Pebble in the Pond

After moving with her family to Australia at age 11, Shivani completed her engineering degree then her MBS to pursue a career in leadership. Shivani then experienced a life changing trek to Nepal, came home and quit her corporate job and quit her relationship.    Now, over the last 21 years of running her own business', Shivani has presented to over a quarter of a million people across 18 coun...

Today we chat with Fiona McCallum, General Manager, MacKillop Seasons and Keeva Mostyn, Seasons for Life Lead.  MacKillop Seasons evidence-based programs build knowledge and capacity of professionals to provide safe space for children, young people and adults to learn knowledge, skills and attitudes to understand and respond to experience of change, loss and grief. Today we chat with Keeva and Fio...

A former Young Australian of the Year, Sarah’s twenty years as a nurse and humanitarian have taken her around the globe. This has given her a uniquely human perspective to the way we think, work and behave. She has seen the power of human connection to literally save lives. By cultivating a culture of courage, we all have the power to make an impact. Tune in as we talk with Sarah about her humanit...

A Northern Territorian, proud Woolwonga and Kukatj woman, raised on Larrakia and Yolngu Land. Lateesha is a passionate advocate for education – particularly for young women – and the role empowering young women plays in healing intergenerational trauma and strengthening communities.  Today we chat with Lateesha about her background and her passion for lateral empowerment. In 2022, Lateesha was suc...

From brain surgery on sharks to the highlands of Papua New Guinea, to living in a cave and writing a book, Dr Kaushik Ram has many stories to tell. Abandoning a career in Australia and writing a book in a Thailand jungle in over just two months, Dr Ram experienced a transformative experience.   In this episode we talk about the fight or flight response with people experiencing anxiety or depressio...

Georgeina was not prepared for the inequality found in the Defence Force in the mid eighties when she enrolled in the armed forces. However she persevered, finished basic training and was allocated to the army psychology core. After officer training she was selected for a officer exchange in New Zealand, and applied to the Australian Army Medical Core as a health administrator. Thirty years later,...

Leanne is a psychologist, author, presenter and advocate. In this episode we talk about the digital service delivery of mental health support during the pandemic as well as the advances in AI as well as the role technology will play in the future of mental health.   Leanne’s also the author of Head First Health Fast, the Smart Approach to Outwitting Body Issues and Sustaining Achievable Health and...

Distinguished Professor Susan Danby is recognised internationally as one of Australia’s leading experts in early years language and social interaction, childhood studies, and young children’s engagement with digital technologies.   As Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child, Susan leads a collective of national and international researchers and partners across government, bu...

Growing up with family violence, Jacqui says it was in the stars that she ended up leading the largest peak body in Australia for organisations and individuals who work with men to end family violence.  Over her eight years as CEO of No to Violence, Jacqui saw the organisation grow from a team of 20 in Melbourne to more than 90 staff across five states. No to Violence offer a Men’s Referral Servic...

Educator, truth-talker and natural disruptor, Peta has a strong background in training and consulting and a profile in mental health and suicide prevention. In today’s episode we speak about Peta’s presentation at the 2023 Australian and New Zealand Addiction Conference on the impact of the current rise of vaping and e-cigarettes use in Australia. Every state has different rules and regulations ab...

After witnessing a suicide, losing another friend to suicide and working through his own mental health challenges, Matthew Steans established a New Zealand charity: Hope Upstream Charitable Trust. The charity aims to work towards zero suicide communities in Aotearoa. The charity researches, evaluates and develops suicide prevention initiatives. We chat today about Matthew’s start in the sector, th...

Today’s episode features Megan Kingham.   From Nursing to OH&S to starting the first national corporate health and wellbeing program at AGL, Megan Kingham is now the Director Staff Health, People & Culture at NSW Ambulance. In this episode we talk about mental health and wellbeing strategies at a corporate level and how starting a big new role at NSW Ambulance just before COVID struck saw...

Nicole Gibson is a Award-Winning Social Entrepreneur, Systems Architect, Author & Philosopher.    From supporting communities with emotional infrastructure with a not-for-profit foundation; Love Out Loud, to working on meaningful and complex system change within the tech field, Nic Gibson is a powerhouse.   In today’s episode, we cover a lot of ground. From Nic’s personal story with anorexia,...

Neavin descends from the Taranaki region and many of the Taranaki iwi.   Work wise, he provides Māori cultural support and advice to a range of organisations ranging from government to private through to community groups.   With a background in education, health promotion and the Treaty of Waitangi he works on projects that are designed to inspire passion in peoples’ culture. Neavin is currently a...

Dr Nicole Milburn is a Clinical Psychologist with two-and-a-half decades of experience working with infants, children, adults and families in private practice, public mental health and therapeutic services. Nicole’s vision is for a community that respects and values the perspective of all its members, where problems are identified early in life as well as early in the problem. Nicole’s work is tra...

Karen knew she wanted to be a social worker from a young age and has spent a career focusing on children and adolescents. Now as, Director of Operations – Clinical Transformation at Oxygen, Karen supports and enables the integration and efficiency of clinical services, programs and projects to deliver successful outcomes, in both an operational and strategic capacity. In this episode, Karen touche...

Dr Brian McKenny is the Clinical Director, Rural and Remote Mental Health Service, Barossa Hills Fleurieu Local Health Network - SA Health  After having an interest in mental health whilst studying Medicine, Dr McKenny has extensive experience in psychiatry and became an early adopter of tele-psychiatry and traveling to rural and remote areas as a travelling mental health professional.   Today we...

Pip is an author, investigative journalist, radio presenter, podcast producer/host and content architect of ‘creative ideas all-rounder’. After spending eighteen years in the Police Force, Pip left the force in 2011 to raise her children and work on new projects. She has spent years in recovery from PSTD, in which she continued her research in treatments for mental illness, advocacy for stigmas in...

In 1991, the honourable Margaret McMurdo was the first woman to be appointed a judge of the District Court of Queensland and the Childrens Court of Queensland.    Justice McMurdo was appointed President of the Court of Appeal, Supreme Court of Queensland in 1998. Her Honour was the second president and first woman appointed as a presiding judge of an appellate court in Australia.    In 2001 Justic...

Clifford Lewis, PhD (he/him/his) is a Marketing academic at Charles Sturt University. His research focuses on Place Marketing; exploring LGBTQIA+ inclusion both within one’s community or a recreational context. Within this field, he has drawn on socio-psychological theories to explore how places and experiences can be made more inclusive for LGBTQIA+ people.     Through his work he has called for...

Steph is a Research Fellow at The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use. Steph leads an innovative program of research and translation to reduce the impact of substance use. Her research aims to improve the health outcomes for individuals, families and communities especially among vulnerable and disadvantaged groups. In today’s episode we chat with Steph about: Cracks in t...

Dr Eli Kotler is a Psychiatrist and Medical Director of Malvern Private Hospital, an addiction and trauma hospital in Melbourne. As an adjunct lecturer at Monash University, he oversees medical students on their addiction medicine rotation. Eli has an interest in psychedelic-assisted therapies, and is the Australian Director of the Certificate in Psychedelic Assisted Therapies course (Mind Medicin...

Gus Worland is a Radio presenter and TV personality. During an episode on his breakfast radio show, Gus shared a story about a close friend and mentor who took his own life. This opened up the calls from listeners who called in to share their own stories. The journey which Gus started led to him hosting a three-part mental health documentary series,  Man Up and now Gotcha4Life, a charity working t...

Michele identifies as an Gumbaynggirr/Yaegl Nyami (Woman in Gumbaynggirr)-accepted on Bundjalung Country. Michele champions social justice and seeks to work hard to increase equality & equity for First Peoples. As a Targeted Early Intervention Worker with Bugil Wernbe TEI Program-Tabulam District, Michele leads with an Indigenous Feministic practice, authentic Aboriginal Leadership & Abori...

Belinda Connell has been a registered Social Worker for 25 years and has over 10 years’ experience in suicide prevention, delivering LivingWorks’ suicide intervention training in Australia and overseas. Belinda also served as a sworn Police Officer with the NSW Police Service and is very proud of her first responder family background.   In today’s episode we chat with Belinda about the stigma arou...