The Remarkableness Podcast

Yemi Penn is a British born Nigerian living in Sydney, Australia. She is an Engineer by profession, an entrepreneur by passion, and mindset transformation coach by mission. Yemi currently runs four successful businesses, is the author of the book, “Did You Get the Memo?”, has recently presented a TEDx talk in Florida and been interviewed by best-selling author Jack Canfield. Yemi has also recently released her first documentary titled ‘Did I Choose My Trauma?’ This short documentary follows her experience of childhood abuse into adulthood and is integrated with the knowledge and insight of leading therapists and healers. In this podcast, Yemi talks about her culture and background and how she broke away from family expectations. She shares how the trauma she experienced as a 7 year old has moved her around the world and how acknowledging in her 30s that her power was taken from her as a child and the long term effect of that, has fuelled her mission to help heal trauma in others. Dedicated to change, Yemi discusses how she empowers others to find their purpose by looking at not just what brings them joy but also what causes them pain. She has learned that our pain points are so often linked to our mission and a catalyst for our desire to see change in the world. Yemi’s next project is a full-length documentary about trauma, drawing from the experiences of people from different cultures and backgrounds to highlight, on a global scale, the importance of healing and understanding of the effects of trauma.

Romny is an internationally trained and professionally registered Art Therapist committed to empowering growth through resilience and creativity. Her practice is based in Sydney’s North. She has extensive experience working with people under a range of circumstances from clients with health concerns, to people suffering from social or interpersonal issues. Romny also teaches art to adults with disabilities and acquired brain injury, guiding them through the therapy itself as well as co-curating exhibitions, allowing them to showcase their work and reflect on their progress. She additionally facilitates corporate workshops to promote creative thinking and employee wellness and helps run international art therapy retreats with Artful Retreats. In this podcast, Romny explains the difference between art as therapy and art therapy. She shares her passion for her work, the wonderful outlet art therapy provides and the many benefits she sees in her clients. She also discusses the profound effect creativity has on the brain and what it brings to people’s lives and their well-being.

Carmen Marshall is the founder of the Soul Craft™ line of modern-spirited educational programs, products, courses, gifts, and wisdom to help you create a life you (really, actually) love—while earning great money and, yes, figuring out how to have it all. Based on her distinctive body of work that focuses on a unique east-meets-west approach, Carmen is a fierce advocate for designing your work around your lifestyle, and teaches women from around the world how to craft their souls—and their pocketbooks. Carmen currently lives in Maui and Bali. In this podcast, Carmen talks about growing up with an entrepreneurial mindset and her love of travel. She shares the path she took before making the decision to take her work ethic and use it to build her own business. Carmen discusses the challenges she faced and shares some thoughts and advice for those who may be looking to start their own business together with the skills and mindset she feels are necessary. Carmen stresses the absolute importance of finding ways to incorporate doing what one loves into creating a successful business long term and how to start working towards that to uncover one’s passions and purpose. She also shares some valuable business and lifestyle habits she practises daily to stay focused, healthy and joyful.

Growing up on fast food and pharmaceuticals in Southern California, and continuing on with a fit but unhealthy lifestyle as an airman in the U.S. Air Force, Joshua Rasco fortunately discovered meditation and a whole new world of natural health and complementary therapies beginning in 1997. Since then he has been inspired to help others discover and bring about a greater sense of well-being and natural health in their own lives. Joshua practises Bowen Therapy, Craniosacral Therapy, teaches meditation classes and offers Bioptron Light Therapy at the Wholebeing Health Centre in Roseville, Sydney. He is also the former President of the Bowen Association of Australia. In this podcast, Joshua talks about his own search for a greater sense of emotional and spiritual well-being whilst travelling the world in the US Air Force, leading to his decision to move to Australia and becoming a Bowen practitioner. He explains what Bowen Therapy is, how it works and the benefits it can have on multiple health conditions. Joshua also shares his love for teaching meditation and how his classes differ from many others. He discusses ways to maintain our emotional and physical well-being and his desire to help bring that peaceful meditative state into our daily lives.

Rachael is a massage therapist, singing teacher and opera singer. Not a combination you often see together, but after years of singing professionally, she enrolled in a massage course and fell in love with bodywork - in fact she loved it as much as singing! Rachael then realised she could combine her two passions by becoming an expert in vocal massage, the neck, head and jaw areas, and postural alignment for excellent breath work. In this way, she offers solutions to other singers, people suffering from pain and tension in these areas and those struggling with vocal problems. In this podcast, Rachael discusses her love for music and singing and the powerful physical, as well as emotional, benefits that singing can have. She talks about how common it is that adults who have been silenced as children and told they can’t sing often carry a strong desire to find their singing voice again and how she helps them to do that. Rachael talks about the amazing work she does for people with vocal injuries including opera and rock singers, and the need for greater awareness in many other professions where strain is put on the voice of the importance for regular checks with speech pathologists and more self-care.

Yenie was born in Vietnam and, at the age of one, became ill with polio. Despite being left unable to walk without support and, ultimately, bound to a wheelchair, Yenie has led a very physically active life. Yenie came to Australia at the age of 14 and started playing many sports whilst attending Bossley Park High School. Becoming extremely good at wheelchair racing, Yenie was all set to go to Beijing as part of the Australian Paralympic team when she had a major setback resulting in an operation on her knee. In this podcast, Yenie talks about growing up surrounded by a loving family and friends who supported her, her love of sport and her disappointment and depression after being forced to drop out of the Beijing Paralympics. Yenie is now an independent associate with USANA Health Sciences and is on a mission to support others with their health and wellbeing and to inspire young people through sharing her story.

Heather is an experienced adventurer who has hiked, kayaked and biked in Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Leaving her job and home in Sydney for six months, Heather hiked the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada in 2018. Having never hiked for longer than 5 days, the opportunity to hike the Pacific Crest Trail in America for 6 months excited Heather as she learnt the skills and built the strength to become a successful thru-hiker. In this podcast, Heather talks about the challenges and joys of hiking 4,265 km over 177 days. She discusses the relief and sense of freedom she felt being removed from social media and outside influences, and being able to ‘just be herself’. Heather shares how she coped in extreme conditions and the acts of human kindness she experienced and witnessed along the trail. She also discusses how important she believes it is for everyone to challenge themselves in some way to really find out what they are capable of as human beings.

Jackie is a Certified Jamu Practitioner specialising in Post Natal Binding, Wrapping and Jamu Massage in the sanctuary of the mum’s home post birth. She is also a qualified Paediatric Infant Massage Instructor and Consultant. Her passion and focus lie with nurturing and caring for mums post birth so they can look after themselves, family and the new baby. She also focuses on maternal anxiety and post-natal depression within mums and reflux / colic / constipation within babies. Jackie’s business is called Nurture by Touch. She is a qualified Clinical Aromatherapist, Reflexologist, Massage Therapist and a Health & Skin Care Therapist. She holds a Masters of Marketing Management Degree and has been in roles ranging from Project Director for a Spa Design & Consultancy Firm in London, International Business Development Manager (EMEA), Spa Development Manager, Sales, Marketing and Training roles within the Spa, Health & Skin Care Industries. Jackie has a son and was privileged to experience the ancient ritual of Jamu care in Singapore where her son was born. In this podcast, Jackie discusses what inspired her to create Nurture by Touch and why she believes this kind of support is so important for new mums. She also talks about her own experience with postal-natal depression and shares some of her learning about possible causes.

Dawn is a pain transformation coach and a pain management specialist. She has recently had her story published in Living Your True Story, a collection of inspiring chapters showcasing individual success and achievement and been nominated as a finalist in the Change Maker 2018 Altitude Awards. Dawn lived with years of abuse at home and a pattern of being told her chronic pain was imaginary, which finally culminated in her being diagnosed with acute ulcerative colitis when she was 21. Though Dawn had to learn to walk again, and later faced a number of other serious health challenges and depression, she never gave up and realised there had to be a better way to deal with her pain, start doing the things she loved again and enjoy loving relationships with her husband and little boy. In this podcast, Dawn talks about how, after 15 years of research, she overcame her addiction to painkillers, her hopelessness and lack of self worth. She discusses how incredibly debilitating constant pain can be and how important it is not to give up hope. Today, Dawn is pain free and is helping her clients combat and better manage chronic pain using techniques she discovered and learned to use on herself with great success.

Liz completed her Yoga teacher training in 2003 and since this time has been teaching yoga in her studio at Pymble, on the North Shore of Sydney. Yoga classes became a method of finding “the quiet” that Liz needed to re-energise and find clarity while she was working in the hectic and fast moving hospitality industry in her twenties. During the last 13 years since graduating from the IYTA Teacher Training Course Liz has followed the teachings of Judith Hanson Laster, TVK Desikachar, Kausthube Desikachar, Donna Farhi, Dr Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani and she acknowledges her colleagues and peers in the IYTA (including her teacher Margaret North who encouraged her to participate in further yoga studies) of which she believes provide such a great source of knowledge and wisdom. Liz spent 4 years teaching Asana and class planning as part of the YTA Teacher Training course and believes very much in sharing knowledge, providing honest and loving encouragement to students by mentoring and helping them to grow and develop their own yoga journey. In 2014 Liz completed the IYTA Advanced graduate diploma Yoga, which has further enriched her Yoga training. Liz is a member of the IYTA and a Committee of Management Member and also a member of YA (Yoga Australia) and is absolutely convinced that yoga is the path to happiness, contentment and a healthy mind, body and soul. In this podcast, Liz discusses how she moved from the world of hectic kitchens and hospitality to the calmer realm of yoga and the realisation that yoga is much more than just a physical practice. She shares her love for teaching yoga and the multiple benefits of a regular practice for the body, the breath, the mind and the soul.

Carole has practised and taught aromatherapy and massage therapy for more than 20 years and is passionate about the physical and emotional healing benefits from authentic essential oils and regular massage treatments. She currently runs two businesses and a “giving back” project. Through HealthTouch Massage Therapies Carole provides remedial massage for relaxation in an ambience of calm, beautiful aromas and soothing sound. Through Festival of Ariel – scent therapy, Carole creates individually personalised natural perfumes, colognes, room sprays, inhalers and therapeutic blends, as well as offering consultation and advice on using essential oils safely. Through, HealthTouch Massage Caring for Carers, she provides complimentary massage treatments for unpaid carers of partners, parents, children or friends managing chronic medical conditions, injury rehabilitation, cancer or stroke recovery. Before leaving the corporate world to become a wellness practitioner, Carole spent 10 years organising conferences and project managed some of the largest business conferences and trade exhibitions held in all Australian capital cities. She originally trained as a journalist and subsequently spent several years working in marketing, advertising, public relations and tourism promotion. Always highly creative, she found her true artistic expression after completing an international perfume-making course. More recently, she has become more captivated by the increasing body of evidence on the power of smell and how it influences human behaviour as well as the huge physical and emotional benefits of relaxation therapy. In this podcast, Carole discusses the benefits of regular massage and the increasing awareness of how oils can impact our health both in mind and body. She also talks about the importance of tapping into our sense of smell, one of our five senses which is very powerful but often thought of as being less vital.

The very remarkable Collette Larsen is a mum of 5, a grandmother of 16 and a highly successful entrepreneur and business owner who has inspired, trained and supported many thousands of people. She is loved and revered all over the world and has a huge heart for making a difference. In this podcast, Collette talks openly about the struggles and anguish she faced as a single mum of 5 children, the 2 youngest of whom were born with the genetic disease, Cystic Fibrosis. Collette discusses their journey, the impact that had on the whole family and how she discovered there was often a silver lining in the most desperate of situations. She shares the importance of letting the little stuff go, radical self care and surrounding yourself with people who love you. As she has proved herself, Collette also suggests that the best way to predict your future is to create it yourself.

In this podcast, Robert talks about his time in the British Army before and after the horrific accident that eventually led him to volunteering with Save the Children Fund in Morocco, his subsequent work with them and later with Christian Aid, primarily in countries in Africa. Robert discusses the challenges and rewards of delivering both emergency aid and long term development projects in areas of extreme conflict and poverty. Robert was awarded an OBE for his humanitarian work with Save the Children and Christian Aid.

The remarkable Josie Tong is a mum of 2 teenage girls, an entrepreneur and successful business owner and a much loved and respected leader and mentor to many. In this podcast, Josie talks about her childhood and how, despite having very little to survive on and the responsibility of taking care of her 2 younger brothers, she thrived at school and remembers being very happy. Josie shares the amazing story of how she came to Australia to study nursing, took on management roles for a couple of decades before opening her nursing agency to support nurses from the Philippines. She then made the life changing decision to build her home-based business that has expanded globally. Josie discusses her vision and what drives her day to day to keep making a difference.

Jane Hodgett is a Reflexologist and Reiki practitioner. Using these modalities together with her intuitive abilities, Jane helps to reduce stress, improve physical and emotional wellbeing and balance the mind, body and spirit connections. Jane is also an accomplished artist and runs monthly two-hour sessions for anyone wishing to have fun with paint and tap into their creative energy. In this podcast, Jane discusses her work and why she loves helping others, emotionally and physically, to feel more balanced and aware that we are so much more than just our physical bodies. She shares her thoughts on the multi dimensional aspects of humans and our connection and ability to heal through love.

The remarkable Giulia is a mum of 2 beautiful little boys and the owner and founder of The Motivation Club, a Meetup group that has grown to over 3,500 members, providing personal development webinars, seminars, workshops and programs to people looking for more out of life. In this podcast, Giulia talks frankly about her childhood in a troubled and often violent home and the pattern of behaviour that began to dictate her choices in who she spent time with and their association with drugs and alcohol. Giulia discusses the frightening catalyst that made her take responsibility for breaking the pattern and determined to protect and bring up her boys in a stable and healthy environment. Through her own experience, Giulia is now inspiring and making a difference to the lives of many.

The Remarkable Saskia is a wife and mum of 3 boys. She has a degree in economics and marketing and worked as a commodity broker and trader for 13 years, mostly in London. She works for Missionbeat in Sydney who have been serving the city’s homeless for 35 years. Saskia drives one of Missionbeat’s patrol vans looking out for people in distress and providing them with support. In this podcast, Saskia discusses the work that she does and the increasing crisis of homelessness, not just in Sydney, but also around Australia. Her insights into life on the streets and the logistics of meeting the immediate needs of all those who require help are sobering and alarming.

In a serendipitous career spanning three decades, Clare Loewenthal has seamlessly juggled the roles of author, magazine publisher, book coach and entrepreneur. In 1993, with no publishing experience and limited resources, she launched Dynamic Small Business magazine, which grew to become Australia’s largest small business publication. Clare thrived in the competitive world of publishing and her business expanded to include several business titles and a custom publishing arm. She became a sought after public speaker and expert commentator on small business issues, often working with government as an advocate for “the little guys”. During this period Clare also wrote her first two books. In 2006, she made the difficult decision to sell the business in order to reconnect with her greatest love – writing. For the last decade she has worked with many aspiring authors to help them realise their dreams, as well as pursuing her own creative pursuits. While Clare’s professional achievements were always highly visible, few people knew that she was simultaneously waging an intense private battle. At 19 years of age Clare developed anorexia nervosa and her recovery, not just from the illness but also from the devastating medical treatment she received, was a slow and painful journey. It was probably inevitable that Clare would eventually write about her battle with anorexia and in 1996 The Substance from the Shadow was published. The book, which questions many of the stereotypes the general community holds about eating disorders, was an important step in her recovery. She continues to write about eating disorders as a contributor to The Mighty website. In this podcast, Clare talks about the struggles she faced and the treatment she received before courageously building a new identity and a new life for herself; one of purpose and hope; one no longer defined by weight, food or the judgement of others. Her story shows that people can, and do, recover.

Warren is a financial planner with his own business in Sydney, Loudon & Vaughan Private Wealth. He was previously in the Australian Defence Force and served three tours of Afghanistan with the 2nd Commando Regiment, a special forces unit. Warren says, “My experiences in Afghanistan taught me that a life must be lived for a purpose, it must be appreciated and it must be lived for the betterment of others. War is vicious in that it takes the finest men first, and so it was in Afghanistan. The men we lost were the bravest, smartest, and noblest of all of us. Everyday of my life I strive to be the best that I can be in honour of those men who are no longer with us.” In this podcast, Warren talks about his time in Afghanistan and what it was like living in stressful and dangerous conditions with the others in his section. He also shares his thoughts on why some soldiers are affected by post-traumatic stress disorder and others are not and the challenges many soldiers face when leaving the army and readjusting to civilian life. Warren applies many of the beliefs and attitudes he developed during his time in the ADF to his work today. He says, “My every interaction with clients is undertaken with the belief that I will put the clients’ interest before mine because it is the right thing to do (I believed this before it was legislated). My goal is to improve the lives of every one of my clients through the application of my knowledge and energy.”

Julia Smith has dedicated the last 10 years to helping people shift their emotional energy levels from being in emotional pain to opening to love, joy and intuitively connect with their innate talents. From a young age Julia trained for 12 years in musical theory and piano, and it was during this time she had her realisation of how profoundly music and musical notes influence our emotional state of being. Her further studies have been investigating the scientific fact that everything is energy and how music, sound notes and colour rays are an energy that impact directly on our own energy with the ability to heal emotional wounds and raise our emotional vibration easily and naturally into living and sharing love. She has found that by raising our emotional vibration it increases our emotional intelligence and brings out our positive qualities. Julia’s 'Transformational Energetic Healing’ is a unique process that harnesses the science of music, sound notes and colour rays as hertz frequency energy waves that she hand picks for each client’s needs. Through her unique combination of Music Therapy, Musical Sound Note Therapy, Colour Ray Therapy and Energy Healing she is able to dissolve and relax the triggers underneath emotional pain and fears that create issues in our relationships and stop us achieving our goals and best life path. Julia works one on one with client’s in her Sydney clinic, group work incorporating her Tubular Crystal Harp containing 10 tones of transformation sound notes combined with meditation, mindfulness and self awareness practices and she also does guest speaker appearances on the relationship of music and colour as energy with our own energy and how it improves our emotional well being.

The remarkable Judi is a wonderful wife and mother of two teenage boys. She is also the creator and owner of Holistic Hampers, a business providing beautiful, but practical, hampers for patients going through cancer treatment. In this podcast, Judi shares her own story and insights into her experience after being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010. Though the topic is serious and not always easy to talk about, Judi discusses candidly, and often with humour, the importance of not giving up, the impact on her children and how she involved them, and her thoughts on how each person being diagnosed with cancer should be able to choose their own treatment plan without judgement from others.

Rosemary Butterworth is a spiritual teacher, healer, clairvoyant and clairaudient. She is the author of the wonderful book Moving Forward, Leave Your Thoughts Behind and has led a meditation group in Sydney called the Academy of Light for the past 23 years. Through this group, Rosemary has provided a platform for people seeking spiritual guidance, connection and a sense of belonging and she has had a profound impact on the lives of many. In this episode, Rosemary talks about the chapters and experiences in her life that inspired her desire to serve others and how she overcame her victim consciousness. She discusses the importance of recognising our thoughts and not paying attention to our lower mind but instead trusting our intuition and learning to love ourselves more. Rosemary also shares, with humour, how introducing herself as a medium hasn’t always been straightforward.

Virend is a successful businessman and author of The Inexplicable Laws of Success, a remarkable book that he wrote with his daughter, Verusha Singh. Virend is a true leader and teacher who has inspired many to challenge their beliefs and the way they think in order to achieve the outcomes they desire. In this podcast, Virend shares some of the principles in his book with stories and humour. We hear a little about his childhood and the influence his Grandmother had on him as a small boy growing up in South Africa. Virend talks about what success means to him, the importance of finding our purpose and what stops us achieving success in our lives.

Simon Chan is known as the “Napoleon Hill of Network Marketing” and is a business coach, speaker and online marketer who helps distributors find more prospects, recruit more reps and create duplication. He has over 14 years of experience and built a million dollar business with over 80,000 distributors. Simon retired from building in 2013 to be a full time trainer and founded MLM Nation. MLM Nation is a different type of network marketing training. It’s not just 1 mentor. It's based on Simon Chan’s experience COMBINED with research and conversations with over 500 top MLM leaders. In this podcast, Simon talks about growing up as a shy boy with low self-esteem and how he overcame this to get to where he is today. He discusses his faith and how he resets his day through meditation. Simon shows how it’s possible to have an impact in the world through creating something out of nothing and how to work on the ‘future you’.

Melissa Matthews is a spiritual mentor with a passion for instilling confidence in those wishing to live life openly, from their Soul. Drawing upon her intuitive abilities and life experience, her programs and workshops are designed to guide people into a state of ease with who they are and how they show up in the modern World: authentically, as themselves. A loving wife and mother, she is a former project manager with a love for business, trucks and the finer things in life. Melissa can often be found admiring a set of shiny wheels or simply enjoying the stillness of nature. In this podcast, Melissa talks about the awareness she had as a child that she was different, the challenges she endured as a young woman after leaving home at 15 and the spiritual connection that allows her to enjoy life and be the best version of herself and, in turn, guide others to do the same.

Kath and Kim are the founders of The Possibility Project delivering social justice programs through the mindset of social entrepreneurship.  In this podcast, they share their thoughts on the power of believing in possibility and the impact this has had through their work in the slum community in Jaipur, India.  They also discuss the importance of knowing we already have enough, of recognising our creativity and resourcefulness and listening with our hearts.

Jennifer Symonds is a writer, illustrator, and painter. She has had the genetic disease Cystic Fibrosis all her life, and on the podcast she shares how she has overcome the challenges associated with this disease and her life before and after going through a double lung transplant. The remarkable attitude with which she has chosen to live each day is both inspiring and thought provoking.