The Modern Crone

Jane Caro is a prominent Australian social commentator, writer, feminist advocate, and media personality known for her fearless defence of gender equality and public education. She appears frequently as a media pundit on programs like Sunrise , Q&A , and The Drum , and co-hosts the Women With Clout podcast. Jane has published numerous books, including her memoir Plain Speaking Jane , the bests...

Jean  Balfour is a coach and teacher fascinated by what helps us feel happy and fulfilled at work. She has spent her entire career in people development, starting as a primary school teacher, moving into corporate leadership roles, and, for the last 25 years, coaching and leadership development. She is a Master Certified Coach, and until recently was training leaders to become executive coaches -...

Lisa Clifford grew up in Sydney. She moved to Italy when she was sixteen years old and returned to Australia after winning a scholarship to the Australian Film, Television and Radio School.  After a journalism career that includes reporting for 2GB, KIIS FM and Channel 10 News, Lisa served as an associate producer of the Channel 10 Late News. Throughout her career, she continued to travel to Italy...

Paula Orbea is a mother of two daughters with a strong drive to fight for balance and justice. She has been a high school Drama teacher for over 30 years, using the classroom to inspire students to critically reflect on their world.  Her biggest fight was against an Australian misogynistic van hire company called Wicked Campers; she eventually saw national legislation change occur after 5 years. ...

Hilary is a strategist and futures thinker who spent thirty years inside the corporate machine before trading the analytical for the artistic and alchemic. As she approached 50, she took an intuitive leap from the limiting box she had created for herself to better align her inner and outer worlds, explore the unknown, and reach her true potential.   Creator of the recent art exhibition ‘See: The I...

Sara Paz is a Chief Marketing Officer, known as a Chief Cheerleader, Chief Inspiration Officer, and Fun Crusader. She’s the Co-Founder of Crone Queen, a Board Member and a Charity Board Member.   Her favourite Quote: “If your life is your message, what will your message be?” Crone Queen, Sara Paz, Co-Founder of Crone Queen Sara has been described as a ‘force of nature’ – a source of inspirational...

As I wrap up Season 8 of The Modern Crone podcast, I realise that the stories of my incredible guests…have changed me!  Not only because of their courage, resilience and sheer willpower… Not only because of the powerful testaments their experiences give on the strength of the human spirit… Not only because they remind us that ‘hardship’ and ‘challenge’ are relative… But because they have expanded...

Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, Nicole Voltolina is compassionate, creative, always levelling up, living life with intention, with a big heart and a love for creating memorable moments. She is a successful small-business owner of a restaurant, a boutique, and a bar in the French Quarter. Her favourite thing in life is going on adventures. On February 10, 2019, Nicole was unknowingly exp...

Nina is a 31-year-old third-culture kid based in Singapore. Originally from Denmark, with a touch of German heritage, she grew up across Southeast Asia, mostly in Singapore. She left at 18 to study sustainable development at the University of Edinburgh and then went on to work for the United Nations in Geneva. In 2021, she returned to Singapore to join her family’s industrial group as the fourth g...

Bradley Montag is an interior designer based in Sydney, Australia.  Prior to finding his way into the creative world, Bradley spent more than a decade in trial and error through various studies at university, including architecture, psychology, and, finally, law.  After pursuing a career in corporate law, Bradley could no longer ignore the pain that it was causing him and turned inward to find som...

Juliet Stannard is British and spent her childhood living in the UK, Germany, Hong Kong and Canada as her father was in the British Military. She started work and moved to Singapore in 1993 with her then-husband, via a short stint in HK. Juliet has worked in the Singapore Real Estate Industry for 26 years, and is now one of the Directors and owners of Citiprop – a very well-established agency on t...

Amy Kelly is a life coach, mentor, and host of the Dream Big With Amy podcast, supporting women in coming home to themselves after heartbreak, burnout, and big life transitions. Her work is rooted in nervous system safety, self-trust, and embodied power, helping women move from survival mode into grounded, self-led lives. Through her coaching and programs, Amy guides women to release old patterns...

Wachuka, born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya, lives in a small mountain town, Nanyuki, where the slower rhythms of nature have become central to her personal healing and spiritual journey. Wachuka is the co-founder of Ikigai Nairobi, a nature and wellness-focused co-working company that creates inspiring spaces that reimagine work, community and wellbeing.  After contracting Covid in 2020 and develo...

Erika Behl is a coach based in Singapore.  Originally from the US, she lived in Africa and Europe before eventually settling in Asia for the past 18 years.   After spending almost two decades building a traditionally “successful” life, a breast cancer diagnosis in late 2017 catalysed a shift in her priorities.   A year’s-long sabbatical, several attempts at starting a business, and a divorce later...

Marilyn Choong is a Singapore-born author and seasoned marketer with a deep passion for storytelling. She began writing articles on gratitude, mindfulness, happiness, and resilience years ago, and her journey as an author deepened after a life-changing spiritual awakening following her mother’s passing, an experience that reshaped her understanding of grief and the enduring bonds beyond the physic...

David Ratner grew up on the edge of Chicago, USA. He has worked as an actor, taxi driver, copy editor, bookseller, waiter, house painter, a long-time high school teacher, and a writer. He has lived in Boston, Paris, San Francisco, Dublin, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. He's an avid traveller, a hiker, a baseball coach, a Scoutmaster, a pie maker, a scuba diver, and more. He's been a resident o...

Laila Malone is currently in Grade 11 in high school. She was born in Dubai and moved to Singapore when she was very young, and has been living here for 14 years. When Laila was 8 years old, she was diagnosed with Leukemia – a huge experience for anyone, let alone an 8-year-old. She is now well and excited about finishing school and broadening her studies in the UK. Along the way, she has accumula...

Lana Terigi is a mother, coach, and intuitive guide based in Nairobi, Kenya, who supports women and individuals through grief and helps young people develop confidence, self-awareness, and emotional resilience Lana’s journey into motherhood began with her first son, Luca, who passed away unexpectedly at 38 weeks, just before delivery. She held him once, and that moment profoundly reshaped her life...

Born in Faridabad, North India, Surabhi Ahuja has been on a profound spiritual journey for almost ten years. Her awakening began through the experience of hypnobirthing with her first born, which opened her awareness to the power of the mind–body connection and her own energetic depth.  Much of her evolution since then has unfolded through her physical body. Experiences such as an ectopic pregnanc...

Sascha is an entrepreneur, engineer, and science enthusiast. He holds a Ph. D. in Engineering from the National University of Singapore. With a broad interest in science, his career has been a symphony of innovation and interdisciplinary discovery.  In 2021 Sascha found himself at the lowest point he had ever been. It was a period of profound struggle, but amidst that darkness, he made a promise t...

Lucy Baldwin has spent her life exploring relationships, communication, and the human mind. With a background in Cognitive Science and a love for spiritual and philosophical exploration, she co-teaches online courses on magic and shadow work and creates in-person transformational experiences. Lucy is a mother of five, and she and her husband run a few different businesses together. Lucy believes m...

Bethan Christopher is a UK based illustrator known for her vibrant,  nature-inspired art. Her work draws on the botanical world, a lifelong  study of creative esotericism and her ancestral lineage of Norse and  Indian spirituality. She is the internationally published author of  Rebel Beauty For Teens, the women's body-love bible Grow Your Own  Gorgeousness and founder of Bopha School, a proj...

Angell Deer is an ordained minister, mystic, medicine man, teacher, permaculturist, beekeeper, and lover of all forms of life. He has dedicated his life to remembering, learning, and teaching ancient wisdom through the lineages of Andean Cosmology and Norse Shamanism. His passion is to weave words and stories, people and places, darkness and light, wounds and love, the ancient and the modern. Ange...

G is a Scottish witch, folk magic practitioner, and the voice behind @thatglasgowwitch on IG, where she shares wisdom on Scottish folk magic, creating your own Wheel of the Year, herbal traditions, and seasonal rituals.  With over 25 years of practice, she weaves ancient practices into modern life, helping others reconnect with nature’s cycles and the magic of everyday moments. A passionate advoca...

Laura Tempest Zakroff (she/they) is a professional artist, author, performer, and Modern Traditional Witch based in New England.  Laura is the author of several bestselling Llewellyn books including Weave the Liminal, Sigil Witchery, Visual Alchemy, and Anatomy of a Witch, as well as the artist and author of the Sigil Witchery Oracle , Anatomy of a Witch Oracle , The Liminal Spirits Oracle.   Laur...