If you follow me on social media as well as listening along, you might have noticed one Steve Gela (aka Steve Gelagotis) popping up more and more recently. I literally met this beautiful human only a few weeks ago through our mutual friend Khanh – a now regular on the show - but he’s just one of those people whose warmth and genuineness wraps you up in a big hug of safety and calmness, so that you want to be around him as much as possible… WHICH makes him the EXACT person I’d want by my side in ...
Mar 02, 2022•1 hr 10 min•Season 1Ep. 195
Lovely yayborhood, you might have seen that we have quite a few friends on the latest season of Survivor (a few of whom you’ve already heard from on the show) and we thought for those of you who find some yay in watching the show it’d be the perfect opportunity to dish up some behind the scenes dirt for you. So, quick heads up for anyone who isn’t a big fan, there’ll be a few bonus episodes during this Blood vs Water season that assume you know the show and rule of the game well (but we’ll still...
Feb 28, 2022•53 min•Season 1Ep. 194
I have been busting to share this week’s episode with you guys and if you’ve run into me at all since I met Gabe and Adam last December, I have probably already talked your ear off about them. I was lucky enough to meet this lovely couple during my very quick trip to LA as we were on the same shoot together and had a lovely whirlwind few days as a trio. You can probably tell that meeting new people and hearing all about their lives is one of my very favourite things and these two are so fascinat...
Feb 23, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 193
Lovely yayborhood, you might have seen that we have quite a few friends on the latest season of Survivor (a few of whom you’ve already heard from on the show) and we thought for those of you who find some yay in watching the show it’d be the perfect opportunity to dish up some behind the scenes dirt for you. So, quick heads up for anyone who isn’t a big fan, there’ll be a few bonus episodes during this Blood vs Water season that assume you know the show and rule of the game well (but we’ll still...
Feb 18, 2022•34 min•Season 1Ep. 192
Somehow, between the 385725938 episodes we've done together, it seems Ang and I have never properly explained how we met!! So, we thought that'd make the perfect #yaysofourlives episode for Valentine's Day in honour of ALL the different kinds of love we can celebrate on Feb 14, including the love between friends. We eventually make it to a few other random yayborhood watch good news stories plus a voice memo from one of our lovely listeners about the Gardiner Brothers story from a few weeks ago ...
Feb 14, 2022•1 hr 7 min•Season 1Ep. 191
It’s been such a fun few weeks easing back in with a few doses of #yaysofourlives for you, but we’re finally back with our first full interview guest for the year and I couldn’t think of a more perfect guest than Briony Benjamin . I read Briony’s book, Life is Tough, But So Are You , when it came out in August last year and again just before this interview and both times, for different reasons, it was exactly what I needed to find my yay again and I hope this chat is the same for some of you too...
Feb 10, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Season 1Ep. 190
Welcome back to another dose of #yaysofourlives. We touched on Lunar New Year last week just before Ang went off to celebrate with her family, but today we’re joined by the incredible Francesca Hung to dive a little deeper into the celebrations and her experience of growing up Asian in Australia, which I think will be fascinating given we share that experience but from completely different backgrounds and perspectives. From a shy young girl growing up on the Northern Beaches to our first Miss Un...
Feb 07, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 189
Lovely yayborhood, you might have seen that we have quite a few friends on the latest season of Survivor (a few of whom you’ve already heard from on the show) and we thought for those of you who find some yay in watching the show it’d be the perfect opportunity to dish up some behind the scenes dirt for you. So, quick heads up for anyone who isn’t a big fan, there’ll be a few bonus episodes during this Blood vs Water season that assume you know the show and rule of the game well (but we’ll still...
Feb 03, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 188
Another chaotic dose of #yaysofourlives with our resident co-host Ang who brings out the crazy in me and hopefully a few laughs in you. I came across the perfect #quoteoftheyay for the times we're living in from the incredible Helen Keller - A bend in the road is not the end of the road, unless you fail to make the turn . We're all facing huge disruptions to the path we thought we were on, but never forget you have the power to pivot and reach your destination in another way. Don't forget to DM ...
Feb 01, 2022•54 min•Season 1Ep. 187
Lovely yayborhood, welcome to the first episode of 2022! We took a much longer break than anticipated as the brain took her sweet time replenishing after a crazy year, so thank you very much for your patience and hope you too had a chance for some down time. If you're nonetheless having a bit of a hard time kickstarting the year, you are absolutely not alone - hopefully you find some reassurance in Ang and I still being unable to find our marbles. Things have not exactly gone back to normal, so ...
Jan 25, 2022•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 186
I can’t believe we’ve reached our last guest interview for the year! My gosh, we’ve had some touch and go moments in 2021 - in and out of lockdown (and therefore in and out of motivation) with rapidly changing schedules and everything in between, but we made it and I’m so proud of the yay we’ve created in our third year together. I can’t say enough how grateful I am for the yayborhood, you’ve absolutely kept me sane this year and given me so many reasons to smile with our healthcare worker care ...
Dec 01, 2021•1 hr 26 min•Season 1Ep. 185
Welcome to the second segment of our second miniseries for the year showcasing some incredible women in science thanks to the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science fellowship program. While our running miniseries wasn’t sequential and could be listened to in any order, I’d recommend going back to last week’s episode for the full introduction to the program and the landscape before digging into this one. A stat that definitely deserves another mention, however, is that only 28% of researchers today...
Nov 29, 2021•1 hr 26 min•Season 1Ep. 184
I’m so glad that you’ve all been loving our running miniseries and, as promised, I’m thrilled to have a second one for you kicking off today. This one has changed my perspectives and extended my knowledge just as much, but in a completely different way and in relation to completely different pathways to joy but that’s exactly the essence of seizing your yay – it looks different for everyone. The thing is, so often you don’t know what you want your future to look like until you can visualise it o...
Nov 25, 2021•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 183
I hope you enjoyed our Power Your Inner Runner podcast series, it was such a pleasure to create and I’ve loved seeing all of your learnings and reflections. I did have the second miniseries of the year ready for #yaysofourlives this week, but it’s been pushed back slightly to align with some official announcements relating to the guests, so it's back to your regular scheduling for now but keep your ears peeled. Today’s guest is one of those people that I feel so lucky to be able to share with yo...
Nov 17, 2021•54 min•Season 1Ep. 182
Welcome to our final episode of the Power Your Inner Runner podcast series in partnership with Nike Running and Rebel, gosh that’s gone so quickly! I feel so lucky to have been able to pick the brains of three amazing Nike athletes and Olympians on everyone’s behalf – the tips and tricks they’ve shared have enhanced my training so much and I hope they’ve done the same for you. Whether you’re a running beginner or a seasoned pro, they’ve jam packed so much universal advice into these chats that w...
Nov 10, 2021•54 min•Season 1Ep. 181
Welcome to November everyone, I honestly can’t believe we’re here. Very quick hello from me today as we’ve got a yayborhood guest interview for this week’s #yaysofourlives , so I’ll save the banter for next week’s regular scheduling with Ang (who I’m so glad everyone is enjoying so much). Our guest for today is someone you’ve heard of many times now because she’s not only been in the yayborhood since the very beginning, but been such an active and thoughtful contributor. Dana Phang is the woman ...
Nov 01, 2021•35 min•Season 1Ep. 179
The third anniversary episode is finally here, thank you so much to everyone who submitted questions (especially the four amazing yayborhood members who sent theirs in by voice memo). I had been hoping to celebrate this milestone with a real life event, but this was still a pretty special way to reflect on the past few years with our new co-host, Ang (who also happened to co-host the very first episode ever back in 2018 - such a full circle moment). I could never have imagined then that we'd sti...
Oct 25, 2021•1 hr 26 min•Season 1Ep. 177
You know one of the main facets of the Seize the Yay philosophy is separating what you do from who you are but, naturally, our conversations still touch on “the doing” because work is inextricably related with finding your overall purpose or passion in life. Today’s guest, however, has faced perhaps more upheaval in relation to “the being “– not so much in finding what you love but in finding who you are. Growing up as a Jehovah’s Witness to hard-working, immigrant parents in regional Victoria, ...
Oct 21, 2021•1 hr 14 min•Season 1Ep. 176
There are so many people without whom this show would not have been possible, but this guest in particular really pushed me forwards at the pivotal moment where I could have backed out. We connected a few years ago when I jumped on his own incredible show, Behind the Human , for one of my very first podcast interviews and a few months later it was Marc who I turned to when I wanted to start my own. Back then he was about the only person I knew with their own show and I still can’t believe how in...
Oct 14, 2021•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 175
Ang is back for a World Mental Health Day/Month episode of #yaysofourlives which, as always, involved lots of tangents and digressions before, after and in between our actual serious chats about the topic. Such is the result of voting Ang in as a regular co-host of the segment - you're literally getting our real-life catch up after a weekend of her on night shifts and me being nocturnal, so we're both as delirious and scattered as ever. In fact, I can't even listen back to these episodes and alw...
Oct 11, 2021•52 min•Season 1Ep. 174
The fact that this chat came in at an hour and half and we’d already been chatting for half an hour before that confirms just how much I enjoy Grace Brennan ’s company and what a great conversationalist she is. It’s not just her fascinating and unique story either (although I did love labouring over all the seemingly unlikely chapters that led to the one I met her in) but just her enthusiasm for asking questions as much as answering them and learning everything she can about the world around her...
Oct 07, 2021•1 hr 28 min•Season 1Ep. 173
Coming to you with a quick solo #yaysofourlives this week to break a vicious cycle of calling Ang Sunday night to record Monday morning for a Monday afternoon episode. Ang didn’t believe that I’d been getting votes for her to join the segment more regularly, so I did a little poll on socials last week and it was a landslide vote off 98% to have her on weekly (and yep, you guessed it - the 2% no vote was mainly just her). So, I’m very pleased you’ve been enjoying our random sisterly banter and la...
Oct 04, 2021•8 min•Season 1Ep. 172
I’m amazed every single week at how generous people are with their time in agreeing to jump on the show, but every now and then a guest says yes who I reached out to 1000% expecting a polite no if not total radio silence. And this week, we have two of them who I admire so much not only as separately very impressive individuals but also as a wonderful couple who navigate careers, compromise and continual growth in a way that made me fall a little bit in love with them as you’ll probably hear. On ...
Sep 30, 2021•1 hr 37 min•Season 1Ep. 171
A #yaysofourlives chat dedicated to the front line workers keeping us all safe (and of course, a side mention of the spectacular win by the Dees over the weekend.) Don't forget to send your NOMI-YAY-TIONS of any healthcare or frontline workers who you think deserve a little yay-filled care package. Email [email protected] or just send us a DM on Instagram. The TikTok account we have a good chuckle about can be found here . The Voice for Victorian nurses account I mentioned can be found h...
Sep 28, 2021•55 min•Season 1Ep. 170
Most of the time, I’ve had a bit of an introduction to our guest’s story or at least done a deep dive into the internet to put together the pieces in advance. Today’s guest, however, was one of those fascinating beings whose story isn’t readily documented in the media meaning we’re all hearing it for the first time together – literally, this was her first podcast EVER. Having discovered Sarah as a self-taught gardener and having followed her In My Patch page for over a year I’ve experienced her ...
Sep 23, 2021•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 169
RE-RELEASE // I know I yak on about it all the time but the weirdest thing about making this show is not being able to reach out to you at the time you’re actually listening, so sometimes bringing you yay the best way possible is a bit of guesswork. I’ve been noticing people posting about episodes with a longer lag time from its release than usual, and while I originally thought lockdowns meant more time to listen to podcasts, I’ve noticed for myself at least without travelling in the car all th...
Sep 20, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 142
If you’ve been listening along for a while, you’ll probably know me well enough to notice when I get totally carried in someone’s story and suddenly we’re 50 minutes in and I’m still on their way to yay. It’s generally because our guest has such a densely interesting story that we could do a whole podcast on each theme, which I definitely felt for today’s fabulous guest and I still feel like there are so many things I could have asked but didn’t get to. Despite, hilariously, not having met in pe...
Sep 15, 2021•1 hr 28 min•Season 1Ep. 168
RE-RELEASE // I know I yak on about it all the time but the weirdest thing about making this show is not being able to reach out to you at the time you’re actually listening, so sometimes bringing you yay the best way possible is a bit of guesswork. I’ve been noticing people posting about episodes with a longer lag time from its release than usual, and while I originally thought lockdowns meant more time to listen to podcasts, I’ve noticed for myself at least without travelling in the car all th...
Sep 13, 2021•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 145
Most of you are already aware of my fascination with the military (the origins if which I’m still not really sure about but which I’ve stopped questioning because we also all know that weird things will make you yay, so just roll with them because you're already far better off than those who haven't found their yay yet). So, you won’t be surprised how much I enjoyed this week’s two episodes but I promise the military connection was a timing coincidence! If you haven’t listened yet, our #yaysofou...
Sep 09, 2021•1 hr 19 min•Season 1Ep. 167
Back in your ears again, beautiful people, how time is flying by! It’s been another crazy week of a crazy year and in amongst the madness, the yayborhood has truly kept me going. A few days ago was the anniversary of the Seize the Yay book coming out (which I still can’t believe is a thing) and again, some of you sent the loveliest heartfelt messages about how it's impacted your lives sharing your a-ha moments or back stories. I know I say it all the time but the only thing that’s hard about pod...
Sep 07, 2021•36 min•Season 1Ep. 166
