WHAT I'VE LEARNT

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Dr. Ginni Mansberg is a well-known celebrity doctor in Australia. She is a Sydney GP on TV with Embarrassing Bodies Down Under (Channel 9), Sunrise & Morning Show (Channel7), Things You Can't Talk About on TV.

Her latest book The New Teen Age, How to support our teens to become happy and healthy adults is full of gems tips, and insights to help parents of teenagers to navigate the trials and tribulations that can often arise.

Why are today's parents feeling like failures, worried that their teens will 'go off the rails', won't get through school, won't find a job or will be overwhelmed by stress? With so many experts out there offering conflicting advice, how do parents know where to turn and who to trust?

Ginni has also had her own challenges and risen to reclaim regroup and recalibrate because she's somebody who seems to be very resourceful.

Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/

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Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330

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Christina Hobbs is a woman with purpose. She’s worked as a humanitarian and financial inclusion expert for the United Nations for over a decade, in conflict-affected regions such as Syria and Iraq. She’s also a former Deloitte Management Consultant and experienced board member in the superannuation industry.

Verve Super is Australia’s first ethical superannuation fund specifically designed by women, for women, and it’s a welcome disruptor in the industry.

Since superannuation was introduced in the early 90s, successive national governments have made little progress on retirement equality for women: Australian women today are still retiring with roughly 40% less super than their male counterparts. On top of that, women over 55 years of age are the fastest-growing group experiencing homelessness.

“There’s no security, without economic security. There’s no space to pursue dreams, no ability to live safely and independently, and no opportunity to achieve potential. Women face significant structural challenges in building financial security over their lifetime, and that’s why it’s so important that we support each other and fight for fairer economic policies. But to me, economic equality is about so much more than security alone, it’s more than equal pay and bank balances.”

Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/

Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330

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Holly Ransom is a globally renowned content curator, powerful speaker with the belief that if you walk past it, you tell the world it’s okay. 

Named one of Australia’s 100 Most Influential Women by the Australian Financial Review, she has delivered a Peace Charter to the Dalai Lama, was Sir Richard Branson’s nominee for Wired Magazine’s ‘Smart List’ of Future Game Changers to watch, and was awarded the US Embassy’s Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Leadership Excellence in 2019. 

Having interviewed the likes of Barack Obama, Malcolm Gladwell, Richard Branson, Billie Jean-King, Condoleezza Rice, Nobel Prize Winner Muhammad Yunus and the world’s first humanoid robot Sophia, 

Holly fights complexity with curiosity, apathy with empowerment, and fear with fact. As a Fulbright scholar and Harvard Kennedy School Class of ’21 fellow, Holly is a recipient of the prestigious Anne Wexler Public Policy Scholarship, allowing her to action social and economic inclusion by connecting people with the decisions that affect their lives. 

Holly’s new book, The Leading Edge, helps people harness their own potential to lead by asking better questions, thinking beyond biased answers, and building collective momentum for change. In The Leading Edge, Holly brings the real-world leadership lessons of so many diverse thinkers and pioneers she’s met to the fore.

So we share a similar value the love of lessons learnt and how listening to others can inform our own journey.

Loved interviewing this talented gem.

Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/

Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330

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Evan Thornley is an entrepreneur in technology and the non-profit sector as well as a former parliamentarian for the Australian Labor Party. 

He seems on a deep-seated search for improving his community with his fingers in many pies, many of which thrive some of which have stalled but all with a mission to change the world.

A visionary? A futurist? A believer? A utopian? A progressive? What motivates this entrepreneur, politician and philanthropist to do good, to do better and to improve his world?

Thornley co-founded and led the online search company LookSmart, then listed it on the NASDAQ, where it delivered huge profits to venture-capital investors and made him millions. Some of which he reinvested in new ideas.

Thornley believes electric cars are destined to become ubiquitous, and with this in mind became the Global CEO of Better Place, an electric car charge network start-up. The company is no longer, but Thornley remains a fervent believer in the technology.

As the instigator of the GoodStart Consortium, Thornley was instrumental in the establishment of Australia’s largest social enterprise following the purchase of the “ABC Learning” chain of childcare centers.

He was a founding director and funder of GetUp!, Australia’s premier online activist network, which now has a 650,000-strong membership

Elected to the Parliament of Victoria in 2006, he served as Parliamentary Secretary assisting the Premier on the National Reform Agenda and Innovation.

Thornley is now Chair of the center-left “Think Tank Per Capita, “ whose research interests include long-term economic reform, climate change, population policy, energy, and neuroscience.

Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/

Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330

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Australian-owned and operated BOOB ARMOUR is designed to protect breasts and prevent injury in women and girls playing impact and hardball sports, including Australian rules football, netball, basketball, rugby soccer, hockey and cricket.

Suzie Betts, BOOB ARMOUR’S Founder and Director, said: “There’s plenty of research and evidence showing that impact to the breast can result in deep bruising and the formation of hard lumps in the breast tissue. Too many of us are unaware of the problem and underestimate the occurrence of breast injuries.”

BOOB ARMOUR is committed to protecting females in contact sports and giving them the confidence to play at their best without fear of breast injury during a game or training.

Specialist Breast Cancer surgeon, Dr Chantel Thornton, said: “Trauma to the breast tissue can cause dead fat necrosis, which can lead to lumps in the breast. This can be mistaken for breast cancer, and as a result, a biopsy might be required.

BOOB ARMOUR consists of inserts made from soft but strong polyethylene just two millimetres thick. They extend around the underarm for added protection, stabilise the breasts into position, and can be easily inserted in a sports bra.

Breast cancer specialist Dr Thornton added: “Trauma to the breast should be avoided, and protection in sport is recommended. Trauma can also lead to chronic musculoskeletal and breast pain. But the pain in the breast is uncommonly associated with breast cancer. Less than 10 per cent of all breast cancers present with breast pain.”

BOOB ARMOUR, which is officially licenced by the AFL/AFLW, was launched in 2020 with one overriding ambition: to give more women and girls the confidence to play impact sports while protecting their breasts from injury.

All-Australian AFLW premiership defender Libby Birch has called for women and girls who play contact sport to think about protecting their most important assets: their breasts.

The Melbourne AFLW star and qualified physiotherapist is an advocate for wearing breast protection while playing contact sport.

“It’s like the modern mouthguard for females,” Birch said. “We wear helmets and shinguards, but what about protecting the most important part of your body?

“Since becoming a physio, I am more aware of the impact on breasts during contact sports. We chest-mark the ball, we get bumped, kicked and shoved during play, but wearing chest protection gives me the confidence to know my breasts are being protected from injury and impact, today and into the future.”

Birch, who was also a top-level netball and hockey player, has been wearing BOOB ARMOUR inserts for the past two years of her AFLW career.

“I have had numerous knocks and I’m taking more notice of looking after my breasts. But I have found real insecurity even at the elite level when it comes to talking about this kind of thing. It has never really been talked about before and women find it embarrassing, but it’s our biology and we have to look after it.”

She said: “When you’re playing sport at any level there is always a lot of physical contact. Whether it is an elbow, shoulder or a ball, breast injury is uncomfortable. It hurts and can cause trauma to your breast tissue.

“I really want to help educate the Australian sporting bodies, coaching and sporting staff, as well as parents, on the importance of breast protection for young girls. Protecting your breasts when playing a contact sport is something that isn’t talked about enough.

“Athletes at all levels need to understand the importance of protecting body parts from a young age, and I want to encourage and give confidence to young girls to protect their breasts from impact and injury when training and playing.”

Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/

Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330

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Actor, comedian, philanthropist, and racing car driver -  just some of Eric Bana’s passions. What a life force he is! 

Whatever he does he embraces with enthusiasm and dedication. A true powerhouse that has seen him recognized globally as a major talent to be reckoned with.

After a decade of roles in Australian TV shows and films, Bana gained Hollywood's attention for his performance in the war film Black Hawk Down and as the title character in the Hulk. He then played Hector in the war epic Troy and took a leading role in Steven Spielberg's historical thriller Munich. In 2009, he made a comeback as the villain Nero in the science fiction Star Trek, which was a critical and commercial success. Bana continued to work steadily in the 2000s, portraying Lieutenant commander Erik S. Kristensen in Lone Survivor.

In 2018, Bana played the convincing title role in the true-crime miniseries, Dirty John based on a true story of betrayal. 

An accomplished dramatic actor and comedian, Bana is the recipient of several Australian Film Institute awards. In addition to acting, Bana is a motor racing enthusiast and has participated in various racing competitions in Australia. 

A gem to interview. Enjoy this Special Edition of the WhatIveLearntPodcast 

Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/

Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330

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Hunter Johnson is the Founder & CEO of The Man Cave, a charity that has impacted the lives of 20,000 young men across Australia. 

He also leads STUFF™, a purpose-driven personal care brand for the next generation of men. 

Hunter is an Advisor to The Queen’s Commonwealth Trust a charity championing young people throughout the Commonwealth alongside Prince Harry, the President of QCT. 

Hunter's work has led him to speak around the world including presenting at the United Nations, Government House, Human Rights Commission, and Sydney Opera House just to name a few.

He has been recognized as a Finalist for the 2020 Young Australian of the Year Awards and listed as one of Harper's Bazaar's "Visionary Men for 2019", 

Also named a Queen's Young Leader by Her Majesty The Queen, and the Winner of the EY Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

Men at risk of becoming socially isolated following the global pandemic will now be able to access new ways of receiving support for their mental health, thanks to Hunter’s work with Movember. 

The Man Cave is now supported with funding over the next two years through Movember’s Social Connections Challenge. The SCC aims at identifying strategies that will strengthen the social connections of men who are struggling with isolation and poor mental health, particularly in the wake of COVID-19 lockdowns.

Results of a study commissioned by Movember in May 2020 found that nearly a quarter of men globally (23 percent) reported their mental health had worsened in the first six weeks of the pandemic.

So this funding is also helping Hunter develop the Man Cave TV featuring funny, educational, and dynamic video content on topics such as sex, death, wellbeing, and relationships.

Hunter is passionate about making a social change having seen Jp the impacts of mental illness, depression, and domestic violence in his own teen years. 

“I saw a lot of guys who we really cared about experiencing years of anxiety and depression and unfortunately suicide – but no one talking about it. And so we thought if we could just create a space where young me could open up, start to develop some language, and have the permission to be a bit more intimate and vulnerable and make that cool and normal, then the world would be a much better place.”

So, in 2014 The Man Cave was created with their first-ever workshop kicking off at Frankston High School and since then, the program has gone from strength to strength - also receiving international recognition – when the Royal Family flies you over to accept the Queen’s Young Leader Award, it’s a good sign you’re on the right track!

The Man Cave concept is to send relatable charismatic male facilitators into high schools who create a safe space for young men to “take off the mask they wear every day.” The workshops are designed to make the boys realize that some of the challenges they face are widely shared by their peers, they’re not alone, and then give them the practical and emotional tools to navigate through this part of their life.

Their team of facilitators has been hand-picked to connect with the boys at a level that engenders trust and engagement.  Hunter describes his facilitators as wide-ranging; 

“…from your classic Melbourne hipster to a salt-of-the-earth country bloke to an indigenous Australia to a former refugee, a former child soldier. The idea is that our boys that we work with see a piece of themselves in the role models coming into their schools.”

The program creates a safe place amongst the boys to discuss how they see the societal rules of being a man in comparison to their own version of masculinity.

Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/

Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330

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On a late October afternoon in 1985, Susan Berg joined her parents and her 16-year-old brother on a family boat trip in Victoria’s Western Port Bay.

It was the family’s second time out in the newly purchased boat. A relaxing afternoon on the water.

But within mere hours of entering the bay, Susan Berg’s life would change forever.

As the sun started to set, the family began to head back to the shore to return to their car and trailer. Within minutes Susan’s brother, Bill, noticed that water was quickly filling the boat.

Soon the family was desperately clinging to the hull of the boat in the chilly water.

Tragically her brother father and mother died trying to swim to safety. Susan survived.

“I blamed myself for Mum and Dad and Bill’s death. I was the person driving the boat at the time that it sank. The fact that I lived and they died, it just felt like it was all my fault,” she recalled.

“A few weeks after the accident, we were getting lots of letters from people who had heard about the accident in the newspaper. I got a letter, which said: ‘You f***ing b*tch, your brother went to help your parents and you left them dead, you wh*re.’ And I guess that, for me, cemented the guilt.”

But after years of trauma, survivor guilt and becoming a mother to her beautiful son Susan has found a deep resilience, hope and now helps others to heal and recover and using her own lessons learned she supports, inspires and thrives.

A real turning point was her determination to swim the English Channel having never been back in the water prior she was determined to use the challenging endeavor to tackle her own demons. A survivor and an inspiration.

Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/

Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330

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When Shelley Reys was a little girl, she watched her father win ‘the race that stops a nation’. Frank Reys became the only Aboriginal jockey to win the Melbourne Cup in 1973, aged 45.

One of fourteen children, he was born to a Filipino father and a mother of Aboriginal descent - something he never denied - but the newspaper front pages the day after his win omitted his Indigenous heritage.

“He was always, in my mind, one of those role models who helped me feel as though I could do anything, regardless of what odds were against me, because he certainly achieved a lot with all the odds against him," Shelley reflects.

When you put the term ‘Aboriginal’, ‘Indigenous’, ‘First Nations’ or ‘reconciliation’ - any of those words, on top of something - good-natured [non-Indigenous] Australians start to get a bit nervous,” she says.

"They're afraid of saying the wrong thing, doing the wrong thing, making a mistake or sounding racist, they just start to walk on eggshells."

"The way that I describe my work is: ‘I remove the eggshells’."

Australian Reconciliation Week marks an important milestone in our Australian history.

It is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

These dates commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey— the successful 1967 referendum, and the High Court Mabo decision respectively.

Reconciliation must live in the hearts, minds and actions of all Australians as we move forward, creating a nation strengthened by respectful relationships between the wider Australian community, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Drivers of change like the first indigenous Partner at KPMG Australia Shelley Reys are key to educating engaging and inspiring the generations to come.

The Australian Financial Review named Shelley Reys in their “100 Women of Influence” and she was awarded the Order of Australia (AO) for “distinguished service to the Indigenous community, to reconciliation and social inclusion, and as an advocate for improved educational, health and employment opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people”. 

Shelley is an Indigenous woman of the Djiribul people and a respected Indigenous specialist and strategist.

While she works with all sectors of the community, she is best known for her work with corporate Australia in helping them achieve their inclusivity goals. 

Shelley has spent her career trying to bridge the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Today she counts Microsoft, Qantas and Telstra as clients.

She is known for her work with the national apology to the ‘stolen generations’ and the broader national reconciliation movement, both of which she played an important role.

Shelley is Managing Director of a successful private consulting firm operating since 1994 Arrilla which works collaboratively with the government, private and community sectors to enable mutual change and sound partnerships. 

Arrilla is Indigenous owned and managed to help ensure outcomes are sensitive, as well as practical.

Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/

Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330

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 Ok, like who didn’t have or want a pair of those flattering dark denim Bettina Liano jeans .., they were the most coveted jeans in the 90s, and then there was iconic Bettina, with her red lips and Italian style whose clothes graced the runways, clubs, and cafes of our fashion-driven cities for years ... and then she sort of vanished .. more on that later ...

But now she’s back with a vengeance. It’s a hard road to tread, but fashion is her passion, so she’s here back in the heartland of Melbourne's historical retail homeland Chapel St Sth Yarra. 

The Melbourne designer’s eponymous denim label – known for skinny-leg, low-rise jeans – shot to cult status in the ’90s, before several turbulent years forced it into liquidation in 2011. 

The Sydney-based fashion conglomerate The Apparel Group bought the business in 2012, which ultimately led to Liano’s exit from the label. Reflecting she says,

“I wasn’t expecting to be cut out of the equation,” says Liano. “I would have settled for a small percentage [of ownership], or even a job.” 

She claims Her trademarks were not adequately protected, and She lost the rights to the Bettina Liano name. “What I’ve had to endure is every creative person’s nightmare – there is someone running around with my name.”

And what a name Liano is - associated with the quintessential Italian fashion family and also made famous by her sister Housewives of Melbourne’s Gina Liano - the fashionista barrister turned media star.

But for Bettina an icon in her own right, being back in her hometown with familiar faces and loyal customers, she’s excited and the designer who has dressed some of Australia’s most celebrated bums in the best fitting jeans in the business is hopeful - yes times have changed and denim is everywhere,  made for every shape and size a feature of almost every range .. but right now Bettina is back .. and she and we are ready.

Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/

Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3TQjCspxcrSi4yw2YugxBk

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