Get Off The Bench Podcast

People ask how I got into woodworking, but, it’s been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. My father is the kind of man who can do a bit of everything and knows a bit of everything (maybe a lot of some things, but I don’t want it to go to his head..). He was always working on something; a portable art gallery display for the local theatre, an elaborate plant stand for our orchard or a...

Michelle is the founder of Advancing Women, an enterprise providing research and advisory services on equality, inclusion and gender diversity. She is also the founder of women’s network Women Who Get It, co-founder of social enterprise CDW (Culturally Diverse Workforce) and Co-Host of A Career that Soars! Michelle is determined to contribute to achieving global gender equality in her life time, e...

Jessyca Mathews received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan-Flint in English, with a minor in history, with a Specialization in Secondary Education. She received her Masters in the Art of Teaching from Marygrove College. Along with these degrees, Jessyca attended Michigan State University and is a member of the Red Cedar Writing Project. Ms. Mathews is a language arts teacher at...

Katrina-Jane is a down to earth, ‘out of the box’ clairvoyant medium, multiple times award winning author, inspirational speaker, teacher and thought leader - who is dedicated to guiding people on your soul journey. Her specialities include death and dying, clairvoyant readings, support for sensitive children and empowering women with the steps to help find their purpose and live their dreams. Kat...

Chris Hollyfield started out as a Pro Wrestler but his big break came when he was invited to join the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment), bursting into the arena as Little Boogeyman. He is also a radio and TV personality, appearing in 3 independent movies - ‘WWF SmackDown!’ (1999), ‘Hell Date’ (2007), and Festival (2011). Chris has also appeared on talk shows including Maury, Sally Jessy Raphael,...

Rachel is a bold woman who constantly pushes the limits of her own boundaries. As a solo world traveller over the last 10 years, Rachel has learnt through direct experience to communicate vulnerably, lean into the discomfort of fear, follow the innate guidance within and step into her leadership. “It wasn’t a decision to be a mentor, it was part of my becoming.” Whilst living in Spain in 2013, Rac...

Growing up dyslexic and dysgraphic, Hugo is a self-taught entrepreneur, but with a particular focus on finding solutions for challenges that come with dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyspraxia. Hugo turned his own childhood challenges into a massive positive by creating efficient tools, specifically apps, that can be used for early detection of learning disabilities. He had previously created an app Dysc...

Jemimah Ashleigh is a global authority on positioning, an international keynote speaker, MC and podcaster. Jemimah is an Australian set on world domination. After a decade long career in law enforcement, Jemimah now works exclusively as a positioning consultant and coach to reduce the alarming statistic that 97% of female owned start-up businesses fail within the first 5 years. Women are failing a...

Nicholas Domingo is certainly not your average superhero. Nicholas is a 29 year old entrepreneur, speaker, children's book writer and change maker obsessed with making strides towards creating a better tomorrow. He is currently the Co-Executive Director of the anti-bullying superhero non-profit, Captain Encouragement, an organization with the goal to cultivate the next generation of leaders. They...

Kate Austin is the founder of Australian Not-for-Profit, Pinchapoo. After living through many years of domestic violence, and eventually ending in a situation that almost cost her life, Kate decided that nobody should ever have to go through what she experienced. What started out as a sneaky movement to get people to pinch their hotel shampoo, has see Pinchapoo grow to become the biggest national...

Leah Mether helps people get out of their own way with the development of soft skills (which are really hard). She is a speaker, trainer, coach, facilitator and author of the book Soft is the New Hard: How to Communicate Effectively Under Pressure . With a background in leadership, corporate communications and journalism, Leah works with executives, leaders and employees across Australia to help t...

Personal Development Facilitator | Curator of Transformational Experiences| Leadership Training Expert | Purposeful Travel Advocate | CEO at Venture Within Escaping the rat-race, Christy found herself in Nicaragua, deep in the jungle (but still close to the beach), and through this found inner-peace that kickstarted a whole new adventure. Christy’s professional education expertise has afforded her...

From a young age, Kate had a passion for the oceans and this was only deepened when Kate moved to Melbourne in 2014 where she joined Sea Shepherd, an international, marine focussed environmental group with a mission to Defend, Conserve and Protect our oceans. Kate joined Sea Shepherd because she was passionate about preserving our planet and felt she could no longer be a bystander, anxious about t...

Matt Langdon has traveled the world teaching people how to be heroes. Through keynotes, workshops, and coaching, he helps people move from potential bystander to hero-in-waiting. He is as comfortable running an intimate day-long workshop for twenty global executives as he is addressing an audience of over 500 in a university, high school, or major event across the globe. He has interviewed on stag...

A colony of bees teaches us that we aren’t in this life alone, we have (if we want to!) an entire community around us that want to support and encourage us. Maybe this is the reason Caroline Hammond became a beekeeper. Moving to West Gippsland, Victoria from Brisbane about 8 years ago, Caroline sought to find a healthier lifestyle where she could be a valued part of her community. After being ther...

Want to meet a passionate man who never sleeps due to his enthusiasm for life and constant breaking down of barriers to make the world a better place? Then it’s hard to go past Footys4all’s Volunteer Founding Director Michael Gallus. ​ Michael was born in Fiji and came to Australia when he was 2. He is married to Amanda and father of three children Thomas, Lily and Benjamin. In addition to foundin...

Caitlin Grigsby shares her journey into taking a leap and starting her own HR business - Full Circle HR, as well founding the Gippsland Pride Initiative. Caitlin and her wife Meleah donated their house to Big Sky Sanctuary for animals and she shares how this was one of the best things they’ve ever done. Full Circle HR supports small to medium businesses, non profits and community groups with all t...

Welcome to the Get Off The Bench podcast! This first episode is an introduction to the podcast giving you some background information. The podcast is a follow up to the book ‘Get Off The Bench’ written by Kerryn Vaughan, and naturally Kerryn is the host. Primarily this podcast exists to showcase people who have backed themselves and are having a go, in the hope that others will be inspired to ‘get...