PODCAST · business
Meaningful Work, Remarkable Life
by Brook McCarthy
We explore the intersection of work, identity, meaning-making, and values-based business so that we can craft a remarkable life. Join veteran business owner Brook McCarthy, as she lifts the lid on her own, and other people's businesses, to ask all the impertinent questions that you're too polite to ask. We look at working for love AND money, explore the paradoxes of ambition and mindfulness, look at the work behind the work, and redefine building a business in the 21st century in a way that truly works.
Episodes
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Failure as fuel
What if your worst business moments could be alchemised into your greatest competitive advantage? My biggest and most successful clients have one thing in common: they've normalised failure and learned how to use setbacks as rocket fuel to power their next audacious move. In this episode, I share...
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The Final Push
The last quarter of the calendar year is the biggest for many professional services businesses. A good final quarter pulls the business into the next year. So how do we map our final push for the year with launches? Launching makes possible what one-to-one selling doesn't by reaching strangers,...
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When loving your work becomes workaholism
'Love what you do and you'll never work a day in your life' the saying goes. Sounds good, yes? But for far too many small business owners, investing time, effort, energy and money into building your business often tips into workaholism. You're telling yourself that these hours are well invested…
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Letters to my younger self
With 20/20 hindsight, perhaps we might all act differently? What would you say to your younger self if you could? In this reflective episode, I write a letter to my younger self: the ballsy, overthinking, self-conscious, occasionally reckless young woman who survived an ordeal in Sri Lanka at 21,...
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The biggest delusion of entrepreneurship
If business feels especially hard for you right now, it's time to turn this attitude upside down and inside out.In this episode, I draw on Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way, as well as 18 years in self-employment, with a hefty dose of unhinged dose of perimenopause-fuelled candour, to offer you...
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Tall poppies & underdogs
Australians suffer from two different, but related phenomena: tall poppy syndrome and underdog worship. These are especially harmful for business owners' growth and happiness. This episode pulls apart what happens when Australia's egalitarian instincts curdle into a culture that punishes…
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When growth becomes your business downfall
What if more revenue, more clients, more team, more growth are actually making your business worse? In this episode, I discuss something I see constantly but rarely hear discussed in public: business owners who've hit impressive milestones but somehow have less money in their pockets and less joy...
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The secret weapon of your insecurities
What if the thing you're most tempted to hide is actually the reason people choose to work with you? If you're suffering from imposter syndrome, need more business confidence in your personal branding, and sometimes feel like you have something to prove, then this is the episode for you. Small...
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Where my last 8 sales came from
If you're feeling stuck, fed up, or perhaps even ready to throw it all in, this episode is for you. I'm pulling back the curtain on my eight most recent sales, where each client came from, how long they'd been in my world, and what actually moved them to buy. You'll hear: What my results say…
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Life’s a pitch when you make it
What if everything you're waiting for, everything you're wanting, every dream that feels audacious to even entertain, is within your reach — if only you had the audacity to ask? Because telepathy is not a reliable marketing strategy and manifesting is not a sales strategy. One short, sharp email…
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Financial feminists unite! Building a business that pays 'F-You Money'
Brook McCarthy sits down with her client Shaye Thayer — consulting CFO, chartered accountant, and fellow financial feminist — for a conversation that is unapologetic truth-telling about the systemic barriers women face in business. This conversation is a call to arms for women in business to pay...
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Kate Cowley on Sales, Discipline, and Doing the Hard Thing
What if the thing standing between you and a full client roster isn't your offer, your price, or your website but simply your willingness to sell. In this episode, I'm joined by the brilliant Kate Cowley, accountability coach, personal trainer, and founder of a brand new gym in Sydney's Northern...
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A conversation with Kylie Flament on social enterprises and the future of business
What if the future of business wasn't bigger and faster, but cleaner, greener, fairer, and kinder? In this episode, I sit down with the legendary Kylie Flamant, CEO of the Social Enterprise Council of NSW & ACT (SECNA), to talk about social enterprise, our relationship with money, and what it…
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Unconscious self-sabotage: how to get out of your own way
Most all people suffer from unconscious self-sabotage. If you ever find yourself arguing against the very thing you say you want, then please know, you're not alone. In this episode, I'm pulling back the curtain this very common (and frustrating) patterns that I see in business coaching....
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No Pedestals: Power, Gurus & Growing up in Business
When I was 18, I accidentally joined a cult. This left me with one indelible lesson that has shaped my entire career as a business coach: people are astonishingly quick to give away their power. In this episode, I unpack what that early experience taught me about authority, hierarchy, and how...
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Hard Fun: my brutally honest 2025 business review
What happens when everything you've done successfully for years stops working? When your flagship program bombs after a decade of success, when wait lists go cold, and when sales calls become an exercise in ghosting? This isn't your typical "crushing it" business recap. In this behind-the-scenes...
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Relentless: How efforts compound
What if nothing you do in your business is wasted? Because all of your efforts are compounding, even if your results appear lacklustre? In this episode, I reflect on 2025, the year that demanded relentlessness — not hype, not hustle-for-show, but quiet, stubborn commitment when clients weren't...
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2026 is the year of ecosystems, not funnels
Forget funnels; think ecosystems instead. In this episode, we explore a radical shift in how people find information, seek answers, and making buying decisions. From linear to circular, this episode explores practical ways to approach your marketing, sales, and business growth in 2026, that...
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Why clever loses and commitment wins: 10 lessons from 2025
2025 marked my 17th year into business and 13 years in business coaching, and one thing was unmistakably clear: the people who are thriving aren’t the cleverest, the most polished, or the most strategic on paper. They’re the most committed. In this episode, I share the ten biggest lessons I’ve...
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A conversation with Trudi Lebrón: Coaching for a future that doesn’t yet exist
What if coaching wasn’t just a business model but a radical act of equity, care, and future-making? In this episode I sit down with Trudi Lebrón - author of The Anti-Racist Business Book, executive coach, DEI strategist, and thought leader reshaping the future of coaching. We explore what happens...
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Selling from your content
What if your online content could close sales for you without a single sales call, pitch, or email funnel? Sounds good, yes? But here’s the thing – most small business owners are creating content that educates, entertains, and engages … but never actually sells. In this episode, I pull back the...
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You are not for sale
Selling your ideas, expertise, and approach leads too often to feelings of 'pick me', making us feel that WE are the product. Personal branding advice often encourage this - to package pieces of yourself, and turn your personality into a caricature. Which means rejection can feel very very...
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Letting go so you can grow
Starting something new in your business is fun and easy. But stopping what no longer serves you? That’s the hard part.In this episode, we dive into why letting go is the overlooked side of growth — and why clinging to antiquated conditioning, outdated beliefs, old habits, and tired ways of…
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Turn your reputation into revenue
Your professional reputation is a bankable asset – it can pay dividends when you know how to turn your reputation into revenue. In this episode, Brook McCarthy is joined by two experts in building reputations and monetising thought leadership – Kathy Rhodes of the Thought Alchemist, and Erin…
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Planning, pivots & pee dribbles: Kachina Dimmock on resilience, AI & small business growth
What does it take to turn personal upheaval, bold moves, and emerging tech into a thriving business that spans continents? In this episode, I sit down with Kachina Dimmock, founder of Collective Catalyst (Australia’s first AI marketing agency) to talk resilience, AI, and running a business from…
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Embracing speed over perfection
What if the real reason your business isn’t growing isn’t a lack of skill but your addiction to overthinking, overplanning and over-prepping? In this episode, we examine why speed beats perfection every time and how embracing fast, imperfect action can create the momentum your business…
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Outsourcing your power to AI
In this episode, we dive into the emotional, neurological, and digital tangle of decision-making in our AI-saturated age. From our daily navigation of AI as business owners, to the broader cultural shifts that affect our clients and target market in how we make (or avoid) decisions, we explore…
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Future-proofing: Lisa Corduff talks disruption, AI, resilience & joy
Brook talks with Lisa Corduff, a successful entrepreneur, speaker and writer, on how AI and climate change will affect our future, including looking after our families, building our businesses, selling online, and how to move through collective and individual grief. Lisa talks about how she got…
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Welcome to the future
Welcome to the future! Season 6 is here and it’s all about asking the big questions, honing our predictive skills and positioning ourselves and our businesses to make the most out of what’s to come. No doubt about it – the future is volatile and oftentimesscary. It’s easy to believe that the past...
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Generosity, AI and Self-Censorship
Your desire to be liked, while very human, is the very same thing that's diluting your difference, killing your visibility, and keeping you from the opportunities you know you're capable of. In this episode, we dive into a potent cocktail of visibility blocks—generosity, AI, and…
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Selfish Marketing
If you’ve ever hesitated before hitting 'publish' or rewritten a caption a bajillion times, you’re not alone. Especially if you're feeling immense self-consciousness, and you're excellent at overthinking your content, you're going to LOVE this episode. Because we're exploring how the very thing...
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Making Peace with Your Competitors
Comparing ourselves to our competitors often provokes complex or difficult emotions. You know you "shouldn't" compare, but let's face it, that's almost impossible sometimes. In this episode, we're taking a fresh approach to those difficult feelings to transform these into new coaching tools to...
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The new approach to hitting $10K+ months in today's economy
Today, we dismantle the biggest myth in business - that hard work and expertise will automatically translate to income – if that were true, far more talented business owners would be thriving right now. Together, we rethink how to earn consistent 10K+ months in your business, not by working…
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Joy and profit
Today, we explore the powerful connection between joy and profit. We will rethink the way we approach our work, embracing experimentation, curiosity, and joy as essential tools for creativity, resilience, and earning (waaaaaaaay) more in our business. You'll learn: The surprising connection…
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Hustle smarter, not harder
Hustle is not the enemy. But there's a paradox in it, yes? Hustling all day, every day, turns you into a burnt out husk of a person. It's not good, not effective and not sustainable. Today, we tackle the paradox of hustle - why it’s works when it's paired with heart, strategy, and long-term...
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When selfishness sells
Does the idea of pitching, selling, and putting yourself forward feel selfish? Obnoxious? Acutely self-consciousness? It's time to challenge that. We're going to rethink what it means to show up, boldly ask for what we want, and put ourselves in the right rooms — without guilt, hesitation, or the...
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The power of joy
Today, we look at the secret ingredient in your business that's going to turbocharge everything – and if you think joy has no place in the workday, then prepare to have your world rocked. It's time to rethink the outdated dichotomy that work is drudgery and play is frivolous, and explore how...
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What they didn't teach you at school about getting what you want
Today, we challenge the lessons you learned at school that are holding your business growth back. Outdated beliefs about selflessness, modesty, and fitting in have a real impact on your relationship with power. If you want to earn more, and build your business on your terms, then it's time to...
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Why selfish is a good thing
Season five is themed "The Summer of Selfish," exploring why embracing selfishness might be the unconventional path to unlock generosity, joy, and profitability. Have you ever wondered how turning judgments into assets could change your life? Or why clashing values — like generosity and being…
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Promoting yourself
Isn't it about time that you gave yourself a promption? You've worked hard. You've done your time. As you're self-employed, you're the only person qualified to promote yourself. So let's do it! We talk about how to proactively elevate your business, your income, and your impact—on your own...
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Conflict as growth
Today, we explore the uncomfortable yet powerful realm of conflict in business. If you KNOW you avoid conflict, then I daresay you’re not yet tapping into its growth potential – so watch out! Because not only could you become great at handling conflict, but you could also unlock new levels of...
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Decluttering your business
Today, we tackle the clutter that weighs down your business, steals your time, and drains your energy. Let’s rethink what we actually need to keep around in our business, and what we’re better off letting go. By doing this, we create space for growth, focus, and true productivity, reclaiming the...
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Calling in your next level clients
Sooner or later, ourselves and our business needs to evolve, progress, and step things up. In this episode, we explore the process of calling in your next-level clients – clients who align with your evolving identity, values, and business goals. We look at the natural tension that arises when...
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Overwhelmed, underpaid, over it
Today, we tackle the pervasive feelings of overwhelm, underpayment, and burnout that so many business owners experience (if you haven't burnt out in your business yet, then I daresay you haven't been in business long enough). So let's rethink how we can handle our workload, set boundaries, and...
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Thriving in chaos
Chaos is inevitable – in both life and business. We may wish it were otherwise, but that 'cool, calm, in control' self you're wishing for? Sorry to tell you, you're going to have to learn how to be that person regardless of your circumstances. In this episode, Brook shares how having a large,...
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Reigniting Your Spark After Burnout
If you've not yet burnt out in business, I daresay that you haven't yet been in business long enough. Running your own business is stressful – and maintaining your mental health and wellbeing is imperative if you want to be in business for the long-term. In this highly personal episode, Brook...
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Anger is my superpower
Why is anger seen as so distasteful (on women)? We're delving deep into the complexities of anger, particularly for women in business, and how anger can be transformed into a powerful motivator for making bold decisions and creating meaningful changes in your professional and personal life....
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The Momentum Effect
How do some business owners seem to be everywhere, all at once, creating massive visibility, reach, momentum - and a big injection of cash? This technique, the Momentum Effect, is something I've been doing for years. It's enabled me to have long holidays overseas, plenty of breaks, and build a…
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When your values are weaponised against you
If you've ever walked away from a client feeling less than, or that you weren't very good at your job, then this episode is for you. If you're a highly conscientious, values-based owner, perhaps highly sensitive or a people pleaser, then I daresay that you would have had your values weaponised...
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The Vulnerability of your Visibility
Are you struggling to be visible online? You're not alone. In this episode, I chat with social media strategist Angela Morris about why so many women business owners find it painfully difficult to be seen and heard on social media. We look into the psychological and societal factors at play, and...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
We explore the intersection of work, identity, meaning-making, and values-based business so that we can craft a remarkable life. Join veteran business owner Brook McCarthy, as she lifts the lid on her own, and other people's businesses, to ask all the impertinent questions that you're too polite to ask. We look at working for love AND money, explore the paradoxes of ambition and mindfulness, look at the work behind the work, and redefine building a business in the 21st century in a way that truly works.
HOSTED BY
Brook McCarthy
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Meaningful Work, Remarkable Life have?
Meaningful Work, Remarkable Life currently has 50 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Meaningful Work, Remarkable Life about?
We explore the intersection of work, identity, meaning-making, and values-based business so that we can craft a remarkable life. Join veteran business owner Brook McCarthy, as she lifts the lid on her own, and other people's businesses, to ask all the impertinent questions that you're too polite to...
How often does Meaningful Work, Remarkable Life release new episodes?
Meaningful Work, Remarkable Life has 50 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Meaningful Work, Remarkable Life?
You can listen to Meaningful Work, Remarkable Life on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Meaningful Work, Remarkable Life?
Meaningful Work, Remarkable Life is created and hosted by Brook McCarthy.
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