It's cool to be kind - Uncut with Kath Koschel

no screw? Probably, And I just think that this is another reel. I we can say a screw in the coffin. We just need to get a studio. We need to stop recording on the ground. Hey, actually this is a great natural segue, Laura. I did put out a story not like longing, on my Instagram that was, hey, guys, is anyone a real estate agent in East slide into my damnse I have a question Brittany using her influence for good. I can't get a bloody rental. I thought

I'll put a call out. I am really really wanting to get a dog. Everyone knows it. It's I'm obsessed with it. But I can't have a dog in my apartment. My landlord continues to say no, even though like, I'm the cleanest person. Irrelevant. Why does your landlord hate you so much? She hates me? I don't know. I hope she actually listened to lafe On. I think she actually

likes me. She's really nice, but she's just dead adamant that I'm not allowed a dog and I cannot find a rental that allows a dog because I need two big bedrooms. I need to make one for a studio for Life on Cut, and I need it to be dog friendly, and apparently that means you pay twenty five thousand dollars a week anywhere in the East, and there's like one option. So if anyone is I've had a few people like I have had a few people slide using the podcast to do a call out for accommodation

and housing for yourself. That's exactly what I'm read. If anyone's a real estate agent, I hope I can't helping me. Actually, at the moment that I just met down at the local pasta shop, she ran into me. She's like, Hey, I'm a real age and I'll help you but if anyone knows of anything, maybe it's a private rent tool that will allow a dog. I can vouch for myself, Laura can vouch for me. I'm a great tenant. I

am sure. I'm shut after two years of us creating this podcast community, this is what you're using them for. I need housing, I need actually something funny. Happy. This morning, early this morning in Sydney, it's raining. If you're not from Sydney, it has been raining here for days. It's going to be continue to rain for the next week. Anyway, I wake up really early and I was like, I've got to get out. I'm going to go for a walk. So I rolled out of bed. I haven't brushed my

hair in a couple of days. Don't want to, you know, it's not nothing to brag about, but I haven't brushed in a couple of days. I rolled out of bed and I went for a walk in the rain at

about six thirty seven am. And I saw this girl in my peripheral sort of like running beside me, like she did a double take, and she ended up coming up to me after following me for like twenty meters, and she's like, excuse me, and I was like yeah, and she said I could be way off track and I'm not actually sure, but do you have a podcast? And I said and I was like, yeah, I do. That's me Chrus. She said I love your podcast. But I was like, okay, but you didn't know it was me.

You can't love jimud. She's like, I love your podcast. She's like, I just didn't really recognize you. And I was like, nope, that's because like catfishy all, this is what I look like when I roll out of bed in the morning and I'm in the rain. And she was like, oh no, it's not that, and I was like, it is. Let's not lie. This is what it is. Anyway, thank you to that person that pointed out that I don't look like my Instagram at six day in the morning in the rain, and thank you for saying you

love the podcast. But that was my morning, Laura. What have you been up to? We just got back from Byron yesterday. I saw that in the Daily Rain there was a lot going on. Do you know what there was? Actually there was COVID cases at the hotel that we stayed at. So we got home and then we found out when we landed that there had been COVID cases

at Elements. The hotel was great, we had a great time, but there was two cases and so we had to get off the plane and go straight to getting a COVID test, which, you know what, guys rest assured got the results, but I was like, you're in my house right now, have you got your result? No, the results this morning. Of course we are negative. It seems like everything has gone back to normal. But then there was this weird little reminder that COVID is still out there.

So that was a kind of anticlimactic way to finish the holiday. Well, speaking about Byron, you have some exciting news to share or that has been shared for you. We weren't going to share this. I wasn't going to mention this, but Daily Mail wrote an article about it, so you know what, It's always nice when your news gets taken. It's like when you've got something really exciting to tell and your friend or someone just takes it from you and they're like, oh, we already know you

tell them. You're like yeah, session and Stuch told us yes. Cool. You're like I'm having a baby and your Mum's like, oh, I already know. Your sister told me, you're like, great, yeah, co that's awesome. So we bought a house just maybe about half an hour outside of Byron. I thought you were going to say half an hour ago. Half an hour outside of Byron. We bought a house during COVID, maybe about three or four months ago. We hadn't been able to see it. We bought it over zoom Inspections.

Matt and I have been looking for the better part of this entire year, and we found the place that we fell in love with, and we weren't going to share the news we were going to keep because we're not moving there straight away, and because we hadn't seen the house and we're not moving there until like maybe the end of next year. Brittany and I have some big podcast planned. Looking at Laura when she's like, hey, I bought a house, I was like, congrats, talk me

through it. When are you moving? So the whole purpose of us going on this trip to Buyron was we went there to go and see the house. So it wasn't really a holiday. It was more like, hey, congratulations, you have a very big mortgage and you'll be in

debt for forever, yes, sucker. And we went out to the property and we got to see it, and then we got back to the hotel that we were staying at and we got this text message from somebody who works in media who was like, Hey, Laura and Matt, I'd just love to get a statement from you guys about the house that you've just bought. We just saw some beautiful photos of you standing in front of the

Fasoult sign. You're like, excuse me. Obviously it's big news and we're super excited about it, but it was your ner news and you don't have to share anything. Yeah, And I guess like we're also very acutely aware that it's a fucking time in the world, you know, like it's a weird time to be buying houses, it's a weird time to be changing things. Like we weren't able

to see it. It was a huge risk for us, and there's been a lot of anxiety around buying our first home, and so we just wanted to keep it private, and we also wanted to make sure that we had the privacy for our kids, like that was the plan and the long term when we're living there, we kind of didn't want people to know where we lived, which is absolutely fair and then anyway, we get sent these photos from the Daily Mail, love them, as you guys know.

And there was a pap hiding in a car, a paparazzi. Yes, I'm pretty sure everybody knows what a path is. There was a paparazzi hiding in a car across the street taking photos of us in front of the new house. And we had no idea that they were there. We honestly felt like we had no idea the whole time.

We were probably there for about an hour and a half and somebody was hiding in a car taking photos of us and our kids, and I just it was probably the first time since, like you know, the year after Batch ended, that I felt so violated and I felt so like intruded upon our privacy that there was just some dude lurking in a car taking photos of us and our children. Well, the thing is, it's one thing for a paparatti to take photos of you without

knowing whether you're on a walk or you're whatever. That's one thing, but it's another thing to have your kids involved and to share basically a location of where you're gonna live, where your kid's gonna live. There has to. I just can't believe there are laws against this. I actually am gobsmacked that they care they allowed to put that information out. Yeah, I told Britt because like Britt sent me the news article. She was like, well, good,

good job keeping that downloading, guys. And I spent all of that day in tears because I just it wasn't the way that we wanted the news to get out. And also, like one who cares that we bought a house?

It's just be hearing me. It's got so weird real quick. Anyway, enough about what we've just been up to this last week. Now it's time for us to tell you what this episode is about. And honestly, guys, I think that this is my favorite episode. This is my favorite interview that we have ever done. We do say that a lot were getting best no I agree, but ever, I think as we're going we're getting more people that were like just obsessed with and more people that really hit home.

Because I have had so many interviews I think you have too where we're like, this is our favorite ever episode. But guys, this one is truly is one of the most I guess, touching and powerful episodes. And Kath, who Laura's going to tell you about in a minute. Kath is just the most inspiring woman I have met in as long as I can remember. Honestly, when we were so her name is Kath Kosher. When we were interviewing Kath, we Brittain I I both were in tears. We were

both laughing. She is the founder of something called the Kindness Factory. Now we're going to get into what that is exactly a little bit further along, but a bit of information about who Kathy is. She was an elite athlete, and she broke her back two separate times and has had to teach herself how to walk three times. Her story is harrowing, but it is also equally as beautiful, and she talks about how the power of stranger's kindness

is what has really gotten her through. She also talks about the loss of her partner and just what she has had to go through in order to recover from this. But truly, the main take home from this and the part of this story that is so incredibly powerful, is the conversation around small acts of kindness and Kindness Day

is coming up. It is on the thirteenth of November, which is this Saturday, which is World Kindness Day, World Kindness Day, and so we just wanted to, in celebration of well Kindness Day, bring you this episode and honestly, like we said, if there's ever one that you listen to, please make it this because it is just so special.

She truly is incredible, and she speaks about the fact that through all this adversity, through years of tragic, horrific accidents and situations, relearning to walk, surviving grief, the thing that kept her going and what literally helped her survive was tiny acts of kindness and that's where this stems from. And she does go into that, and she gets into some specifics and I'm sure you're gonna cry like we cried. You almost can't help it. There is absolutely no human

that can listen to Cath's speak and not be affected. Yeah, and I think the big take home around this is not just about kindness, but this idea of gratitude and being, you know, like for somebody who's been through so much in her life, Cath still has so much gratitude for the life that she's lived. There are some very big, big topics that we touch on in this episode. We

do touch on suicide. So if that's something that is affecting you, or if this is something that you know is too troubling for you to listen to, please maybe come back to this episode at another time. But overall, this is a truly uplifting conversations So I just hope for so many of you that you get something really, really wonderful out of it. Before we get into the episode with Kat, we do have a couple of things

we want to talk about now Christmas is coming. This is one hundred thousand percent not an advertisement, but Goop. You know how much we love Goop. Goop is Gwyneth Paltrow's I guess it's her online company. It's her website where she advertises the weird and the wonderful of the world. She gives you gift ideas, she gives you her favorite items, and I'm not kidding. It brings me the most hilarity and entertainment of any other website in the world. And

it's not supposed to it's not. It's the thing. This is not a satirical website, but it turns out maybe it is in disguise. Well, she's released a Christmas list. She does it every year, twenty twenty one Christmas List. There's gift ideas and there are some real bangers on there. So Laura, I wanted to know what would you purchase from this list? Like you've had a look at the list? Is there anything on this list that you would actually purchase? This is like the Goop Christmas List. We talk about

it every year. It's the gift that keeps on giving, or it's the gift that truly gives nothing, because I don't think anybody can afford anything that's on there. Well, no, usually people can afford like a candle, a vagina candle or something like that. But even that, the vagina candle's quite expensive. Yeah, and you might remember last year there was a candle which was like the vagina scented candle, which truly wasn't it smelled like flowers.

research for market research. I want to know what orgasm smells like because I think, I mean, like, sex has a smell, but I couldn't put my finger on it. It's like sweating is in a bedroom that has no fresh air? Like what is what does sex and an orgasm smell like? I know what your orgasm smell like? Smells like coconut oil because that's what you use. Smells like tennis. My Look, I want to just quickly go through a few things on the list that I think

are absolutely ridiculous. Now, I don't like Gwenneth Poultry very much, and I don't know if it's purely because of her ridiculous recommendations that every year I like a little bit less. But she has advertised a jungle gym for your children. Look, that's a bit of a controversial and a big sweeping statement for someone you don't like. She's a bit it's unrelatable, might be the world. Well, I mean like, no, not that I don't hate her, but she's not in any aspect.

I don't love her as an actress. I don't love her recommendations that like, I just she's not my cup of tea. She's recommended a jungle gym for your kiddos if you need to go and purchase something for them this Christmas. The only catch is it's gold plated and it costs you fifty two thousand dollars. Wouldn't it be nice to have that much money? Though? Who who is buying that? Who is buying that fifty thousand dollars jungle?

had a really big problem with. I don't want to say a problem. I don't have a problem with it, but I'm never going to buy it, and I think it's ridiculous. Is a snow sled like a toboggan? Like it's it's a circular sled, it's toboggan in style. It's black. If it's one person and it has the Chanelle symbol on it, it's a Chanel toboggan. Now what would you pay for a Chanel round, circular, one person toboggan? Is it a child toboggan or an adult toboggan? I can't

be sure. I think it's interchangeable. I can't afford anything from Chanell because I have a borgage. Now I can't afford anything ever. Again, I'm gonna say two thousand dollars fourteen thousand dollars, fourteen thousand. Now I'm looking at this. I have used one of these many a time, but I just use It's a bodyboard that I got from Big w It was twenty five dollars. Bodyboard does just the trick the same thing as this fourteen thousand dollars

Chanel Toboggan does. You're taking a bodyboard to the snow. It's like it's a snow to box. So I used to go down there. We used to have these really big grass hills in Port McQuay. Anyone from Port McQuary will know what we're talking about, and we used to get used to run up really fast when I had been raining slightly and on your bodyboard and you would like scoot down the grass hill. Amazing. I'm from Woollongong and we just used to use cardboard boxes. The couple

boxes get wet. The very last one I want to check in is extremely affordable. It's eighteen dollars, except it's not affordable when you hear about what it actually is. So you got to remember this is a wellness site. It's all around taking better care of your health, you know, spending lots of money to make your skin beautiful, make your vagina smell good, and make it, yeah, make your

house smell like an orgasm. This is eighteen dollars eighty for Leopard printed rolling papers so that you can smoke your Ciggy's in style on the wellness side. The thing that bothers me, I know I said before that something bothers me about Gwyneth Paltrow. I think the thing that bothers me the most is that I asked Jordan when we met. We just had that one conversation where you're like, who's your hall pass? His fucking hall pass is Gwyneth Paltrow.

Now it makes sense, so Britty, you're just jealous. No, I've never liked her, and I've never liked her, and I'm and now I probably like her, but I don't get it. I'm like Gwyneth Paltrow and he was like, yeah, I mean his other one is Sharon Stone. I'm like, okay, you've got a thing for older women obviously, which is probably why this relationship works Sharon Stone and Gwyneth Paltrow. They are his hall passes, so I don't get it.

I don't know what he's seeing. But he can go and buy vagina candle from Gwyneth Pultrow if he wants. Have you ever though, received or given a present for Christmas? I guess not just Christmas, maybe birthdays whatever, something that could have been on this list, or something that you've opened and just been like, what the actual fuck? So I was thinking about this. There's nothing that really jumped out. But I did get given and this was very recently,

which is why came to mind. I did get given a box of extremely expensive champagne as a present from a friend, and I opened it up weeks after she had given it to me, and there was a empty packet you know, the oral bee tooth whitening strips. It was. There was an empty oral bee teeth whitening strips inside

like she'd already used. I'm pretty sure it was like an old bottle of champagne that she had been given that was sitting in the cupboard like it was in the box, and it had fallen down the side slap of the box. And when I opened, it was just half an empty oral be I mean, maybe she just thought you wanted a drink and you needed to whiten your teeth.

my family Christmas present. Someone in my family messaged me and said, I forgot Actually I'm just going to call her out. It was my sister, Sherry Shery. She forgot to get her Chris Kringle a present. Right, She's like, I forgot to get my person's present. I left it at home. Can you bring me something? So I was like, just about to leave to this Christmas party. So I'm looking around my house and I saw some lip bosses

that I had been gifted. I was like, well, that's going to have to do because I'm not going to the store right now. I've got to be at this Christmas party in twenty minutes. I grabbed these lip glosses, put them in a bag that someone else had already given me, gave them to my sister to give to the for the Chris Kringle. Long story short, I didn't look properly and when the person opened the present, they were like, Brittany, is this from you? And I was like, no,

what do you mean because it's anonymous. I gave her a lip gloss that had my name embroidered in it. I said, like for Brittany. Basically, she was like, I know this was you. It's got your name, and I nearly fucking died. I was like, I've never been more embarrassed. About twenty five people are looking at me being like you little stinge. I was like. I looked at Sheridan and I was like, you better dig me out of this hole right now. But she said nothing, So I've

just added her on the podcast. Anyway. I want to know who, Like, for everyone listening to this, I want to know the shittiest present you've ever been given. We're gonna do a little segment on an upcoming episode coming into Christmas, getting into that festive spirit. I want to know, what is the worst thing you have ever been given as a present?

that's a bit fucking weird. But you know, we just don't tell anyone about it. Anyway, these people are cooked and they've got a weird thing, all right. Well, something I do to my boyfriend is that anytime if we're just chilling, or maybe if we're watching TV or we're cooking, and I get a rush of wetness, you know, like as in I feel a little bit horny and I'm a bit wet down there, I'll put my finger down there and then I'll just rub it on him, just

to show him what's happening. Sometimes it impresses him, sometimes it excites him. Sometimes he's like, oh, not now, which is totally valid. Anyway, this morning, we were laying in bed, chatting and cuddling when all of a sudden, I felt a trickle of wetness. So I put my finger down there and smeared it on his arm. Unfortunately, when I looked up at his arm, I realized that it wasn't me being wet, and it was blood. My eyes shot open and I couldn't stop gasping and laughing in the

utter horror. I was speechless. I rubbed my period blood my boyfriend. He's so rank. Did the boyfriend knows her sleep?

doesn't have the same sexy room to it. I'm discharging. Oh I'm discharging, you know, like I feel like, oh yeah, I guess the girl I'm coming. Yeah, okay, I'm glad that we unpacked that. I'm glad that I had to give you an example. Well, I'm like, I'm coming is like I'm orgasming. I don't mean as in like I'm getting wet.

inpercent than yours. It's way better. It's way more innocent, Hey, chicks. This ties into the great standing while wiping debate of twenty twenty one. I was at work in the cubicle closest to the window. Now, the window is outside the cubicle door, but it's ceiling height. It's very very big, and we work on a very high floor, so there's actually no chance of anyone being able to see in. So I was mid stand up wipe, because well, I'm

a standard. When I see something in my periphery, I turn my head and I see the fucking window cleaner hanging from the top of the building. He's come straight past the bathroom window and he's made direct eye contact with me over the cubicle door. As I am armed deep midwipe standing. I'm like a deery headlights as they slowly wash the windows around me. It hasn't put me off stand up wiping, but I definitely don't go into

the side cubicle anymore. How humiliating. Imagine the window cleaner because he can't we probably can't get away fast enough, so he's swung down eye contact while she's wiping herself, mid wee, mid stand on his around ankles, like I just can't imagine that feeling of like what do we do right now? Do I look away? Do you look away? And he just kept cleaning the window. He was just

like wax on wax off. I think I think that there's an added element of humiliation when you're a stand up wiper, Like if you're sitting wiping, I think that that's less humiliating than standing up and making eye contact at the same time. One hundred percent. I think you need to learn to sit down. I feel like this

has been a really educational start of this episode. Do you know what before we get into the chat we cath, we just have a quick call out that we want to This is usk asking you for your help, for your love for your dedication to the podcast. We do do this once a year. You guys might remember that last year the Podcast Awards came out and we asked

you to go and vote for the Listener's Choice. Well it has come around really quick this year and the Listener's Choice Awards are back there open and currently they're

taking votes for your favorite podcast. And if you love listening to Life on Cut and you're part of the Life on Cut family, if you are a lifer, honestly, we would be so forever grateful if you would jump onto the Podcast Awards website it's Australian Podcast Awards and go and vote in the Listener's Choice and put in Life on Cut because that's us, and give us your vote. It would just mean so much to us. So all the other categories are judged by a panel of judges,

but the Listener's Choice is exactly that. The only way that you can win it is by having you, guys, the listeners vote, So it only takes you two seconds and we would bloody love you if you could take the time to jump on and vote, ask your friend to vote. If you've got a UNI email, don't be scared to go use that as well. She can use MOLTI please create burner accounts votes. If you've got burners, use them. We'll put all the details in the show

notes and we'll probably ask you again next week. Anyway, guys, let's get into the chat with Kath. We hope that you love this as much as we did. She's truly truly an inspiration and for anybody who wants to be a part of well Kindness Day. We will put all the information about that in the show notes as well. So, Kath, welcome to Life on Card. We're so excited to have you today.

I got invited to a pretty exclusive event in the US, and I didn't really know what it was about the way that the woman had explained it to me was that it brought together the world's most powerful and influential people and brands, and to me, it sounded like a cult. And I was a little bit apprehensive, Actually I should do this event, but they said that'd fly me and

my assistant. I didn't have one at the time, so my best friend got a junket to the US with me, first class, all this kind of stuff, and bells should have started ringing at this moment when I'm sipping champagne in first class and all that kind of stuff. And I got to this event and we're having a sound check the day before, and again things should have been

making sense. The screens were bigger than any house I lived in, and I looked like an aunt as a four thousand strong audience it was going to be the next day because all these seats were there, and I was like, okay. The brief that I got were these people have everything they could ever want and need, So you just bring humility, So bring yourself humble them. I can do that. And they said to me, so how long have I got for this talk? And they said,

you've got eight minutes? And I said, wow, that's a big story to fit into eight and I normally get forty five. Any chance I could have fifteen just in the prep and they said, look the Dalla Lama and it gets twelve.

on after you. And I was like, what are you talking about? And she said, oh, this is twenty eighteen. And she goes and I don't watch TV or anything like that, and she says, I'm going to talk about the Me Too movement and I said, wow, I've heard about that and she said, I'm sure you have. There. So she's sitting there and she goes. She goes, hey, I'm going to go out the front. You mind if I watch I'm going to leave you here. I'd really like to listen to it you're going to talk about.

And I said, of course, Like I said, I'll do the same. This is the finish, I'll run around like I really want to hear what you got to say. And I was like, what a wonderful woman. So I sweat starts. I'm like where am I like, what's going on?

I get out and I'm two minutes into the eight that I've got start sort of, you know, sharing everything's gone really really well, and then I look off center on stage to the right, and I was like everything just started to make sense, just sitting next to her husband, Barack Obama, and I'm like, and I just go, holy fuck, that was Michelle Obama. What the fuck did I say? Did I swear? Oh my god? Oh my god? And

I was like, where am I? And I looked to the left and it's the da La Lama, I see you've read and yellow all like the who's.

holy shit, how has this happened? And yeah, my parents hate me for that, so like, how if you should have bowing down to this person.

where did you come from? Where did you grow up? What was your childhood?

phone reception and stuff. But I feel like it really set me up for life. Finley. It's a really special place how I describe it, because well, what's it like there? And when I was back there last week, I noticed that the advertising at the hotel motel is one of them advertised they're dragging to get you in there, is that they have color TV.

much to do. I've never really been big on TV or anything like that, so it was just always running around playing some kind of sport as a kid and all that kind of stuff. But I think being the only girl, you know, Mum wanted a girl. She had three boys all that kind of stuff, and so I was supposed to be the you know, the princess and the ballet dancer and all that kind of stuff.

cricket get her in there. Yeah, he saw me like playing against my brothers and he was like, she's actually quite good at this. So trading in the ballet slippers for cricket spike and fell in love with the game. So I was just a normal happy kid. Hey, Like I didn't have any kind of trouble growing up, Like bullying was never present in my life. I was amongst high school kids and stuff like that just floated amongst everyone, school captain and all that kind of stuff. So yeah,

I just love love life. I still do love life, But yeah, I just had a really genuinely, really cool childhood.

play for New South Wales. I've been over in the UK, played for them, sorry Middlesex over there, and then the yeah, the phone come calling and they said, look, we're ready to pick you, so come back. All that kind of stuff,

so come back. And I've been training really really hard, and I've noticed a bit of pain in my left glute and some numbness in my left hoe my left big toe, and I went to the physio and she was a little bit more alarmed and I was like, look, currently feel my big toe and she was just like, oh,

that's a bit of an issue. And in those sorts of sports environment there's no privacy, so your teammates always around you when you're naked and all that kind of stuff, and getting undressed for the physio all that, and so everyone's like, what do you mean you can't feel your big to I was like, I don't know, like it just can't feel it like Lane, that's it.

risks associated with playing. And so I said, okay, well of coursing on a pit because this is what I've dreamt of since I was like a little girl, since I was eight. And so I played and no regrets. But essentially in the next game that I played, the disc that was prolapsed in my spine, it come up that quickly that the two vertebrae had nowhere to go, and they cracked onto each other, and part of the bottom vertebrae cracked off and embedded itself straight into my spinal cord.

damage is really severe. So really confronting, said like, I'd built an identity around being able to hit a ball around the park, and so relationships and love and all that sort of thing, I guess was on the back. And so yeah, just had this situation where I was like, all of this has now been taken away from me.

I can't guarantee it, but you should take it. And so, of course, like not really thinking there was any alternative, which there wasn't really apart from just resigning myself to the fact that it was life in a wheelchair, off I went and I had that surgery. The difference between

that one and others is so invasive. Normally they'd cut through your back and access your spine that way, and this one they cut through the stomach and they you know, shift your entire stomach so vital logans or get pushed aside and they access the spine that way. So yeah, really big one, and you sort of, you know, afterwards feeling quite groggy and a lot of pain because of that.

But they line the vertebrae with titanium reinforcement, put like a ball and socket joint in there, I guess the idea is, and they sort of like put a casing around it, and the idea is that you'd get a lot more mobility with that ball and socket.

was I'll get through this, it's okay. And I guess because the injury happened and it was like surgery, surgery, surgery, and you sort of get stuck in this vortex of just I just need to get through today and then I'll be okay, and then I'll get through tomorrow and then I've got the surgery coming up and hopefully that fixes it and all that kind of stuff. But it's a huge surgery. Threw four centimeters in that surgery, so my bmile mess immediately improves and I'm like, sick, this

is awesome. The wunder you wake up feeling the way that you do, Like I was like the world is end, Like it felt like the world was ending when I woke up from that surgery. The pain that I was in my body was horrific. And I've been through a lot of injuries and a lot of pain and stuff, and I remember, you get to ask the pains go it was your pain out of ten and for me, like to say eight is excruciating. And I was like, it's a seven and she was just like, I think

that's a ten. I'm pumper with like like all these drugs and stuff, and so it was intense. I mean, I'd never want to watch a YouTube having been through it. I don't think I want to watch what that surgical interventions like. I mean, the pain that I felt, I can I can understand it'd be pretty pretty full.

that doesn't work that way immediately. And so yeah, I'm lying there for traction, and I just start thinking, Wow, is this I mean, so much pain, and you know, so many drugs gone through my system.

but I still couldn't feel anything. The day after that, I took four, and you know, I spent the next sort of six weeks in the Gold Coast, my stomach wound healing and doing all that kind of stuff until they like medically cleared me to fly back home to Sydney I was living at that point in time, and then finish the rehab processes and outpatient here, so like go and keep keep your activities up and all that

kind of stuff. And at this point it's like deemed a miracle because you know those Canadian crutches, the one that we like wrap around, I was walking with them, so I looked like I was doing very very well, and I was. I started to regain feeling in my right leg, which was amazing. Left was a little bit far behind, but it was getting and you could sense that. And then I woke up one morning due to be at rehab, like just a routine sort of thing with

the injury I was going through. And you know when you like sat down too long, could be at work or you know wherever you are watching Netflix still and whatever, and your arms are in that bent position you can't move them, yeah, and you're like, shit, my arm's and I'm like I'll shake it out and get the pins and needles and all that. It was like that it's like five o'clock in the morning. But my entire left leg, it was just really heavy, and I was like, what's

going on here? So I thought it must have slept in a funny position. So I tried to like maneuver myself in bed, and nothing really happened. Like two minutes later, I'm still sort of waiting for it to wake up, and I'll never forget it. I flick on my bedside table lighte and I look under the cover and my entire left leg was just blue, like a who's kind of color.

part of the story it will resonate with you. I crawled myself into the bathroom and I sat on the toilet, and I had no idea if I was using the bathroom, and my surgeons it all said to me, with an injury like yours, if that happens, if your blood or bow'll start to shut down, that's life threatening, and you get straight to an emergency room, and so I thought, okay, I can't wuck around here. So I had flatmates, and being the stubborn creature that I am, I didn't ask

any of them for help. I crawled past them to my car.

Hospital in Sydney. So I get there, are parking emergency bay and I crawled myself into the emergency room and they're like, man, what on earth are you doing? And I said, look, he's what my life's looked like. The last kind of you know three months. And so I woke up this morning and they put me in a wheelchair and I get into that consult room till about a half a day's worth of testing. And again, I'll

never forget this moment. E They're like, all the doctors are sort of outside of my room, and I could tell there was something going on that was big, and they were looking in and I try and look at their eyes or lippre what they were saying and hear what they were saying, and every time they'd catch my gaze, they'd look away. It couldn't really look me in the eye. And I was like, shit, I don't think it's going

to be good news. And yeah, one doctor walks in, my doctor and he just sort of said, look, Kath, I'm afraid the news isn't great. We're going to amputate your leg. And I just sat there and completely disbelief, going what I said so many words. Probably we've already dropped a few f bombs up because I am all on, but yeah, like all this stuff just starts going through my head. What on earth is going on? I didn't know this was a risk for me, all that kind

of stuff. And I called my brother. The funniest part about this is he was a butcher at the time, and they're going to amputate my leg and that was really we found that really funny in the moment.

anywhere between ninety and one hundred percent. Anything blow twenty percent is dire, and anything blow ten percent is dead. And I said where am I and they said, well, you were at seven percent at one point this morning. I said, wow, so it's dead and they said that's why it's turned blue. But it is fluctuating. And I said, well,

is that what we call hope? And they sort of giggled at me and they said, mate, this is serious, and I said, yeah, I appreciate that, but no one's ever told me that I was at risk of having my leg amputated. Like, I don't have anything against I live with a disability now, I don't have anything against that. It's just I didn't know this was it's a able. So I say, can you give me a chance at just keeping it, Like, just give me a shot, just

prescribe me something, a drug appeal, whatever it is. They said, well, we can't really figure it out. We don't really know what's going on, but we think it's a blood flow issue, so exercise could help. And I was like, oh cool, I'm an athlete and I had to do that. So what's my deadline all that kind of stuff. And they said, well, we'll give you two weeks. You need to go to hospital or rehab every morning, get it tested. If it

drops below ten again, it's gone on the spot. But essentially if you can get it above twenty percent by this time, like two weeks, then we might be able to work with that. So my next two weeks looks like this. I'd get up at like four in the morning, have Brecky, go to hospital or rehab, have it tested with the help of their sort of physios and practitioners get it moving in any way that could. And again I was walking with those Canadian crutches and said I

wasn't walking. I was hopping on my right leg I could, or my left literally dragged half meter behind me. So the shoes are all worn down and scuffed and really confronting to see and go back home, have more brecky, go to the local gym. There's some stuff there that I could do. Go back home, have lunch, go back to the local gym, and anyone that knew my struggle would sort of help me, because it was really hard to keep it moving and I couldn't really sleep because

of the stress and anxiety. So I'd get up at like two in the morning, and I had a twenty four hours past the city cricket ground where I was a contracted athlete. I'd go there just to get my leg moving at two in the morning, and the security guards, because it's man twenty four hours a day, they'd notice the lights on and rather than coming down and kicking me out, like they probably very within their right to do, they said, so what are you doing here? A's two

o'clock in the morning. And I explained my situation and as I said, rather than kicking me out, hit Bobby, this older guy who always seemed to draw the short shore, and that two week period of that night shift would literally get electrical tape and he'd strap my left leg into a spin bike or a cross trainer, go back to his post, come back and unstrap me, and then

help me with an machine. And it was the first time in my life that I really understood recognize the power of kindness right like this guy.

but also to thriving in life as well. So yeah, I'll progress the story. It gets to the day before you to be amputated, and I know that we've sort of alluded to dark humor, and my family very much rely on that to get through, and having supported me

through many moments, have gotten there as well. It was to no avail, so I couldn't get above twenty percent, and I thought all these efforts were gone, and my pair parents decided they wanted to have a barbecue on Sunday before the Monday that I was going to have this amputation, and my brother legitimately put together this invitation and send it to my closest friends and family, and it simply read, you're invited cuts last day with two legs barbecue.

gonna be okay, Like it's okay. But yeah, when I was staying at Mum and Dad's that night, they're going to take me into the surgery the next day and wrap their arms around me and all that. And I don't really remember this part of the story, but dud tells it really well. Woke up at sort of three in the more feeling pretty crooked and collapsed unconsciously onto the floor, went to use the bathroom or something, and

it woke that up, the thud on the floor. So picked me up, put me into the car, took me this innery or a hospital, made an entire body scan, and realized that I've been bleeding internally from the stomach wound. So basically, the surgeon had very accidentally and very slightly nicked the federal artery that ran into my left leg.

it attached? Like is my leg still there? And everyone was like, you know, the surgeons like made it. It's still attached. It's okay, lightsop pain, but you're not out of the woods. To keep it attached and to keep it healthy, you need to go to rehab. And if you ever want the chance of walking again, that's going to look like six to twelve months. And I've never really heard of rehab for that long or you know,

in that way or anything like that. And so they said, you know, pack up your life, quit your job, cricket's gone, like all that kind of stuff, Off you go, And so I just didn't really see any other options. So off to rehab I went. And you know, after recovering from that surgery obviously, and it was such a confronting experience for me. I was I was twenty three at the time, and you know, you feel so adult when you're that age, and I wasn't. I was just a kid.

constantly coming up for air. So at that point, again, still very probably naive, and I think I was protected because of my support network as well, and the fact that I was never predisposed to mental real health probably helped me in that phase. So it wasn't too bad. Again, I just had this belief that I was going to be okay. And I don't know where that comes from or why. Again, just probably luck in my upbringing and things like that, But it wasn't too bad at that

point in time. Certainly, when I first got there, I was putting the wrong ward. I was twenty three and I got put in the geriatric ward and beds in the water. I was supposed to be, and so I had three categories. The over sixty fives, you over seventy fives, and they over eighty fives, and they were always at twenty three. They put me with eighty five year olds, and I was.

me so much about life and perspective. I had, you know, an eighty five year old war veteran who had bullet holes in his back, and he told me all these stories, confronting stories about hardship, and I was like, Jesus, this is adversity, like not breaking your back, like really dying on the warfront. Like wow, this puts my struggle into perspective. And my best friend actually from rehab was an eighty five year old woman, Daisy. Daisy wasn't actually her name was.

It was irs. I called her Daisy because she called me Alice. She still has her granddaughter. Oh, so like warmed and broke my heart at the same time. But yeah, she had dementia and had suffered a stroke and all that. So every day I'd take her a cup of tea, had to thicken it with an agent so she didn't catch pneumonia. And she just told me stories that were the most amazing stories. I don't think any of them were true, but that were phenomenal stories that really made

my time a little bit more bearable. But that was the reality of my life at that moment. I just had to find friendship in the most extraordinary faces and ways, And yeah, I loved it. I learned so much as a result of those guys. But you know, you referred to some mental health. What was it like? I remember a week into my stay there and the reality just hit me like a ton of bricks and just had tears running down my face. I was like, how on

earth I've gotten through my first week? And it was horrific. How on earth am I going to get through six to twelve months of this?

my best friend. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you. I can't do this for you. I wish I could, because I'd take it away if I could, but I can't, and she goes, what I can do is I can tell you that I believe in you, and I know that you've got this. I've seen you do hard things and I know that you can get through this, and she said, I won't come pick you up, I'll come visit and I'll walk this journey metaphorically. So I buy side with you. You've got this, and please know that

I've leave in you. And I think that tough love. Really it gave me that sense of belief where I was like, Okay, if she believes in me, then then I need to believe in myself as well. I've got this, and so I just then committed myself to the process. It was, you know, go from bed to chair, chair to frame, frame to stick, six to stick and then you're on your way, and much harder in reality when you're you know, everyone's telling it you're not going to

do it and all that kind of stuff. I'm like, well, see how we go. I'll give it a go today and all that kind of stuff. So it was tough, and my luck changed in a really good way though about a month into my stay when I met something so much grander than anything that I experienced before, in meeting who was going to be the love of my life.

So yeah, I ended up meeting a fellow patient. His name was Jim Rugby league player or semi professional rugby league player an injury spine, not doing rugby of all things. That was the tough matter obstacle race. So he was doing that probably shouldn't have with contractual sort of things. And it's on that I don't really I've never really seen it, but I must have been like a monkey bar kind of challenge. And someone had gone to early and pushed into his back and he fell awkwardly from

a pretty great height and broken his back too. So he lands himself in rehab and being surrounded by you know Daisy or not Daisy, but Iris as well as you know war Vester into our love. They're you know,

still great friends and stuff. But you know, it was really refreshing to see someone of like mind, age ability, all that kind of stuff enter And I thought it was quite cute and all that kind of stuff, and so it was like, well, when I got here, it would have been really nice to have someone show me the ropes and show me just all the things you need to know in a new environment. It's like I've taken upon myself to be that person for him so

that he can lean on me. It's really confronting when you get there all that kind of stuff and.

It was let's stream a life that exists once we're finished, and that's almost the reward, right, So what does life look like? So our dreams were like they were amazing, And think back on this time right now with so much adoration, and it still warms my heart to think

about it. So for us, it was four kids, three boys and a girl, just like my family, the house in Broad Border on the Gold Coast, which is where he was from originally, pet turtles, the dog, all that kind of stuff, and we dreamt so often to make that time bearable. And there were dreams that I'd never dreamt before or dared to dream with anyone before, because

all I ever cared about was was cricket. And I remember three months into our relationship, you know, in that kind of phase where you like, this person is perfect, like could never and he's still perfect to me. But I remember three months in going I am so grateful that I broke my back, Like I'm so grateful, and that so sounds so confronting to hear that, right, but I was like, if I didn't, I wouldn't have met

this person who's everything to me now. And I just the life that we'd been dreaming, that we were dreaming was so special to me, and we're just like young kids in love, like sort of long walks on the beach, we did wheelchair races in the corridor and all that kind of stuff.

do to get back to normality. But both really really gritty in I guess our determination to want a better life for both of us, so strong mindset and all that kind of stuff as well.

of so almost like a transition into normal life. Jim had a day to go before he was to be considered that kind of patient. Just put the lease on the house together, and all these dreams that we've been dreaming, we're about to come true the very next day. So yeah, he was probably three months behind me, but his injuries were, you know, three months after mine as well.

this way? Did you know that this was something he'd been considering.

There's this saying it's I don't even know if I made it up or not, but it's, you know, I'm little pieces of everyone that I've met. Did Jim. I cherish most of the parts that are his, that exists within me, and as you said, the legacy that's now being created, it's not even me, it's definitely him. He's at the forefront of everything that I do, and no,

I didn't see it coming. And the grief that happened after he's passing, it's still torturous and I still live with challenges of that every single day and reminders of that. And for so long I held on to this thing that he'd given me so much as in you know, I was never faced with the thought of suicide ideation throughout my rehab period, but he definitely helped me throughout the struggle of rehab, and I just kept thinking, well, did I not help him? And it was never was

I not enough? I have to believe that our relationship was as beautiful as it exists within my heart now, and I'm definitely not thinking otherwise at all. Ever. I just felt so much empathy for him in that, you know, was he struggling and I didn't see it? And I wish he just had told me, because I opened up to him a lot and saying I'm really struggling today and I can't I don't want to go to this session, and he'd be like, come on, babe, We've got this,

like it's all good. And I love him more because of his struggle, which is so hard to say because he's not here anymore. But he was just so beautiful on the inside and out, and yeah, I just I couldn't love him anymore if I tried.

all that kind of stuff. He didn't have an existing mental health condition, he didn't see to be struggling. There was support available, all those sorts of things, but there was so much going on for him that I'm still learning about today. That still just gives me so much empathy for him and his struggle and all those sorts

of things. And I think, even individually for both of us, we never know what another person is truly thinking, right, Like we can think that we do and we can say that this person is my everything and I know everything about them, but we all have little secrets like I do. I haven't told a lot of people certain parts about my life and things like that, and that's just because they're our own. And I don't think he wanted to share that outwardly with anyone. His mum and

I were incredibly close, and she didn't see it. There was no warning sign or anything like that. His friends, you know, I feel like I just I exhausted them post his passing, just by calling them and going. But when that moment happened, could he have meant that? And it's like, well he could have, cath, but we don't know, mate, Like it's you know, and so I think he can run yourself into the ground, honestly, asking so many questions. All those photos that we've got together, are they and

he's smiling in them? Does he mean that smile? Or was that moment a special to him as it was to me? And you rack your brain and you're never going to have the answers to that. For Jim, A lot of people say you must be angry, and I was like, absolutely not. Angry is not an emotion that I felt towards him, certainly at all. I felt a little bit of anger towards myself. You know, why did

I not see that coming? And this is a fair while ago now, but no, it was If anything, I probably loved him more, not for any other reason than I just it was just so special.

his passing and all those sorts of things. And then it just hit me like a ton of bricks. So I had to go back to rehab for a routine sort of check up. I walked past his room and just all hit me and it just all come crashing down, and I ended up going to the Gold Coast. Where would you just start this life together? I reconnected with his mom and all that kind of stuff, who I'd ignored, and she was such since passed, but she was such

a wonderful woman. And then I felt so guilty for ignoring her, like, you know, she's lost her son and all that kind of stuff, and I just kept owning all this responsibility of it all, and I needed to let that go. And I think I'll always still feel a little bit responsible to work in progress. I think

life is as well. But I went to the Gold Coast and I spent three weeks there just at that rock bottom, you know, like first I lose this stream of playing cricket, and then I lose the person who taught me there was so much more to life than cricket. And halfway through this three week period, I'm sat in Wendy was Jim's mum's name. I'm sat in her place, and on the coffee table was a piece of paper

and a pen. I don't know why it was there or what compelled me to do what I did, but I just had that kind of moment where I was like, oh, I just started reflecting on a lot of things, and I picked up the pen and I just started writing. All these names kept and faces kept popping into my mind, and they were just names and faces of people who had helped me or shown up for me in my life. And I just started writing their names down.

And I said thanks, dork and hung up, and I just started calling all these people, family friends, anyone who had really shown up for me, and same response. Everyone was like, mate, I'm really stoked to hear that you're okay.

And I was like, thanks, like, I think everything's going to be okay, guys, Like, I've got so many good people in my life, and I think that's why I'm so positive, Like people have always had belief in me, and I'm internally driven by the goodness of others and so them showing up for me always has shown so much faith. And yeah, I just I come back to Sydney after that, and I didn't know what life would

look like. I didn't know who I wanted to be, you know, just because I was an athlete and I mean I had to be one and all that kind of stuff and yeah, cricket new stuff. Well, I was through my a lifeline in a sports admin job. And so I had this job then and I was going okay, Like physically I was I was pretty good too, And I got asked a lot of questions because everyone's like, holy moly, like twenty four and you've just been through

these huge life hurdles. And a common question was like, if there's one thing that stands out, like, what is it? You know? No judgment, so good, bad, ugly, just say it. And I would always land on kindness, And I say kindness. It's not that, you know, interchangeable kindness with niceness. I think we need to differentiate the two of them, the

strength in kindness and how I articulate that. When you've been in a wheelchair like I have been, and you can't reach a lift button and a random stranger walks past and they see that struggle and they press the button for you. It means absolutely nothing to their day, but it meant everything to yours because it allows you to get downstairs and do what you need to do or go where you need to go. Those moments matter, and we need to do more of it, not just

when a person's in struggle. But you can't argue with kindness like it costs us nothing. Sometimes it's just a simple smile or a compliment someone or whatever it may be. But there is so much strength in kindness. Recently did study so engage a third party do research for us, and it was to study the impacts of kindness throughout the COVID pandemic. So arguably our most recent historical you know, adversity as a nation or the world really strange turned

to kindness. So when we're in a struggle, we look for an opportunity to be kind and to receive kindness. It was connection with neighbors, or helping an able out, or giving someone a compliment, or calling someone and having a meaningful conversation and checking in on them, and all those sorts of things. And I'd encourage anyone as we re emerge. It's here, right, we're all starting to get

out and about and stuff. If kindness is so powerful that we rely on it to survive, why not do it every single day that we're now opening up and doing all this kind of stuff. Let's not forget about it. It's so important. And I think anyone who's experienced the power of kindness think back. Everyone's received kindness everyone's given it. Think back to that time and how it made you feel. Let's just do more of it.

I'm going to go some dinner. Do you want Something's like? Parton this is So we had dinner. He's like, why are you doing this? I was like, oh, So I told him a bit about my stories, like holy shit, so this is a great dinner. And he's like, well, okay, I'm going to cut people's hair for free once a week now like and so he does that, and so

it got quite catchy. Bought a random person you know, they're petrol and she had been through the most horrific stuff in life and she's now, you know, doing kind things as well. And so it was nothing more than that. And I had a great job and all of that kind of stuff, and I guess I launched it just on that fromis I just wanted to give back some

of the kindness because I've experienced so much. And I launched it on Well Kindness Day, which is also Jim's anniversary, the thirteenth of novembery in twenty fifteen, so six years ago nearly. And it was never going to be anything apart from a side project and a bit of a social media page of goodness essentially, And what really exploded it was I guess that there was a bit more

life adversity to follow. So three months into that journey, I was going really really well emotionally spiritually, you know, I'd raise all this money for charity and found purpose again through kindness, just doing things for other people. And that's how my life life made sense to me. And yeah, physically gone really really well. I went back to rehab throughout this period and just st a you know, they

were like, we're ready to discharge you for life. Any questions before you do, and I said, I've got one question, miss Cricket. So it was part of who I am. I can't feel my left leg still, that's just something that will never come back. Now, I said, so I can't do that anymore because it's skills based. Anything else I could do And they said, oh, look, your recovery is based in a pool and on a bike. If you were to adding a run, you could be like a paratry athlete. Do you want to give that a go?

I was like, oh, okay, So I signed up for a test. I loved it. It was great I could get into this. So ended up being the first passon with my disability to do a half iron Man, so it was a pretty big deal. I did in twenty fifteen. It was wonderful with my brother and did so well at that that I got to tick it into a full lirone Man, to be completed in May twenty sixteen

and fittest I've ever been in my life. So a full line Man's a four k swim basically one hundred and eighty kilometer bike ride and a full marathon at the end forty two k.

the grand scheme of the training. And I get to the north side of the Sydney Harbor Bridge and I start sort of getting towards a right hand turn lane to make my descend into the Northern beaches and just feel this start on my body and everything just goes black. I got hit by a drunk d diver from behind and broke back again.

And I woke up to all these texts and emails and inbox messages and whatever it may be where people had heard what had happened, and they just started writing to me, going, made, I'm so sorry about your accident, because if you wanted to let you know that today I made my neighbor's lawn, or I donated blood, or

I tied my sister's shoes. So all these people sending me these acts of kindness because I recognized that I was no longer in a position to do what I was doing, and so they were like, well, I can do that, like and so it got quite catchy. And in that hospital bed, I spoke to the guy had sort of done our web website pro bono, and I said, look, let's flip it. I've got like hundreds of thousands of these acts off people, and it was almost impossible for

me to have a bad day. Like I'm there facing a very lengthy rehab period again, everyone's telling me I'm not going to walk again, and I had to fight against that in my head every single day. And then hear all these people from all around the world just sending me acts of kindness and I was like, this is incredible, and again just couldn't Yeah, I couldn't really get out like that positive sort of thinking just kept

hitting me because all these people. I was like, well, yeah, I'm having a bad day, but like, look at all these people up to it was really cool. So yeah, so that's sort of how the Kindness Factory was born. I guess where it then become a people driven movement where people from all around the world just wanted to engage with kindness just because it was the right thing

to do and all that kind of stuff. So yeah, I spent six weeks in ICU and hospital and all that, and then I went on to rehab and walked and taught myself how to walk again. When everyone kept telling me I wouldn't. I got quite experimental with it as well. Not long after that accident, So maybe eight months after that accident, I was faced with a bit of a you know, an ethical dilemma or I had to face them, and it hit me with his car in court and it might be a story for another day unless we

want to flesh it out. But what I realized through his behavior, which I can't change, was that kindness had saved my life once. Why couldn't it again? So I went on too social media, which gets so many bad wraps and for many good reasons, because sometimes it's really toxic. But when news for good, I think it can do a lot of good. And hopefully that's what kindness factually

starting to do as well. I just went on. I said, look, I'm leaving my home with nothing but the clothes on my back on this day, at this time, no cash, no credit card, no food, no water, and I'm not going to accept help off immediate family or friends. I need to accept help only off strangers to feed me, to house me, to get me from A to B

wherever this journey takes me. And ended up on news channels all around the world had ten thousand people reach out and say, look, oh help y'all, like come and yeah, why.

do I he assist together? Because I'm like, in one day, I've got an offer in Perth and the next day I've got an offer in Sydney and all that. And so I started trying to map it a little bit, and I was going to be a very structure route and I'm just not structured. So I was like, well this, no, I don't want to do that. But then what I noticed throughout a lot of the people doing it had hips of friends helping me with that process. But was it.

All these people, I guess wanting to help were a lot The vast majority of people reaching out had experienced some sort of adversity themselves, and it was the ones that sort of shared a bit about themselves and I was like, they seem quite special. I'm going to pick them for no other reason that I just want to hear their story or get some perspective or whatever. And so I just picked the ones that seemed really a bit deeper in their offer, and that was a really

good thing to do, because the rest just worked itself out. So, like you know, the first day, I think I was in all areas of Sydney and I was like, how do I get though? If I've got zero cash, how do I get from A to B to start? Just to start? And then like a it was a luxurious like limousine company reached out and we're like, we're really inspired joannt us to just give you a driver when you're in Sydney.

and their story is mind blowing. And the dad of that family that you know, the leader of that family Surge. She was part of the Chilean dictatorship in nineteen eighty six, was in prison, tortured daily, all that kind of stuff. His wife broke him out. They got on a boat. They got on a boat, become pregnant on the boat. Land in Australia. So refugees, all that kind of stuff. And their message when they reached out wasn't like we

can do all this kind of stuff. They're like, can we see you struggle and we want to help you. We can't give you much. You can sleep on the floor of our you know, whatever room, our child's room whatever, but we can give you was love, and I was like, I need to go there, like I'm going there and I need to know their story, and so overwhelmed, and I learned so much about adversity. Everyone sees my story is oh my god, again you get one Lens. I don't know any different, and I wouldn't change my life

for anything. And my adversities aren't any greater than yours or anyone else's. Again, when we're in those moments, some of the bigger life adversities I've been through haven't impacted me anywhere near is some of the perceived smaller ones. I think it just depends where we're at in that moment in time and all that kind of stuff.

one thing? I was like, do do not? And that's also this ongoing gift you know to think that you can go through these challenges and come out of it with the mindset of what can I give to somebody else instead of you know, what can I do for myself to make myself better? It's so outward facing, which is what makes your story so much more beautiful in it. In this for somebody who is going through some huge

adversity in their life. For somebody who's going through and maybe, like you said, maybe it's not that the physical thing they're going through is the adversity, Maybe they're going through some inner turmoil. But for somebody who's experiencing their own set of challenges, what is your greatest piece of advice? What is something that you think, God, I just wish that someone had said this to me or done this for me.

I was traveling the world is a speaker, and I get asked questions like this a lot, and I was like, well, this audience front of me, so there was one hundred people there just for the sake of a number, Can anyone right now put up their hand honestly and maybe to these listeners, can you put up or can you say to yourself honestly, I know what my five top values are as a person. So do I know who I am? What makes me tick? And not many people

can honestly go I do. It takes you ten minutes to figure it out, right, So what's important to you? And I think the reason you need to understand what's important to you is because that can then help you climb out of that hole that you need to get out of. So for me, it'd be very different to you and to you and to anyone, right, because we're all so uniquely beautiful and different. For me, my values are a family and friends and loyalty and kindness and

probably gratitude. Right, So when I can understand that, I know that in order for me if I'm having a bad day to get out of I probably should need to call a friend and say, hey, get me out of this, right or whatever. Or I just need to experience write down three things that I'm grateful for, or give someone kindness, or ask someone for kindness, or give me myself some kindness as well. And I think when we have that self awareness about who we are, adversity is so much easier.

want to ask for help. I don't want to bother anyone. But I think there's a really big lesson in it, and there's so much power in vulnerability. And I hope everyone listening has taken something from Camuine. I know you've taken a lot of it. But I hope you realize that if you are in a place of struggle, the best thing you can do is reach out to somebody, anybody. It might be a stranger, it might be a family member, might be a friend.

you on your bullshit. Stop that you're better than this, kicking to gear, go get the help that you need, or whatever it is that you need to do, and those conversations that are vitally important when you're in a struggle in that you know you need to sometime be called on your bullshit.

of this, but I am. I landed myself in New York at this really high powered executive's office, and I was.

You've paid for a speaking engagement. They're like, well, yeah, it's just with our you know, the guy that owns the company.

And I was like JP something and he's just like what And I was like, I don't know. I think it's a bank or and he's like I was like JP, and he's like JP Morgan Chase and I was like, yeah, he goes cat that's He's like fucking He.

was like, I need to approach kids. I need to get in front of kids and start this generational change of kindness. So the factory he's got like the log and you, adults and kids alike can get engaged with that, and we're about to roll out corporate programs in kindness and all that kind of stuff. Whi's been fantastic with some great organizations around that. But I went into all these school environments and people became very aware very quickly that I was doing it for free and all that

kind of stuff. So I had this like backlog of six hundred schools. I was like, I'm never going to get to that many. And COVID struck and all these teachers were reaching out and I alert things from going into those school environments. And the first is that kids want to be kind. No one's born unkind, Like we all want to be kind, right, That's why I'm like, this should just be motoring on by itself, because we all are naturally inclined to be kind.

and foot we'd love you too, but you can't. And I was like, yeah, okay, that's true. And in a very reactive way, teachers would reach out and they say, look, can you come to our school because we actually lost a student to suicide. And it's of course I can, I'll drop everything and do it. But why does it take the loss of a student for you to pick

up the phone like this is ridiculous. So I ends up sharing this predicament with Kaplan, who are an education provider, a global one, and they were very inspired by what I was trying to do, and so I said, look, I want to create a kindness curriculum that can go into schools, and so we ended up creating that and during COVID we launched it into sixty schools in Australia

and it's now in congrats that's huge. Yeah, it's in three thousand now in Australia all around Australia, which has been fantastic, all online, which teaches the basic principles of kindness, so like things like perspective and attitude and positivity and empathy and all those sorts of things. And it's about to be launched into the US on well kind of

stay this year and then the UK beyond that. And I feel like this journey now is one that I'm no longer in control of which I'm completely comfortable with I think the sky is the limit in terms of all that kind of stuff. But I guess is a really long way of me answering, how do people become involved? Please just be kind? Yeah, but we will. Yeah, it would be really silly not to mention that.

as many people to continue that for us. And so we know that, you know, the stats are overwhelmingly positive, positively lent towards kindness. So yeah, we're encouraging people are a QR code or we're calling it a KR code to scam that and you'll get prescribed and active kindness that you can do this Saturday.

wait for the day. I want you to go out and do something kind, buy someone a coffee, give someone a compliment, do something for no reason, and like, don't pretend to do it, because we'll know you guys have got to go and do it. I'm going to go do it. We're going to start a thread on the Facebook group as well, which if you are not following, it's life on cut Discretion group, and then that way we can keep track of what you guys are doing as well. So I am just like, thank you, I

cannot thank you enough for coming here today. I am I mean, I knew your story obviously because we got you on the podcast, We've researched it, but nothing could have prepared me for what you just told me. I'm I'm blown away and how far you have come and how positive you are. You are an absolute inspiration to I'm sure everybody that comes across you, and I know I'm leaving I'm one hundred leaving a better person from this interview today, So I couldn't ask for more.

shame on you taking photos of someone's family. Honestly, that was my suck. I was so excited about the house. If I knew someone was going to take photos of me, I would have brushed my hair and yeah, I just didn't want that to be plasted all over the news. But anyway, that's that was a suck. The sweet, though, was really really amazing. So when I was in Byron, this woman named Sammy reached out to me on Instagram. She is a lifer. This is also a sweet and a recommendation.

be listening to this because she is a lifer. So if you guys, if you're going to Byron and you have kids and you want to get some beautiful family photos taken, She's got a gorgeous little studio in the industrial estate. I'm going to put some of them on my Instagram because I'm just so in love with them.

But honestly, it was just one of those moments where one I got to meet someone who was part of our community, and two I was like wow, like they're actually really beautiful, so talented, and it's so incredible to have stunning photos of your kids, like to be able to hold onto those memories, and yeah, I got them last night. And I was going through them and I was like, God, my kids are beautiful, sending them to everyone who's like, we don't care as much as you do,

but they're amazing. Okay, So does everybody have to use their investigative skills and find Sammy on their own? Or what is Sammy's handle?

and my brother, my niece and nephew. I haven't seen them in I don't think I've seen my parents in like seven or eight months, which is crazy. We speak all the time, but we haven't seen each other. So that was really really nice. My suck was driving back. I just didn't think it didn't even clock that this was the first weekend everyone was allowed to like travel out of the jurisdiction didn't even register. On the way back from probably what should have been a four hour trip,

it took me like seven and a half hours. The traffic was backed up as long as I could see. The rain was torrential, to the point that I was like this, someone's gonna have an accident. You could see every three lanes were driving with their hazards on. You can only see two meters ahead of you. You know that traffic where you're like I can't even pull. I can't even see where I could pull ouse you're three lanes deep. You just have to crawl at like twenty

thirty kilometers. So that was my suck, And yeah, that was it. Otherwise as a really uneventful, just like a really wholesome family weekend away. What an anticlimactic way of finishing off. We've been a really special couple of days. Though, I was like, this is fuck, this is cool, Like every body in Australia just wants everybody in New South Wales just wants to get out and see the world out. But it did mean that everyone in New South Wales was out with their family. So that's really nice. All

the silver lining, guys, we hope that you love the episode. Honestly, we really would love all of you all to take a little piece of this episode and go and do a random active kindness for someone this week. Go and log your random active kindness on Cat's website, which is the Kindness Factory. We'll put all the details in the

show notes. And this is also just your friendly reminder to jump on and give if you thought about it at the beginning but then you didn't stop, this is your reminder to go and give us a vote in the People's Choice Award in the Australian Podcast Awards, which we'll also put those details in the show. Not speaking of like doing the deed. I thought you'd bring me a coffee today, but you didn't. Tomorrow, Lucky world kind of stays on the Saturday.

But I hope you guys love him. I hope you learned something from him, and I just hope you I don't know's I feel like I'm sharing a bit of my life that I haven't really shared with you guys before. I think for Laura and Matt. Matt's always on the pod. He's such a public figure, and Jordan is a public figure, but he's not big on socials. He doesn't share a lot of his life, so everything that he's sharing now is really really big for him. So yeah, I'm excited

for you guys to hear it. That's dropping tomorrow if you're interested. I love that you did this episode. I love that you're able to give a little bit of an insight into your relationship to our listeners. Because like you said, you know, Matt is just like he is a like an old piece of furniture on this podcast now, and like this is something that's part of Matt's world.

Whereas for Jordan, I think it's really special that he put himself out of his comfort zone to be able to do a podcast because it's not something that he felt comfortable doing, and it is something that required a little bit of positive coercion from Britney. I'd give him a reward. He was like a dog. You gave him a blowy afterwards. Anyway, guys, that is it from us. If you love the episode, please jump on Apple Podcast

leave a review. If you feel like this is an episode that could touch someone or you know, positively affect someone's day, please share the episode. Tell your mum, to your dad, tell your sister, your brother, your friends, your cousin, your dog, and just tell everyone and share the love.