Pure Grit - with Paula McGrath

Steve Pullen Is a former Australian Ironman Champion. He is now business owner and father. He started his professional career as an athlete at the young age of 17. I grew up seeing him not only in the Uncle Toby's Iron Man series and Nutri Grain Iron Man series  but at 23 he was crowned Australian Iron Man Champion, yes one extremely fit athlete.   Then I recall one day seeing him n...

 Karen Jacobsen was destined to be on stage as she dreamed of being just like Olivia Newton John as a young girl and she sure did moving to New York and becoming an award winning singer and songwriter. What she didn't expect was to go for an audition to record a text to speech voice system...that would then make her world famous ! " Siri" ' Is your name Karen?"  From that moment on she b...

John Paul Young OAM  is one of the most iconic artist in Australian music history, with over 4 million worldwide record sales, induction into the Aria Hall of Fame and he received an Order of Australia Medal . He co-hosted the most famous music show in Australia's history Countdown with Molly Meldrum. He was actually  the first person to ever call Ian Molly Meldrum " Molly " on televisio...

Dan Ewing is an Australian Actor a leading man  like many other actors that have gone from Home and Away to Hollywood. Following likes of Chris Hemsworth, Heath Ledger, Ryan Kwanten Melissa George and Naomi Watts to name a few.  Dan was Heath Braxton, a tattooed River Boy on the popular Australian drama Home and Away. Now Dan Ewing is currently gracing big billboards on Hollywood Bouleva...

Tanya Young lives with an invisible disease and invisible pain. She was such a successful business woman with her business The Lash Angel then at the height of her success was struck down so young with what she thought was a sore back but her diagnosis was life changing and disabling. She was diagnosed with CIDP, Chiari 1 Brain Malformation, Vestibular migraines and a degenerative spinal condition...

Jenny Valentish is a very successful journalist and author, a former editor of both Triple J's Jmag and Time Out Melbourne. She currently writes for the ABC, The Age, The Monthly and The Guardian. Jenny has done a lot of research into grit and resilience for her fourth book "Everything Harder Than Everyone Else" about people who push their bodies to extremes. For her research she took on the chall...

 Yasmina McGlone proves girls can do anything. She is what grit is all about. She was raised in Scotland and born with a rare movement disorder called Myoclonus Dystonia similar to a disorder we maybe more familiar with Tourette Syndrome . Living with Myoclonus Dystonia makes simple tasks for us like sipping a cup of tea or coffee a very difficult task.  She was subjected to bullying in...

 Baby Et Lulu are an Aria Nominated Faux French sensations Abby Dobson and Lara Goodridge, they are a musical partnership seducing audiences around Australia. Both have stories of overcoming life challenges with grit and resilience.  Abby Dobson started her career busking the streets of Paris, New York and Athens then shot to stardom in the late 90's with the   the Aria's Song...

Over the years Moira Kelly has helped those less fortunate across the world, from her time with the inspirational Mother Theresa in Calcutta, to volunteering in soup kitchens in Johannesburg, nursing crack babies in The Bronx, working in refugee camps in Bosnia and so much more. Her desire to help others culminated in a self-funded program which arranged medical evacuations for children to Austral...

Kerri and her volleyball partner Nat Cook were responsible for one of the most iconic sporting moments of the Sydney Olympic Games when they won gold on Bondi Beach.  Kerri is a three-time Olympian, author, MC, motivation speaker, an inductee into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame, a Mum AND she’s an Olympic Games commentator for Chan...

Joe Williams is a proud Wiradjuri/Wolgalu, First Nations Aboriginal man born in Cowra, raised in Wagga NSW, Australia. Joe played in the National Rugby League for South Sydney Rabbitohs, Penrith Panthers and Canterbury Bulldogs before switching Joe to professional Boxing in 2009. Joe is a 2x WBF World Jnr Welterweight champion and won an WBC Asia Continental Title.  Although forging a success...

Buddy Goode is a singer, songwriter, live performer and a sensational artist. He blasted onto the Australian music scene after moving from his hometown, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA. One of 18 children, he came from adject poverty but was always destined to be a star. Keith Urban suggested he "come Down Under" so that is exactly what he did. His musical rise to the top really kicked off when...

Phil Burton has been at the top of his field for over 2 decades as a member of the legendary Aussie quartet Human Nature. Human Nature have achieved huge success both in Australia and the US (including a record breaking residence in Vegas). He has an Order of Australia Medal, was inducted into the Aria Hall of Fame with the band, he’s an incredible singer, keyboard player and guitarist and o...

Dr Alice Edwards is a diplomat, skilled activist, lawyer and thought leader with over two decades of professional experience in human rights. This is not a career for the faint hearted and you certainly need pure grit and resilience when you’re doing your part to save humanity! Alice has a doctorate in public international law and she has published over 30 books, articles and reports.&n...

Em Rusciano is truly one of a kind. She is incredibly talented in so many ways. She truly is an all-round entertainer. Comedian, singer, radio and television presenter, creator of a successful podcast (Emsolation), author and mother of 3. As Em says, in this interview she leaves ‘no stone unturned, I’ve probably said things I’ll regret!’ We talk about why her time in commer...

 Ahmed Kelly is a two times Paralympian and Silver Medallist at 2019 World Para Swimming Championships in London. Born with severely underdeveloped arms and legs which was not uncommon in Countries torn by chemical warfare. He was born in Iraq where in a Bagdad Orphange he met his now brother and previous guest on Pure Grit in April  Emmanuel Kelly where they met their Mum Humanitarian M...

Dave Charles has been at the very top of his career for a very long time . He has a company in Canada Media Results .  He is a global radio and music consulting expert. If there is anyone who knows radio it is Dave. He was instrumental in the development of the radio network Austereo, 2Day Network and Triple M and consulted to many stations around Australia. I met Dave early in my career he h...

Leah Scott is one extremely tough woman. She is an extreme cold tolerance practitioner , mountain guide and Level 2 Wim Hof Method( The Ice Man)  instructor . Plunging your body into ice cold water....brrrrr  Leah has overcome her own battle of anxiety , depression, and stress. She is based in the Snowy Mountains and her mission in life is to show people that they can do more than they t...

Kristina Ruth is a successful business owner and now Author based Queensland's Sunshine Coast. She has wanted to write this book for a long time but had to overcome her own self doubt and negative self talk to actually put pen to paper. Her book The Self-Preservation Guide -How to leave a toxic relationship and change your life. The statistics in Australia are shocking more than 1 women is killed...

As a baby, Emmanuel Kelly was found by soldiers, barely alive in a shoe box in Iraq. He was then taken to the Mother Theresa Orphanage in Bagdad with no birth certificate, no identity. It is nothing short of a miracle he is alive today. His Mum, Humanitarian Moira Kelly, met and fostered Emmanuel and his now brother Ahmed after they spent a harrowing 7 or so years living as children of war. ...

Jamie Pultz is a former policeman with an incredible sense of justice. A Sunshine Coast local who has become an incredibly successful podcaster, with his True Crime Podcast "Beenham Valley Road". The podcast was picked up by Australian Story on ABC which condensed all of the episodes into a 2 part series last year. Jamie was haunted by the brutal death of Kirra McLoughlin, a beautiful young 27 yea...

Nici Andronicus represented Australia for 10 years in Penthalon, then as a Triathlete in 10 World Championships and over 90 international events. She reached No. 2 in the World in 1997 in Triathlon (after having her first child).  A mother of 5, she studied for her Masters in Business all whilst supporting her husband Paul McClean (Ep 18 Pure Grit )as he has battled terminal brain cancer. Nici upd...

Toni Pearen is an actress , singer, and TV Presenter. She burst onto Australian screens as Toni Windsor on E Street. In the 90's she became a pop star she had 2 Gold certified Aria hits with In your Room and I Want You. She has acted in many movies, hosted Australia's Funniest Video Show (there is a story to how we met) She has been on Dancing with the Stars which she made Top 5 which I was lucky...

Angelique Clark is an Advanced Sports Dietition , Performance Nutritionist and Sports Physiologist. She is the top of her field. Her clients have been elite athletes like Libby Trickett Olympic Swimmer, Jeff Horn Professional Boxer and Danni Prince Australian Champion Gymnast also celebrity transformations Osher and what a transformation he has had....amazing. Her biggest mission in life is to hel...

Ruby Sillato (aka Ruby Noosa ) believes everything we do in life should be about our passions, and she has followed hers with serious conviction. Ruby is a single Mum of two and an inspirational Italian woman who has called Australia home for 14 years after moving here from Sicily. She is a domestic violence survivor, showing extraordinary grit to remove herself and her children from an abusive ho...