SHINE

As we get closer to the release of my new book - A Difficult Woman, I have a number of speaking spots. This keynote address was delivered in June 2025 to a large group of women sports leaders in Melbourne. The title was - Why we need to raise our daughters to be difficult and end the tyranny of niceness.

This is a special (in-between seasons) episode that was actually due 14 days ago. Oops! I often get asked about my sober journey. Why did I give up alcohol? How did I do it? Do I miss it? Do I still have fun? What about my friends, how did they cope? Is it hard? So to celebrate four years (and 14 days) on this path, I filmed a solo podcast to answer these questions and more. Hopefully I've ans...

Our guest for this episode - Zuzana Perraton is a specialist Sports and Exercise Physiotherapist and Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist. She has a PHD in hips (specifically investigating hip muscle size and adiposity in young adults with hip and groin pain). She is not only a practising Physiotherapist, but she also teaches at Monash and La Trobe universities and she has published over 30 peer-review...

⁠Dr Linda Schachter⁠ is not only a medical doctor and a respiratory and sleep specialist, she also has a PHD in sleep studies. She is also the owner of Sleep Services Australia which specialises in home based sleep monitoring and professional treatment for a broad range of sleep problems, including ⁠Sleep Apnoea⁠, ⁠Snoring⁠, ⁠Periodic Leg Movements⁠, and ⁠Insomnia⁠. This lady knows sleep! You migh...

From the ultimate party girl to a sobriety coach – Rebecca Perrone’s story has it all! Bec is a qualified nurse and Master Grey Area Drinking Coach. She runs a highly successful 100-Day Alcohol-Free Program and coaches individuals to redefine their relationship with alcohol, through her company Real Transitions. Bec isn't the coach I used when I gave up alcohol nearly four years ago, but I wish sh...

Welcome to our third season of the SHINE podcast. In this season I am looking at ways we can ease into midlife with particular emphasis on perimenopause and menopause symptoms. We will be talking to a Sleep Doctor, a Grey Area Drinking Coach, a Nutritionist and many more experts. We open our season with the amazing Kelly Allison. Kelly has taken her lived experience and channelled it into healing...

Ros Cardinal lives and breaths women’s empowerment. She is a workplace culture guru with a passion for smashing the glass ceiling. This podcast episode has it all. From a dynamic corporate human resources career, to surviving a life-threatening illness, to embracing a new career direction – Ros truly embodies a woman who shines. Ros heads up her own consultancy - Shaping Change. She describes her...

Mish Wright is a fitness educator, speaker and a much revered women's health advocate. She won the Fuel Woman of the Year for women’s health advocacy in the fitness industry and has created EVEolution™. This course addresses the critical gaps in fitness education by debunking harmful myths and setting new standards that recognise women’s unique health needs. It has become a cornerstone in fitn...

Karen Stuart’s life fell below rock bottom. She found herself standing at the train station, putting her bag down and about to take the step to end her life in front of a train. She had reached the end of the line. A kind, observant stranger pulled her back. She sat Karen down and listened. That was the pivotal moment. The turning point. The rock bottom she needed. What happened next will amaze an...

Episode 25: Shining through transforming your money story and building your self-worth with Deirdre Keely This is an enlightening episode. Ex-Financier and Money Mindset Coach Deirdre Keely talks to Donna about empowering women through changing their money story. Deirdre declares that transforming your money mindset requires a fundamental shift in your thinking and ultimately reshapes your financi...

Episode 24: Shining through power and passion. Finding your voice - with Becky Hurst This is a confronting and thought-provoking episode. When women support women, amazing things happen. What happens when we don’t support each other? Our mental health and our very sense of being is impacted. This is the story of a woman who reveals all. Becky Hurst is a community engagement thought leader and prac...

Season two of the SHINE podcasts shines the spotlight on remarkable stories from women who shine in the face of overwhelming adversity. In this episode, Donna chats with the formidable Kirsty O'Connell – a woman whose connection to the community and sheer determination to stand up for what she believes in is more than admirable! Kirsty is a fifth-generation resident of NSW's beautiful Hunt...

This is a joyous and hopeful episode. Jan Winslade describes her life as like being constantly on holidays. She enthusiastically proclaims her love for life and her work. An intuitive healer, Jan started her career as a nurse. She completed a four-year yoga diploma nearly 30 years ago – when yoga was far from the mainstream. She is an also a Reiki Master, a Clinical Hypnotherapist, a meditation te...

This is a very deep and powerful episode. Michelle owns a rapidly growing psychotherapy and counselling practise in the Hawkesbury Valley of NSW. With deep ties to her semi-rural community, Michelle started this episode after completing group grief counselling sessions for the colleagues of a young local woman who had just passed away in a tragic accident. Michelle dropped everything to take her w...

In our eighth episode of season two, Donna talks to Tracy Wilcox. Discrimination, bullying, illness and burnout – this is the story of a true survivor, a true phoenix. Tracy is a technical leader with a background in simulation. She has achieved extraordinary career success and when you understand where she came from, it is not surprising. Tracy’s divorce didn’t destroy her – instead it was the im...

In our seventh episode of the second season of Shine! Donna chats with Tech Entrepreneur and Founder of the revolutionary mindful drinking app - Mind The Sip - Ange Chappel.  Are you sober curious or perhaps you want to moderate your drinking? Then this is the episode for you! Alcohol is the topic of the moment. We discuss its prevalence in the Australian and New Zealand cultures and explore diffe...

Welcome back to the SHINE podcast!   In our sixth episode of the new season Donna speaks to Education Consultant and Disability Advocate Irene Anderson.  As well as a fifty plus year teaching career, Irene is a mother to a severely disabled 43 year old man, Sean. At 73 Irene is still working – as an Education consultant for the Australian Catholic University. She discusses her amazing career and b...

Welcome back to the SHINE podcast!   In our fifth episode of the new season Donna speaks to the CEO of the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2), Marion Short.  Donna and Marion started off the episode with a deep dive into their own stories and the impact of their heritage and backgrounds on those stories. They discussed the joy and wisdom that comes with middle age. Marion di...

Welcome back to the SHINE podcast!   In our fourth episode of the new season Donna speaks to Prep Teacher turned Fashion Stylist Helen James.  Growing up on Melbourne's Mornington Peninsula as the children of Greek Immigrants, Helen grew up embodying the good girl persona. She studied education and fashion at university, but family preference was for her to work as a teacher. She fell in love...

Welcome back to the SHINE podcast!   In our third episode of the new season Donna speaks to Naturopath Kate O’Brien.  After graduating from an Applied Science in Naturopathy degree, Kate began her 17 year career as a clinic owner and naturopath. She has broken down barriers and used gentle but deliberate strategies to ensure naturopathy is part of a holistic approach to healing. Along the journey...

Welcome back to the SHINE podcast! Donna is back with a new season of the Shine podcast where she shines a spotlight on amazing women living extraordinary lives. In Season two, you will hear remarkable stories from women who shine in the face of overwhelming adversity.  In our second episode, the thoughtful Shelley Christie is back by popular demand. Shelley is the Participation Officer for Footba...

Welcome back to the SHINE podcast! Donna is back with a new season of the Shine podcast where she shines a spotlight on amazing women living extraordinary lives. In Season two, you will hear remarkable stories from women who shine in the face of overwhelming adversity.   In our first episode of the new season Donna chats with the incredible Teresa Ariel – a woman whose connection to the community...

Welcome back to the SHINE podcast! Donna is back with another amazing episode, and she is joined with the wonderful Shelley Christie – Participation Officer for Football Australia and Football Victoria as well as Vice President of the Mount Martha Soccer Club, and Director of Shelley Christie Millinery. Shelley also runs the Soccer Mums program that Donna is part of and is in the Over 35s women’s...

The day has finally come, folks! SHINE is out now! What a journey it has been - Donna is incredibly thankful and humbled for all the support she has received! In this mini special edition episode, Donna reflects on her journey, on writing Shine and what she hopes readers get out of her story! Stay tuned for details of upcoming events to come - we cannot wait to reveal all! For now, keep an eye out...

Welcome back to the SHINE podcast! Donna and Angela are back and sit down to explore mental health, self-care and overall wellbeing. In this special edition, we dedicate our episode to an important annual event: RUOK? Day – a day of raising awareness about mental health and encouraging open conversations about the wellbeing of ourselves and the people around us. In this episode, Donna and Ange del...