Big Little Small Talk

Megan speaks with Charlie Rowe, CEO of the Aboriginal Legal Service Queensland, about the Strong Fathers, Strong Families program he developed. The discussion covers the importance of education around domestic violence, the impact of intergenerational trauma, and the program's success in preventing recidivism among participants.

In this episode, Megan interviews Janice Holstein, a celebrant with a rich background in local government and farming. Janice shares her childhood experiences on a dairy farm, her transition into a celebrant role, and the impact of community events like the 2011 floods.

Katrina Marsh is a family counsellor and author of You Are My Whole World, Did You Know That? — a book written for grown-ups, with an important message about seeing the world through a child’s eyes. Katrina explores how children’s behaviour is often a way of communicating big feelings they don’t yet know how to manage. She offers parents and caregivers gentle, practical guidance on building emotio...

Tim Hair is a Paramedic and Enrolled Nurse. He spent many years in the Australian Defence Force where he learnt to practice what’s known as “austere medicine”. Essentially, it is medical care delivered in resource-constrained, remote, or hostile environments. Tim currently works for LifeFlight’s First Minutes Matter program; teaching communities practical skills to respond to emergencies — because...

Today on Big Little Small Talk , I’m talking to Pauline Rogers from Pauline’s Quilting World — a woman who has turned a love of fabric, creativity and quilting into something much bigger than making beautiful quilts. Pauline’s story is about creativity, community and the joy of sharing a skill with others. We chat about where her quilting journey began, what keeps her inspired, and the people and...

Adi Francis is an Australian journalist, broadcaster, and TV news anchor for the ABC. She was appointed an ambassador for Dementia Australia in 2026. Adi shares her personal experience as a carer for her mother who has dementia. Mark Cartner is the founder and director of Walkabout Training, an indigenous-owned business that offers bespoke outdoor education programs for youth at risk Wendy Hick li...

Graham S. Green, much like his namesake is an author. However, Graham is much more; he is also a cultural advocate and TESOL (Teaching English to Other Languages) teacher. Asia is a long way from the central west of NSW where Graham grew up on a farm. After his first degree at university in Canberra, he found himself in Taiwan teaching English to adults and children…. and so began his love for oth...

Alecia Staines grew up on a farm at The Gums 200 kms west of Toowoomba. She knew that pregnancy and birth was a normal part of the life cycle, it didn’t need to be hard. As a mother of 6 children Alecia felt that birthing was becoming the forgotten feminist issue and decided in 2021 to create the Maternity Consumer Network (MCN). It would be a network that provided support for maternity services,...

Karen Makkai didn’t start her working life teaching meditation, in fact she studied to be a speech pathologist. In 2020 Karen was plunged into the world of breast cancer - she was diagnosed with an aggressive lobular carcinoma. What followed was the usual chaos of cancer; mastectomy, chemotherapy, radiation, hormone therapy. To try and still her mind, manage her stress, her mood and to fill in the...

Jade Hubbard is a young woman, wise beyond her years. When the opportunity came up to play rugby union in the UK, she was mature enough to seize the opportunity. Despite the fact she had to make the agonising decision to leave her young son and partner behind in Australia, she knew had to go. Jade revelled in the experience and came back with life changing memories. She continues to coach girls ru...

How AI describes Marty Hollis: Marty Hollis brings the skies to Saint Mary's halls, Where aerospace dreams take flight within the walls. With passion for flight and the mechanics of space, He guides every student at their own steady pace. Inspiring young minds to reach for the stars, From the physics of wings to the mysteries of Mars. Not bad!

Paddy Long is a true creative, and he’s lucky enough to make a living from his talents. He is one half of Rare Squid Creative; a digital marketing agency, based in Toowoomba. After a rocky start to his working career, Paddy decided to study a Bachelor of Visual Arts at UniSQ. He thought he wanted to be a surrealist painter but his world expanded from there. From art assignments that involved a min...

No matter what topic Heather Smith starts speaking about, it mostly ends up being about gardening. She loves her garden, other people’s gardens, public gardens and gardeners too of course. That is how she came to meet and lose a dear friend. Today Heather shares with Megan the tragic story of her friend whose life was taken by her intimate partner in a terrifying act of domestic violence. Heather...

In 2023 Phil Loxley was diagnosed with prostate cancer. While he accepts that Antigen Deprivation Therapy (ADT) is a necessary part of the treatment, he wishes he could have been better prepared for the side effects. Phil felt completely blindsided by the mental and physical challenges ADT presented to him; hot flushes, lethargy, breast swelling, increased risk of cardiovascular disease, erectile...

Jane Smith is an author, librarian/archivist and editor with a love of history. Her latest book “One Free Woman” tells the compelling true story of Hannah Rigby. Hannah was the only female convict to stay in Moreton Bay when the penal settlement closed – a woman who notoriously served three separate sentences of transportation, including two at one of the harshest establishments in the country. Ja...

Brendan Keal is a content creator. In his beautiful and unique way he reviews all things Toowoomba. From restaurants, pubs, shit parks, public transport to the cheapest basket of essential groceries….. it’s all vlogged with dead pan humour. Brendan explains to Megan that young people don’t trust the news or governments any longer and that content on social media is taken much more seriously as a b...

Dr Barb Ryan is the founder of “Cicada Research and Communication” a company that specialises in how communities prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural hazards. Barb’s PHD thesis explored the concept of where people seek information in a natural disaster. She talks about the notion of informational and disinformation and the prominence of social media as a modern (and not always reliabl...

Dave Wallis started his working life as a carpenter but after his son was born profoundly deaf, his life took a completely different turn. When Dave realised that only about 10% of parents with a deaf child learn sign language, he went about bucking the trend. Dave not only learnt Auslan, he started interpretting professionally. In 2015 Dave started his own NDIS business which expanded rapidly and...

Peter Castles wanted to be a saddler from the time he was a boy in short pants riding his pony to school. When he couldn’t get his hands on the tools he needed to be a sadde maker, he decided to became a blacksmith. He had a talent and passion for both. These trades are in peril of being lost to history due to mass manufacturing and lack of time. Peter does his best to spread the word about the va...

Uma Kumar is a local GP who focuses on the holistic care of her patients. To this end she volunteers with the Heartfulness Institute - an organisation that offers meditation practices and lifestyle tips. Each week, Uma takes at least two free classes to guide people to search for a happy and purposeful life by taking care of their mental and physical well-being. Uma is also the chair of Toowoomba’...

Chris Meyer is a Christian Cowboy. With a degree in theology and a history of rodeo bronc riding, he managed to combine his two passions; horses and Jesus. Chris was appointed the first official Chaplain of the National Rodeo Association of Australia, a job he did for 25 years. He conducted funerals, married people on the circuit, even baptised baby cowboys and girls. A thoroughly delightful inter...

Gunter Glaser is a snake catcher. He even wears a shirt with the inscription “Keep Calm - Let Gunter handle it”. Gunter tells Megan some incredible stories of close encounters with reptiles. One story involved Gunter being called out to collect a snake which turned out to be the neighbour’s pet. Another of snakes eating the family pets (think guinea pigs and chickens). A delightful interview with...

Trish Mullins is passionate about her work as the coordinator of the Kath Dickson Community Toy Library and Mobile Library. She drives a van, kitted out with over 1600 toys, on a 1500km round trip to bring joy to western Queensland families. Trish was born and raised in the bucolic Norfolk (UK) countryside, the daughter of a Vicar and a Bishop’s daughter. At 8 her family moved to Zululand in South...

Louis Gilshenan is one of Toowoomba’s much loved and hard working veterinarians. He’s been guilty of calling people by their pet names but there’s nothing he loves more than having a genuine friendship with their owners. Louis’ enthusiasm for his work is infectious and he tells Megan stories that made her think long and hard about the role of the local vet in our community. A delightful interview…...

Helen Cowley has written a book “Behind Every Great Tradie is a Woman Rolling her Eyes”. She describes it as a love letter to the women holding businesses together behind the scenes. Helen tells Megan how she balanced babies, business and board meetings. It was at times, all consuming and she often felt she was feeling lost and burnt out. Pink hair and lots of laughter seem to be part of the reaso...