Tall Poppy Society with Merilyn

My guest today has battled burnout and illness to build the business of her dreams teaching other high achievers how they can have it all. With a long and profitable career in real estate and sales in Fortune250 companies she was the poster-child of ‘success’. But at a price.  Now, through her performance strategy and coaching practice, she is helping others redefine success and bring more joy and...

My guest today, Gül Sönmez, worked in big multinationals like P&G, Coca-Cola, and Amazon for 15 years. Then, roughly 8 years ago, she noticed she was manifesting injuries and pain on her physical body (neck, meniscuses, back, and thyroids). Even though she had a nice job, a nice marriage, and a nice home, her picture-perfect life was giving her no purpose or meaning, and it was wreaking havoc...

Meet Jessica Zemple  - who has the unusual gift of helping people ‘shuck themselves’... !!! Made you look twice huh?  Like the pearl farmers who 'shuck' the oysters to find the treasure inside, Jessica helps people discover their pearls. She helps individuals and organizations find their deeper purpose and translate that into authentic success through transformative coaching, workshops,...

In this episode I’m chatting with Dawn Dahlby. Dawn is a personal-growth expert in the finance space serving empowered women, executives, and entrepreneurs. Her unique approach combines learning how to live in your worth by aligning financial goals, personal values, behaviours, beliefs, lifestyle goals, and desires.  With 20 years' experience as a Certified Financial Planner, a Fiduciary, and...

In this episode I’m talking with Kathy Svetina about a critical area of leading our lives and businesses – finance. So before you glaze over and tune out, take a listen, as what Kathy has to say might just be what you (and your business) needed to hear today.  Kathy Svetina is the founder of NewCastle Finance, a company offering Fractional CFO services to women-owned small businesses. For nearly 1...

If you love an intelligent, high-conscious conversation, then you’ll adore this episode. This is actually the second time I’ve had Monica on the show. It’s a continuation of the fascinating conversation we started in Episode 205 (which I highly recommend you go listen to as well). I originally wanted to chat with Monica about her successful work in disrupting the dating industry, but it kinda went...

Remember in the corporate 90’s when we used to hang ‘Success’ posters up about working hard, and it was taught by HR training courses to ‘leave your personal life at home’? This chat with author and coach Emily Golden reminded me of that. She too was raised in that high performing corporate culture… but life and various traumas guided her on her true path.   Emily Golden is businesswoman, parent,...

Wow is the only way to describe this conversation! Hilary DeCesare is an award-winning entrepreneur, CEO of the ReLaunch Co and featured speaker in Silicon Valley. And it has to be one of the most fascinating, engaging chats I’ve done on the podcast.  Hilary is a transformational coach and has now made it her life’s mission to help mid-life women shift from being stuck on auto pilot to fulfilling...

London based, Maria Carras has lived a variety of different career lives. Now, as CEO and Founder of ‘Maria Carras – Creative Virtual Assistance’ she helps virtual assistants set up and grow location-independent businesses around the world.  Follow Merilyn: Instagram: @merilyn Website: merilyn.com

Jennifer Chapman used to thrive in challenging, ‘go-getter’ environments proving time and time again she was invincible. Until the time she realised she wasn’t. It was then she changed professional course and now works as a leadership coach, guiding the next generation of leaders to align with their innate strengths and their authentic selves.  Jennifer used to be a workaholic, known as the go-to...

If there's one word that really makes me mad it's 'hustling'.  It's responsible for a lot of pain, guilt and burnout. And it shouldn't be a part of a leaders vocabulary. A little rant about hustling and what we must do instead.  Follow Merilyn: Instagram: @merilyn Website: merilyn.com

Changemaker, Monica Rogers encourages women everywhere to say ‘yes to the mess’. She believes that when women fully realise their authentic potential they become aligned to who they truly are and this is where prosperity resides. Monica’s mission is to see more women leaders making a positive change in the world.  Follow Merilyn: Instagram: @merilyn Website: merilyn.com

My guest today is Ryann Dowdy - a sales and business coach who helps high-achieving women leave their 9-5 and build a 6-figure business by teaching them how to master sales conversations and their mindset. Ryann is passionate about helping women take back control of their lives and their finances by building a profitable business. She is on a mission to help hundreds of women leave their 9-5 and c...

Echo Huang left China aged 20, with nothing other than $800 and the hope of achieving the ‘American Dream’. Her courage and dedication fuelled her journey through the financial and planning business world and over the next twenty years she gained experience of working in companies of all sizes before deciding to venture out on her own. Today, as founder of Echo Wealth Management, she helps entrepr...

Holy Moly - have you ever heard a punk rock version of Roll Roll Roll Your Boat on Ukulele? Well you are about to in this episode.  I'm chatting with Fiona McDonald - TV presenter, award winning rock musician, and mum who has recently started a brand new business teaching online Ukulele for kids. After over 30 years in the music business (New Zealand bands Headless Chickens & Strawpeople)...

Belinda Thomas is a rock star facilitator and coach with a unique and powerful brand who is shaking up the boringly-beige corporate leadership training industry.  She's a self-confessed flow junky who lives in The Zone but does it with oodles of fun. Her drive doesn't stop at business  - she's also an avid sportswoman who has represented New Zealand.  Belinda’s background is in psyc...

I met the lovely Pramilda years ago when I was coming out of a difficult phase of my life and exploring the 'what next'. She helped me navigate and shine a light on my life at that stage.  Pramilda is a well travelled guide of the inner landscapes of the human mind. After her own call to adventure with illness, and heroic journey of searching and finding, she feels called to accompany ot...

I've always thought of myself as more of a late bloomer, but my guest on the show today is the opposite. Stacy Bahrenfuss shot to early business success at 19 with her own real estate company with no formal training at all. She's the founder and CEO of Catalyst Group and now works with female changemakers in her Limitless With Stacy programs. We chat about: Her earliest influencers What...

Another short story: "It was summer in England. You know those rare days that are pure and utter magic. I’d driven down from London to the country and was in a great mood. We met in the ‘cottage’ - a cute thatched roof building that housed the company meeting room... a few squishy sofas around a coffee table. My new friends and owners of an international luxury company spilled their branding...

My guest today is Cherie Burton - a pioneering spiritual psychologist with a powerful story.  Mother of six, author, international speaker she is passionately driven to guide women influencers to heal, express and create, using the “new feminine leadership paradigm.”  She earned her degrees in psychology and sociology, and was crowned Mrs. Utah 2004. But much of her work was inspired by the tragic...

A short story about anxiety "I was staying with my friend who lives on the magnificent Sunshine Coast in Australia. We’d had a great day, walking along the coastline for hours and hours. Chatting, being inspired, stopping to take photos.  The next morning, my friend, Di, asked me, ‘how did you sleep’. I said, ‘I slept well, but this morning I'm feeling a little anxious’. Di stopped, put...

Oh wow Merilyn.   You have a decision to make. Do I change the name of my podcast, and indeed my main course? Lead Your Day.  Lead Your World. They are pretty aspirational titles.  But how much cringe factor is attached to them? To be honest (isn’t that a funny phrase we use)... they are a hangover from my preacher church days. An implore to ‘stand up and be leaders’.  Which is a noble thing. I re...

Bee Pope put her business on hold to travel around Australia in a caravan for a year with her young family. Little did she know the traumas that would be part of the adventure - the worse bushfires in Australia on record, pandemic lockdowns and even cancer surgery. But this hasn't dampened Bee's positive and adventurous spirit. In this episode we talk about her journey so far.   Bee Pope...

A few weeks ago I was driving home from Mothers Day lunch with the (ex) mother-in-law. Too-ing and fro-ing in anxiety about whether I should have let my son drive home to get his driving practice hours up, but feeling the need for an hour without that anxiety. My mother-in-law lives in the ‘posh’ part of Sydney. Down by the harbour. Down by all the nice houses. My car and body knew the way home au...

This conversation was an absolute treat. Brandon Lucero’s official tagline says he helps: “entrepreneurs create powerful messaging & content that helps sell millions while impacting millions”.  But his deeper mission is to transform the business space – to make us really think about what we are doing – not just do what the gurus have taught us.  And THIS is exactly what I believe too. It’s tim...