Sparta Chicks Radio: Mindset | Confidence | Sport | Women

Kelli Jackson was in her 40s and an “unassuming middle-aged overweight accountant who smoked” when, at a retreat in Bali, she blurted out that she wanted to ride a unicycle around the world. That was in 2010, but it wasn’t until she “survived” 2015 that Kelli started pursuing her goal - which included: - learning to ride a unicycle (she didn’t know how when she set the goal!), and - getting a larg...

With a background in social work and after losing her beloved Dad tragically to bowel cancer, it’s hardly surprising Annie Crawford decided she wanted to “make a difference” rather than returning to the paid workforce when she returned to Australia after living in the US for several years. And she’s made a profound difference in the lives of thousands of Australians ever since. Annie founded Can T...

Emily Duggan’s story is a perfect example of why it’s important to share the stories of women in sport. When Emily was a little girl, she was watching TV one weekend and came across the Supercar motor racing series here in Australia and was instantly hooked. However Emily, in that moment, also realised there were no women racing and thought it was a “boy’s sport” and put it to the back of her mind...

In November 2013, Renee Kiley joined friends to watch the Noosa Triathlon. And life hasn’t been the same since. At the time Renee was an overweight, unhealthy, pack-a-day smoker. Yet the race reignited Renee’s childhood love of competitive sport. And despite not having ridden a bike or swum laps since she was a kid, Renee set a goal to compete in the Noosa Triathlon the following year. She did tha...

If there is one woman who has had an up-close-and-personal relationship with fear, it’s Kristen Ulmer. At 20, Kristen was skiing for the love of it and in jeans. By 23, she was on the US moguls ski team, starred in the first of 20 extreme skiing movies and was named the ski media as best woman big mountain extreme skier in the world (a ‘title’ she held for 12 years). This is a woman who came face...

I first spoke with Michelle Lee back in July, 2017 when she shared her goal to complete the world’s toughest nautical challenge; the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge. A 5,300km / 2900 nautical mile solo, unassisted and self-supported ocean rowing event across the Atlantic from the Canary Islands off the coast of Spain all the way to Antigua in the Caribbean. In February 2019, Michelle achieved h...

Dr Stacy Sims is an environmental exercise physiologist and nutrition scientist at the University of Waikato in NZ. She’s an incredible athlete in her own right too, having competed at the Hawaii Ironman in Kona as well as the Xterra (Off-Road Triathlon) World Championships in Maui. And she’s the author of an important book called Roar. It is a profound book that will challenge everything you thou...

3 months after finishing High School at the age of 18, Jess Fox qualified for the 2012 London Olympics. She left those Games with a Silver medal and, in hindsight, admits she felt the need to prove herself and to show that her result in London wasn’t a fluke. Of course, it wasn’t a fluke - in fact, it was just the start of an incredible career! A 2 x Olympic medalist (Jess won Bronze at the 2016 R...

Lucy Gossage finished last in a cross country race when she was 13 or 14. And while she didn’t realise it at the time, she now recognises that a fear of failure held her back from participating in any competitive sport until she was talked into doing her 1st triathlon at the age of 26. Fast forward a few years, she’s now an oncology doctor and former professional triathlete who won 13 x Ironman Ch...

Melissa Urie joined me on the podcast way back in episode 14 to share her experience of becoming only the 2nd woman ever to complete the Epic 5 - a race consisting of 5 Ironman-distance triathlons on 5 Hawaiian islands over 5 days. This week, Mel returns to the podcast to share her experience of competing at the Ultraman World Championships on the Big Island of Hawaii in 2018. Ultraman is a 3 day...

Katee Pedicini’s work around hormones and their impact on our health, happiness and performance has been pivotal for many women, myself included. Katee is the founder of Holistic Endurance and is based in Melbourne. She’s a triathlon coach and self-confessed hormone nerd who specialises in managing fatigue, stress and hormones to achieve not only performance but optimal health and happiness. And I...

At the time of recording this conversation in 2019, Sparta Chicks Radio celebrated its 2nd birthday (or anniversary). And there is no-one I’d rather share that celebration with than this week’s return guest, Lucy Barnard! Lucy is attempting to become the 1st woman to walk the length of the world. She set off in February 2017 from Ushuaia, Tierra Del Fuego in Argentina to walk all the way to Barrow...

Julie Howle is a talented triathlete and surgical oncologist. She's currently the Head of the Melanoma and Sarcoma Multidisciplinary Groups at Westmead Hospital here in Sydney and a Clinical Senior Lecturer at The University of Sydney. Julie is also an Age Group World Champion triathlete, having won her AG at the ITU Long Distance World Championships in 2017. And she's a 2x finisher for th...

Steph Lowe is a triathlete, Sports Nutritionist and the Founder of the Natural Nutritionist. Steph was first on the podcast in August, 2018 (episode #69) where we had a wide-ranging discussion about nutrition - specifically the benefits of adopting an LCHF lifestyle on everything from your hormones, weight, PMS, mood, immune system, gut health and even 3:30itis. I asked Steph to return to the show...

Alyssa Godesky is most well-known these days for being a professional triathlete and the co-host of the popular Ironwomen podcast. What isn’t well known is that she was an ultra marathon runner and trail runner, long before she moved into the world of triathlons. In 2018, Alyssa returned to her trail running roots and set out on a mission to break the Fastest Known Time (or FKT) on the Vermont Lon...

At 20, Jana Pittman became the Commonwealth Games Champion in the gruelling 400m Hurdles event and, at 21, the World Champion. By the end of her athletics career, she’d competed at 2 Olympic Games, won 2 x World Championships and 4 x Commonwealth Games Gold medals. Then in a transition that surprised many people, she switched sports! She took up the bobsled and represented Australia at the 2014 So...

An active, sporty child, it wasn’t until Kate was in her late 20s that she discovered mountain biking and quickly fell in love with both the physical demands of the sport, but also the strong technical and strategic elements of it. In 2010, Kate lined up at the start of her first race on her entry level bike, complete with bell and reflectors; it also happened to be a mixed pairs team in a 24 hour...

Perhaps the most powerful question you can ask yourself is - what do I need? There is no-one better equipped to help us answer that question than Kemi Nekvapil. Kemi is, quite simply, a force of nature. A pioneer in the raw food movement in Australia, Kemi is now an accredited executive and personal coach. She’s committed to helping women like you and I change how we feel about ourselves and how w...

Caroline Buchanan's cycling bio is quite extraordinary. Not just because she's an 8x World Champion, but also because she has achieved those titles across 2 multiple disciplines within the sport of cycling (3x in BMX and 5x in mountain biking). She is a 2x Olympian (London in 2012 and Rio in 2016) and has now competed at the World Championships in 4 different cycling events. Off the bike,...

Lucy was my guest on the podcast back in January, 2018 (episode 45). In that episode, Lucy shared her background; how she first started running as a way to spend time with her Dad, her first 100km race at 16 through to her victory in 2017 at the 100km Ultra Trail Australia race (also her 21st birthday). At the time of that episode, Lucy was still getting her head around the news she had secured an...

Mel was born into an extremely violent home. Her father was physically abusive towards not only her mother but also to Mel and her sister as well. Despite her mum eventually leaving her father when she was around 12, Mel was firmly trapped in a cycle of violence. At High School, Mel found herself the victim of bullying, but also at times an instigator of it. This continued into her romantic relati...

In 2011, a doctor told Tania - then aged 42 - that she wouldn’t live to see grandchildren if she didn’t stop smoking and drinking. That distressing doctor’s visit started a chain reaction of events that has led Tania to become the first woman to run the length of the Hume and Hovell Track - a 453km track from Yass to Albury in regional NSW. Her time of 8 days, 12 hours and 39 minutes is now recogn...

Tanya Geisler is a Leadership Coach from Canada who specialises in working with women regarding their experience with the Imposter Complex. Tanya was one of my first guests on the podcast; episode #7 back in April 2017. That conversation was not only one of the most popular episodes from 2017, but it is also the most profoundly impactful episodes. If you haven't listened to that episode, I&#39...

Jo joined me on the podcast back in episode #38 in November 2017. In that conversation, we discussed Jo’s background and history, why she started running at 35 and the way in which she’s struggled with comparison, feeling like an imposter as well as how it took years for Jo to call herself an ‘athlete’ and mean it. If you haven’t listened to that episode, I’d encourage you to listen to that episod...

Kate is a psychologist, mountaineer and ‘free spirit at heart’. A rock climber and mountaineer (who also served in the Army for 10 years), Kate has a unique perspective on how to manage fear, the thoughts we believe and the stories we tell ourselves. We dive deep into the topic of fear on this episode and discuss: - why spending time in nature is such a powerful source of confidence for women (hin...