Kintsugi Heroes: Uncovering our Hidden Value

Raised in Brisbane, Filipe’s parents immigrated to Australia from Portugal, driven by the allure of "Skippy the Bush Kangaroo," grounding his understanding of belonging and community from an early age. Filipe’s family, especially his mother, supported him through his dyslexia, teaching him resilience and fostering his self-confidence despite academic challenges. At 17, a formative trip to Cambodia...

Born in the UK in 1952, Bob's early life was tough. He was premature, had a volatile relationship with his mother and was often bullied at school, he shares these formative experiences. He began as an engineering apprentice but found his true calling in music. Bob played music on boats during pub nights, entertaining the passengers. Moving to Australia in 1989 Bob's music career flourished. Quitti...

Gina McClement has a story of resilience and her dedication to healing and helping others. She grew up in a structured, education-centric environment, which fostered critical thinking, but as a child, she experienced a high conflict separation between her parents. Despite a privileged education, Gina grew up with undiagnosed ADHD not receiving a diagnosis until her early forties. Her early challen...

After retiring from rugby, Wes Bending purchased a farm in Bunya in 2006, fulfilling his father's dying wish to retire in the countryside. His father, terminally ill with cancer, passed away the day after the purchase. This period marked the beginning of Wes's journey into farming and a rural lifestyle. In memory of his brother who committed suicide in 2012, Wes and his brother Rob created the Cro...

Wayne's early years were filled with rugby union and league, providing him companionship and a mental outlet. Despite personal struggles with depression, sports helped him cope. From a young age, Wayne faced debilitating depression, navigating periods of despair unseen by others. Misdiagnosis and inadequate treatment marked his early experiences with mental health systems but did not define him. T...

Born in Sri Lanka with limited career options, Jetha's perfectionist tendencies and cultural isolation triggered mental health challenges early on. His parents' courageous move to Australia provided new opportunities but also difficulties adapting. Jetha battled obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety in silence for years, with the conditions significantly impacting his life. He felt shame about...

Glenys Reid is the CEO of the Chatty Cafe Foundation in Australia, an initiative focused on addressing loneliness and social isolation through facilitating conversations in coffee shops and cafes. Glenys has a background marked by resilience, shaped by her family's experience, particularly her father's time as a prisoner of war. Her family's attitude towards life and survival has significantly inf...

Alan's personal experience with homelessness and mental health challenges, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, informs his empathetic approach to peer support work. He transitioned from a career as a financial advisor to a peer worker position in suicide prevention, where he co-designs and implements vital services to support those in crisis. Alan is an inspiring community advocate and lead...

Tracie Eaton is an Internationally-renowned & award winning Australian artist with an artistic career spanning over 17 years. Tracie’s studio is located on the Gold Coast, QLD, Australia. Her personal experiences with burnout propelled Tracie to transition from corporate to creative pursuits, emphasizing the importance of listening to one’s inner needs and embracing purposeful change. With a b...

Jas describes her experiences with domestic violence as a young teen, which included she and her mother running through the bush to seek safety and then spending 9 months in a safe house. Jas's experiences with her father’s emotional abuse, led to self-esteem and body image struggles, highlighting the deep impact of non-physical forms of abuse. She lost her abusive Dad to suicide at 18 but was abl...

Stacey suffered from childhood trauma due to parental divorce and remarriages. This caused instability, hyper vigilance, and long-term emotional impacts on her self-esteem and behaviours. Her parents divorced and each remarried within a few months so her life changed rapidly.  She explains once that trauma responses like Fight, flight, freeze, and appease are understood, it is possible to hav...

Chris Edwards is a father of a son who died by suicide in 2021. He has a history of suicide ideation, brought about by domestic violence and abuse in his early life.  His experiences and events like these, drive him to share his story, with the hope that the stigma surrounding mental health and suicide can be minimised, if not diminished. Chris's childhood in a violent home profoundly affecte...

Helen Ryan's story starts with her describing how she overcame her shocking childhood in Norway and early adult life challenges. She shares her traumatic childhood with an alcoholic mother and facing sexual abuse while detailing her mother's risky behaviour. She recounts living a nomadic lifestyle after working in the district attorney's office during the night stalker murders, fostering her fearl...

Mathew Townsend is a neurodiverse social entrepreneur based in Brisbane. Growing up with disabilities he faced discrimination and prejudice finding his pathways into career and passions. Being socially isolated he often had anxiety and depression, causing him to feel low and uncharacteristic. He wasn't confident to speak up about himself to help people to understand his disabilities, and how to co...

Mike Armstrong is an award-winning contemporary artist, author and veteran of the Australian Army for 23 years. He served in East Timor, Afghanistan, Iraq and was part of the Tactical assault Group East. He did his Master of Arts while deployed in Iraq, and now works in a variety of media from his art studio in Canberra. Mike has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Ballarat, Master of Arts i...

Neil Morley opens up about his incredible journey from a challenging upbringing to finding success and fulfillment in Australia. His story is a powerful reminder of resilience, the importance of mentorship, and following your heart. Biography I was born in Liverpool UK and raised by my grandmother who had 11 children. She raised me as number 12. My mother has always had mental health issues and st...

Dan Grey grew up on the Northern Beaches of Sydney and loves to surf. He had a loving and nurturing childhood with strong familial relationships and connections to nature. He was academically challenged due to ADHD, which required extra support in school and medication during high school that significantly improved his grades. He studied public health and community services, reflecting his interes...

Jason’ s mother gave birth to him at a very young age of 15. Because of this he grew up in a challenging, lower socioeconomic environment with difficult family dynamics. Jason also experienced sexual abuse by a family member, which led to long-lasting effects such as PTSD and flashbacks. These factors, along with his grandfather’s mental health struggles, contributed to the traumas that affected h...

Narelle has a severe vision impairment that means she uses a guide dog to get around. She only started to lose my sight about 16 years ago and has lived with only seeing shapes for the last two years. She is an advocate for digital accessibility in Australia and work to let people know about the benefits of ensuring that everyone can access the information, understand the information and make info...

Paul has had an amazing business career in marketing some of the world's largest consumer brands including McDonalds, Burger King and Snickers. He has had lot of fun in growing large and small organisations even setting up his own business to launch into Australia an amazing soft drink brand from Scotland called Irn-Bru. While his life has been filled with the ups and downs of life, the real crunc...

Justin has had a lifelong battle with Crohn's disease, a crippling bowel condition. His courageous story is about the consequences of that disease, both physically, emotionally, and psychologically, of chronic illness, including the medical interventions and the setbacks around that. Justin believes he had got the disease because of his family dynamics as a child, where there was a stigma around g...

In December 2022, Dominic was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. Not only did this have a huge impact on him and his family, but it also clearly shook those around him, particularly his male peers, to whom he had always been a pillar of strength. His treatment is ongoing, and he does not yet see himself as a cancer ‘survivor’. He has used his living experience to give back through community engag...

Bradley Spillane is an advocate, a community volunteer and spokesperson. Through the men's mental health radio show on Radio Blue Mountains, he is a lodestone, a centre for people talking about something that wasn't fashionable when he started, which was men's mental health and men's health in general This episode is a brutally honest, in-depth conversation between two friends: our host John Milha...

Romina’s story begins with her being swept off her feet by an amazing man after a previous violent relationship. Their marriage developed into her feeling compelled to take part in webcam sex with her partner and other people. Naively she went along with it for eleven years, thinking it was what she had to do as a married woman even though her whole being said NO. Eventually, she fell in love with...

Amira's life has been defined by early adversity, including the loss of young family members to illness, accidents, and mental health issues. These experiences instilled in her a deep empathy and a drive to alleviate suffering.  Becoming a mother to a child with cerebral palsy at 20 further shaped her journey, fostering resilience and determination in navigating single parenthood. At 35, burd...