Seize the Yay

Well, we know that big life pivots and sliding doors moments are one of my favourite things to talk about here and they've come in the form of reality TV shows before but never quite in the manner experienced by the ubiquitous Abbie Chatfield. You've seen her on Bachelor, you've seen her win I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here but you may not have heard her quite like this... You'll very soon hear from the hysterical laughter how much I enjoyed sitting down with this force to be reckoned with and how fascinating I found it diving beneath the surface of what some parts of the media seem to want us to focus on. From growing up with a single Mum to her full career as a property analyst with a degree in property economics there was a lifetime before Gemini-gate that led Abbie to where she is today. Now, she is a powerful spokesperson breaking down social taboo on so many topics like body positivity, mental health and even releasing her own vibrator range with VUSH as well as hosting her podcast, It's A Lot Podcast. But her platform wasn't handed to her on a silver nor was her transition into the spotlight as friendly or seamless as it might have seemed - she is a damned hard worker with an endearing openness about her experiences and challenges to date and I loved getting to know her a bit better. I hope you guys enjoy. ABBIE'S PODCAST - IT'S A LOT VUSH x ABBIE COLLABORATION + Follow Abbie here + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah + Join our Facebook community here + Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!

Welcome to a new week, lovely yayborhood. If you're looking for some motivation for a fresh start, our guest for this episode is your woman. If you haven't heard of Tory Archbold, you've probably encountered her work in some form or another - she is the superstar publicist whose first business, Torstar, brought Zara to Australia, took Seafolly and Sukin overseas and included Nespresso, Victoria's Secret and Adidas in its booming portofolio. That was, however, before the universe took her through a near-death experience which you'll hear all about and through a complete re-evaluation of her life and priorities. In an a-ha moment sparked by Drew Barrymore, Tory decided to close her hugely successful agency and seize a brand new yay with Powerful Steps - a platform to inspire, encourage and empower others in their own lives. I think you'll understand very quickly why this is perfectly suited to her - she has so much to share about limiting beliefs, surrender and finding your power. What a valuable guest to have with us today for some wisdom and wonder about #yaysofourlives. TORY'S BUSINESS ATTRACTION PROGRAM + Follow Tory here + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah + Join our Facebook community here + Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!

You know I'm no stranger to a fangirl moment, but this one is really up there. Having followed her journey for over a decade and pored over her fabulous new book, Of Gold and Dust, our guest this week is none other than Samantha Wills. You may have heard parts of how she grew her multimillion-dollar global eponymous jewellery label from her kitchen table and the Bondi markets at just 21 years old to a string of stores from Singapore to New York and the likes of J.Lo, Eva Mendes and Katy Perry clamouring to wear her jewellery. For any aspiring business owners, she has so much to share about the 12 years it took her to overnight success covering the scale up, brand growth, community building and taking things one chapter at a time. Her brilliant new book also reveals some of the character-building "shitter bits" (as you know I like to call them) along the way from $80,000 of debt, burnout, personal turmoil and crippling impostor syndrome - I didn't realise she was a TAFE double drop out. But what I find MOST fascinating about her story is that just when Samantha Wills Jewellery had truly solidified itself as an undeniable success, she closed the business and walked away. For someone as fascinated as I am by redefining the metrics by which you measure your life, knowing when your jigsaw puzzle need a shake up and choosing happiness before success, this was such an engaging chat I barely knew where to start. I hope it's as enlightening and eye opening for you as it was for me. SAMANTHA'S NEW BOOK, OF GOLD AND DUST + Follow Samantha here + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah + Join our Facebook community here + Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!

You'll probably notice that this isn't actually the quote of the yay we talk about in the episode, but Khanh's was a little too dark (and a little too Latin) for the title even though it does have a strong underlying reminder that life is too short not to seize your yay. Although sometimes confronting our mortality can be the kick up the butt you need to remember that life is too precious and fleeting to let a day go by where you sacrifice who you are or what you love because of what some else expects / demands / believes. We do get very quickly back to the lightness and laughter, I promise, covering all sorts of random sources of yay from panda facts, bento box tutorials and even why faces in inanimate objects are good for the soul. Like the past few #yaysofourlives episodes, I didn't plan anything in advance and roped Khanh a few hours beforehand, which means lots of random tangents and embarrassing unfiltered insights into our thought processes, but hopefully you get a giggle out of it along the way (and some fresh new YouTube tangents to keep you smiling during lockdown!) Note: The internet at both ends was so temperamental so halfway through we swap to FaceTime - the joys of WFH. Here are some of the things we mentioned this week: •Khanh's original episode, Seize the Gay •The Human Library •The four-day work week in Iceland •Inanimate objects with faces Follow Khanh Ong here

Skipped #yaysofourlives this week as we've had some builders at home which don't create the loveliest background noises for podcasting, but today's guest well and truly makes up for the gap. It's been probably nearly eight years since I first heard of Holly Ransom and started closely following her journey but today was the very first time I've had the privilege of chatting with her directly. If she'd been inspiring and influencing me from afar with her intellect, drive and leadership, her impact was tenfold in this conversation and I feel so lucky to be able to share that with some of you. Holly has about as much difficulty describing what she does as I do but that's probably why we get along so well facing a lifelong inability not to try everything and anything (and all at once). She is a specialist in disruptive strategy, a private company director and advocate for social and economic inclusion, a businesswoman, a globally recognised speaker, podcaster and just this year also an author. Starting with an Arts/Law degree for similar reasons as I did, Holly's born flair for leadership and insatiable curiosity ultimately led her away from the law and into a constantly evolving career path with more accolades than I have time to list here. She was named one of Australia's 100 Most Influential Women by the Australian Financial Review, she has delivered a Peace Charter to the Dalai Lama, interviewed Barack Obama on stage and was Sir Richard Branson's nominee for Wired Magazine's 'Smart List' of Future Game Changers to watch in 2017. In 2019 she was awarded the US Embassy's Eleanor Roosevelt Award for Leadership Excellence. She won the Fulbright Scholarship to complete her Masters at Harvard University from which she graduated and has now poured the culmination of all those experiences into a fabulous book, The Leading Edge. I'll let her tell you the rest herself in the most articulate and engaging words! I hope you enjoy HOLLY'S NEW BOOK, THE LEADING EDGE + Follow Sarah here + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah + Join our Facebook community here + Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!

As you can probably tell since I ramble on about it all the time, one of my favourite parts of creating this show is hearing not only so many fascinating and unique stories I might not otherwise have come across, but even within those stories, getting to actually sit down with the protagonist to unearth the parts that shorter interviews or written pieces might skate over. Today's guest is the perfect example of that whose incredible success has gained her worldwide recognition but whose earlier chapters fascinated me even more. Sarah Andrews is the owner of iconic Tasmanian Airbnb Captain's Rest that she bought as a shack in 2016 despite locals promising her that nobody would come to visit the middle of nowhere. It is now booked out every day of the year and up to almost a year in advance earning $10-$15k per month with an entire local economy starting to build up around the venue as crowds started to flock to Tasmania's remote West Coast. Applying her earlier science background to the science of hosting and marketing, Sarah has since turned her newfound expertise into a globally acclaimed The Hosting Masterclass guiding other business owners to success around the world and her new book Principles of Style is also soon to come out. But what I loved hearing the most was the rollercoaster it took to get here covering a career as a spatial scientist, a year living on a yacht travelling the world, a traumatic Mexican storm leading to a shipwreck like rescue by the Mexican navy and so much more in between. I mean, if there's a film director listening in to this one, you're welcome - I was both emotionally exhausted and invigorated by the end of this episode which is really only just the beginning for Sarah Andrews. I hope you enjoy as much as I did! CHECK OUT CAPTAIN'S REST HERE FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE HOSTING MASTERCLASS SARAH'S NEW BOOK, PRINCIPLES OF STYLE + Follow Sarah here + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah + Join our Facebook community here + Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!

Welcome back to #yaysofourlives beautiful people - I hope you're being gentle on yourselves during another crazy year. I really notice what a rollercoaster it is when I sit down to record these and see how drastically things change week to week - it's a lot to take in so sending everyone lots of love. Perfect time to send some more random, joyful banter into your ears - after I went into Dr Kieran Kennedy's episode a few weeks ago without ANY notes or plans and had such a blast, I decided to this same for this week to see where it took us. And what a thrill to be joined by two amazing humans who also love a good chinwag, Tully Humphrey and Sarah Pasini. It probably says a lot about their relationship that they chose two very similar #quotesoftheyay: •I am no longer present for things that make me feel like shit. •Distance yourself from people that bring out the person you're not trying to be anymore You may have already heard of and/or from these two before either through their own cracking podcast, Curious Conversations, that I jumped on a few weeks ago or through their trail blazing activewear label, TULLY LOU. If you haven't, these two are business partners and best friends who shift effortlessly between serious practical insights on eight years in business stealing the hearts of Gigi Hadid and the like to hysterical cackles about the woes of dating in the modern age. I've been lucky to know them both since the very first day of Matcha Maiden and have drawn so much inspiration from them both for many years. Tully is such an amazing example of the non-conventional pathYAY overcoming anorexia and depression from 14 years old and quitting school at 16 years old to found a business that played a huge role in bringing athleisure to where it is today. Sare brings a contrasting academic background and experience in exercise science to the business and their friendship making them the perfect pair. I always have such a great time chatting with these two although I can barely remember what we even spoke about but those random chats are my favourites - hope you enjoy! + Follow Tully Lou, Tully Humphrey and Sarah Pasini here + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah + Join our Facebook community here + Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!

It's always such a pleasure to join podcast forces and after having an absolute blast on Tropeaka's podcast a couple of weeks ago, this week we've turned the tables on CEO and co-founder, Caleb Marshall. Leading one of Australia's fastest growing and largest health food companies with 14,000 5-star reviews and an ever-growing range of amazing products, Caleb is well and truly seizing his yay. As we so often reiterate on the show, you could easily assume it's been smooth sailing if you'd been observing Tropeaka's impressive trajectory since 2016, but even I was surprised by how candidly Caleb discusses the tougher chapters of his pathYAY, particularly through his school years and then losing three and a half years of his life to a debilitating struggle with chronic fatigue. But the patience, self-awareness and positivity he brings to reframing that experience as a life-changing pivot is sure to reassure not just fellow chronic illness suffers but anyone out there waiting for their passion and purpose to become clear. I love how much I learn from each guest and their perspectives on life and he particularly reminds me just how important it is to stick with the wild and whacky things you love because what makes you happy might make others desperately unhappy and vice versa but that's the whole point of seizing your yay - it's not meant to look like any one else's. I hope you enjoy as much as I did + Follow Caleb here + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah + Join our Facebook community here + Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!

Sometimes I regret using certain phrases so much because when I really want to hammer something home I've usually already overdone it. So, for example, I really want to emphasise what an incredible breath of fresh air today's guest is but I've probably said that many times before so thank goodness you're about to hear from her yourself as I know you'll agree she's truly one in a billion. If anyone's pathYAY could be said to truly veer off in totally unexpected directions at every new chapter, it's Aimee Stanton's - she has the most fascinating story so far and she's not even 30. If you've met her even once, she's someone you want to be around more and more with the most energetic zest for life, for giving things a red hot crack and being who you truly are. You'd expect that she's always been as confident and self-assured but I was surprised to learn that most of her earlier years were spent not only thinking but being told she'd never amount to anything culminating in an expulsion from school and many years not knowing where her place was. But after finding her feet as an award winning plumber and shaking up the industry as a lady tradie, walking ON FOOT from Melbourne to Canberra because she could, competing on Survivor and House Rules then starting an incredibly successful business, Tiny Stays, building tiny homes with her brother, she's well and truly proved her strength, talent and drive and I bloody loved having her on the show. We've been in each other's orbit for a few years now through another regular podcast guest Sammy Gash and recently spend time in the NT getting to know each other even better. Ih op9e you guys enjoy her a much as I did CHECK OUT TINY STAYS HERE + Follow Aimee here + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah + Join our Facebook community here + Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!

Welcome back to #yaysofourlives everyone, this one's a bit of a cracker. In a Seize the Yay first, I didn't write any notes to prepare for this episode OR edit any of it at all which is both terrifying and liberating as well a testament to what a great conversationalist our guest for the episode truly is. I'm joined by absolute legend Dr Kieran Kennedy, a medical doctor, psychiatrist and mental health advocate who first appeared on the show back in episode 92 (which I highly recommend you go and have a listen to for context). It is in fact the one year anniversary this week of our chat for last year's Men's Health Week and I thought who better to join for a reunion to discuss THIS year's Men's Health Week than Dr Kieran. Kieran is a dedicated advocate for redefining societal ideas about masculinity, encouraging open conversations about mental health and wellbeing, and has been a shining light for many of us through the challenges of Victoria's continued lockdowns. He also EXPERTLY weaves in amongst his technical scientific wisdom, a wicked sense of humour, passion for calf club which I'll never let him live down and love for seizing his yay making this an absolute hoot. We really only met properly during last year's episode and haven't known each other long but he's one of those people you instantly trust and can have the most enjoyably tangential conversations with. I had also been filming for over 15 hours when we recorded this so please excuse my delirium - I usually don't let that level of crazy out of the bag, but hopefully you get a few laughs out of it as well as some more serious, practical insights on managing your mental health. If you feel you need support at any time, please contact Lifeline 13 11 14, Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636 or your local mental health service (type your suburb followed by 'mental health'). + Follow Dr Kieran here + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah + Join our Facebook community here

I feel like a big part of the yayborhood will already know today's guest quite well, but in case you don't, Victoria Devine is someone you MUST get acquainted with if you're interested in financial freedom without skimping on the fun stuff (so basically everyone ever). Victoria is a multi-award-winning financial adviser and creator of She's on the Money, Australia's #1 finance podcast (and 7th biggest of all podcasts in the country) who is revolutionising the way millennials think about money. If you're like me, you may have grown up thinking money along with religion and politics is a topic never to be discussed at the table, but you may also have found that disempowering and an obstacle to actually learning how to build wealth, invest and safeguard your future. Enter, Victoria and her unique ability to demystify and translate intimidating financial concepts to make them accessible, non-judgmental and fun. She's on the Money covers everything from game-changing budgeting templates to changing your money story and from debt or insurance to planning for children. From a facebook group to podcast to a brand-new comprehensive book published just this week, She's on the Money is the ultimate millennial money guide that I cannot recommend more highly! Now I did make sure to grab some practical takeaways for the yayborhood in this episode but the book is SO comprehensive and quite life-changing and I know you'll all grab a copy, so I used most of this episode to chat about things that aren't captured in its pages. I was lucky enough to meet Victoria a few chapters before She's on the Money or Seize the Yay began and her way to yay is such a valuable reminder that the pathway to passion and purpose is far from linear. Victoria didn't even start out in finance, with so many steps in her staircase before finding her yay. I hope you learn as much from this one as I did! + Follow Victoria here + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah + Join our Facebook community here + Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!

2021 RE-RELEASE To celebrate the launch of Flex's new book, The Success Experiment. BUY YOUR COPY HERE ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ The way that 2020 has unfolded has had a lot of us reflecting in ways we haven't in years, but self-awareness, existential reflection and critical thinking about values, behaviours and perceptions has been this week's guest jam since long before the pandemic. Few people get my brain gymnastics going like the inimitable Lillian Ahenkan, who you may know as Flex Mami, and the chat you're about to hear was no exception. While she is now changing how we think, do our make-up, and decorate our furniture as a self-dubbed professional opinion haver and slashie - DJ/TV host/podcaster/beauty guru/creator of Flex Factory - I loved chatting to Lil about the rollercoaster journey all of us go through finding our personal balance between conventionality and difference. As an Australian born Ghanaian woman, the societal projection of a homogenous Black woman's experience is just one of the many layers of identity that we peel back with her incredible ability to articulate and guide multifaceted conversations. I was so captivated in exploring the different elements of our identity and the many snakeskins Flex has worn and shed herself that we went for almost two hours having a great laugh but I've cut the "best of" for you to enjoy. If you aren't thinking fundamentally differently about things at the end of this, I'd be surprised!!! Also we both used proper podcasting microphones but got VERY loud - someone mentioned the other day that sometimes my bursts of laughter deafen them a bit but someone else mentioned that sometimes the episodes are too quiet... so I've been doing a lot of tutorials on making the audio more even and pulling the extremes closer to the middle. As you probably know I do all the editing myself and am still learning some tricks, so thank you for the ongoing feedback and patience! Hope you enjoy! + Follow Flex Mami here + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah + Join our Facebook community here + Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!

I don't know if you guys experience this the same way I do, but I walk away from some episodes wanting to make lifelong friends with our guest just to spend more time around their energy and ideas. Morgan Mitchell is absolutely one of those people who is both everything you'd expect of an Olympic athlete and nothing you'd expect of an Olympic athlete all at once. Once you hear Morgan's incredible self-awareness, determination, and lifelong passion for sport, her success on the track makes so much sense with a string of accolades under her belt starting from the tender age of six. Two decades later, at just 26 years old, she is now preparing for her SECOND Olympics in Tokyo taking on a completely new focus swapping from the 400m to the 800m which, as she'll explain, is nowhere near as similar as you might expect. What might surprise you though is her refreshingly balanced approach to running, which makes up but one part of her identity and goals in life. In fact, it's her commitment to maintaining interests and a busy schedule OFF the track that she credits for her success on it, encouraging all of us to remember that life is more than your career. So you'll hear about the Rio Olympics in 2016 but you'll hear more about its afterparty as well as that time Shaquille O'Neil slid into her DMs, the James Cameron movie she featured in, the other forms of training she does including becoming an F45 ambassador and everything in between. I still don't really believe she's only 26 with such a wise and solid head on her shoulders! I hope you guys have as much of a laugh as I did! + Follow Morgan here + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah + Join our Facebook community here SIGN UP FOR THE RELIEF RUN HERE

You may have heard me speak about Joshua Coombes in #yaysofourlives a few days ago and I'm so thrilled to say not only has his book Do Something for Nothing launched in Australia this week, he's also joined us on the show for today's episode. If you missed my intro on Monday, Joshua is a British hairdresser who took his skill onto the streets to give free haircuts to the homeless and, together with his passion and skill for storytelling, has created a global movement of kindness, connection and humanity. His new book shares stories as well as before and after images of people he's met from all over the world showing the confidence, hope and joy he brings them from taking a moment to connect. For people who often feel invisible and misunderstood in society, he's shining such an important light on homelessness and helping break down the stigma it's still surrounded by. He's also encouraging us all to do something for nothing - for him, it's by giving free haircuts but he insists that we all have a skill or talent we can share for free with others. I found him so fascinating and his stories even more captivating! Note: you'll notice the audio changes about half way through when his airpods died with a bit of clicking just beforehand, so apologies for the glitches, but we still managed to have an amazing conversation across the globe so I'm pretty chuffed with that. I hope he makes you smile as much as he did for me! BUY JOSHUA'S NEW BOOK HERE + Follow Joshua here + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah + Join our Facebook community here

This #yaysofourlives episode coming to you from lockdown for the FOURTH time. To my fellow Victorians, sending you ALL my love and if you've been reading my dear diary reflections on socials you'll know that I as much as anyone need the reminder to be gentle on yourselves with your response to this round. Whether you're swinging between productivity pressure or beating yourselves up for being the opposite of productive or between sadness or frustration and guilt for enjoying parts of it or even beating yourself up for having a reaction at all because it's only seven days long, just let go of it all and remember it's normal to respond to abnormal situations with abnormal reactions. And if the emotions you are sitting in are nonetheless starting to feel really overwhelming, this week's quote of the yay is one I pulled from last week's episode with Hugh van Cuylenberg (which I'm so pleased has had an outpouring of love): "Let everything happen to you. Beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final" - Rainer Marie Rilke. Another one I love is from Charlie Chaplin is "Nothing is permanent in this wicked world - not even our troubles", which I needed today because I've been pretty flat and tired and wasn't feeling the yay when I first tried to record this ep on my own... SO I put in a last minute call to two legends that I LOVED chatting with recently who I knew could lift the energy for this episode and I'm SO glad I did!!! Lachie Bradford and Robbie Hicks are the hosts of Funny Business - a cracking podcast for free thinkers and creators exploring business culture and performance in Australia. Such a great laugh and catch up - I hope it made you smile! LISTEN TO FUNNY BUSINESS HERE + Follow Funny Business here + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah + Join our Facebook community here