Seize the Yay

Latest Episodes:

Jarrad and Michael Duggan-Tierney // The Real Dads of Melbourne in their first podcast EVER Dec 01, 2021

Show notes

I can’t believe we’ve reached our last guest interview for the year! My gosh, we’ve had some touch and go moments in 2021 - in and out of lockdown (and therefore in and out of motivation) with rapidly changing schedules and everything in between, but we made it and I’m so proud of the yay we’ve created in our third year together.

I can’t say enough how grateful I am for the yayborhood, you’ve absolutely kept me sane this year and given me so many reasons to smile with our healthcare worker care packs, Q&A episodes and just your lovely messages each week. I’ll be taking a proper break over the festive season but as usual re-releasing some favourites in case you missed any, and will be back early next year (with Ang of course) to bring you bigger and better yay next year.

For today, I couldn’t think of a more perfect guest (or should I say guests) to finish off the year on a high than the two amazing humans you’re about to hear from. And this episode is all the more special because, despite amassing an enormous community with whom they share so much of their lives on social media, this is the first time EVER that they’ve shared their story on a podcast and I’m still pinching myself that they said yes.

Of course, I’m talking about the Real Dads of Melbourne aka Jarrad and Michael Duggan-Tierney who give the beloved sitcom Modern Family a good run for its money sharing their life as parents to son Reid who was born via a surrogate and now foster parents to baby Junior. They probably need no introduction to most of you, stealing hearts all over the nation (and beyond) for their hilariously down to earth recounting of the ups and downs of family life.

If you haven’t heard about them yet, you are in for an absolute treat (and even if you do know them, given that this is their first podcast, this is the Real Dads as you’ve never heard them before covering everything from coming out, meeting at Qantas, the process of surrogacy and teaching your kids to embrace their uniqueness). We’re very lucky to share an incredible manager (shout out to Gen at Day Management) and I live around the corner from the dads, but there’s so much I hadn’t heard before…

I usually give away more teasers in the intro but my words just can’t do their wit, honesty, love and genuineness justice – there’s laughter, tears, and every other emotion in between. I’ll let Jarrad and Michael tell you their story themselves and if you’re not as in love with them as I am by the end I’d be surprised.

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L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science // Dr Philippa Karoly, Dr Jiawen Li and Dr Olivia Harrison Nov 29, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to the second segment of our second miniseries for the year showcasing some incredible women in science thanks to the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science fellowship program. While our running miniseries wasn’t sequential and could be listened to in any order, I’d recommend going back to last week’s episode for the full introduction to the program and the landscape before digging into this one.

A stat that definitely deserves another mention, however, is that only 28% of researchers today are women with less than 20% making up the most senior leadership positions, and only 3% of Scientific Nobel Prizes have been awarded to women. So, L’Oréal, a company brought to life by scientists 100 years ago, are dedicated to changing those statistics and have awarded five outstanding women in the industries broadly referred to as STEMM – science, technology, engineer mathematics and medicine – a fellowship to help them further their groundbreaking research.

One of the biggest challenges for women in these areas is a lack of exposure to career paths and role models, so L’Oréal has also created a Girls in Science program to highlight for school students how diverse, dynamic and deeply impactful pathways in science can be. And since the in person events weren’t able to go ahead, I’m so honoured that these Seize the Yay episodes will take their place and be distributed to young girls who are just starting to think about their way to yay so that a new generation of young scientists might see a future for themselves in the sciences.

Our first two guests last week absolutely bowled me over – Dr Mahdokht Shaibani is an Iranian battery engineer working on cleaner alternatives to lithium batteries and Dr Kirsty Nash is a marine biologist looking at the relationship between changing nutrient production from fisheries and coral reefs on one hand and micronutrient deficiencies in humans on the other. This week our three mini-interviews focus more on medical breakthroughs in epilepsy, neuroscience, cardiovascular health and anxiety. I hope you find Dr Philippa Karoly, Dr Jiawen Li and Dr Olivia Harrison as inspiring as I did!

Find out more about the FWIS fellowship here.

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L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science // Dr Mahkdokht Shaibani and Dr Kirsty Nash Nov 25, 2021

Show notes

I’m so glad that you’ve all been loving our running miniseries and, as promised, I’m thrilled to have a second one for you kicking off today. This one has changed my perspectives and extended my knowledge just as much, but in a completely different way and in relation to completely different pathways to joy but that’s exactly the essence of seizing your yay – it looks different for everyone.

The thing is, so often you don’t know what you want your future to look like until you can visualise it or see it represented out in the world, but lack of exposure can really hinder people in finding their purpose because they simply never know it exists. Enter, one of the biggest challenges facing women in science or the industries broadly referred to as STEMM – science, technology, engineer mathematics and medicine.

Today, only 28% of researchers are women with less than 20% making up the most senior leadership positions, and only 3% of Scientific Nobel Prizes have been awarded to women. Numerous studies have found that women in STEMM fields publish less, are paid less for their research and do not progress as far as men in their careers.

There are so many different factors contributing to this disparity, but one is definitely the misconceptions surrounding what scientists actually do and the industries they can end up working in. Beauty and cosmetics, for example, is not the first industry you’d connect with say, engineering or maths, but our partner in this miniseries, L’Oréal, was founded by scientists over 100 years ago – without science L’Oréal simply wouldn’t exist.

Which is why, for over the past 20 years, the L’Oréal Corporate Foundation and UNESCO have been committed to women in science, to increase the number of women working in scientific research. In 1998, L’Oréal and UNESCO founded the For Women in Science program to promote and highlight the critical importance of ensuring greater participation of women in science.

Each year, the program recognises the achievements of exceptional early-career female scientists and awards them with Fellowships to help further their research. And I’m DELIGHTED to bring you this miniseries showcasing the five 2021 Fellowship recipients and the ground-breaking, mind-blowing work they’re doing highlighting how diverse, dynamic and deeply impactful pathways in science can be.

I’ve emerged kind of wanting to move into science myself and wish there had been programs like this when I was younger. Wonderfully, L’Oréal’s work also includes a Girls in Science program in partnership with UNSW and Melbourne University where these fellows are connected with girls in school to empower young women to forge careers in STEMM and inspire them to be part of cultural change in the industry.

Unfortunately, the in-person Girls in Science events were unable to go ahead, but fortunately, this miniseries has taken their place so that it’s not just schoolgirls whose minds can be opened by these five fascinating women and the way they’re changing the world. Even if you don’t aspire to a career in STEMM, I was captivated by these amazing humans and hope that you all are too.

Find out more about the FWIS fellowship here.

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Colleen Callander // People with purpose + passion = profit Nov 17, 2021

Show notes

I hope you enjoyed our Power Your Inner Runner podcast series, it was such a pleasure to create and I’ve loved seeing all of your learnings and reflections. I did have the second miniseries of the year ready for #yaysofourlives this week, but it’s been pushed back slightly to align with some official announcements relating to the guests, so it's back to your regular scheduling for now but keep your ears peeled.

Today’s guest is one of those people that I feel so lucky to be able to share with you because a one on one session with such a trail-blazing industry leader is so highly coveted, so we’re very lucky to have her on the show. If you haven’t heard of Colleen Callander, you’ve definitely encountered her work through 20 years across iconic brands Sussan and Sportsgirl, 13 of which she was in the top spot as CEO. You might assume she was a born leader with her sights set on something like an MBA to work her way to the top, but Colleen is all the more fascinating for not having finished school at all and starting as a retail assistant on the floor at Just Jeans. I also love how she perceives leadership as a lifestyle choice rather than something intrinsic that you have to be born with – you don’t have to be an extrovert or even in a senior position to be a leader, you can work hard and speak through your results and she certainly has done so.

There’s also some very useful reflections on burnout leading to three months away from work altogether touching on all our favourite themes of unravelling our identity from productivity and achievement. And of course, then the bold choice to step away from the dream job when it starts to become a comfort zone to embark on a new chapter and restart as a beginner. Colleen is such a delight to learn from and I hope you guys get as much out of our chat as I did.

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Power Your Inner Runner // Refuel, replenish and recharge with Linden Hall Nov 10, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to our final episode of the Power Your Inner Runner podcast series in partnership with Nike Running and Rebel, gosh that’s gone so quickly! I feel so lucky to have been able to pick the brains of three amazing Nike athletes and Olympians on everyone’s behalf – the tips and tricks they’ve shared have enhanced my training so much and I hope they’ve done the same for you. Whether you’re a running beginner or a seasoned pro, they’ve jam packed so much universal advice into these chats that will be invaluable in the lead up to Melbourne Marathon and beyond. But even if you’re not interested in running in the least, I think all three of these women still have fascinating pathyays that are empowering, motivating and just a joy to listen to.

So, we’ve heard from Catriona on mastering your mindset and Sinead on distance, determination and defying the doubters but I still have some pretty specific questions left around FUEL. What and when does one eat and drink before, during and after a race? How lucky are we to have as our third and final guest Linden Hall, a 1500m Olympian, Nike athlete and VERY conveniently, also a qualified dietitian who headed to America after high school to get the college experience at Florida State University! Today we get into the guts of our guts and, again, in the few runs I’ve done since recording this episode, Linden has dramatically improved my running experience.

As well as the practical stuff, we also hear how Linden went from being spellbound watching the Atlanta Olympics as a five-year-old to actually making it to the Olympics first in Rio and then again this year in Tokyo. It gave me goosebumps to hear Linden explain how it felt to actually qualify after dreaming of the moment since childhood and working so hard to become the fastest 1500m runner in Australian history. Even cooler? She got faster and faster in Tokyo from the heat to the semi-final and then the overall final where she finished in 6th place with a personal best. So we also get some fabulous tips on improving speed and why you often don’t do so by running your competition speed but by doing all kinds of other runs instead – mind blown!

As I’ve been recording these episodes, I’ve really been reminded of how powerful sport can be – I mean I get so teary during the Olympics for the way it connects people transcending language, boundaries and geography. Even on a very local, personal level, I’ve been reminded how transformative sport can be which is a big tenet of Rebel’s Sport is Calling campaign. If you’ve been out of the sporting loop for a while, sport can be such an antidote to life’s challenges whether you have professional or competitive aspirations or not so I hope some of you hear sport calling your name again and get motivated to move those bodies. Also, just a reminder, in case you were worried, the episodes aren’t sequential, so if you’re only tuning in now don’t worry each segment stands alone and you can listen in whatever order you like.

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Power Your Inner Runner // Distance, determination and defying the doubters with Sinead Diver Nov 05, 2021

Show notes

Welcome back to our Power Your Inner Runner podcast series in partnership with Nike Running and Rebel. This is our second of three episodes with elite Nike athletes who are sharing their best running tips and tricks - whether you’re a complete beginner all the way through to a pro looking for a fresh perspective.

It’s been so wonderful to see how many of you enjoyed our kick-off episode on mindset with the wonderful Catriona Bisset and have already been implementing some of your learnings into your training. My top takeaway was the power of running with friends – I’ve been enjoying running alone for the mental benefits but hadn’t realised how much harder it can be to push into new distances when you’re on your own. So, I locked in my first long run with Ang and a few friends just a few days after this chat with Catriona and went from a solid 10km plateau to a lovely 18KM RUN and I could have kept going but didn’t want to overdo it by going too hard too fast. I’m so thrilled with the breakthrough and hope that some of you found Catriona’s chat useful too – do keep sharing your runs with us along the way, it’s so much fun to do this as a yayborhood!

Given I also had a sneak peek of this episode, I had the chance to implement some other tweaks recommended by today’s Nike athlete which were equally as impactful so I’m VERY excited to share this one with you. In case you were worried, the episodes aren’t sequential, so if you’re only tuning in now don’t worry each segment stands alone and you can listen in whatever order you like. I met this wonderful woman during my first foray into running when we were training for the half marathon in 2019 and even though I’ve heard her story before, I was blown away all over again this time. While Catriona was a sprinter focusing on the 800m, we’ve got a long-distance perspective today from a superstar Olympic marathoner.

Yep, I’m THRILLED to have the inimitable Sinead Diver with us today who, like Catriona, took a less conventional pathway into running. She is not only one of our best performing marathon runners ever at the Olympics coming in the top 10 in Tokyo – she was also our oldest athlete competing at 44 years old to cross just the line just four minutes behind the race winner. The twist? Sinead only started running AFTER her second child at aged 33 when she was roped into a fun run at the Tan in Melbourne. In her debut marathon, she finished in SECOND place overall then won Melbourne Marathon just four years later and she just keeps getting faster and faster.

So, if you’ve ever been told you can’t do it or had sceptics doubting your potential, Sinead is your woman showing how she continues to surprise with her sights set on Paris 2024 as she continues to improve each year. She also answers so many of our burning questions specific to longer distances, especially around the elusive management of eating, drinking and nature calling along the way! Coming into running later in life, she’s a fabulous brain to pick about getting your body and mind into those 30 and 40km distances and living to tell the tale! She’s humble, funny and full of warmth – I hope you enjoy!

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Do we want to make this into post-traumatic stress or post-traumatic GROWTH? // Dana Phang Nov 01, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to November everyone, I honestly can’t believe we’re here. Very quick hello from me today as we’ve got a yayborhood guest interview for this week’s #yaysofourlives, so I’ll save the banter for next week’s regular scheduling with Ang (who I’m so glad everyone is enjoying so much).

Our guest for today is someone you’ve heard of many times now because she’s not only been in the yayborhood since the very beginning, but been such an active and thoughtful contributor. Dana Phang is the woman who started the yayborhood gift exchange during lockdown for members to get to know each other better and bring each other a little joy which then sparked our healthcare and frontline worker care package send out. She’s also a doctor herself and her own podcast, Junior Doctor’s Corner, shines such a great light on the lesser-known side of the early days in a medical career to help others feel less alone if it’s not quite the dream they expected. I thought that in itself was a great yayborhood watch item to share with you all but also just wanted to get to know Dana a bit better and what a lovely chat it was.

Ang wasn’t originally able to join the call but I peer pressured her into it a few minutes in because I knew they’d get along like a house on fire, so she joins part way through. I saw so many other lovely good news items in the media this week – it was such a nicer week to be online with international reunions finally happening, everyone enjoying freedom and sunshine, some amazing Halloween costumes etc – but I’ll save my yayborhood watch picks for next week, so for now enjoy getting to know your yayborhood mascot, Dana!

Dana's #quoteoftheyay was, "I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become" from Carl Jung.

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Power Your Inner Runner // Mastering your mindset with Catriona Bisset Oct 28, 2021

Show notes

Welcome to the very first episode of our Power Your Inner Runner podcast series. I am so thrilled to be partnering with Nike Running and rebel, to bring you three elite Nike athletes who will help us build our running toolkit - whether this be your first venture into running or you’re seasoned and ready to go further, faster and fresher than ever.

If you’ve been listening since the early days, you’ll have witnessed the transformative power of sport in my life, with the remarkable conversion from non-runner – or dare I say even anti-runner – to signing up, voluntarily, for my second half marathon this year and ACTUALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO IT. Six transformative months back in 2019 with the incredible team at Nike taught me all about gradually building your distance, warming up and warming down, fuelling yourself properly and, crucially, wearing the right gear.

I’ve been revisiting all those lessons again, turning back to longer runs as a physical, mental and therapy-like outlet during lockdown spurring me to sign up for another 21.1km at Melbourne Marathon. When that was pushed back to December, we had some extra time up our sleeves to consult the experts and with just over six weeks to go, I’m SO excited to be able to share them with you thanks to the support and generosity of rebel and Nike.

I was surprised but thrilled to see how many of you in the yayborhood are also on your own running journey! And thank you all so much to those who submitted questions for our guests. The next three episodes have been split into different themes, focusing on the topics YOU want to hear about most!

Introducing, Catriona Bisset...

As to our very first guest, I’m delighted to have with us the incredible Catriona Bisset – Olympian, Nike Athlete and Lifeline Ambassador, to help us lay some strong foundations with mindfulness and mindset. If I’ve learnt anything over the past few years, it’s that your mind will often give up way before your body will, so getting your head in the game first is crucial.

Catriona found her first successes in running at just six years old but took a hiatus from the sport to work on her mental health, pursuing studies in architecture at university. When she did resume racing, however, in a very short amount of time she became the first Australian woman in a decade to break the two-minute barrier – and went from strength to strength to race earlier this year in the 800m at the Tokyo Olympics.

You’ll hear all of the details in between from Catriona herself as we cover her pathYAY first then her tips and tricks for managing mental health, building speed, and navigating the relationship between success and the self. What a CRACKING first episode to kick off with, I hope you all enjoy.

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THREE YEARS OF SEIZING THE YAY Oct 25, 2021

Show notes

The third anniversary episode is finally here, thank you so much to everyone who submitted questions (especially the four amazing yayborhood members who sent theirs in by voice memo). I had been hoping to celebrate this milestone with a real life event, but this was still a pretty special way to reflect on the past few years with our new co-host, Ang (who also happened to co-host the very first episode ever back in 2018 - such a full circle moment). I could never have imagined then that we'd still be here three years later learning from incredible humans and welcoming new friends to the yayborhood each week. I'll never be able to say enough times how grateful I am for all of your support - I know I sound like a broken record, but I still pinch myself to get to create this show for you.

As has been a recurring theme with #yaysofourlives lately, I got a major vulnerability hangover the minute we stopped recording and plunged into the depths of overthinking wanting to change all my answers straight away - it's so much easier being the one asking the questions!! Recording with Ang means you REALLY get the unfiltered, totally scattered, absolute goober versions of who we are (although I've always thought that was the beauty of podcasts - you hear how people are without an audience even though, of course, later there is an audience). Old me would have re-recorded to make my answers more articulate, considered and thorough but new me is practising what I preach and uploaded the whole thing without edits - done is better than perfect! As usual, we got carried away in the first half and I rushed a bit in the second half (hence wanting to redo my answers), but I REALLY enjoyed your diverse and interesting questions and hope there's some enjoyable listening somewhere in amongst our rambling.

And yes, we did a little glow up to celebrate the milestone - ABOUT TIME! Felt like a great opportunity for a little refresh, since I whipped up our original assets in about 7 minutes without really thinking too much but then kept them for three years!

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Deni Todorovič // On style, sexuality, and striving for self-acceptance Oct 21, 2021

Show notes

You know one of the main facets of the Seize the Yay philosophy is separating what you do from who you are but, naturally, our conversations still touch on “the doing” because work is inextricably related with finding your overall purpose or passion in life. Today’s guest, however, has faced perhaps more upheaval in relation to “the being “– not so much in finding what you love but in finding who you are.

Growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness to hard-working, immigrant parents in regional Victoria, Deni Todorovič's environment didn’t exactly foster the language or conversations that allowed them to fully articulate their identity until almost their 20s. But having come out not once, but TWICE since then (along with all the torment and confusion that accompanies such big shifts in identity), Deni is now living their absolute best life as a non-binary role model encouraging us all to honour who we are as well as gently and patiently helping us all learn more about the language and landscape of gender identity and sexuality.

For someone who once didn't feel like they had the language to express how they felt, Deni is one of the most articulate guests I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with sharing so openly about even the most awkward elements of gender fluidity i.e. we learn how they pick which bathrooms to use. Sexuality aside, Deni has also had an incredible pathYAY working their way from shit kicking intern all the way up to Fashion Editor at Cosmopolitan right up until its closure in 2018.

Their insights are equally as powerful in dealing with the unexpected loss of dreams embracing a giant pivot to move back to Geelong and embrace the freelance world wholeheartedly (including becoming the face of The Body Shop's Self Love Campaign - a company you know I adore working with). Their energy and passion for equality and kindness is so infectious and energising (and the gold sparkles I turned up in barely did Deni justice) – I hope that they bring your heart the warmth that mine was filled with the whole way through.

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