Bryn Edwards at The WA Real

#130 Nic Hayes – Discerning Media Consumption

Take a deep dive into the current world of media with Nic Hayes, Founder and Managing Director of Media Stable.

Nic shares how he spotted an opportunity in the changing media landscape to create Media Stable, which actively links experts and their views with media outlets to produce informed and trusted content.

Through this conversation Nic provides an insightful commentary of the full range of media platforms, from traditional forms of print, TV and Radio through to online and social media, as well as the changes in our consumer behaviour. Interestingly Nic explains how, through a growing erosion of trust in social media content, there is the potential for people to return to the more traditional forms of media once they gain more awareness of the often-questionable credibility and decide to become more discerning media consumers.

We also spend time discussing the impact of content that is aimed at giving people what they WANT versus giving people what they NEED, as well as the importance of real human relationships and interaction.

Nic is a wonderfully engaging as well as knowledgeable man, which makes this conversations both entertaining and thought provoking, and leaves the listener with the challenge to consider a more discerning consumption of media in day to day life.

#129 Shazar Robinson – The heart of volunteering

Follow the human journey into the world of volunteering with Shazar Robinson, consultant at the Sankalpa Rural Development Society and former ambassador of the Shikshangram Shelter for Children in India.

Shazar candidly shares her journey with volunteering and talks about the light and dark side of giving time. She speaks about the conditionality of volunteering and how it was moving to a place, within herself, of giving without any expectation of receiving was the gateway to receiving so many unexpected gifts.

Shazar also talks about how her work at a children’s project in India caused her to question why there was so many abandoned children that lead to her next project that focuses on cleverly harnessing year round water supply in rural areas – this truly is a fascinating story in inquisitive thinking and underlines the true importance and almost sacred nature of water.

Charitable giving, whether time or money, can be an awkward process for many as it can bring up all sorts of fear and worries relating lack and scarcity against a backdrop of the desire to be perceived as generous. However, this conversation, in which Shazar speaks very openly and with great vulnerability about her own journey with giving, provides a safe space for you to consider your relationship with giving.

#128 Allie Delury & Pat Bonner – The healing nature of travel in Australia

Travel plays a key role in individual healing and expansion, and Australia has for a long time been a popular destination for such travel. With this in mind, this week I was able to connect into that with Allie Delury & Pat Bonner, a couple from America who are exploring our country in a small orange van for 12 months.

Having both served time in the US Air force in demanding role, these guys aren’t just bumming out. Pat is refining his stand-up comedy skills across Australia while Allie creates travel content for companies back in the US.

This conversation get real very quickly and we cover a lot of ground, from the check to identity from leaving the military and avoiding the draw of the ‘shoulds’ of the life are pressed upon us through to the relationship learnings from living in the crucible of a small van environment and need to understand and article personal needs to those closest to you.

Throughout this story, Australia and its people play a key role as the muse and the backdrop to their journey and travels. Often Pat and Allie come back to the opportunities to enjoy real human connection as they explore the land and culture – either through conversation or laughter.

Pat and Allie are just wonderful and lovely people both individually and as a couple

Whether you have travelled and want to reconnect to that part of you, or you’re thinking about taking the first step out there, this is a must listen to.

#127 Michael Hilliard – Crash course in Geopolitics 101

Take an immersive deep dive into geopolitics with the host of The Redline Podcast Michael Hilliard. The Redline Podcast is a Perth based podcast that provides specific briefings on some of the most pressing geopolitical issues that aren’t be focused on by mainstream media.

Michael shares how the podcast is the product of his own experiences of actually travelling to unstable and war-torn countries to speak to the everyday people on the ground to understand their point of view.

Michael does an excellent job of condensing his extraordinary wealth of knowledge and information to provide a summary of the major forces in play in in geopolitics (US, Russia and China) as well as the three major faults lines across the world currently – you would be hard pressed to find such a focused insight anywhere else on the internet. He also provides a compelling argument as to why it is so important to understand these things on an individual level and how they effect your everyday life.

Michael also strongly recommends the key approach to further geopolitical knowledge for anyone is to move away from ‘the what’ to ‘the why’ to truly understand geopolitics in any situation.

What shines out for me in amongst what can be a wealth of anxiety provoking information, is that from his journeys Michael has seen and experienced how through our humanity we are all the same with the same basic needs and desires despite the country we live in – there is no ‘them’ and ‘us’ which the mainstream Orwellian type media would have us believe.

#126 Kelly Brown – Dogs, learning from man’s best friend

Learn more about man’s best friend and the behavioural science behind dog training with acclaimed dog trainer Kelly Brown.

Kelly shares how she put a hugely successful global career in oil and gas behind her to follow what was her true passion, working with dogs and their owners, and create a successful business for herself.

Kelly explains in detail the underlying philosophy behind her training methodology which is based on rewards-based reinforcement rather than punishment. It is as much about training the owners, and what is possible, as it is the dogs. She also provides some fascinating insights into the hard-wired nature within different breeds and how to work with, rather than against, this.

What becomes super clear from early on, is that there is so much to learn from Kelly not just about managing dogs but crossing over to children, friends and people around.

Kelly is super knowledgeable and she does a wonderful job of distilling all of her knowledge into an a easily approachable conversation. 

#125 Rita Franchina – Human side of digital marketing

Take a crash course into the world of digital marketing, with Perth based expert Rita Franchina

Rita shares her journey from training as a journalist to moving into marketing at exactly the right point to learn the skills to capitalise from digital marketing from its early beginnings. She then tells how she stepped out to create her own business so she could add greater focused value to her clients.

Rita deep dives into the merits of the various online platforms and opens up about the process she takes her clients through to get the most out of their advertising spend in terms of new leads and sales – you will learn about the key questions to work through when considering digital marketing.    

What shines through in this conversation is just how passionate and committed Rita is to helping businesses succeed through digital marketing in a focused and ethical manner. She is super knowledgeable and this conversation does a lot to shine the light of clarity and direction into a world that can be confusing and impenetrable.

#124 Matt Bruce – How we carry Trauma

This week we dive into the world of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, with ex SAS serviceman and now breathe work coach Matt Bruce.

Matt talks about escaping unhealthy male role models to join the army and how that led to spending 10 years in a constant environment of being ‘switched on’ that resulted in chronic adrenal fatigue. Matt shares how he became more and more disconnected from his body until such point he hit rock bottom and had to leave the army to salvage a relationship with his partner.

Self-confessed trauma nerd, Matt provides a fantastic framework for explanation that is super clear and practical. Just because you've not served in the military doesn't mean that you’re not carrying your own trauma in your own system. Matt goes really deep and explains how trauma is less about the actual event itself and more how you and your body receives trauma. He also goes on to explain how breathe work is a powerful tool in releasing trauma.

What makes this a fascinating conversation is the real-life examples Matt draws on to make trauma real. He’s a super caring guy and you can really feel his journey and passion to want to help others in the way he speaks

#123 Marcel Hof – The Marcel Hof Method

Learn how to break out of the stories that keep you stuck in your head with Marcel Hof.

Marcel talks about how growing up always searching for the real truth with his brothers together with a near drowning incident under the ice played a key role in shaping how he serves the world today.

He talks at length about the Marcel Hof method that takes people from the rigid fully formed state of being to the open formless state of possibility and probability through specific exercises that are designed to pull people from their heads by intensifying life.

This is a wonderful and enlightening conversation. I found Marcel to have a beautiful and positive energy about him. I was also struck with how very human he was, admitting how he himself is so often caught in his own stories.

#122 Eva Storey – Resilience Coaching with Nurses

LEARN ABOUT RESILIENCE FROM THE FRONT LINE OF NURSING

Nursing is a role that we’ve all relied upon at some point in our lives, but what is it really like to be a nurse and what can we learn from this? Take a journey into the world and culture of nursing with Resilience and Nurse Coach Eva Storey.

Eva tells about her 36 years as a nurse in a variety of countries across the world, sharing fascinating stories from her journey and the challenges of the role. However, it is the insights into the nature of the culture and pervading operating paradigms of nursing that really set the context for the need for her new phase of her career as a Coach within nursing – something that is a very new in this field.

Eva talks about the need to put self-care first in order to provide sustainable quality care to others, creating a safe space to explore different, more human, conversations as well as how to coach resilience in such a demanding role.

Care has many faces beyond the traditional views many of us carry and this conversation with Eva, who’s own care for others particularly her fellow nurses, provides many clear and focused examples for anyone to implement in their own lives.

#121 Paul Carter – The art of solid story telling

Enjoy a smorgasbord of truly amazing and captivating stories with author, speaker, storyteller and artist Paul Carter.

Told with great poise, irrelevance and certainly no political correctness, stories include the true nature of life on oil rigs and big oil before health and safety, the brutal reality of a desk job, becoming an acclaimed author with dyslexia, riding around Australia on the world’s first bike that runs on cooking oil, the baby joke that will get you in trouble, sharing a smoke with a primate and nearly dying on a National Geographic shoot as well as many many more.

However, this isn’t just one amazing story after another. Contained within this conversation there are solid truths, values and a firmness, particularly about the true nature of manhood, that I personally find missing currently.

This podcast isn’t for everyone, but I truly valued and enjoyed my time with Paul unapologetically.