Double Ds: The Discovery Diaries

#20 Take Time to Talk for Mental Wellness with Lachlan O'Donoghue

Lachlan (Lockie) O'Donoghue, co-founder of 20Talk, a not-for-profit focusing on improving the mental wellness of young people, discusses the origins of 20Talk, following the suicides of two close friends in their early 20's. 
Lockie gives tips on how to approach a conversation with someone who may be struggling, what to do if you aren't coping with life and a methodology for creating a personal self-care action plan to build your wellness and resilience. 
Lockie also explains the charity event 20Hours and how disconnecting from devices for 20 hours straight is a transformative experience for participants. 
Show notes
www.20talk.com.au
Wheel of life workshops
 https://events.humanitix.com/mental-health-maintenance-training
Wheel of life download 
Donna's Balcony Views - Build Resilience, Improve Wellbeing
 
Sponsors 
Speakers Institute 3-day Premiere Bootcamp: click here to sign up for the Bootcamp and support the Double Ds podcast at the same time:
Public Speaking | Donna's Balcony Views
 

#19 Act-Belong-Commit to be Mentally Healthy with Rob Donovan

Professor Rob Donovan is Founder of the Act-Belong-Commit health promotion campaign. This was one of the world's first mass media campaigns to promote being mentally healthy, which commenced in 2005 in regional Western Australia and is still going strong today.
Rob shares the background into the project, including the market research he undertook, the development of the Act-Belong-Commit message and how listeners can incorporate the principles to improve their own quality of life.
Rob also shares the growth of the campaign internationally - how various Scandinavian countries have embraced the campaign (A: Do something, B: Do something with someone, and C: Do something meaningful) and that he is currently working with several other European countries, including Ukraine, on upcoming launches. He also recounts some of his most memorable conversations with people who have changed their lives due to implementing the Act-Belong-Commit message. 
 
Show notes
Home - Act Belong Commit | Promoting Positive Mental Health in WA
The ABCs of Mental Health – Department of Psychology - University of Copenhagen 
 
Sponsors 
Speakers Institute 3-day Premiere Bootcamp: click here to sign up for the Bootcamp and support the Double Ds podcast at the same time:
Public Speaking | Donna's Balcony Views
 
 

#18 Adventures in the Wild North-West with Lawrence Brown

Lawrence (Laurie) Brown was born in Scotland and travelled by boat to Perth Western Australia when he was 17 years old, in 1952. A couple of weeks after he arrived, he found work in the North-West of the state.
Lawrence recounts his family circumstances that led him to migrate to Australia. He shares some of his tales and adventures from his time living in Broome and Derby in the 1950's and 1960's, imparting a living history lesson for listeners about what life was like there decades ago. 
 
 
Shownotes
Sponsors
Helping leaders change the world, one team at a time - Impact Society
Put in discount code “DoubleDs” to receive 20% off the Impact Society Leadership cards (52 cards) or any other Impact Society products 
Building Personal Resilience - A Guide to Overcoming Adversity (donnasbalconyviews.com.au)
Sign up to Donna's (one of the Double Ds) free 2-hour virtual masterclass, Ignite Your Warrior Within
Masterclasses | Donna's Balcony Views
 

#17 My Journey to Making Money as an Artist with Sophie Mahir

Artist Sophie Mahir takes us on the wild ride of her life, while she sets out to make money as an artist and single Mum. Multiple careers, living in several countries, from success to bankruptcy, from passion to burnout and then rebuilding and redefining herself again and again. Sophie’s enthusiasm for life and her relentless entrepreneurial spirit will inspire you, not only to discover your own path, but to get out and do something about it.
 
Show Notes  
How to contact Sophie:
tonesandtextures.com.au
Facebook
@sophiemahir 
Instagram
@sophiemahir
@weavingtonesandtexture
LinkedIn
@sophie mahir 
 
Sponsors
Helping leaders change the world, one team at a time - Impact Society
Put in discount code “DoubleDs” to receive 20% off the Impact Society Leadership cards (52 cards) or any other Impact Society products 
Building Personal Resilience - A Guide to Overcoming Adversity (donnasbalconyviews.com.au)
Put in discount code “DoubleDs” to receive 20% off Donna's specially designed Coaching Program: Navigating a Lifequake 

#16 A lifetime of sailing adventures with Jon Sanders

Jon Sanders is one of Australia’s greatest ever sailors, holding multiple world records for solo circumnavigations around the world, including a triple circumnavigation lasting 658 days from 1986-1988 and his latest at 81 years old during the COVID pandemic in 2020-2021.
In this episode, recorded over 2 sessions, Jon recounts some of his adventures and memorable moments, including smashing into a Chinese fishing vessel and sailing past the Falkland Islands at the heart of the conflict between Great Britain and Argentina in 1982. He outlines the perseverance and preparation required to undertake endurance endeavours no one had ever even attempted, let alone accomplished.
Jon takes us back to his childhood, with his author mother and University professor father, growing up at the University of Western Australia on the banks of the Swan River, where Jon developed his love for sailing.  He reflects on sailing now, as an 85-year-old, and shares stories of the decades in between.
 
Sponsors
Helping leaders change the world, one team at a time - Impact Society
Put in discount code “DoubleDs” to receive 20% off the Impact Society Leadership cards (52 cards) or any other Impact Society products 
Building Personal Resilience - A Guide to Overcoming Adversity (donnasbalconyviews.com.au)
Put in discount code “DoubleDs” to receive 20% off Donna's specially designed Coaching Program: Navigating a Lifequake 

#15 Transitions: From new immigrant to new CEO with Henrietta Podgorska

Henrietta discusses her early life in Hungary growing up in the post-Communist era, her decision at 20 years old to travel to and eventually settle in Australia and her move to Perth from the east coast. Throughout these experiences, the themes of the importance of community and finding your tribe shine through. Henrietta’s passion for helping other migrants, especially women, and for giving back to the community led her to become the youngest and first ever female President of the Hungarian Association of Western Australia, Chair of Multilingual Australia and in recent months, CEO of Umbrella, delivering home care services to seniors across Perth.
Henrietta shares her reflections from a program with Leadership WA in 2021, when she first realised she needed to become more vulnerable as a leader rather than always being so strong. This discovery has been instrumental in Henrietta’s transition as a new CEO, a steep learning curve, but a fulfilling one.
 
Show notes
To contact Henrietta:
Henrietta Podgorska | LinkedIn
 
Sponsors
Helping leaders change the world, one team at a time - Impact Society
Put in discount code “DoubleDs” to receive 20% off the Impact Society Leadership cards (52 cards) or any other Impact Society products 
Building Personal Resilience - A Guide to Overcoming Adversity (donnasbalconyviews.com.au)
Put in discount code “DoubleDs” to receive 20% off Donna's specially designed Coaching Program: Navigating a Lifequake 
 
 
 
 

#14 Camino Couple - Physical, Mental and Spiritual Journeys with Bill and Pina Dunne

After bringing up 4 children, upon retiring, Bill and Pina decide to take on the challenge of hiking a Camino pilgrimage in Spain. This journey of nearly 800 kms leads to 2 more Camino pilgrimages in Europe and 2 in Australia, including most recently the Camino Salvado in Western Australia, from Subiaco in Perth to New Norcia, a distance of 150kms. 
Bill and Pina share their physical, mental and spiritual journeys along the way. Topics covered include their tips on training and gear, daily life on the Camino, Pina's blog about her experiences, emotional arrivals at the end of the Caminos and bonds formed with fellow pilgrims. They have strong self-belief that if you can put one foot in front of the other, you will eventually get there. 
Bill and Pina outline some of the similarities and differences between their Camino pilgrimages in Europe and in Western Australia and discuss with the Double Ds the history of the Camino Salvado and its links back to Spain. Bill and Pina have future travel plans, including another European Camino. 
Show notes
Pina's camino and travel blog:
pindun.wordpress.com 
 
Sponsors
Helping leaders change the world, one team at a time - Impact Society
Put in discount code “DoubleDs” to receive 20% off the Impact Society Leadership cards (52 cards) or any other Impact Society products 
Building Personal Resilience - A Guide to Overcoming Adversity (donnasbalconyviews.com.au)
Put in discount code “DoubleDs” to receive 20% off Donna's specially designed Coaching Program: Navigating a Lifequake 
 
 
 

#13 Personal Transformation from Tragedy with Dr Vish Ramakonar

Dr Vish Ramakonar shares her personal story of how dealing with family tragedies eventually led to her own healing and transformation. Vish recounts her happy childhood days growing up in Geraldton, a small regional town in Western Australia, where she and her family were the only people with Indian heritage. At aged 16, Vish’s father became the first manager of Annalakshmi, an Indian community-based restaurant in Perth, with a philosophy of “serving something greater than ourselves.” During those years, Vish formed strong cultural connections, including touring as an Indian classical dancer, while she also studied a degree in engineering telecommunications, eventually obtaining her PhD.
Tragedy struck in 1993, when Vish’s father contracted meningitis, requiring full-time ongoing care, which her mother provided. The toll of a being a full-time carer led to Vish’s mother passing away suddenly in 2012. Vish took over her father’s care, but being in constant fight or flight mode for so long, led her body to eventually collapse with chronic fatigue. Vish then began her own healing journey, travelling to India and later to the US, as she embarked on a journey of looking for ways to become more resilient and ‘breaking the habit of being myself’. Now she uses her own transformative journey to help others.
Show Notes
Books Vish recommends:
You can heal your life – Louise Hay
Medical Medium – Anthony William
Becoming Supernatural – Dr Joe Dispenza
Breaking the habit of being yourself – Dr Joe Dispenza
The Untethered Soul – Michael Singer
The Surrender Experiment – Michael Singer
How to contact Vish
www.drvishramakonar.com
LinkedIn: @drvishramakonar
 
Sponsors
Building Personal Resilience - A Guide to Overcoming Adversity (donnasbalconyviews.com.au)
Put in discount code “DoubleDs” to receive 20% off Donna's specially designed Coaching Program: Navigating a Lifequake 
Helping leaders change the world, one team at a time - Impact Society
Put in discount code “DoubleDs” to receive 20% off the Impact Society strategic planning toolkit.
 
 
 

#12 Fresh food and flavours - World travels with Simon Naber

Chef, café owner and fresh food enthusiast Simon Naber talks about his career and travels, including as an apprentice in Albany in regional Western Australia, then onto Perth and over to Europe, where he worked in one of London’s most well-known restaurants and then in the south of France. He discusses the fun adventures, along with the long hours and isolation of being a chef. Simon then returned home and became head chef on the luxurious vessel the True North, touring in the remote Kimberley region in the north of Western Australia, for 4.5 years.
Throughout, Simon discusses the influences on his zeal for sourcing fresh, healthy produce - including his father, his previous chef positions and recent travels to one of the “blue zones” in Greece, Ikaria. This passion led him to start his own venture in 2008, Moore and Moore café, in an historic building in Fremantle, where Simon is both head chef and entrepreneur. Moore and Moore focuses on providing fresh, sustainably grown local produce to positively impact on the wellbeing of the community.
 
Show Notes
Follow Simon Naber on Instagram
@mooreandmoore_cafe
@mooreandmooreevents
www.mooreandmoorecafe.com
 
Sponsors 
Building Personal Resilience - A Guide to Overcoming Adversity (donnasbalconyviews.com.au)
Put in discount code “DoubleDs” to receive 20% off Donna's specially designed Coaching Program: Navigating a Lifequake 
 
Helping leaders change the world, one team at a time - Impact Society
Put in discount code “DoubleDs” to receive 20% off the Impact Society strategic planning toolkit.
 
 
 
 

#11 Never too late to find your life's purpose with Susan Saleeba

Susan Saleeba recounts how she volunteered to go to Nakuru in Kenya when she was 50 years old. Life for her began again as she fell in love with the people and the difference she could make, realising she had a gift for getting things done, despite any obstacles she faced.She returned to Nakuru annually for months at a time, first purchasing sewing machines and paying for a local seamstress to teach local widows to sew, giving them a trade.
Since then, she has started a school, now with 300 children, and an orphanage under her charity, Nakuru Hope. Though Africa now feels like home, Susan returns to Western Australia regularly to fundraise, including managing a second-hand op shop to raise revenue. Susan’s story shows it is never too late to follow your dream, find your life's purpose and make the world a better place.
Show Notes
Follow Susan Saleeba
@nakuru_hope_org on Instagram
www.nakuruhope.org
 
Building Personal Resilience - A Guide to Overcoming Adversity (donnasbalconyviews.com.au)
Put in discount code “DoubleDs” to receive 20% off Donna's specially designed Coaching Program: Navigating a Lifequake 
Helping leaders change the world, one team at a time - Impact Society
Put in discount code “DoubleDs” to receive 20% off the Impact Society strategic planning toolkit.