Human Cogs Podcast

During the dark days of the pandemic not everyone was baking sourdough. Many women were locked in their homes with people they feared, and psychological, physical, financial and fatal abuse played out behind closed doors with domestic violence continuing to devastate too many lives. Tarang Chawla is a writer, speaker, anti-violence campaigner and mental health advocate, whose beloved 23-year-old sister Niki was tragically murdered by her partner.  Niki's horrific death and inspiring life has become the catalyst for Tarang's powerful change-making. Named as Young Australian of the Year Finalist, AFL Community Champion Award Winner, India-Australia Young Community Achiever of the Year, and Pro Bono Top 25 Most Influential Australians, Tarang founded the ‘Not One More Niki' movement, Australia's largest campaign to end violence against women in culturally diverse communities. Tarang continues to use his voice to serve the community and champion human rights, and has just released a ground-breaking new podcast in collaboration with Future Women and supported by CommBank called There's No Place Like Home, which features the stories of 10 extraordinary people who have survived family violence and domestic abuse. In this difficult, inspirational and hope-filled conversation on Human Cogs, Tarang emphasizes the importance of victim-survivors stories, explores how we move to solutions, and shares how keeping his sister's spirit alive in his everyday has given him the fuel to keep fighting for social change. It might be hard to listen and front up to the truth of the abuse and violence that is perpetrated behind closed doors.​ But as Tarang says: “It's vital that we do. We have to listen. Because we need to learn.​” SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuests: Tarang ChawlaLinks: There's No Place Like Home, Future Women, Instagram Technical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :)Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did you know that you spend most of your waking life working – a jaw-dropping 90,000 hours for the average person. Work dominates our days. It can be the thing that gets you up in the morning, or the thing that keeps you awake at night. What about you? Has the pandemic changed your relationship with work? Are you at a career crossroads, feeling tired, unmotivated, a tad lost in your work life? Are you experiencing burnout? Do you want to be more intentional about the role of work in your life so you can grow more joy and meaning in your career, and make your work, well, work for you? We sat down to explore some of these questions with ABC Broadcaster Lisa Leong, who along with journalist Monique Ross, has spent a lot of time thinking and writing about work and co-authored a brilliant just published book called This Working Life - How To Navigate Your Career In Uncertain Times. In this conversation, Lisa and Mon share how being on the brink of burnout was the wake up call they each needed to change their relationship with work, and themselves. They reflect on their personal, hard-won learnings and how they had to rethink unsustainable and negative work habits to rebalance their work life coherence, do less to gain more, and harness their energy and superpowers to craft the careers they now truly love. There’s stacks of great practical advice in here to help kickstart your career next steps, or at least help you have a good hard look at how you spend your working life. SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuests: Lisa Leong and Monique RossWebsite: This Working LifeSocials - Lisa: Twitter, InstagramSocials - Mon: Twitter, Instagram Technical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :)Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have you ever set yourself a crazy big hairy audacious goal, and found yourself against the odds somehow achieving it? Women climb invisible mountains every day. But Laura Youngson's eureka moment came on a volcanic ash pitch, 5,714 metres above sea level, on Tanzania's Mount Kilimanjaro in June 2017. Youngson, an ambitious entrepreneur, gender activist and Co-Founder of global non-profit Equal Playing Field and Ida Sports, had a crazy idea that if she could convince two teams of female soccer players from 20 countries to join her on an expedition up a mountain to set the Guinness World Record for the highest altitude game of soccer ever played, they could literally change the game for women and girls the world over. The record made news across the planet, and set Laura on a path she could never have foreseen. This is a conversation about what happened next, about change, showing up, and how it’s mostly the failures that shape us and make us. Laura shares with us the shadow side of striving, the relentless juggle of businesses and babies, and that if we can each just summit the limits we impose on ourselves, women and girls can do anything they put their minds to. SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Laura YoungsonLinks: Ida Sports, Equal Playing Field, LinkedIn Technical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :)Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sushi Das is an award-winning British Australian journalist of more than 25 years, spending much of her career at The Age, where she held a series of senior reporting and editing positions.
 She is the winner of two Melbourne Press Club Quill Awards including Best Columnist (2005) and currently works as a freelance columnist and as a researcher for RMIT ABC Fact Check. A brilliant writer and storyteller, Sushi is the author of Deranged Marriage - an affectionate, often hilarious, memoir of growing up in London in the 1970s in a strict and traditional Indian household, she raged against the control of her father and tried desperately to avoid an arranged marriage.  Education was Sushi's passport to freedom and it enabled her to escape to Australia in her 20's to live the life she wanted for herself, and to find her own place in the world on her terms, as she navigated the tug between Eastern expectations and Western desires.  Like so many of us, she has grappled with parental and cultural pressures that clash with her own deep needs for independence and justice. In this episode, Sushi reflects on the role of mothers in raising strong daughters, in not repeating the patterns of the past, and in letting your children be free to emerge into who they are - as she says, “I do not own my daughter. I am her custodian. I am the bow and she is the arrow.” SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Sushi DasSocials: Twitter, LinkedIn Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :)Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when, aged 30, you understand you’re transgender? This was the question that confronted Dr Yves Rees, an award-winning author, historian and regular contributor to ABC Radio and The Conversation, whose life was upended by gender transition in 2018. Then known as a woman called Anne, Yves was forced to grapple with the knowledge that they were not, in fact, a woman at all. In this episode, Yves shares the events that led to their transition including completing a PhD, ending a relationship with a male, moving cities and even dabbling in a brief encounter with marijuana which unlocked the human who’d been hiding inside all along. Yves describes the limitless joy that surfaced when the binary confines of society gave way to the euphoric possibility of what’s next. Yves expresses the desire that sits within each of us to be seen for who we are, regardless of the complexities and conflicts that are so very innately human. Yves’s wisdom is profound and invites the radical self-inquiry of us all. If there’s any part of you that yearns to be more you, we know you’ll relate to Yves while applauding this very personal, and universal story of a wise, articulate and curious human who’s just trying to be themselves in a world that has space for them. SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Yves ReesWebsite: www.yvesrees.comSocials: Podcast, Twitter Technical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :)Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Many of us hear the word menopause and may think it’s not meaningful or relevant in our own life – regardless of our gender, career path or life stage. As an accomplished business executive who travelled the world working in often male-dominated industries, Melissa MacGowan was once probably the same. Until the symptoms of undiagnosed peri-menopause wreaked havoc in her own life. Melissa is now a passionate business coach who supports female leaders to banish burnout and manage the many and complex personal and professional changes associated with menopause. In this chat, Melissa shares her own tools and strategies for maximising growth, managing stress, and dialling up vitality. She reveals the power of exploring unexamined beliefs, the importance of taking a team approach with her husband (who she describes as her partner in growth), and how her many moments of 2am despair catalysed a conscious slowing down, and the revelation that stress steals your mojo. If you’re wondering how to better manage your time and energy, if you would like to prioritise energy over action, and if you want to focus on how you wish to feel rather than what you want to achieve, then this insightful chat is for you. Whether you are male or female, I know you’ll learn something about yourself, your partner, or a colleague. Regardless if they have reached menopause or not! SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Melissa MacGowanSocials: Instagram, LinkedIn Technical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :)Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Adam Schwab is a former corporate lawyer, company founder, angel investor and the co-founder of Luxury Escapes, a global travel company. He has also written for Crikey and SmartCompany since 2005 and is the author of Pigs at the Trough: Lessons from Australia’s Decade of Corporate Greed. From being a self-described glorified filer at a top-tier law firm, to great accomplishments as an entrepreneur, Adam credits his hard work, grit and precision, honed as a law student, as key ingredients in building Luxury Escapes into the juggernaut that it is today. We started by asking how Adam would describe himself if you met him at a party. What followed was a rapid-fire rundown of his journey to now, harnessing his insatiable appetite for winning, keeping his head while riding the highs and lows of the entrepreneurial journey, all while at the helm of a billion-dollar company. This conversation offers a fascinating window into the entrepreneurial mindset, the line danced between risk and safety, the power of co-founder relationships; and in the face of great success, how Adam sees himself as a frugal everyday man, and the kind of person that loves a good holiday deal just like the rest of us. SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Adam SchwabWebsite: Crikey, Luxury EscapesSocials: Twitter, Podcast, Instagram Technical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :)Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

George McEncroe is a tech entrepreneur, writer, standup comedian, educator, and force of nature. The single mother of four hates orthodoxies, has a roll up your sleeves ‘can do’ mantra, and has spent her life giving everything a crack to dial up the carpe diem in her every day so she doesn’t die wondering. In this episode, we hear about some of the formative experiences that have shaped the adult George is today, including the trauma of losing her beloved sister to suicide, weathering a marriage breakup, mental health challenges, and her commitment to continuous self-reflection and self-improvement so she can build a safe harbour for herself, and those in her fold. George reflects on the realisation that she is more capable than she ever thought, and also that being overly trusting of others hasn’t always served her well as an entrepreneur. She also shares the ways she has found to calm her mind, by journaling her fears and resentments, meditating, minimising alcohol, and uncoupling herself from her work. There’s a lot in this conversation, including quite a few F-bombs (sorry about that!). But the truth is it’s a story from the heart - raw, real, and strong. We started by asking George some rapid fire questions, beginning with who she is in the world of biscuits. SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: George McEncroeWebsite: Shebah.com.auSocials: Twitter, LinkedIn Technical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :)Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jocelyn Brewer has, in her words, a job of the future. A psychologist and ex-teacher who helps individuals and organisations be well connected and mentally fit, she has been working with adolescents, families and adults for a decade, and understands the complexity of busy modern life, the increasing role of technology in our work and how healthy digital and screen habits need to be consciously shaped by us all. But rather than see exponential technology and social media as a dark force in our lives, Jocelyn debunks the notion of screen addiction and instead invites us all to do an audit on our relationship with our technology devices, so we can make better choices about our “digital nutrition” - that is what we choose to watch, like, who we follow and much time we’re actually spending online. In this chat, Jocelyn reveals some bite-sized morsels to help guide the use of technology for young people and adults. She has a wealth of resources available to download too and runs courses to support the younger generations who she calls digital orphans, rather than digital natives because their parents haven’t dined on the digital diets that are such an integral part of their lives. We started by asking Jocelyn how the worlds of teaching, psychology and technology came to collide in her own life. SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Jocelyn BrewerWebsite: Jocelyn BrewerSocials: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn Technical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website.Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On an ordinary day in August 2018, Craig Hopper woke up living the dream, got ready for the day, kissed his three kids goodbye and went off to work. Meanwhile, his wife dropped their youngest at school and set off as a fit 46-year-old on her regular morning run. What happened next changed their lives forever. Craig’s wife suffered a massive heart attack and was found by a passing cyclist unresponsive, unconscious and without a pulse. It took 24 hours to get her heart started again, 10 days in a coma, 7 operations and 10 weeks in hospital before she was finally able to return home to the family, with a brain injury. While this is her story, it is also the story of how Craig as her partner became an instant carer to four dependents, adjusted to this complex new normal, and is still finding a way to navigate the difficult journey through hope to grief and beyond In this episode, Craig shares his insights on the healing magic of talking and the unexpected power of asking for help. SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Craig HopperWebsite: Brave New BlokesSocials: LinkedIn Technical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :)Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rachael Neumann is an uber impressive high flyer who has experienced countless successes around the globe in the ever-changing and complex worlds of venture capital investment and business. But business wasn’t the focus of our fabulous and high-octane chat. Instead of deep diving into her latest hot startup deal, Rachael shared some of the formative experiences that have shaped the inner narrative which has fuelled her fierce drive and ambition based on growth and acquisition, which has often come at the cost of her being able to experience fun, levity and real joy. Rachel also shares the painful story of her brother’s sudden death aged just 21, which she internalised and has over time prevented her recognising and prioritising her own suffering, hurts and emotional wounds. There is so much in this conversation that we can all learn from, but at it’s very core, it’s a powerful toolkit of advice for everyone about how to give yourself permission, time and space to be who you are, and not continue to be complicit in the conditions you create for yourself. The takeaway message is to believe we are worthy of choosing ourselves, over and over again. Which we all acknowledge is a work in progress! Enjoy our chat with Rachael. SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Rachael NeumannWebsite: flyingfox.vcSocials: LinkedIn, Twitter Technical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :)Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, I take to the mic solo without my articulate co-host Mads to meet James “Fish” Gill, a Heart Coach, Yoga Teacher, and Transformational Facilitator. Fish shares his own learnings and teachings about how to see the beauty in conflict, the power of curiosity in relationships, and why certainty is almost always a red flag. From giving himself permission to feel joy, even while coaching others who are experiencing deep pain, to finding ways to acknowledge and validate himself, we explore themes of abandonment, hurt and blame, and the two non-negotiable rituals Fish practices to soothe and support himself most days. If you’ve ever experienced conflict in a relationship, and let’s face it… who hasn’t!! Or if you long to give and receive more understanding, compassion and love, then Fish has some gems for you! And if you’d like tools that trigger safety rather than attack or defend cycles with a partner, parent, child, sibling or peer, then join us for some coaching tips that will help you see the goodness in others and help them see the goodness in you. Here’s my heartfelt chat with the whole-hearted Fish… SHOW CREDITS Host: Sabina ReadGuest: James 'Fish' GillConnect with James at these links: Retreats, Online/In-Person Coaching, PodcastsSocials: InstagramTechnical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :)Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did you know that the average age of menopause is 51, menopause that occurs between 40 and 45 is called 'early menopause', and menopause that happens before age 40 is called 'premature menopause'?   October is Menopause Awareness Month. So we're opening up important conversations on Human Cogs to explore all of the usual sleepless, sweat-soaked challenges that menopause brings, and also to sit inside the lives of remarkable humans who invite us into the complex experience of an unexpected early menopause transition. In this episode we meet Kirsty Costa - an award-winning educator, global environmentalist, values-based leadership coach and self-confessed “bird nerd” - who at the age of just 31 faced what she describes as her “Triple Whammy” year, when she lost a pregnancy, discovered she carried the BRCA (breast and ovarian cancer gene), and experienced a devastating premature menopause.  In this powerful and emotional conversation, Kirsty shares the story of how she and her husband somehow managed to get through that year, and how today she continues to get up and show up in the world when so much of her is still grieving, and coming to terms with the fact that life didn't go according to plan.  Kirsty also reminds us all of how living with hope and optimism can be a galvanising roadmap through the inevitable highs and lows that life brings, and that fate is far less relevant than the choices we each choose to make every day. Just a word of note to our listeners: This episode does touch on the deep grief and trauma of needing to make a decision to terminate a pregnancy; what it's like to be diagnosed with the BRCA gene; and also the lived experience premature menopause. It's a real and authentic conversation, however we do acknowledge that some of the content may be triggering for those who have lived through similar experiences. Please do  seek help from a professional if you need support. SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine Grummet  Guest: Kirsty Costa Helpful Links: Health Talk Australia - Early MenopauseJean Hailes - Premature and Early Menopause Links: Twitter, Instagram Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on Instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please HIT SUBSCRIBE and leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen to and learn from these human stories.Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For those of you into AFL, footy finals fever just swept the nation as we aired this episode of Human Cogs. So who better to get on the show than an ex AFL player and ex coach, to explore the game of football, and the game of life.  There are lots of things we assume about people who are outliers. People who have gone beyond the everyday, achieved extraordinary success, and who completely and undeniably stand out from the rest of us. Scott Watters is one of those people. From his Huckleberry Finn childhood exploring holiday islands and looking for adventure, to tens of thousands of hours playing sport in his youth, Scott pushed to get the absolute best out of himself which led him to a successful VFL and then AFL career, and ultimately to the helm of the St Kilda Football Club as head coach.  But what happened next challenged him. In this conversation, I talk with Scott about his Croatian-Australian heritage, his talent and drive - is it born or built?, about success and failure and where growth and learning come from when you actually step into the arena to face crisis - and how absolute adversity helps you find your gift when you're in the midst of the perfect storm. Scott knows this all too well. As the Founder and CEO of the national LifeChanger Foundation, his organisation works to help students connect with inspiring mentors to share, repair, connect and build life-affirming skills at moments of clear challenge.  In our chat, Scott has some great tips on what parents can do to recognise and find the hero in their kids, and shares his advice on what can give us all connection and clear space in moments of anxiety. There is so much in this conversation that we can all use to change our own lives and stories, no matter who we are, where we are, or where we're at. Here's my conversation with Scott. SHOW CREDITS Host: Madeleine Grummet Guest: Scott WattersLinks: Instagram, Facebook Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on Instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please HIT SUBSCRIBE and leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen to and learn from these human stories.Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nicole Dyson is an award-winning educator, has represented Australia as a delegate for the G20 Young Entrepreneur's Alliance, and is the trail-blazing founder of Future Anything, which has worked with 1000's of students and schools across Australia delivering entrepreneurial education to unleash the potential of young people. Nicole trained as a teacher in the USA, UK and Australia and has held leadership positions at Queensland's top-performing public schools, where she has repeatedly led the design and implementation of education system changes to support future-ready learning, placing young people at the forefront of co-designing learning experiences - exactly where they should be.As Nelson Mandela said: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” But what is the role of education in a rapidly changing world, and a world in which young people are facing uncertain futures fuelled by the COVID-19 pandemic, globalisation and exponential technological advancement? In this conversation, Nicole shares her thoughts on the challenges of today's current education approaches, which can default to an industrialised ‘chalk and talk', ‘teach to the test' model which doesn't keep up with the real world, and increasingly sees students disengaging or dropping out of education altogether. Compounding that disengagement is a generation of young people who are given scant opportunity to play, experiment and explore their passions and interests at school, and who in many instances are being raised by stressed out, low capacity parents, who have no idea how to support their kids' learning and future pathway development. This is an episode for educators and parents out there who want to discover what rich and engaging project-based learning can look like if it is anchored in real-world and relatable educational experiences, and who want to excite young people again about transforming their talents, passions and curiosities into game-changing ideas that can - and will - make the world a better place. SHOW CREDITS Host: Madeleine GrummetGuest: Nicole DysonLinks: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Website Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on Instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please HIT SUBSCRIBE and leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen to and learn from these human stories.Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Brad Feld is the author of eight best-selling books on venture capital investing and entrepreneurship, has been an early-stage investor for more than 30 years, and is pretty much a global legend when it comes to startup communities and entrepreneurial ecosystems, and what makes their flywheels spin. Currently Managing Director at Foundry Group a US-based venture capital firm that invests in early-stage technology companies, Brad also co-founded Techstars, and has been a major force in the global startup ecosystem, backing thousands of founders on their startup journeys to date. But truth be told, the world of venture investment can get a bit of a bad wrap sometimes. Competitive, fast-paced, low on diversity and high on testosterone, it is often regarded as the arena of Alphas. So in this conversation with Brad, Human Cogs Cohost Madeleine Grummet gets under the hood of Brad's real life as a VC, to uncover his personal drivers, trigger points and life learnings, and discover that the human underneath is incredibly thoughtful, deeply reflective, remarkably wise - and a great storyteller. As you’ll learn in this episode, Brad shares how it has taken him a while to find his place, and that as a reformed workaholic, he now regularly goes off the grid to hit the trails around his hometown of Boulder in Colorado to run miles and miles solo. With his 'engineers brain', he's also committed to continuous improvement, and the kind of person who’s more interested in moving towards not away from problems. To that end, he and his wife Amy schedule monthly mandated ‘life dinners' - kind of retros on their relationship - in order to keep it alive and thriving. So whether you’re a founder, funder, searcher or finder, Brad’s unique perspective, wisdom and worldview are well worth sitting in for a while. Why? Because we are all works in progress, and we each have so much to learn from simply hearing each others’ stories. SHOW CREDITS Host: Madeleine Grummet Guest: Brad Feld Links: Blog, Books, Podcast, Foundry Group, Techstars Technical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on Instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please HIT SUBSCRIBE and leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen to and learn from these stories. Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From a young age, Kai Lovel has been curious. After school each day, he'd race home to take apart old computers, build robots, gorge on YouTube tutorials, and feed his insatiable appetite for the why and how of things.He realised pretty quickly that he was drawn to the internet. And each week would research and test a new online platform or app, build websites for the fun of it, digital sales funnels for the hell of it, and systems for the challenge of it.Kai channelled those passions into projects along the way. By the age of 12 he was hosting his own radio show, by 15 he had built 4 businesses, taken the stage with TED Talks, and last year aged 16, he decided he was learning more in the world than he was in school, and decided to opt out of formal education altogether.He is currently living and working in Perth, not yet an adult, and yet advising companies, clients and organisations on product strategy, growth marketing and what the world looks like from a 17 years old's vantage point. Kai is in many ways an outlier. Someone daring to chart waters that aren't mapped. He is insightful, intensively curious, smart as, and has digital in his DNA. This conversation with Madeleine Grummet will blow you away, challenge your beliefs about the holders of wisdom and who's designing the world, and restore your faith in the next generation. The good news? We're in very good hands. SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Kai Lovel Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on Instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :)Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How many of us meander and stumble along in “a life that is expected of us?” For Rochelle Pattison, that meant pursuing a successful career in law and finance, getting married and having kids. Growing up as a young boy in a regional NSW town, Rochelle knew that she was different, but believed she had to hide that difference. As a teenager, she worked hard, and excelled at sport, music and academia while boarding at an all-boys boarding school in Melbourne. So, when her Dad pulled her aside to tell her she was “too prissy,” she was hurt and terrified. After living under a painful cloak of secrecy, lies, and shame for decades, Rochelle made a decision to explore her agony in therapy, as well as open up to the only person who knew her secret, in a quest to discover her true self. In this conversation with Rochelle, we learn what it’s like to live with unbearable shame and the distress of living a life that’s inauthentic to who you are at your very core. We also glean emotional insights into what can ensue when you tell your partner of 29 years that you’re not who they think you are. However, don’t be fooled. This is not only a conversation of gender dysphoria, but a powerful story of the fight to live as the real you, the you that you always sensed you were. And that makes it a profoundly human story that could be yours or mine, but luckily for our treasured Human Cogs listeners, this is Rochelle’s story. SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Rochelle PattisonSocials: Instagram, LinkedIn Technical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :)Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

People throw around words like kindness and empathy like empty packets. They don’t deeply feel those values, really know the lived truth of them or take them and use them to give comfort or a safe cradle to the people around them. But Lucy Thomas does. As the Co-founder and Co-CEO of the phenomenally successful social enterprise Project Rockit, her vision is of a world where kindness and respect thrive over bullying, hate and prejudice, and where all young people are free to realise their unique potential. Since 2006, Project Rockit has reached half a million young Australians by delivering powerful in-school workshops and online resources to teach kids to stand up to and not stand by bullying, and to help them navigate the complex individual, relational and societal human skills of inclusion, respect, diversity and empathy. In this conversation, Lucy shares the Project Rockit story to now, and how after building her career as an indomitable social crusader tackling bullying, her life was fundamentally changed when she herself became the target of an extended pattern of bullying. Lucy wrapped up these personal learnings in her widely received TEDx talk, Kindness: The ultimate rebellion against bullying, has recently received an Order of Australia Medal for service to youth and against bullying, and has now stepped out to create impact on the global stage working with Facebook, Google, Instagram and Twitter to combat cyberbullying. This conversation with Lucy strikes to the heart of things. Unseats us all a little bit. But it matters. Because it reminds us so we won’t forget, that imagination is the birthplace of empathy, unconditional positive regard is the bedrock of all real human connection, and that no matter what, kindness conquers all. SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Lucy ThomasWebsite: projectrockit.com.auSocials: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube Technical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :) Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The final report of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System was tabled in a special sitting of the Victorian Parliament in March 2021. The landmark final report outlines changes to create a future mental health and wellbeing system that provides holistic treatment, care and support for all - and a system that is finally co-designed by those who have lived experience of mental illness, so the services have the community, families and consumers at the centre of it. The Victorian government has since committed 1B dollars to implement the reforms. One of the psychiatrists who provided key recommendations for the mental health reforms is Dr Paul Denborough, a Director at the Alfred Hospital and Headspace Australia, a specialist in anorexia treatment, and mental health expert who has worked with thousands of adolescents, young people and their families over decades. Paul also helped establish Discovery College - who create and run courses on mental health, recovery and well-being, and who help people come together to learn from each other, share experiences and reach new understandings of mental health. In this conversation, Madeleine Grummet and Paul talk about the missing middle in the mental health system, why early intervention is so critical to recovery, and why Paul believes seeing the person, not the illness, is a more humanist, compassionate and personalised care model that should be available to all who are struggling with complex mental health challenges. While Paul admits mental health crises and the pressures on professionals have skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and we are currently seeing a mental health tsunami as a direct result of the early 2020 bushfires, pandemic and the increased conversations around sexual assault, he ultimately has faith that we are moving toward a mental health and care model that has humans at its heart. And a warning that this episode covers some heavy topics and themes. If you or anyone you know needs help you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14. SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Dr Paul DenboroughSocials: LinkedIn Technical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :)Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Many of you will have seen Osher Günsberg’s smiling face whizzing past on billboards, or on TV, or have heard his voice on the radio airwaves, sizzling with musicality and a truckload of energy. An author, television and radio presenter, musician, journalist and podcaster – his podcast Better Than Yesterday has been downloaded 4.3 million times – Osher is one of Australia’s most recognisable media personalities and has been a guest in the living rooms of Australians for decades. However, behind the talented and entertaining face and voice loved by many, in this conversation we meet a soulful, reflective and wise human who has not only worked hard for his extraordinary success, but dug deep in the darkest of places to explore the complexities of living with mental illness, so he can forge a way to live an authentic, rich and fulfilling life.On the cusp of the age of 50, we learn what it’s really like being him, where he finds his moments of flow, how his wife Audrey saved his life - and why his different brain is his absolute superpower. Here’s our chat with Osher. SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Osher GünsbergWebsite: oshergunsberg.comSocials: Twitter, Instagram Technical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :)Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Motherless Daughters Australia co-founder Danielle Snelling was 23 when her mother Rosa died. The experience left Danielle feeling isolated and misunderstood. When she connected with Eloise Baker-Hughes, who was also grieving the loss of her mum, they uncovered a shared understanding and validation in each other’s stories. Together they founded @motherlessdaughtersau with the aim of connecting some of the 3.7 million Australian women who have lost their mum. In this conversation with Human Cogs host Sabina Read, Danielle debunks the 5 stages of grief, suggests tips for coping with the relentless triggers and difficult times that arise during milestone and annual calendar events and shares what NOT to say to someone who is grieving. If your mum has passed and you have a deep yearning to pick up the phone and ask her just one more question, or if you’re a mum facing health issues imagining what it might be like to die early and not see your children live into adulthood, or if you wish to cherish and honour the mother-daughter relationship, then this episode will likely resonate with you. SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Danielle SnellingWebsite: motherlessdaughters.com.auSocials: Facebook, Instagram Technical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :)Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Julia May believes that visibility — to self and others — is not about vanity but about building influence and impact. An ex-journalist, who spent five years as a foreign correspondent for the Sydney Morning Herald before holding senior roles at Reuters and The Times of London, Julia has now found her sweet spot and nexus for real impact as the Founder of Visibility Co - a leadership consultancy. As a parent to two young daughters, her vision is that, when they are grown, the world will have been brought back from the brink. She tells them regularly; ‘It’s ok. Whoever you are is good’. And yet, the women and global leaders she works with so often grapple with persistent impostor syndrome, struggle to identify their values, and are frustrated by not knowing how to create real and lasting impact in the areas they care passionately about. Julia thinks we all have the ability to lead ourselves and lift others up no matter we’re at, and that once we know - and own - our story, we can elevate others, to then in turn, elevate others, and pay it forward. SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Julia MayWebsite: visibilityco.comSocials: Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn Technical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :)Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bernard Salt is an Australian newspaper columnist, keynote speaker, business advisor and author of six best-selling books, but he is most widely known as a thought leader in demographic patterns and predictions. He is also credited with globally popularising concepts such as the ‘Smashed Avocado’, VESPA and Seachange Shifts – changes that are currently reshaping Australia’s culture, economy and society. But for all his outward-facing and portfolio career success, it turns out that Bernard’s worst nightmare is rocking up to a party and being asked what he does for a living… because in his own words, “well, it’s complicated.” From humble beginnings growing up as a working-class kid in a Housing Commission home in country Victoria to today, Bernard has been passionately curious about using statistics to tell stories that inform social trends and human behaviour in Australia, which he still describes as the lucky country. In this conversation, we go a level under the statistics with Bernard, and discuss how education freed him; and why the pandemic world we’re living in needs a Control / Alt / Delete moment, so we can take the learnings, wake up to where we’re at, and rethink the future of Australia, for ourselves and for future generations. Here’s our conversation with Bernard. SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Bernard SaltWebsite: The Demographics GroupTechnical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :)Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tom Evans is a renowned psychologist who has worked in private practice for two decades and now works in the challenging space of the rehabilitation of sex offenders in Australia, and with young men struggling with issues of consent. In this episode, we step into some difficult and dark areas of the human psyche with Tom, as we explore primitive drivers and sexual dictates, how young men learn about ‘normalised’ sexual behaviour, what consent really means, and what we should be teaching them about healthy, mutually consenting sex.Tom also shares his own harrowing story as a victim of crime, and how this traumatic experience has informed his clinical practice, and the way he works with - and understands - the complex psychology of young men. This conversation deals with some very difficult topics, especially in light of what is currently playing out in the Australian Federal Parliament, and in a week that has seen thousands of people join 40+ Women's March4Justice rallies across the nation demanding an end to gendered violence and inequality.But despite this backdrop to the conversation, this episode provides a point of light because within the darkness Tom sees in human behaviour, he works to enable hope - and ultimately healing - for perpetrators, victims and for humanity at large. Please note opinions and statements in this episode are the express views of Tom Evans and not those of his employer. SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Tom EvansSocials: LinkedInTechnical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :)Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dom Price sees the future. But he’s not a late-night hotline psychic. Dom is the globally renowned work futurist at Atlassian – Australia’s first multi-billion dollar software company. Dom’s superpower is his ability to inspire people to transform the practices of their working lives, so they can work anywhere, with real flexibility and purpose – and design the futures they want to intentionally step into. But what first strikes you about Dom is that he is unmistakably from Manchester, has boundless curiosity and is infectiously joyous. In this episode of Human Cogs, hosts Sabina Read and Madeleine Grummet go deep with Dom on how we work, why we work, how his recent battle with cancer catalysed his own work-life shifts – and why we should all be doing audits on ourselves every Friday afternoon. In the current COVID world, we, unfortunately, couldn’t be in the room together for this chat, so we apologise if the sound quality is a bit dodgy in this episode. It’s well worth a listen though – this conversation is loaded with heaps of gems. SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Dom PriceWebsite: DomPrice.meSocials: LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, TedXTechnical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :) Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the age of 16, Matija Squire was close to being classified as just another statistic. Pregnant, a school dropout and estranged from her family, she was isolated living in a small country town, contemplating her next steps. This episode of Human Cogs tells the remarkable story of what happened next, when against all odds and with the judgement of society against her, Matija chose to have her son. The years that followed were tumultuous and uncertain, as she navigated raising a child when she was still a child herself. At 19, with a 3-year-old in tow, unemployed and nearly broke, she felt destitute and broken. Fast forward to now, and Matija is today an accomplished Lecturer, Speaker, Business Owner, Board Director, Startup Mentor and COO, who found a new way forward for herself and her son through the life-changing gateway of education, and the catalysing power of a stranger seeing the potential in her that she couldn’t see in herself. Matija believes your circumstances should never dictate your potential, and that “The only person you are destined to become, is the person you decide to be.” SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Matija SquireSocials: Instagram, LinkedIn Technical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :)Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Imagine you're a young medical doctor surrounded by sick and dying patients when you experience a panic attack due to an overwhelming sense of disillusionment that the Western medical model and its overreliance on pharmaceutical treatments is NOT the way to nurture humans back to good health. In this episode of Human Cogs, we chat with Dr Michelle Woolhouse, a GP and global expert in integrative mind-body and nutritional medicine, who upholds a philosophy of health that values the whole spectrum of a person's life – emotional, physical, psychological and environmental. Michelle shares her learnings on the role that cultural reward plays in our current anxiety and stress pandemic; how social media contributes to our empty pursuit of the holy grail of happiness; and why empathy without self-compassion is unsustainable. The potency of Michelle's message lies in the combination of her personal experience and holistic medical approach, which she has used to teach countless others how to heal emotionally and physically by attuning to the powerful feedback we each receive from our hearts, minds and gut. SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Dr Michelle WoolhouseSocials: Instagram, LinkedInProducer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :)Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is a conversation that starts and ends with the heart. But, in between, we touch on the taboos of mothers wanting time away from their children, female masturbation and sexual pleasure, and the very real and deep pain of self-hatred. Lisa Winneke is the founder and host of The Good News Guide, a podcast host, speaker, author and truth seeker with qualifications in numerous energy modalities. She has mined the depths and pain of her own decades of living with an eating disorder, feeling alone and misplaced in her family and later at school, and the eternal search to find the salve to her suffering. Lisa has now come to a place where she is no longer trying to fix herself, but simply sit still – and live with love. SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Lisa WinnekeWebsite: lisawinneke.comSocials: Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Podcast Technical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :)Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Not many of us know when we’re very young, just what course our life is going to take. At the age of 19, Johnny Di Francesco knew exactly what he didn’t want. He had watched his single Mum juggling two jobs working around the clock to bring up three kids, and he learned that grit, determination and very hard work was the recipe he needed for business success, personal satisfaction and financial security. Fiercely independent and driven to make his mark, Johnny opened his first business at 19, was running 7 businesses by the age of 23, and fast-forward to today, he sits at the helm of the international Gradi restaurant and retail empire. His Neapolitan Pizza was named the best in the world at the World Pizza Championships in Italy, where he beat 600 competitors from 35 countries, and he now plans to continue his international expansion. But underneath all this, is a man who is insatiably hungry to learn and perfect his craft, who relishes the thrill of the chase, and who takes each and every failure as a learning opportunity. Here’s our chat with ‘Mr Pizza’, Johnny Di Francesco. SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Johnny Di FrancescoWebsite: 400gradi.comSocials: InstagramTechnical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :)Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This year on Human Cogs, we are mixing it up! As always, we are all about having meaningful conversations minus the small talk, and in this episode, Sabina Read takes to the mic for a one-on-one with the passionate, thought provoking, raw and ever-curious Sarah Wilson. Sarah is a former journalist and ex-editor of Cosmo magazine, and was the host on Season 1 of Masterchef. She wrote the Masterchef. She wrote the New York Times best sellers - I Quit Sugar and First, we make the beast beautiful; and her 11 cookbooks have sold in 52 countries. Today, Sarah lives minimally, and is a passionate author, activist and campaigner for mental health and climate issues. In this chat, Sarah shares her experiences living with bipolar, being diagnosed with two autoimmune diseases, and arriving at a time in her life where both she, and the world, seemed devoid of hope. As a young person, Sarah says being vulnerable was an alien concept to her, and that writing her latest book This One Wild and Precious Life was a form of therapy, an invitation for our souls to do life differently, and a quest to nurture a hopeful path forward in a fractured world. If Sabina could choose a group of dinner guests that inspire and challenge the way we live and think, Sarah would be at the top of the list! SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Sarah WilsonWebsite: sarahwilson.comSocials: Instagram, PodcastTechnical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :)Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The first thing you notice about George Georgievski is that he wears his heart on his sleeve. He also carries the story of his life, grief for his father, and love for his daughters on his skin, in a series of tattoos that extend up and down his arms and torso. The same arms that have created lunchboxes that have inspired millions of people across the world, seen him rise to fame on TV, gain 135K Instagram followers, be an Ambassador for Jamie Oliver's Ministry for Food - and go completely viral as The Most Inspiring Lunchbox Creator in the World. But according to George, he’s just an ordinary dude from Geelong, quietly making lunch for his kids, each meal an act of love, created with care, fondness and attention like it’s the last meal he’ll ever make. In this episode of Human Cogs, to be honest, we don’t really talk about lunch. We go straight for the full smorgasbord of who George really is, explore his tough upbringing, and the months he spent as a teenager living alone after his father died suddenly, mother was hospitalised and he had to leave school to fend for himself and find a way to survive. Today, George is not just surviving but thriving, and relishing every day. George’s new book, Air Fryer Express, is available to pre-order now. Available January 27. SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: George GeorgievskiWebsite: The School Lunchbox Socials: Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedInTechnical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :)Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kimberlee Wells is a global trailblazer in advertising and brand marketing, has worked with Australia's largest brands including ANZ, Medibank, Qantas, Optus, Australia Post and the Federal Government, and has led ad agency, TBWA toward a values-based culture to embed more purpose in both her staff and the clients she works with. A champion for LGBTIQ rights; women's financial inequality; and minority groups, Kimberlee was invited by the United Nations to share her positive mission on a global stage. In this episode of Human Cogs, hosts Madeleine Grummet and Sabina Read explore who is brand Kimberlee, what really drives her, and why her early childhood experience of discrimination set a framework for fighting for injustice, the unseen and the unheard. A force for good in business and a crusader for creativity, Kimberlee is now grappling with the loneliness of leadership, how to care for self when you’ve spent a lifetime helping others and how to put her own needs on the map. SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Kimberlee WellsWebsite: TBWASocials: TwitterTechnical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :)Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ben Crowe has become one of the sports industry’s most “in-demand” professional mentors, and over the past two decades has worked with tennis great Andre Agassi, Olympian Cathy Freeman, champion surfer Stephanie Gilmore and both the Australian Men’s and Women’s Cricket Teams. He’s also credited with taking tennis player Ash Barty to world number 1, and coaches Richmond premiership captain Trent Cotchin and AFL coaches Alastair Clarkson and Damien Hardwick. So what’s his secret sauce? In this episode of Human Cogs, hosts Madeleine Grummet and Sabina Read chat with Ben about his global work as a leadership mentor, storyteller, life coach and advisor, his passion to help high performing people unlock and unblock themselves, and his deep focus on authenticity, vulnerability and the need to move toward pain. But in a world crying out for purpose and connection, Ben’s insights don’t just apply to elite athletes. CEOs, teenagers, retirees, parents and indeed all humans want to feel accepted and loved unconditionally. Ben emphasises that we all have the power to edit our own stories, to dream big not small, and to use intentional mindset shifts to get to the seat of who we each really are, which matters more than what we do. SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Ben CroweWebsite: MojoCrowe.comSocials: LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTubeTechnical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :)Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jamila Rizvi is an author, presenter and political commentator and writes regularly for The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Good Weekend and Sunday Life. She is also a commentator on The Project, Today, The Drum and ABC News Breakfast, and the Chief Creative Officer of Future Women. Described as one of the preeminent voices of young Australian women online, Jamila is a refreshing force for change, advocate for women, and pushes conversations and ideas to work toward a more equal world. In this episode of Human Cogs, hosts Madeleine Grummet and Sabina Read talk to Jamila about her quest to push to the edge (and sometimes over it), the costs of living life at full throttle and her ongoing health battles with brain cancer which have forced her to confront the discomfort of living in her new body and grieving the old one. Jamila reflects on her metric of success, never wanting to leave anyone feeling left out, and the value of passing down wisdom from women who have gone before. Read Jamila's latest book, Untold Resilience, here. SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Jamila RizviWebsite: JamilaRizvi.com.auSocials: Instagram, Facebook, TwitterTechnical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :)Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jane Tewson, Founder and Director of Igniting Change, is a global change maker who’s founded five flourishing charities, was named by The Times as a top ten innovator in the UK, received a CBE from Prince Charles, and humbly continues to create meaningful change in the lives of countless others. But this episode is not about accolades. Because Jane does not see herself as anything special, and she is not interested in being in the spotlight. What Jane does see are individuals who have the desire to create change in their own lives despite their circumstance. Jane believes that people inherently carry the capacity to find their own voice, when they feel respected, understood and listened to, rather than when they are spoken at, or given to, by (often) well-meaning others. Jane is ever-curious and drawn to the humanity and courage of people doing it tough, and in this episode of Human Cogs, hosts Madeleine Grummet and Sabina Read free range with Jane about her incredible childhood, her instinct for igniting social change, how we bring death to life - and how we can all better connect with each other by making judgement fall away and ultimately seeing people without the labels that typically define them. Jane is an unassuming force of nature and invites us all to consider how small shifts can create deeply meaningful change. You can read more about Jane in Martin Flanagan’s book, The Art of Pollination, published by Hardie Grant and available from Amazon, Booktopia and Dymocks. SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Jane TewsonWebsite: Igniting ChangeSocials: Instagram, FacebookTechnical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :)Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chris Riddell is an award-winning global futurist, forensic optimist and truth teller.  Voted in the top 5 most inspirational keynote speakers, Chris is a trend spotter, media commentator and digital expert who provides powerful insights into emerging trends and human behaviour, and has delivered keynote experiences to nearly a quarter of a million people in 27 countries. Enlivened by the real world, by humanity, and by ‘the now', Chris makes sense of the uncomfortable, challenging and dystopian technology-driven world of ‘the future' by instead making the case for connection, optimism and the unlocking of opportunities to propel us all forward into an exciting, new reality. In this episode of Human Cogs, hosts Sabina Read and Madeleine Grummet chat with Chris about his unwavering faith in humanity enduring and innovating to problem solve for the ethical and global challenges of our times.  We also traverse topics that go deeper into the human Chris is: why the pursuit of perfection has him often sailing to the very edge of the cliff in himself; how the threads and patterns of his past have shaped his present; and why he's never sleeping, forever flying and always searching.  If you like this episode please leave us a REVIEW so more people can listen in and learn from these stories! Thank you :) www.humancogs.comLearn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kate Save is an incredible Australian entrepreneur, Practicing Dietitian and Exercise Physiologist, and the founder of several businesses including the award-winning, multi-million dollar Be Fit Food empire. This business catapulted Kate onto the public stage after her appearance on reality TV show Shark Tank in 2017. But Shark Tank was a double-edged sword, which connected her with influential business mentor and Boost Juice founder Janine Allis, but also exposed Kate to the public where her credibility was attacked despite her decades of clinical experience and numerous qualifications. In this episode of Human Cogs, hosts Madeleine Grummet and Sabina Read chat to Kate about the hard reality of being a founder at the helm of a company that rocketed to explosive 1500% growth overnight, her everyday mantra to "finish fourth not first", what it was like to grow up feeling poor - and how her hard-won life and work lessons have shaped the woman - and now the mother - she has become. If you like this episode please leave us a QUICK REVIEW so more people can listen and learn from these stories! Thank you :)Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wendy Tuohy is an outstanding Australian editor, journalist and newspaper columnist who has spent the last three decades working across print, digital, TV and radio. Wendy has also won multiple awards working in senior roles with The Age, Sydney Morning Herald, ABC Radio and the Herald Sun, and is a passionate advocate for women, gender parity, mental health - and speaking truth to the reality of the working mother juggle in a modern world. In this episode of Human Cogs, hosts Sabina Read and Madeleine Grummet chat with Wendy about the role of the media in a rapidly changing, volatile and fake news world, the hidden currency of care that working women so often carry, and also unpack how today's parents can more consciously model behaviour to override gendered stereotypes and unleash authenticity in their children and in themselves. If you like this episode please leave us a REVIEW so more people can listen in and learn from these stories! Thank you :)www.humancogs.comLearn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We all have a slightly dysfunctional relationship with creativity. We love it, value it and want more of it but often just can't seem to find the time, space or resources to cultivate it, whether that's a book not written, a garden unplanted or a song not sung. Mykel Dixon is an award-winning speaker, musician, learning designer, event curator and author. A gypsy by nature, musician by trade, fierce non-conformist and prolific anti-perfectionist, he works with senior leaders and teams of Fortune 500 and ASX200 companies to unlock breakthrough creativity. In the spaces between, he rocks out with his band, is a brilliant lyricist and poet, and pushes to the edges of himself to explore the seemingly endless bounds of human creative potential. In this episode of Human Cogs, hosts Sabina Read and Madeleine Grummet dive into places they didn't plan to go and uncover Mykel's turbulent past, expulsion from high school, weeks spent in silent Ashram retreats, plus they unpack why his early and prolific self-expression was contaminated with feelings of shame. This high-energy conversation is pretty wide-ranging, from spiritual woo woo to seeing the world around you as a canvas, divergent thinking that put humans on the moon in the 60s to making magic from the mundane. But in a world being whacked with wicked challenges right now, Mykel's Infectious optimism and sense of creative possibility are contagious, and he reminds us that the common practice of dialling ourselves down is something we should all learn to do a little less. For anyone who has ever sat in the grandstand but wanted to play the game, for the starters not finishers, the dreamers not doers, this is a conversation that will give you the fuel you need to stop listening to the voices in the world and start listening to the voices in you; the courage to unshackle yourself from the self-imposed constraints of the everyday; and the safety to go the edge (and just a little bit beyond) to unleash your inner wild.Mykel Dixon is the author of best-selling book ‘Everyday Creative - A Dangerous Guide To Making Magic At Work'. If you like these conversations PLEASE LEAVE US A QUICK REVIEW so we can share these stories with more people! Thanks for listening :)Listen wherever you get your podcasts.www.humancogs.comLearn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You might think you know Hugh Sheridan. A four time Logie-award winning actor who's played starring roles on shows like House Husbands and Packed To The Rafters, he is also the Number 1 Ticketholder for the Port Adelaide FC, and spends his time living and working between homes in LA and Sydney.  He's also an accomplished international jazz singer, ballet dancer, film director, screenwriter and passionate human rights advocate. But what you might not know is that there is a deeper, hidden, vulnerable - and very human - side to Hugh Sheridan, which he now wants to share publicly.  In this episode of Human Cogs, hosts Sabina Read and Madeleine Grummet chat with Hugh about his lonely childhood; his engagement at the young age of 17 to a woman; his early experiences at NIDA where he then fell passionately in love with a man; and his ongoing quest to assert the need to not be defined by labels, but instead, by the whole and compassionate human he is. Hugh believes that we have become too focussed on unhelpful and binary definitions of who we are across the facets of our lives, and invites us all to challenge the way we talk to each other, to move towards a more accepting and united view of humanity, without bias and the impact of boxing each other in. He also reveals the drawbacks of fame and living life in the public spotlight; and a life-changing moment in India when he came face to face with himself as an infant, small child, adult and ageing man, and was finally able to accept himself as the boy he was, man he is, and human he seeks to be. What he does know is that you don't need a star on Hollywood Boulevard to say that you are someone, and that it's now time for Hugh to sit in his own skin, accept himself, and as George Michael once said to him: “Just sing what you want to sing.” This isn't a story about sexuality, but rather about accepting ourselves as we truly are, and wanting others to do the same. Enjoy our conversation with the very Hugh-man, Hugh.If you like these conversations PLEASE LEAVE US A QUICK REVIEW so we can share these stories with more people! Thanks for listening :)www.humancogs.comLearn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Unless you've been living under a rock somewhere, you've probably heard of the Shameless empire - a side hustle that turned into a media phenomenon and explosive podcast that's been downloaded 10 million times, was awarded Australia's Most Popular Podcast in 2019 and has captured the hearts and minds of the 20-30 something generation.In this episode of Human Cogs, hosts Madeleine Grummet and Sabina Read chat to Zara McDonald, one half of the Shameless Media brand, which was born on Zara and her cofounder Michelle Andrew's bedroom floors in March 2018 after they met working as journalists at the Mama Mia Women's digital media network. By their own admission, Michelle and Zara knew sweet F-A about podcasting when they started the journey.A few years in, they now have millions of listeners, multiple award-winning shows, have just released a best-selling book (The Space Between) plus are at the helm of a juggernaut Australian media brand that just keeps on growing! But behind the scenes of success, in this conversation Zara candidly shares her journey to now, including her battle with imposter syndrome, feeling like she's “young, ignorant” and never “doing it right”, and the work she's still doing to try and build a thicker skin so the opinions of others carry less weight.  This is a fascinating and candid chat about the boundaries that need to be drawn between our (online) public and private lives, the liminal spaces that 20 to 30-something “mainstream-media ignored” women in today's uncertain world occupy, and how we can all work to make each other feel way less alone by sharing more of ourselves in the raw truths, lived experiences and real human moments of the space between.  Check out www.humancogs.com for links to this episode :)And if you think this is worth hearing and sharing, please leave us a REVIEW so more people get to learn from these stories!Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ABOUT THE EPISODE In between when you woke up this morning and when you go to sleep tonight, 55 Australian women will be told they have breast cancer. The same will happen tomorrow, the day after that and every day ongoing, making breast cancer the most common cancer affecting Australian women. In fact, it is estimated that 20,000+ new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in Australia in 2020. Only 5-10% of breast cancers are hereditary, which means that over 90% have no genetic link. In this episode, Human Cogs hosts Sabina Read and Madeleine Grummet chat to the extraordinarily insightful, soulful and courageous Kath Elliott.A successful business woman and mother of 3 boys who worked in the fast-paced world of PR, Kath's life was suddenly stripped bare of the superfluous when one ordinary morning in August 2019, aged 46, she discovered a breast lump while getting dressed to race out the door to another busy day at work. What follows is her raw story of surrender, survival and ultimately, acceptance as she has gone deep to find a way back into herself - physically, spiritually and emotionally. But you don’t have to have been personally touched by cancer, or know a loved one who has, to reap the deep insights and life lessons shared in this chat. These lessons are a teacher for us all about the importance of living in your body and not just in your head; what a sliding door moment of cancer diagnosis can catalyse in your life; and how looking death in the eye can make you feel more fully alive than you ever have. Breast Cancer Awareness Month October 1-31, 2020. Please support Breast Cancer Network Australia if you can. If you like these conversations, PLEASE LEAVE US A QUICK REVIEW so we can share these stories with more people :) Thanks so much for listening! SHOW CREDITSHosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Kath Elliott Websites: Breast Cancer Network of Australia (BCNA) kathrynelliott.netSocials: Instagram @healingbreastcancerTechnical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website.Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A self-described “brain for hire”, Ben Sorensen is a media host, presenter, writer, and marketing whizz. Ben also sits on the Autism Spectrum, and has learned to “hack his brain” to find ways to help him make sense of the world. From an early age growing up in country Queensland, Ben recognised that the way he processed the world was very different to people around him, and that his brain worked faster and at a more meta level than neurotypical people, leaving him feeling socially isolated and perplexed about how humans work. But last year, at the age of 36, Ben sought out a formal diagnosis of ASD, and has continued to kick goals, hone his gift and fully “utilise his asset” - his remarkable brain - and capacity for human kindness. In this episode of Human Cogs, hosts Sabina Read and Madeleine Grummet explore Ben’s lived experience of autism, the inner workings of a mind trying to decipher the complexity of human emotions and relational nuance, and some of the challenges he has faced in better understanding how to do human well. But beyond his diagnosis, we also learn about Ben’s personal philosophy and values including the importance of being “consciously kind”, the need for us all to move from mere tolerance to true acceptance, and his continuing quest for greater equality in the world. Ben says he wouldn’t trade his ASD for quids. Because it gives so much more than it takes. SHOW CREDITSHosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Ben SorensenWebsites: bensorensen1.com bseaustralia.com friendinme.comSocials: Instagram TwitterTechnical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple WaxAvailable on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website.Join us on instagram at human.cogs If you like these conversations, PLEASE LEAVE US A QUICK REVIEW so we can share these stories with more people! Thanks for listening!Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Let’s talk about exes. We’ve all had one and we’ve all been one, so why do some leave such an indelible mark on our hearts while others move on leaving little impact on our lives?Breakups can be painful and heart-breaking, a complete surprise or a total relief.But whichever way it ends, in the aftermath, there’s always a story to be told as we try to make sense of the way we parted, the reasons why and the grief that trails in the wake of a breakup. In this episode of Human Cogs, hosts Madeleine Grummet and Sabina Read hear the behind the scenes story of a relationship breakup that left accomplished journalist, instagram queen, Everyone Has An Ex podcast host, and former Bachelorette Georgia Love feeling completely broken, abandoned, and like she would never love again. Georgia shares the moment when the man she had been with for 3 years and thought was "the one" turned to her on an ordinary morning to say he was done, abruptly ended their relationship and walked out - with no warning and zero explanation. If you’ve ever had a break-up you can’t shake, been completely ghosted or have carried old breakup wounds into subsequent relationships, then you’ll relate to Georgia’s raw, heart-felt and honest story of being rejected, struggling to trust and then, finally, learning to love again. SHOW CREDITSHosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Georgia LovePodcast: Everyone Has An ExSocials: Twitter, InstagramTechnical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Listen on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website.If you like these conversations PLEASE LEAVE US A QUICK REVIEW so we can share these stories with more people! Thank you.Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ABOUT THE EPISODE Nikole Ramsay grew up in a tumbling, hectic, people-filled household as the youngest of four kids. A self-confessed tomboy and late bloomer, Nik remembers the fun and chaos of a big family quickly shrinking as each of her three siblings grew up and left home. She was left as an only, sometimes lonely child, in a quiet house in the suburbs, yearning for the abundance of a big and bustling family again.Nik eventually grew up too, as we do, and left home to study, live and work overseas as a successful photographer, when she and her husband decided in their mid-30’s they wanted to start a family.But after taking five years to conceive their son, they struggled to conceive again, and so together they began researching and considering the idea of fostering a child.This episode steps into the seams of that story, and explores Nik and her husband’s eventual fostering of their now daughter. We explore the uncertainties, hopes, expectations and emotions that surface when you open your heart and your home to bring a precious and vulnerable little stranger into your family fold. The journey has been filled with both joy and challenge, and at times, like all of us as parents, Nik wondered whether she could manage the emotional and relational strain of foster parenting. But Nik describes her daughter as her greatest teacher and mirror to her own self and story, as she seeks to understand the role of nature and nurture in human development, and the unseen family forces that shape us all. SHOW CREDITSHosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Nikole RamsayWebsite: nikoleramsay.comAustralian Foster Care Association Foster Care Week Australia 2020Socials: Instagram, Facebook Technical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website.If you like these conversations, PLEASE LEAVE US A QUICK REVIEW so we can share these stories with more people! Thank you.Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This episode starts with Richard Stansbury reading his heart-wrenching eulogy to his father.  Richard says his father had been desperately searching for years, and had spent most of his life running from himself until he could no longer cope with the pain he experienced everyday.  In this episode of Human Cogs, hosts Sabina Read and Madeleine Grummet explore the often taboo topic of suicide, the intergenerational impact of secrets, shame and mental illness in Richard's family, and his own journey to find forgiveness and empathy for his father.Richard now accepts there was nothing he could have done to save his Dad, and that finding ways to manage his own depression and suicidal thoughts is the way forward to change the cycle and the story for his family.  This is a pretty raw conversation of transition and despair, and lays bare the emotional and turbulent human experience of depression and what happens in the wake of losing a parent to suicide. Conversations about suicide are uncomfortable, but suicide is a topic that touches many, and an issue we all need to address. If this episode is distressing or triggering, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14. R U OK day - September 10, 2020. Reach out to someone and ask R U OK?World Suicide Prevention Day - September 10, 2020.Learn more here. SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Richard StansburyTechnical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Learn more at www.humancogs.com Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website.If you like these conversations, PLEASE LEAVE US A QUICK REVIEW so we can share these stories with more people! Thank you.Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jane Martino is a polymathic, award-winning Australian entrepreneur who has built multiple companies and is the Cofounder of globally recognised not-for-profit organisation Smiling Mind - a free online Mindfulness Meditation program that has more than 4 million regular users. Jane has been on the Board of the Melbourne Football Club, is a powerhouse business woman, and the author of multiple books including a series of children’s books on wellbeing that will be released in October 2020. And yep - she is also brewing another startup! In this episode of Human Cogs, hosts Sabina Read and Madeleine Grummet chat to Jane about being a disruptor, the price one pays for professional attainment, and the work she has done to push back on societal and systemic norms to live her personal and professional story more intentionally, and authentically. We also explore how she and her ex-husband, Matt Martino, found a way forward together to create positive shared-parenting strategies after their separation, and how raising her three boys with intentional transparency has helped anchor her during this time of life transition, and personal transformation. SHOW CREDITSHosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Jane MartinoWebsite: Smiling MindSocials: Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram (Smiling Mind)Technical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website.If you like these conversations, PLEASE LEAVE US A QUICK REVIEW so we can share these stories with more people! Thank you.Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Matt Martino is a 49-year-old designer, artist and father of 3 boys who has had his quarter-life crisis, survived the hurt, loss and hard work of a marriage separation, and come out of it softer, more weathered and a whole lot wiser about the importance of being an optimistic man, conscious father and respectful ex-husband.  He believes life is comprised of 7-year cycles, and that men's biological clocks start ticking at about 28. By 35 you've got your house and family, and then BOOM! - at 42, your mid-life crisis kicks in and you start questioning yourself, the world around you, and what you have or haven't achieved in comparison to others. Matt has certainly lived his ‘7's', and had time to make sense of life's cycles. He's been a father in Mother's Group, and knows how desperately lonely it is behind the thankless curtain of stay-at-home parenthood when your day-to-day experience is a world away from your working partners. He's had to lose himself to find himself again when his marriage fell apart. And he's done the work to go deep and get to know who he really is so he can show up - more fully present and alive - in his every day.   But hitting 49 has been a big time of change for Matt, as he and his ex-wife continue to navigate how to co-parent their boys with respect and trust, and he learns to prioritise the importance of nurturing himself and his sons to live by the mantra of treating others as you wish to be treated yourself. Join Human Cogs Hosts Sabina Read and Madeleine Grummet in this conversation with Matt Martino, which runs deep to the heart of what happens inside a man when a marriages ends, provides useful advice on how to successfully co-parent - and is ultimately an affirming story of the power of personal growth through pain. SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine GrummetGuest: Matt Martino Websites: The Father Hood - Open Letter from Matt MartinoTechnical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple WaxLearn more at www.humancogs.com Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website.If you like these conversations, PLEASE LEAVE US A QUICK REVIEW so we can share these stories with more people! Thank you.Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sally Capp is the first woman to be directly elected as Lord Mayor of Melbourne, and is a serial ‘have-a-goer’ by her own account. ​(For the record, in her eagerness to get cracking in her newly elected role, she turned up for work at Melbourne Town Hall three days before she was meant to officially start). But for all of her firsts, in this episode Human Cogs, Sally shares some of the "seconds" that are a formative part of her career story, and reveals what hasn’t worked out so well. She also unpacks the ‘a-ha’ moments that have come from the depths of despair; her “crack networking” skills, personal pressure points and issues-focussed feedback loop; her early career as a lawyer and unrealised dreams of becoming a barrister - plus the moment she decided to turn her energy and purpose to public life. One of the many messages in the stories Sally shared with Hosts Sabina Read and Madeleine Grummet in this candid chat is her remarkable capacity to rethink old beliefs, heuristics and assumptions in the face of new people, information and experiences. This isn’t easy for any of us, and Sally reflects on the importance of challenging her own “puppy dog” behaviour, her work to develop a more authentic style of leadership that has enabled her to create opportunity of conflict - plus her ongoing focus on people and purpose (and not politics) that fuels her commitment to the unsung deeply human heroes of the everyday. SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine Grummet Guest: Lord Mayor Sally Capp Websites: City of Melbourne + sallycapp.comTwitter: @SallyCapp_ @LordMayorMelbTechnical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Learn more at www.humancogs.com Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website.If you like these conversations, PLEASE LEAVE US A QUICK REVIEW so we can share these stories with more people! Thank you.Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Darren Mort grew up in an abusive family and says he didn’t really have much of a childhood. Every night he had a huge amount of regret waiting for his father’s car to pull up in the driveway. His father was a VFL legend - an angry and abusive man who had come from a ‘lousy’ household, and was scarred by his own difficult past. He eventually sent the family into bankruptcy and chaos when Darren was a teenager. In this episode of Human Cogs, hosts Sabina Read and Madeleine Grummet explore Darren's story and journey into his difficult past, to understand his complex relationship with a father he at times despised, and intergenerational family patterns of 'repeat and repel'. This is a remarkable story of Darren's survival and pathway to forgiveness, and to finding a way to carry himself forward and be the father and man he strives to be today in the shadow of his father's dysfunctional past. Darren is a renowned criminal and family law barrister, published author, acclaimed film maker and has made it his personal quest to stop the cycles of violence and damage in broken families. Of the nearly 1 in 2 marriages that end in divorce, 48% have kids involved, and 65% of those kids are exposed to family violence. Darren is on a mission to change this, and help families separate with a pocketful of dignity instead of tearing each other apart. SHOW CREDITS Hosts: Sabina Read and Madeleine Grummet Guest: Darren Mort Technical Producer: Daryl Missen at Purple Wax Learn more at www.humancogs.com Join us on instagram at human.cogs Available on Apple, Stitcher, Spotify, Google Podcasts or listen via our website.If you like these conversations, PLEASE LEAVE US A QUICK REVIEW so we can share these stories with more people! Thank you.Learn more and support the show: https://www.humancogs.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.