Reasons To Live

We all have a reason to live, even when life seems to make us think otherwise. Inspiring, raw, and at times shocking, Jas Rawlinson's 'Reasons to Live' shines a light on the extraordinary stories of everyday people who have overcome extreme adversity, and gone on to chase their dreams.

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Episodes

Amber Castle - Tales of adventure and living an out of the box life

Drag queen performer. Reality TV star. Disney Tour Guide. Actress. Monkey handler. Children's suit character performer. When it comes to describing Amber Castle's career, it's hard to sum up everything she's achieved and experienced. But one thing is clear - Amber isn't one to let life pass her by. But with everything she's achieved, it may surprise you to know that Amber's life wasn't always carefree and content. In fact, in her teens she experienced a severe trauma, when her older brother died...

May 05, 2020•1 hr 10 min

Kevin Hines on Living with Bipolar Disorder: "I've never suffered a day in my life"

Hey all! As many of you know, earlier this year I was very blessed to be given the opportunity to interview Kevin Hines (international suicide prevention speaker and award-winning filmmaker) for the 2nd volume of my book series, 'Reasons to Live: One More Day, Every Day.' If you've already checked out my new book, you'll be able to read a snippet of this interview in the book, however, I also wanted to release the raw audio file as there was so much great content that I think would really be of ...

Oct 09, 2019•49 min

Surviving & Thriving After The Sex Industry - Part 2 w/ Genevieve Gilbert

When Genevieve Gilbert came to Australia to study, she pictured a life of education, and exciting opportunities... Instead, she found herself buried in student debt, and barely able to afford food, let alone her mounting bills. With the rising pressure of finding a job, Genevieve entered the sex industry in a bid to survive. Her plan was to stay a few weeks, pay her bills, and then leave. 8 years later, she was still there, and barely clinging on to her mental health and will to live. In part tw...

Mar 31, 2019•44 min

Lured to Pakistan & Held Captive: Lara's Story

"I was ashamed of going all that way, to end up in this situation. I was mortified. Sajjad cancelled my flights, and once my passport lapsed, I was stuck in Pakistan... That's when the violence and sexual assault and starvation began... He locked all my clothes away, and I very rarely went out. At one stage, I didn't leave the house for 8 weeks." - Lara Hall On the 22nd January this year, my phone pinged with a message request. Checking my Facebook, I found a message, from a woman in Canada, who...

Mar 24, 2019•1 hr 18 min

Tackling child sexual exploitation - Glen Hulley (Project Karma)

Content warning: Please be advised that today's episode discusses topics including human trafficking, child sexual exploitation, and suicide. If anything from today's chat brings up feelings of distress, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14. As a former police officer and private investigator, Glen Hulley has seen a lot of awful things in his lifetime. However, nothing could have prepared him for what he was about to witness on a seemingly ordinary night in 2013. As Glen sat in a Cambodian bar, enjo...

Mar 05, 2019•56 min

Surviving & thriving after leaving the sex industry w/ Genevieve Gilbert

Feb 17, 2019•36 min

Miss Natalie - LGBT Musician & Advocate

"I've had guys offer to pay me money to kiss my girlfriend or ask for a threesome...we get treated like we're 'live porn' or something. I wish they'd see that we're just normal people..." - Miss Natalie Growing up in a Christian family, Brisbane Singer Miss Natalie always believed she would one day 'find a nice Christian boy' to marry... However, her world changed when she discovered at age 15 that she was in love with her best friend...a girl. In this chat, Nat talks about her journey to accept...

Dec 13, 2018•58 min

"I don't want to be a statistic" - Living with Borderline Personality Disorder (Jodi B)

"I don't want to be another statistic..." Taken into foster care when she was only a few months old, Jodi had a rough start to life. Although blessed to be adopted by a caring and loving family, the cracks began to appear early, with Jodi often lashing out violently, destroying her little brother's toys, and struggling with anxiety and depression. Faced with relentless bullying at school, and with her behaviour becoming increasingly aggressive, Jodi was sent to live with her grandparents at age ...

Nov 30, 2018•41 min

Music, Mental Health & Countering Toxic Media Messages w/Drew Brauer

Relationship breakdowns are never easy - particularly not when they happen just weeks out from your wedding! This was the reality for Cairns FIFO worker Drew Brauer. It was a tough period of time, but Drew chose to pull himself out of that darkness, and instead, left his high paying job and decided to chase his passion for music. Today, Drew is a well known QLD musician and the Founder of a suicide prevention charity 'Kick On.' In this chat, Drew and I speak about his journey, the impact of soci...

Nov 07, 2018•45 min

Endometriosis & Mental Health (Fighting Endo with Rhea C)

At the time of her wedding, Rhea was deeply in love and looking forward to starting a family with her husband. During her honeymoon however, she became extremely ill, and this was to be the beginning of a 2 year journey toward finding an answer for her daily pain - something that doctors routinely dismissed as simply 'depression, anxiety, or bad period pain.' Eventually, Rhea discovered she had endometriosis, an incurable condition affecting 1 in 10 women. After struggling to regain her health p...

Oct 24, 2018•47 min

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