Max's Island

Michala McMahon came to Australia from Manchester on a working holiday …and has stayed. Whilst Manchester is a big cosmopolitan city, it cannot compete with the weather and unique lifestyle of Australia. On her initial arrival in Bundaberg QLD, a chance exchange in the street with an engaging couple captivated her attention and was the start of a new life … down-under.

Bec Bowman is someone who is always on an adventure and looking for new challenges. This has seen her travel the world and follow dreams that have created memorable, life enriching experiences. But for the past few years she has been deeply ensconced in Perth WA, and has become totally immersed in the creative arts scene. By working casual “night shifts” as a nurse - her initial working profession...

As a 24 year old, Ryan Miller took the opportunity to follow his dream of becoming a TV broadcaster and journalist at Sky News in Sydney. He immediately hit the ground running and was soon thrust into a management role looking after a news team. As a traditional journalist, he was passionate about reporting the truth but it didn’t take long before editorial direction began to occur from above. Thi...

Chris Singleton has extensive experience in starting and operating many businesses. This long and successful career has been built on a real inclusive approach, with the adoption of some clear, effective principles. This is a great episode for budding entrepreneurs and business owners to learn how these principles can be adopted for success … even in challenging times … similar to those faced by C...

Eve continues to tell the story of caring for Rickie’s great aunt, Tatiana, and the challenges that this has posed in their lives. Recently, as Tatiana approaches 99 years of age, a traumatic visit to an emergency department at a London hospital has again influenced the plans and aspirations of Eve and Rickie. Their dreams of moving to France to live and begin a new stage in their professional car...

7 years ago, Eve Lameks and her husband Rickie, moved across the world on an adventure that was to see them based in London, growing their professional careers in the hustle and bustle of the construction industry and enjoying the convenience of taking frequent holiday jaunts to continental Europe. They were really planning to “live the life”. Soon after their arrival in London they were excited t...

Stuart Thomason left uni and jumped straight into being a social entrepreneur in the music business. The first few years were very successful, with the Sheffield based (UK) business employing a growing team and engaging with a wide range of contractors. But cashflow pressures and, in his words, the inevitable, desperate measures of throwing good money after bad forced him to close the business. Th...

Clare Goodridge spent two years locked-down in Perth WA during the pandemic whilst still coaching, teaching and consulting with individuals and corporations all around the world. This lonely life in the most isolated city in the southern hemisphere, generally meant all night work and sleeping during the day. There was little social life and she went weeks on end without "‘touching’ another human....

This episode is titled, “For a short time” – and we reflect on two stories from 2022 where a person entered the lives of each of our guests for just a short period yet made a momentous impact.

Every year on Max’s Island, we like to begin the year by reflecting on some of our interesting guests from 2022 and combine their stories into a mixed episode that has added meaning. These extended episodes are a great way for you to allow yourself the time to refresh your energy for the new year and be inspired by the experiences of others. In this first episode of two in the 2023 Starter Series,...

in economics. It has taken him to the policy and financial capitals of the world … including Canberra, London, New York and Sydney. In Canberra, he had a front row seat to the significant developments of the Australian financial markets in the 1980’s … especially during his time working with the then Australian Govt Treasurer, Paul Keating. He eventually left the safe confines of the Canberra bubb...

For SJC, 2016 was the year when she started a new job, went on a holiday to Bali and then faced the trauma of caring for her mother, as her health began to dramatically fail. Having worked away from her family in the US, for 22 years in Australia, SJC had to deal with her mental challenges after her mother’s passing in a new way. The mental scaring from being raised in a domestically violent envir...

USA Today Bestselling author Nicole Flockton writes contemporary romances that sparkle and seduce you one kiss at a time. Nicole likes nothing better than taking characters and creating unique situations where they fight for their true love. In this episode we learn about Nicole’s passionate approach to her craft and how over a long period of time … and with a great amount of hard work … she has e...

Emily Silva Hockstra believes everyone has the power to create the lives they dream of. During a holiday to Costa Rica she saw a handwritten flyer in a coffee shop for an “intuitive painting course” and immediately was taken on a process that changed her life. The woman teaching her ended the course by interpreting her paining and telling Emily that she needed to be Brave … and to go after what sh...

Craig founded a charity called Short Back and Sidewalks (SBSW) in early 2015. It’s a free hair-cutting and grooming service for members of the community who are experiencing homelessness and is currently governed and operated entirely by volunteers. The service goes beyond just giving free haircuts; they create meaningful connections through conversations with clients, and create visibility for so...

Previously, we learnt that Ryan took up “blind cricket” in his mid forties … after a successful career as a national Goalballer and a world champion sailor. On this episode, we’ll discover how he made his way to Queensland and into an international series against New Zealand … BUT, it wasn’t all plain sailing for Ryan. Illness nearly prevented him achieving the ultimate goal. Also, Ryan tells us w...

Returning to Max’s Island in this episode is the inspiring Ryan Honschooten. Well known and world regarded blind sailer, adventurer, mentor, motivator and general great guy. For someone who has achieved so much, then why would he choose to take up a new sport in his mid forties? Because that is just what he does … and it was no surprise that this new sporting endeavour has seen Ryan reach the pinn...

Sarah got the feeling of ”where she was meant to be” when she got the surprise offer of a book deal. The amazing process of writing the book happened in Copenhagen … another place where Sarah and her husband Chris just happened to travel too. The book took ten months to write and was finally publish in 2020 … just 2 years after she was first contacted by the publisher. The launch was in New York,...

Sarah Gregg thought she had it all. She was happily married, had the perfect career and was fulfilling the life she had planned for herself. But she was ANGRY. She had followed the rules … gone to school, worked hard on her education and got the good job everyone … including her … thought was going to satisfy her needs. However, she was still missing the reward of happiness and fulfilment. So, dur...

As an aspiring first class cricketer, Kris McShane made his way to Perth to hone his skill in different conditions during the English winter on three separate occasions. As a young man in his early 20’s, this was a chance to follow his passion, see the other side of the world and have a good time. He progressively embraced the Perth lifestyle on each visit and eventually had the opportunity to tak...

Kristel Tuul is a certified embodied performance coach. Her objective is to help ambitious women reach their goals by taking evidence-based approach to empowering women to perform and feel at their best by managing their energy, not time. She is passionate about tapping into women's unique biology and their feminine-masculine traits to help women effortlessly thrive in life. But this hasn’t always...

Simon White has been a successful journo in newspapers and online … for many years … all around Australia. He spent some of his journey in South Australia, working as the racing writer for the Adelaide Advertiser, and it was during his time there he got to meet … and become friends with, a particularly colourful horse racing identity. Following a suggestion from an editor at the paper and since it...

Dean Margetts played footy from the ‘under 7’s” until he was 21 years old. He then retired. After trying his hand at coaching an under 13’s team, and with two mates taking them to a grand final, he responded to an add in the local paper … to become an umpire. This began a speedy journey to the AFL, where he eventually umpired 376 games (after 110 league games in the WAFL), across a career spanning...

Defend our NDIS The NDIS provides necessary supports to more than half a million Australians with disability. It is something we are all proud of. Investing in a strong NDIS also has flow-on benefit to all Australians – in fact for every dollar spent on the NDIS, the scheme delivers $2.25 back into Australian communities. Despite all of these benefits for people with disability, the broader commun...

“How I found my voice” is the way Kim Landers describes her decision to leave a relationship, become free of expectations, use her life lessons and ultimately re-discover her passions. But to rebuild and find her purpose and meaning, this meant filling a small bag … with some borrowed clothes … and zero dollars (she took her dad’s credit card) and move to another state in Australia. As a kid, one...