Becoming Badass

If you haven't heard of Matt 'Willy' Williams OAM then I suggest you jump onto Instagram right now and follow him on @willy.beating.cancer Willy is an Infantry Section Commander, Afghan Veteran, OAM Recipient and so much more. There are so many layers to Matt and I had the absolute honour of talking to him as we peeled those layers back. Willy is the most passionate person I've ever spoken to and...

Ash trained with TBG online for ages prior to enlisting and then heading off to Kapooka as an Army Reserve GSO. She has since decided that she's going to transfer to GE and pursue that path as a Reservist. Ash works as a Police Radio Operator for Vic Pol. She is the person that takes the 000 calls and distributes them to wherever they need to go. She's one of the raddest chicks I know and it's NOT...

Lacie originally enlisted into the Army but ended up in the Navy. She has some advice she wants every applicant to hear.  Think about what you can control prior to your enlistment. Lacie tells us why things came undone for her and how she realised when it was too late.  www.thebarracksgym.com.au

Belle joined the Navy 18 months ago as a Gap Year Sailor. Since then she has decided to commission as an Officer and is currently awaiting the next NEOC to start.  Belle and I recorded a podcast JUST before she enlisted. You can listen to that here   Belle is an exceptional young woman who I believe everyone should listen to. She goes after what she wants, she speaks up when she wants to be heard...

Emma and I became friends late last year when we were introduced by a mutual friend. My friend described her as a 'total badass that I think you'd get along with' and she wasn't wrong.  Emma has been in QPS for just shy of a decade. She's worked in Mt Isa, Railway squad and has worked in a specialised unit doing covert work. Her career has been extremely interesting.  Emma is an awesome chick. She...

I asked 30 previous TBG members to tell us what they wish they had of known prior to enlisting or appointing into the ADF.  They also tell us what they love about being in the Military.  This episode is a collection of all the things applicants will want to know prior to joining the Military.  THANK YOU to all the members who contributed to this episode. You are all incredible people and the knowl...

Mila has been in the Army for over a year. She was a previous TBG member and I interviewed her just before she enlisted. She's a single Mum and a master of time management.  You can listen to her original episode here Her expectation of Army life as a single parent was VERY different to how it actually happened. She's learnt a LOT along the way and wants to pass this info on to other parents.  She...

Bobbie has recently moved from Canberra to Brisbane. Her partner is in the ADF and she wants to join the Police. Her partner found TBG for her and suggested that she check us out.  She came to us in the first week that we opened up to train Police applicants! We happily welcomed her as our first Police applicant and she fit right into our TBG family from the minute she walked through the door!  Bo...

Carla is an Army Psychologist. She didn't go into the Army in this role. She originally enlisted as a Solider and went to Kapooka.  In this episode we talk about EVERYTHING.  I took so many notes and I was left speechless by so many things that Carla has to pass on to all applicants. We talked about the psychology around the PFA, what fitness level is expected for officers, deployments, uni and so...

Elsa recently moved up from Tasmania earlier this year to start a new life in Brisbane.  She's working her ass off to get herself ready for the ADF. She wants this BAD.  I finished this podcast feeling SO inspired and uplifted by this beautiful young women. She has so much passion and drive and she's backing herself the whole way.  You're going to WANT to listen to this entire episode. Recording i...

Koda is in Grade 12* and is applying to get into ADFA and go onto be a Helicopter Pilot in the Army. She's extremely driven and is a successful self motivator.  She's been through a lot in the past year with her family, her own personal life and with her application. She uses fitness as her 'mental break' from all the negative stuff that's happening around her. She also knows that by continuing to...

In this episode I just wanted to have a chat. I wanted to jump on and chat about this years ANZAC Day. Talk about what we got up to this morning and my thoughts on it all.  I then just kept chatting about all sorts of things that are going on in my world right now. Random stuff. My observations of the world right now, things I find funny and weird.  To be honest I just felt like I wanted to have a...

Hayley was due to enlist in March. She turned up on the day but then a medical condition was uncovered that prevented her from going ahead with her enlistment.  She was turned away and told to go home until the condition could be resolved.  She'd quit her job, packed up her house, everything was sorted. She never expected to go back home on that same day, she expected to fly to Sydney and prepare...

Kathy has been a TBG online member since mid 2019. She has a dream of joining the RAAF.  Her dream was almost taken from her when a series of really shitty events took her away from her training and her application earlier this year.  She's determined to get on with things and is pushing forward in the strongest possibly way. Her story will truly pull at your heart strings but will also motivate y...

Harper is a long time TBG member. She's an amazing human inside and out. She's currently in the Navy as an Officer and trains with TBG online. She was a member prior to joining as well.  This is the first remote podcast that we've recorded! Self isolation means that I can now reach more people through some cool software and it's bloody exciting.  Harper tells us about overcoming medical hurdles, a...

This whole situation with COVID-19 is madness.  If you're like me, you have a lot of thoughts and feelings about the whole thing. As you would know, all gyms were shut down a week ago which has forced everyone to move into workouts from home. Whilst this is not the end of the world it's also not ideal for a lot of us (Go on... you can say it... it sucks!) At TBG we've shifted everyone over to onli...

This is a different episode to most. Two TBG members came in to ask me a series of questions they had collected from other TBG members.  This episode is a bit chaotic and the sound will be a bit rough. There was a lot of us in the room but we had a lot of fun.  This is a long episode so you can treat it like a 4 part series and just do 30 mins at a time if need be!  Thank you to Aimee and Kandy fo...

Zoe is 47 years old and has a family. She is a mother to two sons and is about to head off to the RAAF.  She's ready.  Her family is ready.  Zoe sees this an an awesome opportunity to see out her final working chapter in a career where she can be a role model to her boys.  Her story is awesome.  If you'd like to come to Chick Chat on the 28th March please grab a ticket ASAP!  https://www.thebarrac...

Liz, Zorro, Loz & Ariel are all off to Kapooka this month. The had never met each other prior to TBG. However training together meant that they all know each other prior to enlisting and could all end up in the same platoon. They've become a tight little team of friends who have supported each other throughout the process. So what's it like to head off to Kapooka when you already know at least 3 p...

There are SO many of you out there that do shift work and we constantly hear how hard it is to train.  The truth is, we all have 24 hours in a day. It's all about how you utilise those 24 hours and what you want to get out of them.  In this episode we talk about how to prioritise your time and how to effectively manage your life so that you can get the most out of training when you work shift work...

Ainsley has had an interesting journey so far. She's literally just restarted her application after withdrawing it last year. She's starting fresh but she's cool with it.  She's a really chilled out person who just goes with the flow. I think we could all learn a lesson or two from her!  Check us out over at www.thebarracksgym.com.au Enjoy! 

There's a pretty big difference between motivation and discipline.  Once you understand the difference you can work out which one you need to rely on to get your training done. All notes from this episode can be found here- https://www.thebarracksgym.com.au/blog/motivation-vs-discipline-the-difference

Ariel is about to enlist into the Army. She's ready to go. Physically, Mentally and Logistically. She's offloading her furniture, her possessions and her plants and she's just keen to get into it now.  She's made sure she has chosen a job that interests her and she waited for the right moment to accept the job offer.  Learn more about this by listening to this episode.  Enjoy! 

Maggie recently completed Kapooka as an Army Reservist and is part way through her IET courses.  She previously recorded an episode with me before she went to Kapooka. You can listen to that here We thought that it would be cool to get together for an update chat because SO MUCH has changed for her since her last episode!  If you're an Army reservist who wants to continue working on their fitness,...

Felicity hasn't had the year she'd hoped for. She really wanted to join the RAAF but has had to put all of that on hold. She's got some really hectic stuff going on in her personal life that needs to come first.  In this episode we discuss having your dream career but still wanting to join Defence. Why family will always come first and how to go through life as a super positive person!!  If you'd...