Get Off The Bench Podcast

Nicky Williams is the co-founder of Girls With Hammers. From a young age, Nicky loved writing and dreamed of a life as an author. Throughout her years in corporate work, Nicky penned endless persuasive ministerial papers, but these fell short of giving her life meaning. In 2019 she put her fears aside and blessed the world with her empathy-filled blogs. While the majority of her work is published...

Katie Dawson is the co-founder of Cottage Garden Threads, a boutique business nestled in the quiet hills of country Victoria, Australia. Mother-Daughter duo Pam and Katie along with their passionate team of local women, design, create and produce unique, hand dyed products one-by-one.  The journey began many years ago when Pam dyed fabric in the family home. Katie, as a child, was given the j...

Carmel Murphy is the ‘Communication Queen’ and is known for being an out-of-the-box thinker and an expert in human behaviour, marketing, and business strategies. She wholeheartedly knows that in Marketing it is vital to get the ‘Right message, to the right person, at the right time’.  Her passion for people, curiosity, know-how, business acumen and background have come together to develop uni...

Thomas Sartor is an international speaker, partner/event director for the Hero Round Table series of conferences, and the Vice President of the Heroic Imagination Project. Formerly an owner of an asphalt and concrete paving company in Detroit, Thomas was unable to work in this industry for a while due to a back injury, which is when his journey took an unexpected turn into the world of heroism. Af...

Lisa Schermerhorn is a transformational leader, award winning speaker and expert in the fields of human behavior, leadership and personal development.   She also trained in the “Winners Mindset” with Bob Reese, the former head trainer for the NY Jets and helped a professional golfer win Golfer of the Year!  As a Certified Hypnotherapist and Master Practitioner of Neuro Linguistic Pr...

Sarah began her working life as a mergers and acquisitions lawyer at a leading international law firm. While she enjoyed several years building strong professional foundations, she found it increasingly challenging to reconcile the all-consuming corporate lifestyle with her personal passions for health, wellbeing, creativity and adventure.  In pursuit of balance, Sarah and her partner started...

Mandy Horvath, is a bi-lateral above knee amputee, who in 2018, became the first female double amputee to ascend the Manitou Incline, raising awareness for limb loss. One month later, crawled all 13 miles of Barr Trail to the summit of Pikes Peak, using only her arms, to raise funds for Operation Ward 57 & The Battle Buddy Foundation . These historic events garnished local, national and intern...

Belle Chapman is a photographer, mum, wife, adventurer, and storyteller.  When Belle had her first child in 2013, she decided to give up the 9-5 and try her hand as a work from home photographer, after falling in love with photography many years before at high school. At the age of 5, Belle lost her father to cancer - he was only 36 years old. Losing her Dad and growing up in the days where w...

Katie Underwood is a certified Meditation Teacher &  registered Member of Meditation Association Australia. She has also trained in Remedial & Relaxation Massage, Reiki, Sound Healing Therapy, Yoga of Sound & Traditional Tibetan Sound Healing.  A multi-instrumentalist, Vocalist, ARIA-nominated and APRA Award winning Recording Artist.  She ha...

Sophie Wilksch is the founder and director of  Shedding Community Workshop Inc . Sophie established Shedding as a not-for-profit organisation in 2018, through her own passion for carpentry and building… But most of all a passion for people and wellbeing! Shedding’s aim is to provide a unique, supportive and hands-on environment for all members of the community to come together and develop sus...

Cody Byrns is an award-winning speaker and performer with over 16 years of professional experience.  Cody’s life underwent a major shift in 2013 after a horrific traffic accident left his body burned and scarred.  After years of countless surgeries, and innumerable physical and emotional hurdles, Cody has since founded his own nonprofit Burn Foundation, and is on a mission to spread his...

Dani Holloway is the CEO & Founder of Merry People .  Merry People is a gumboot company that Dani founded in 2014 and has bootstrapped the business (literally) to where it is today.   Born and raised in Leongatha, South Gippsland, Dani moved to Melbourne for University and work. Seeking a city appropriate gumboot and unable to find any she loved - Dani decided to have a go at cr...

Yolunda Elam aka Yo, has taught in public schools for over twenty years, is an inspirational speaker with an infectious smile and contagious energy, and known for her compassionate spirit, ambitious mind, and being unapologetically herself.   Yolunda currently teaches Spanish to eighth graders in her local school district.  She has held multiple titles in her twenty-year tenure including...

Danielle McAlpine Johnson is a Writer, Director, Producer, devoted to using film & TV as a catalyst for change in the social justice landscape. With an innate desire to see the next generation rise up in their own identity, Danielle believes that every human being on the planet has a unique purpose and that relentless love & passion we can overflow in our lives if we choose...

Victoria Lioznyansky teaches introverted entrepreneurs and business professionals how to overcome their fear of public speaking and become confident, compelling, captivating speakers. After moving to the US from Russia more than 25 years ago with limited English, Victoria overcame her own crippling fear of public speaking to build several businesses, teach in a variety of industries, and speak in...

Patti Dobrowolski is a nationally acclaimed comic performer, high performance business consultant, and 4-time TEDx speaker.  She is also the author of two books:   9 Tips to Up Your Creative Genius Drawing Solutions: How Visual Goal Setting Will Change Your Life Patti works with teams at all levels to up their creative genius and capture their vision and strategy into huge, beautiful vis...

Monika Krimendahl & Rick Hayhurst, are the co-founders of BlitzBe, a Digital Media Company helping Entrepreneurs make the world better by creating currency through traffic and connections. BlitzBe, the umbrella brand, is simply the experience we’re all having each and everyday.    The Blitz: hurrying, racing, deadlines, etc.  and the Be: rest, balance, breath, centering.&nb...

Jane Sahhar started as a Secondary school English teacher, who noticed how many teenagers wore headphones as the ultimate accessory. Her move to co-founding ‘Friendie’ with her husband Phil, came after a realisation that 2 children and just 1 iPad is not great math! It all started with an audio splitter so the kids could connect two headphones to one iPad and share music and movies on the go. Afte...

Tommy Walker is a Mindset, Business and Life Coach, and better known as ‘The Mind Engineer’.  He started his entrepreneurial journey more than 21 years ago, and has endured many struggles, but the past 10 years has seen Tommy’s success transform as a result of studying and working on the mind. He has created 2 successful businesses, focusing mainly on the mindset and has reached more than 120...

Aisha Alim is an empowerment coach, speaker, consultant, mentor, facilitator and now a published author.  Born in country Victoria, Aisha was raised in a domestically violent home, experiencing multiple forms of abuse and leading to a life of anxiety and severe depression. Aisha has also endured more than 40 surgeries. A mother, former primary school teacher, Aisha became trained in life coac...

Victoria Reeves is a Writer, Storyteller, Producer and the Host of SOUL STORIES LIVE .  Victoria loves to channel her parents and other wild characters into her stories, and is well known for her stage appearances at Soul Stories Live, This Much is True, Inspired Live Lit, and Louder than a Mom.  Her one woman show “ BRASSY + INTREPID: Fighting to Be Me ” was selected for Lifeline Theatr...

Hacia Atherton is Speaker, Company Director, Certified Practicing Accountant, Ambassador, Industry Thought Leader and Philanthropist.  In 2017, Hacia was crushed by her 600kg warmblood horse and doctors told her she would likely never walk again in any meaningful way.  Devastated by her new reality, Hacia fell into a deep depression. However, her fighting spirit revived itself, as she fa...

Lee Hicks is a Human Development & Lifestyle Educator, Visionary & International Speaker.  Against many odds, Lee has accomplished extraordinary mile stones & achievements in his life.  He has visited 49 countries around the world, was a pearl diver, delivered a sailboat from Australia to Florida, became one of the youngest qualified Super Yacht Captains in the industry &...

Brodie Pyle is a young comedian who is on a mission to showcase his beloved Gippsland.  His passion to support local business led to the creation of Gippsland Promotions, which provides free Gippsland social media content. The purpose of Gippsland Promotions is to rally around the community and make people laugh whilst getting valuable exposure for local businesses. Brodie believes Gippsland...

After 15 years in law, Jenn bought a retail business in a regional town in Victoria. She built that business into a highly profitable 7 figure business and eventually sold it. Since then, Jen has been assisting other small business owners in retail, service based and tourism, around the country, to achieve their business goals. Jenn specialises in helping start-ups in rural and regional areas turn...