Challenges That Change Us

To try out our resilience course: https://www.challengesthatchangeus.com/surviving-2-thriving-course1 Trigger warning: domestic violence   This week we are joined by someone truly amazing. Taylah is an 18 year old psychology student, who on first glance looks just like everyone else, except in her first 18 years she has overcome bigger challenges than some of us may see in our entire lives. T...

To try out our resilience course: https://www.challengesthatchangeus.com/surviving-2-thriving-course1 Some challenges come out of the blue, but others often occur as part of a chain reaction. That is the case for this week’s guest John Weiman. John is an incredible survivor and also the owner of Life Bridge Coaching. John’s life changed dramatically when he discovered that his extended period of a...

To try out our resilience course: https://www.challengesthatchangeus.com/surviving-2-thriving-course1 When someone has a life altering medical challenge it can often be incredibly hard to come ot grips with. It can be even harder when the this medically challenging event contrasts your life with the physical, active one you had before hand. Bethany Wormald is a fun runner with a long list of achie...

To try out our resilience course: https://www.challengesthatchangeus.com/surviving-2-thriving-course1 This week we have a returning guest, Peter Holtmann of Holtmann Professional Services. In the past episode we spoke about making a big career change, but this time we are going to be delving far deeper into the self doubt that comes with that and the advice he has for others making the same move....

To try out our resilience course: https://www.challengesthatchangeus.com/surviving-2-thriving-course1 People throw out the term ‘burn out’ a lot these days but what does it actually mean and just how bad can it be? For some it’s a cognitive feeling and for others it can also manifest in physical symptoms. To help us talk about burnout today is Sophie Scott, a renowned international keynote speaker...

To try out our resilience course: https://www.challengesthatchangeus.com/surviving-2-thriving-course1 Trigger warning: domestic violence We have talked on this podcast before about abuse, but domestic violence between partners is something is simultaneously incredibly prevalent in society, whilst also barely understood. To help us shine a light on this we have the incredibly brave Jess Patz joinin...

This week we are very lucky to be joined by 3 times Tedx Speaker, Shilpa Kulshrestha. In the modern day a lot of us can fall into the trap of defining ourselves by our careers. But what happens when that is all taken away? Sometimes, despite maybe causing a little bit of panic, it shines a light on the habits we have developed and the ways we have been restricting ourselves and allows us to change...

TW: psychosis, drug abuse, suicidal thoughts We’ve had episodes with one challenge and we’ve had episodes with multiple, disconnected challenges. But this episode is truly a story of resilience and overcoming adversities that start from a young age and cascade into each other like a domino effect. Our guest is Jenn Henry, a multiple business owner, best selling author, award winning speaker and li...

Trigger warning: Anorexia, perfectionism, panic attacks   Body image disorders can occur for a number of reasons and can slip quietly and insidiously into our lives through a number of ways. One space that can often make it hard to identify the issue is the sport and fitness space. Afterall, there is never a straight black line that determines what is and isn’t too much. On this episode we’ll...

This week’s episode is a little different to most. Kevin Dupe is a man who has lived an incredibly full life, and because of that there are just so many challenges that he has overcome. On top of that, his experiences have given him some incredible lessons. So we’ll be hearing about a wide variety of challenges and learning a lot all in one episode! Kevin’s career began working for the Australian...

Trigger warning: This episode discusses premature birth, postpartum depression and anxiety For those who haven’t experienced it, premature birth may seem like a simple concept. The baby is born early. But for those who have gone through it, it can be a traumatic, all consuming event that can have long lasting effects on their mental health and the very way they function as a parent. In this episod...

Trigger warning: grief, miscarriage Grief has been a common theme on this podcast, but often it has been discussed as a side effect, or an addition to the main challenge. You might remember that we spoke to Imogen from the Good Mourning podcast in episode 61. In this episode I catch up with Sally Douglas, the second half of Good Mourning, about the loss of her mother and the long lasting impacts o...

A lot of people have at some point jokingly said “Oh that’s my OCD acting up” when it comes to being a bit specific about details and for a lot of us that is the extent of our experience with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. But for many this can be a debilitating and difficult mental health condition to live with. In today’s episode I have the honour of speaking with Simon Rinne. Simon is a qualifi...

Today we are talking to an incredible man who, together with his with Phoebe, went through the horrendous experience of losing their daughter Josie to Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG). Matt Dun is Professor of Paediatric Haematology/Oncology Research at the University of Newcastle and Deputy Director of the Precision Medicine Research Program at Hunter Medical Research Institute, Matt is cu...

Trigger warning: anxiety, imposter syndrome The term imposter syndrome gets used more and more commonly these days and many of us have probably experienced it at some point. But just how closely is it connected to anxiety? And just how devastating can its effects be? To share her personal experiences with anxiety and imposter syndrome we have Alison Shamir joining on us the podcast. Alison is an I...

Trigger warning: eating disorders and depression Eating disorders are a mental disorder that is gaining a lot more awareness, but there is still so much we do not know. That is why I am so honoured to have Hannah Campbell share her journey of recovering from Anorexia Nervosa in such a raw, detailed and personal way. Hannah is 32 years old and currently lives in the United Kingdom. She completed he...

Cancer is a topic that has come up a bit on Challenges That Change Us, but my good friend Col Secomb has an incredible story to share about not only overcoming a brain tumour the size of a plum, but also overcoming a challenge he describes as being even harder than going through brain surgery. Col was born, raised and educated on the east coast of Australia and moved to England in 2010 after...

Trigger warning – depression and suicide We have been honoured to have a few guests share their stories of mental health battles, this week’s episode is a truly detailed and immersive story of what it’s like to live with a parent who is battling depression. Meg Southcombe is currently the Where There’s A Will There’s A Way Ambassador and it is her story of coming to terms with her father’s depress...

Time is almost out to sign up for our Resilience course. To subscribe to the course, use this link: https://altitudefitnessarmidale.clickfunnels.com/from-surviving-2-thriving Trigger warning – difficult births Combining long term health issues like diabetes and birth complications is enough of a challenge for anyone to overcome, but Katie Godden has gone through it all. She has experienced the neg...

Resilience course To subscribe to our resilience course use this link: https://altitudefitnessarmidale.clickfunnels.com/from-surviving-2-thriving A lot of the challenges we discuss on this podcast are about overcoming something unexpected, or something you were not prepared for, but this week’s episode is a different kind of challenge. Extreme sports like Ultra Marathon running, or swimming every...

Trigger warning: This episode covers the details of a genocide and discusses murder, rape, assault, slavery and more. This episode I have the privilege to be speaking to someone truly courageous and incredible. Living in Australia and the rest of Western society, our understanding of what can happen oppressed minority groups in other countries can be hazy at best. So it goes without saying that ev...

For this episode we’re going to have a little change of pace with an expert to give us some amazing guidance and advice on positive education and the science of well being. Marnie Thomas is the head of positive education at Newcastle Grammar School and loves making wellbeing visible for her students, colleagues, and the wider school community. She has a Masters of Applied Positive Psychology, Univ...

Cancer is an enormous challenge that many of us, or our loved ones may encounter. But somehow a lot of us are still unaware of what is involved in the recovery journey. And for Australians, an alarming number of us are unaware of the journey with Melanoma in particular. In 2019 Jarrad Bolton’s life was changed forever when he was given a stage 4 Melanoma diagnosis. Since then he has gone through a...

This weeks episode is all about overing MS or Multiple sclerosis Lynda MacCallum grew up on her family’s sheep and cattle property in a little district called Timor, in the foothills of the Great Dividing Range in the Upper Hunter Valley of New South Wales. In 2018 she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and to many that would see an end to any career that requires hard physical work with animal...

For this episode we are examining a very different kind of challenge. The journey of launching and running a national charity at the age of 10. Jack Berne is the founder of the Jack’s Mate’s Foundation and the campaign A Fiver for a Farmer that he started when he was 10 years old. Since launching the campaign in 2018, more than $2 million dollars have been raised to help support farmers. Jack has...