Seize the Yay

Latest Episodes:

Steph Claire Smith & Laura Henshaw // KIC'ing goals (and getting engaged!) Dec 26, 2018

Show notes

This one's been a little delayed after a technical glitch destroyed our first recording, but the second time around was even bigger and better PLUS conveniently timed after both Steph and Laura's partners proposed!!!!!! If you haven't heard of this dynamic duo, Steph and Laura are passionate advocates for instilling confidence in young women and are helping thousands of girls around the world with their booming business, Keep It Cleaner, that has a fitness and nutrition app, a delicious grocery range, an inspiring blog and community events throughout the year.

Both starting out as successful international models, Steph and Laura have openly shared their experiences and challenges in the modelling industry, finding body confidence, navigating their relationship with food and building resilience to inspire other young women on their journey. If that weren't enough, Steph also co-owns Soda Shades and Midnight Co as well as continuing her career as a sought after model and brand ambassador for the likes of Bondi Sands, Bras N Things, and more leveraging her 1 million+ followers. Laura is also completing her Law/Business degree (just casually) and has some epic brand ambassadorships of her own, particularly as face of Jaggad activewear.

Still only in their early 20s, they have both been incredibly smart about their success and also own houses and, as mentioned, are now planning for their weddings! They've also just released their first book, A Girl's Guide to Kicking Goals, which shows how down to earth and real they both are and shares such important messages about confidence, positivity and balance. LOVED chatting with these two so much that we went over an hour and a half, so consider it a little festive bonus!

+ Full show notes here

+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah

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Elyse Knowles // Campaigns, catwalks, construction and camping... The true blue Aussie model who loves to get her hands dirty Dec 18, 2018

Show notes

Today’s guest is not only one of the most breathtakingly stunning people I’ve ever met, but also one of the hardest working, motivated and down to earth despite her many successes. While many of you will know Elyse Knowles as a leading Australian model and winner of the Block in 2017 with her legend of a partner, Josh, we’ve known Knowlzy since years before that and she’s as humble, outdoorsy and unpretentious now as she always has been.

Among a string of impressive achievements in just 26 short years, Elyse is an ambassador for Myer, Seafolly, Aveda, Davidoff and Vital Everyday as well as a charity ambassador for WaterAid. She is also a savvy business woman launching her own fashion label, Evrryday, and she and Josh are continuing as a killer renovation duo having recently moved into their second home after selling their completely transformed Coburg home in November last year.

If you follow Elyse along with nearly a million other people, you’ll know she can do full glamour better than most but prefers to go make up free by the Murray and loves camping, cleaning up the local beaches, motorbikes and her fur babies, Isla and Harlow. To top it all off she has just released her first beautiful book, From Me to You, sharing her story, challenges and top tips on beauty, fashion, health and fitness. So excited to have her here to chat more about the book and how she seizes her yay!

+ Full show notes here

+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah

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Dany Milham // The ultimate tech-based disruptor saving our time, sleep and koalas Dec 13, 2018

Show notes

I know they say you don’t have to reinvent the wheel, but Dany Milham has shown that reinvention can be an incredible platform for success. Dany and co-founder Mitch Taylor have reinvented the mattress with their booming business, Koala, which has skyrocketed to a multimillion-dollar empire and disrupted an age-old largely uninteresting industry. If you’re the 7 people in Australia who haven’t seen their ads yet, they developed their own foam that prevents you from feeling your partner’s movements in bed, the mattresses can be shipped to anywhere in Australia within 4 hours and are now the highest reviewed mattresses in Australia.

Starting with just a mattress, the vision for Koala was always a furniture brand with tool-less 5 min assembly furniture delivered in 4 hours and they have an exciting, innovative pipeline of furniture products ahead. They are also a social good business in that they adopt koalas for every mattress sold and turtles for every sofa they sell with conservation project around Australia.

While some grow into their entrepreneurial selves, Dany has always had a business brain. Born in laid-back Byron, he swapped the boardies and surf life for computers and tech, finding his love for tech and business as young as 13 years old when he founded his first startup. He has also launched a successful app, his own digital agency, has a computer science degree and was poached by prestigious agency, Ogilvy, before his Koala journey. And this was all by the age of 25!!! What an absolute legend, so excited to have him here to pick his brains!

+ Full show notes here

+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah

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Danny Kennedy // Fitness, food and flexibility Dec 07, 2018

Show notes

You may have seen a couple of weeks ago that I joined legend Danny Kennedy on his own chart-topping podcast, The Fitness And Lifestyle Podcast, and if you’ve ever listened to it before you’ll know he is a FOUNTAIN of knowledge giving people a fresh, simple approach to wellbeing and fitness and helping them achieve incredible results. In a few short weeks, he’s already helped me enormously and if you watch my stories you’ll see I’ve doubled the weight I’m lifting already, so I figured especially as we enter Summer and the silly season of splurges is upon us, we’d get him on to share some of his wisdom.

He’s a certified strength and conditioning coach with a cert ¾ in fitness and diploma in sport and management and is all about flexibility and sustainability when it comes to workouts and nutrition. With a background in many different sports, injury led him to try his hand on stage as a men’s physique athlete which helped him develop his expansive knowledge on healthy weight control, leaning up and building strength. He’s also the trainer for Keep it Cleaner alongside the amazing Steph Claire Smith and Laura Henshaw along with many other big names in the community which is a testament to his talents. So excited to have him on the show to share some of his top tips and how he seizes his yay.

+ Full show notes here

+ Find DK’s podcast here

+ See DK’s website here

+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah

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Emma Isaacs // Winging it as a wonderwoman Nov 29, 2018

Show notes

In most cases, being a mother of five is an all-consuming role in itself but Emma Isaacs isn’t your average woman. Running her own show since the tender age of 18, Emma is the definition of business woman and is now the founder and global CEO of Business Chicks – Australia’s largest networking community for women that has now also entered the US market where Emma and her family now live.

Emma bought Business Chicks at only 250 members after seven years of running her own successful recruitment company (which followed her dropping out of her business degree as it wasn't moving fast enough) and has now grown it to its present glory running 100 events annually, publishing a magazine called Latte, and bringing the likes of Kate Hudson, Richard Branson, Seth Goden and Nigella Lawson to her audience. She has also just published her first book, Winging It, documenting the process with a refreshingly honest and practical approach and I’m delighted to have her on the show.

There were a couple of technical glitches but we got there in the end and you can enjoy a bit of typical LA background beats along the way...

+ Show notes are available here

+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah

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Kayla Itsines // Fitness, fame and family first and foremost Nov 21, 2018

Show notes

We’ve had some incredible guests so far and I’ve said before that I feel like I’m running out of positive adjectives to do them all justice! But Kayla Itsines is truly one of the world’s most inspiring and influential leaders and very special to me as she topped off the “dream guest list” when I first started the podcast.

Kayla doesn’t really need an introduction having fast become a worldwide household name through her life changing Bikini Body Guides, but just to recap quickly, she is an Adelaide born personal trainer, author and entrepreneur who has educated and encouraged millions of women around the world to improve their health and fitness. Her 28 minute workouts have revolutionised the fitness world, focusing on strength and confidence through both training and recipes. She has also released an incredible meal planning and workout app, Sweat, founded by her fiancé Tobi (also featuring leading trainers Kelsey Wells and Sjana Elise) and at just 26 she has created the world’s biggest female fitness community with over 10 million followers on Instagram and 23 million on Facebook!

Her success has been recognised with many accolades including Time Magazine’s 30 most influential people alongside Kanye West, Cosmo Woman of the Year, and the BRW Young Rich List. More importantly, Kayla is incredibly down to earth and endearingly family focused embracing her Greek heritage and always making time for her relationship, her relatives and her huskies, Ace and Junior. While most of us are well acquainted with Kayla’s work and her online persona, I am SO excited to share a snippet of the beautiful human behind the scenes.

+ Show notes are available here

+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah

+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!

Barney & Kada Miller // Resilience, recovery and redefining happiness Nov 13, 2018

Show notes

This is our first duo interview with two incredible people both in their own right and as a couple. Few people have faced the adversity and challenge that Barney and Kada Miller have endured, again, both separately and together and even fewer have come through it with such positive energy and resilience. They have taught me so much about visualisation, the power of your thoughts over your body, and the strength of your human spirit. I am so excited to share their story of seizing their yay.

I won’t reveal too much here because the episode covers a lot of the story, but for some quick context Kada’s happy country NSW childhood was shaken with several tragedies of suicide and accidental deaths among her friends leading to a downwards spiral of bad decisions and habits. Barny was a promising young surfer also in country NSW looking to go pro when he was a passenger in a terrible car accident and was told he would never breathe independently or use his legs again. Ever stubborn, Barney refused to be defined by his quadriplegic diagnosis and has since made leaps and bounds in regaining mobility and even become a world champion adaptive surfer.

I’ll let them inspire you with their grit, determination and beautiful love story that followed ending in Barney even standing to dance at their wedding. They also have a documentary, You & Me, and a book, The Essence of You & Me, that I cannot recommend more highly (with a box of tissues nearby) and I’m so excited to have them join us from California where Barney is working with world leaders on his rehab.

+ Show notes are available here

+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah

+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!

Agapi Stassinopoulos // Waking up to the joy of you Nov 06, 2018

Show notes

Agapi is one of the most effervescent and energising people I’ve ever met and a true Greek Goddess, born and raised in Athens with her sister, Arianna Huffington, founder of Huffington Post. Given her jam-packed schedule, this is an "express episode" that we squeezed in during our amazing Nurture Her immersive retreat in Fiji, but to get even half an hour one on one with her is a blessing.

She is an absolute powerhouse of wisdom and love and I can’t say this short chat really captures her true essence, sense of humour and energy so consider it a taster that you can find out more about in her latest book, Wake Up to the Joy of You: 52 Meditations and Practices for a Calmer, Happier Life. As even Agapi mentions, to tell the full story would involve a Greek odyssey along the lines of Homer and the Iliad!! Taking a different pathway to her older sister, Arianna left Greece for London to study acting at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art with her heart set on Hollywood. One of my favourite quotes from her is that everything good in her life now is the result of not getting what she thought she wanted.

When her acting career didn’t take off, she began a soul-searching journey leading her to receive her master's degree in psychology from the University of Santa Monica and go on to become a world-renowned speaker, best-selling author and spiritual leader whose meditations are among my very favourite. She’s even very kindly included a bonus meditation at the end of this episode about finding the joy of you. She is currently conducting workshops for Thrive Global, another company founded by Arianna, to help change the way we work and live. She divides her time between New York and Los Angeles and is one of the most inspiring people I’ve ever met. I’ll include links to all her books, meditations and other resources in the show notes and hopefully this short half an hour gives you some insight into her vibrancy and wisdom.

+ Show notes are available here

+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah

+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!

Tim Robards // Sports, science, screenplays and starting TRM Oct 30, 2018

Show notes

In this episode, we welcome our second male guest to the show, Tim Robards (another Bachelor connection, but I promise that's not the criteria for all guests!) What I love about Tim is that while he was indeed the FIRST ever Australian Bachelor (and the first marriage to come out of the show with the beautiful Anna Heinrich), he is far more than just a pretty face.

As a sports chiro by trade, Tim has degrees in physics and medical science as well as a masters of Chiropractic. He is also a wellness educator through his program, the Robards Method, which we’ll chat about in the episode and now an ACTOR making his debut on Neighbours as Pierce Greyson earlier this year. If that weren’t enough he’s also moved into producing through Robards Productions, is a pianist, and has a more woo woo side than you might expect. Introducing the multifaceted and all-round legend, Mr Tim Robards…

+ Show notes are available here

+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah

+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!

Julie Stevanja // Fashion, fitness and founding an activewear empire Oct 23, 2018

Show notes

While I've mentioned I don't want Seize the Yay to be about just business, health and women, I couldn't help but showcase another incredible female founder and CEO in the wellness space, Julie Stevanja, who I am also lucky to call my friend. Like Lisa and Rach, I met Julie at my first major speaking gig a few years ago and am continually in awe of how stylish, successful and savvy she is! She is CEO of one of my favourite online retailers, Stylerunner, which grew by 1736% to a multimillion dollar company value in the first three years. The website ships to 100 countries around the world and stocks more than 50 brands, including their own label Flight Mode which I absolutely adore.

She is the epitome of style, somehow integrating Activewear into street style in a way that very few others could pull off. At that very first speaking gig when I was super nervous, she told me she was a closet introvert and gave me a quick schooling on the psychology of power posing and I’ve never forgotten it. So glad to have her on the podcast to share some of her many other pearls of wisdom. And since the sun was shining on this beautiful day we recorded outside so the birds provide some beautiful ambiance but you’ll have to excuse an airplane or two!

+ Show notes are available here

+ Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah

+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY!

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