in our heads so that we can listen to the voice that’s in our hearts. 

I spoke with Lisa Winston this week about the bravery of following your gut and listening to your intuition even when it may not make sense. Lisa is setting the stage for women everywhere to embrace their bravery and lean into their life’s true purpose. As a former vocalist, TV host, speaker, author, and mother, she is bravely encouraging others to listen to their intuition and follow their hearts to achieve the purpose they were meant for.

Having survived terrible trauma in many forms over the years, she became more aware of her intuition and embraced the bravery to make the decisions that were right for her. By honoring her feelings and staying true to herself, she has been able to really tune in to her life’s true purpose.

Listen into this week’s episode as we discuss the bravery it takes to listen to the voice inside above all others. When we are in tune with ourselves and the energy that guides us, there’s nothing that we can’t do! 

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Starting a business takes a fair amount of bravery, but it takes a special type of bravery to jump headfirst into business with your best friend. I had the opportunity to speak with Lise and Sarah of Those Two Girls this week and we got down to what it really takes to make brave moves in our careers as women in our middle years.

There is the unfair misconception that women in their 40s are meant to slow down and close up shop when it’s actually quite the opposite. We should embrace this decade and continue to thrive and achieve our dreams and goals.

One of the biggest factors in being happy with your decisions is shedding the weight of other people’s views and opinions. To achieve great things and go places you’d never thought you would go, the voice you need to listen to is the one in your heart and also the one of your very best friend.

Lise and Sarah speak about the many resources they’ve made available to women in their 40s about what to expect in this next season of life and how to navigate it with grace and ease. By sharing the connection they have as best friends with the world in the form of podcasts and books, they have opened the door for other women entering their 40s to feel more in tune with themselves and how they can continue to burn brightly for decades to come. 

This episode is dripping with life-changing advice and you won’t want to miss it. Tune in now to hear how you can flourish after 40!

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Moral bravery is one of the topics that we speak about most frequently on The Very Brave Podcast. Many of my interviews involve someone who saw something that requires speaking up about in order to change the lives of others. While it may not be the traditional definition of bravery as many understand it, it is bravery nonetheless.
This week, I spoke with Wendy McCarthy who is one of the trailblazers in Australia for standing firm for women’s rights and the social injustices that we face as women. As a mother, teacher, and author, Wendy has used her voice to speak boldly against the abortion laws that women face, and, thanks to her advocacy, the whole of Australia recognizes abortion as a health issue as opposed to a criminal offense. 
Wendy and I speak about her life and her experiences and what it means to speak up about the injustices that we see in our lives, even if they may not apply directly to you at that moment. By walking a path to change the horrible experiences we have faced for the women that come after us, we can begin to shake the pillars of our culture and bring about a new age. 

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As professionals, women tend to find their fair share of loneliness in many areas. Whether self-employed or at the top of our corporate career, we often put our noses to the grindstone and climb the rungs of the ladder until we reach the success we’ve been striving for. Once we’re there and we take a gander around, we realize that we’ve finally made it, we’re at the top – but we’re there alone. 

If the culture surrounding, not only corporate work environments but those coming from self-employed backgrounds, could shift to a culture that embraces collaboration – women could come together to achieve amazing things. 

On our way to the top, we may face the nasty experience of burnout. Whether it be career, motherhood, entrepreneurship, or some combination of the three, while we are busy climbing our way up, our cups are being drained.

I talked with Shannah Kennedy and Colleen Callander about ways to pour back into yourself while still staying the course to achieving amazing things in business and personal life. One of the big breakthroughs they speak of is collaboration with other female professionals and inclusivity in social circles meant for building other women up instead of tearing each other down.

I think we can all agree that the road we travel as women is already difficult enough. Why should we continue to make it harder for each other when we can come together and accomplish so much more? 

Tune in to this episode to learn the ways in which you can collaborate and encourage the great women in your life while keeping your tank full and steering clear of burnout. We rise by lifting others. 

Are you brave enough to rise to the challenge? Sign up today for our 365 Days of Brave and you will receive a daily brave message from Rachael Evans directly to your inbox, completely free of charge here. 

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Oftentimes, we forget that the success we realize in our businesses is only successful if we have our personal lives sorted. Our lives are busy and hectic and we can sometimes have difficulty drawing appropriate boundaries as women. It comes down to a handful of basic concepts that allow you to become the CEO of your own life. 

Finding space to fill your cup is key. By analyzing where your energy is going, you can find time to devote to yourself to give you the energy you need to give back to your children and your business. We cannot give what we do not have. 

Building a healthy relationship with money is another skill that you need to develop before you can make the CEO-type of decisions you need to be successful in your life. 

Being in control of your own life also means taking inventory of your relationships. If you are putting energy into relationships that aren’t serving you or giving back to you, it is time to let them go so that you can move forward to the best version of yourself. 

Listen in as I have a bit of a rave about what it looks like to be brave enough to take control of your life and put yourself first. 

Maybe it’s your turn to be the CEO of your life.  Are you brave enough to step up? Sign up today for our 365 Days of Brave and you will receive a daily brave message
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Lauren Lowrey is an Emmy-award-winning news anchor, podcaster, mom, wife, and all-around American girl. After spending her adult years shedding the skin of the religious upbringing she had, she realised that in order to fulfil her purpose she had to reconnect to her spirituality. 

Bravery for her has meant being willing to stand in her beliefs, even when they aren’t the most popular and en-vogue at the time. It has also meant being willing to admit that her worth goes way beyond the work she produces. 

In fact, a year ago she had this very strong urge to create a video podcast that allowed her to have deep, meaningful conversations with people about all kinds of topics. For most people, creating a video podcast wouldn’t be a problem, but for her it was. 

You see, as a news anchor, her image and likeness is somewhat controlled by her very strict on-camera talent contract. But instead of sticking to the status quo, she decided to act on what her instincts were telling her. 

Listen as she shares her story, why she was so passionate about starting her podcast, and what it meant to her that a man recognized her bravery before she did. Lauren is making waves in a world where toeing the line is a requirement and she’s truly showing what it means to be brave!

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“Bravery builds bravery. So when you do one brave act, when you take one step, you can almost always take the second one.”

We have had so many brave female voices grace the waves of this podcast and are excited to share so many more. This time it’s the voice of the one-of-a-kind Kathrine Switzer, a.k.a Marathon Woman. Kathrine was the very first woman to ever run a Boston Marathon and has since been working to empower women in sports. 

In 1966 Kathrine decided she wanted to run in a marathon. She trained for months before entering the 1967 Boston Marathon with her trainer Arnie, her boyfriend at the time Tom, and one other. She was the only woman running in the marathon and the first to ever wear a bib. 

What she didn’t expect was to be physically attacked by one of the people organising the event that year. Despite viewing herself as a strong, independent, and certainly capable woman, she found herself feeling true fear. 

Rather than quit, she continued to run and she finished the race. Because sometimes bravery means running away. 

Listen as Kathrine shares her story and what bravery means to her. She has spent a lifetime helping to define what it means to be a woman in sports and her insights are invaluable. Running brave indeed!

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