Life After I Left

Who are you when the “what you do” disappears and you’re left asking “who am I?” Gemma Anne Barnes spent fifteen years as a professional performer, from cruise ships to playing Merida at Hong Kong Disneyland, before she became a sought-after coach for performers in London. When she moved to Perth, Western Australia, the industry and identity she had built her whole life around didn’t come with her...

What if the “scatty” label you’ve carried your whole life was never a character flaw, but a processing difference no one had the words for? Karen Dennett is an education company founder turned business practice owner, a teacher of 20 years, and the creator of Hello Monday, a business community and skill-building program for women building micro-businesses alongside real life. Diagnosed with ADHD i...

Content warning: This episode discusses domestic and family violence. It also includes suicidal thoughts and a suicide note, postnatal depression, intrusive fears about harming a baby, and conflict over children after separation. Please take care when listening, or skip this episode if it feels triggering. Editor note: At the very end of this episode, you may hear the sound of a chirping bird in t...

What if the life that looks like success from the outside is the very thing making you sick? Marian Aranda Bravo is a business mentor and consultant who helps women entrepreneurs build sustainable businesses that support the lives they actually want to live. Originally from Spain, Marian built a career in luxury hospitality in the UK and, by 28, had ticked every box on her version of success. Then...

Content warning: This episode discusses domestic violence and narcissistic abuse, alcohol addiction, murder, grief and depression. Please take care when listening, or skip this episode if it feels triggering. What happens when you finally get sober, leave the relationship, and believe the hardest part is behind you, and then the police call looking for your son? Teri Busse is a retired paramedic a...

What would you do if you were made redundant at 28 weeks pregnant, in the middle of a pandemic? Sara Reyes is a VA business coach and the founder of Nook Collective, a co-working space on the Sunshine Coast designed for working parents. In 2020, after 14 years thriving as an EA and PA, Sara was made redundant while pregnant with her first child - and that same afternoon, she emailed her employer t...

What happens when ten women decide their stories are too important to stay silent? In this episode, I'm sharing something I've been dreaming about for a long time. We've officially chosen the authors for the very first Life After I Left anthology, and I'm finally announcing who they are. I also share why this book is only the beginning, and how we're taking these stories on the...

What happens when you lose your brother suddenly and, instead of falling apart, you become the one holding everyone else together? Shaye Gundry is a hairdresser, beauty therapist and mother of three who owns Blossom Hair and Beauty in the Sutherland Shire, Sydney. Ten years ago, at 29, right as she was planning her son's first birthday and her own 30th, Shaye lost her younger brother suddenly;...

What happens when the identity you built your whole career around no longer has anywhere to live? Nikki Foord is a mentor, speaker, and podcast host who spent two decades pushing herself to 110%; first in elite sport and clinical work, then in business; before three separate burnouts forced her to rebuild from the ground up. Along the way she battled years of dismissed and misdiagnosed endometrios...

What happens when the community you need doesn't exist yet? Do you wait for it, or do you build it yourself? Leslie Carvitto is an American-born photographer, podcast host, and self-described "Jill of all trades" who moved from the US to Melbourne on her husband's work sponsorship in 2018. With no plan, no network, she had no idea it would lead to permanent residency, a business...

I've told you about being psychic. Now let me tell you about being haunted. For years I've sensed things I can't fully explain: a spirit who attached herself to me during my last abusive relationship, gentle presences in a home that finally felt safe, and a man who has watched me sleep for as long as I can remember. I never felt scared of him. I just accepted he was there. But recently...

What if the reason you're playing small has nothing to do with readiness, and everything to do with a mindset you didn't even know you'd inherited? This week I'm joined by Christine Corcoran, mindset coach, bestselling author of Turn Imposter Syndrome into Your Superpower, and founder of the Unstoppable Women event. Christine shares the year she left Australia to chase bigger rooms...

Content warning: This episode contains my personal account of domestic violence, coercive control, narcissistic abuse, suicidal ideation, self-harm, and eating disorders. Please take care when listening, or skip this episode if it feels triggering. What if the story you were most afraid to tell out loud was the one that could save someone else's life? In today's solo episode, I'm doing...

Content warning: This episode discusses childhood physical abuse, narcissistic abuse, family estrangement, and trauma. Please take care when listening, or skip this episode if it feels triggering. What happens when the people who were supposed to protect you were the ones causing the most harm? And what does it take to finally say enough? Today I'm joined by Chris Wasko. Chris is a spiritual c...

What if the story you haven't told yet is the one that changes someone else's life? In today's solo episode, I'm announcing something that feels like the natural next chapter for everything Life After I Left has been building toward. And I want you to be part of it! The Life After I Left anthology is officially open for submissions from 1 August 2026. In this episode, I chat about:...

What if the fire that burned everything down was actually the moment that set you free? Today I'm joined by Veronika Whyte. Veronika is a registered child and family psychotherapist, play therapist, author, television host, and founder of Star Kids Therapy in Melbourne. After immigrating to Australia and rebuilding her career and qualifications from scratch, losing a decade of university studi...

What is your fear actually costing you? I'm flying solo this week, fresh off a spontaneous trip to Adelaide, including dinners alone, a winery tour with strangers, a festival packed with couples and groups while I stood there by myself. What started as a break from business overwhelm turned into something bigger: a real look at why so many of us can't be alone with our own thoughts, and wh...

Content warning: This episode discusses addiction, disordered eating, and past trauma including childhood abuse. Please take care when listening, or skip this episode if it feels triggering. What if addiction was never the problem, but the solution? Ella Hall is an embodied leadership mentor, transformational speaker, and the creator of the Platinum Method, a framework built from her own journey t...

What if everything you thought a badass looked like has been wrong this whole time, and you've actually been one all along? I'm taking you back to age eleven, a VHS tape of Grease, and a lifelong chase to figure out what "badass" actually means. After recently speaking at the Badass Women Networking at LOEV in Moorabbin, I sat down to dismantle this word for good because too many...

What if the lesson you most needed to learn wasn't about achieving more, but about finally allowing others to do life with you? This week on Life After I Left, I'm joined by Jess Mitchell, sales and leadership specialist, speaker, facilitator, and founder of Women Rise. Jess spent decades working in corporate sales and leadership, always achieving, always over-responsible, always moving fa...

What if the thing standing between you and the life you actually want isn't failure, but your fear of it? In this solo episode, I'm getting real about something that happened to me yesterday morning. A small mistake, a live stream, and the wrong backdrop, and what it taught me about the one fear that quietly runs the lives of so many women in business and in life. In this episode, I chat a...

What would you do if your child told you, "You're not the mum I remember"? Content warning: This conversation is confronting, emotional and, at times, difficult to hear. We discuss child sexual abuse, online exploitation, grooming, and the challenges families face when navigating these issues. Today I'm joined by Kristi McVee. Kristi is a former Detective Senior Constable, specia...

What if the thing you didn’t get was actually redirecting you toward something even more aligned? In today’s solo episode, I’m reflecting on something I genuinely didn’t expect to feel grateful for: not being selected for a recent TEDx opportunity. For years, standing on a TEDx stage felt like the pinnacle. The dream. The thing that would finally prove I’d “made it” as a speaker. But after attendi...

How do you rebuild your life when you’ve been conditioned to believe you can’t survive on your own? Today I’m joined by Sally Jayne Eastland. Sally moved to Spain with her husband of almost 20 years in 2020, believing they were starting a new chapter together. But while living in the mountains of Almería, she began experiencing what she describes as divine signs and synchronicities that forced her...

Note: There are brief mentions of domestic violence and suicide. Please take care when listening or skip this episode if this feels triggering. What happens when you stop abandoning yourself and start trusting what you already know? Today I’m joined by Danikah Rose. Danikah is a lifelong psychic and light language channel with over 17 years of experience in business management, sales, and marketin...