#79 – Resilience and Redemption: Life Lessons from PNG to Thailand and Overcoming Head Noise - Kyle Van Der Pool-Ashburn
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Episode Summary:
In this episode of the Sport is Life Podcast, host Ian Hawkins is joined by Kyle Van Der Pool-Ashburn for an inspiring conversation about resilience, redemption, and overcoming mental barriers. Kyle reflects on his journey from Papua New Guinea to Thailand, sharing personal stories of growth, battling “head noise,” and the pivotal moments that shaped his life. Together, they delve into the importance of mentorship, finding purpose through adversity, and using life’s toughest challenges as stepping stones for success.
About the Guest:
Kyle Van Der Pool-Ashburn
Kyle Van Der Pool-Ashburn, 30, has worn many hats—from starting as a security guard and bar manager at 18 to now working in Customer Relations for a bookmaker.
A proud country boy, Kyle grew up in the Blue Mountains on a farm with his single mother. He also spent significant time in Papua New Guinea, where his father has lived throughout Kyle's life. From attending local footy games in Port Moresby to visiting villages connected to his father’s ex-wife, PNG has been a meaningful part of Kyle's story.
A third-generation soccer player for the Hazelbrook Hawks, Kyle admits he was “forced” into the sport by family tradition. He later left school in grade 11 to pursue a chef apprenticeship but eventually transitioned into bar and security work for better opportunities.
Kyle’s passion for connecting with people led him to podcasting. He hosts the Offszn Podcast, where he has interviewed a diverse range of guests, including professional athletes and actors. Recently, he launched a new sports-focused podcast with Jamie Soward called All The Gear No Idea.
With a natural ability to connect with professional athletes from a young age, Kyle has built lasting relationships with individuals across various fields, making his journey one of resilience, adaptability, and connection.
Social media:
Kyle Van Der Poel-Ashburn: https://www.instagram.com/kvanderpoel/
All The Gear No Idea: https://www.instagram.com/allthegearnoideapod/
Offszn Podcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/offszn.podcast/?hl=en
About the Host:
Ian Hawkins, host of "Sport Is Life," is dedicated to showing how sports can transform lives. With extensive experience as an athlete, a coach, PE teacher, community volunteer, and manager at Fox Sports, Ian brings a wealth of knowledge to the podcast. His journey began in his backyard, mentored by his older brother, and has since evolved into coaching elite athletes and business leaders. Ian's commitment to sports and personal development is evident in his roles as a performance coach and active community member. Through "Sport Is Life," Ian shares inspiring stories and valuable lessons to help listeners apply sports principles to all areas of life.
If you’re working too hard too quieten the headnoise, check out my Performance Meditation training here - https://www.ianhawkinscoaching.com/performancemeditation
Join the 2025 Planning Session here https://www.facebook.com/share/1C6AqzhGeY/
Check Me Out On:
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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ianhawkinscoaching
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SportIsLife-IanHawkins
Theme Music Artist:
One Day Kings https://www.instagram.com/onedaykings/
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Transcript
Kyle Vanderpool Ashburn is a young
Speaker:man going places and in this
Speaker:episode we talk about his two podcasts.
Speaker:One with Jamie Sauer, the
Speaker:former NRL star. He
Speaker:talks about how he struck up that
Speaker:friendship. He also talks about the
Speaker:importance of strong women in his life
Speaker:and and the positive impact his mum
Speaker:has had on him, which I'm sure a lot of
Speaker:you in the sports base can relate to.
Speaker:I'm Ian Hawkins and this is Sporty's
Speaker:He's been a workaholic, he's talked talks
Speaker:life. The purpose of sport, as I
Speaker:about how he overcame that and there was
Speaker:see it, is to see your vision become a
Speaker:a great story of how he was stranded in
Speaker:reality, find your voice, create
Speaker:Thailand on his own as a 15 year old.
Speaker:strong connections and learn to trust
Speaker:And how he got through that as well.
Speaker:your body.
Speaker:It's like so good. Call
Speaker:how you going good mate, how are you
Speaker:doing? Really good. Thank you. Now we
Speaker:connected because. I
Speaker:don't know if I was connected to you or
Speaker:Jamie Sauer on LinkedIn, but I saw your
Speaker:post or his post talking about the
Speaker:episode that you just done. I had
Speaker:listened cracking episode. I love
Speaker:listening to those stories. Tell me, how
Speaker:did you get into podcasting?
Speaker:Ah, so it was actually through Jamie that
Speaker:I got into it. So.
Speaker:During would have been during COVID.
Speaker:Jamie Saud and Nick Davis started Sweet
Speaker:and Sour the podcast. Yeah. So
Speaker:at the time I had just a vintage clothing
Speaker:line that. I was just selling
Speaker:clothes and that kind of stuff and
Speaker:they ended up giving me a little role on
Speaker:the show. So I did that. And then once
Speaker:that finished, I was like, oh, maybe I'll
Speaker:start my own. I kind of like have a good
Speaker:little network I can pull on. And
Speaker:yeah, me and a mate started it and then
Speaker:he moved to Canada, so he left me. So I
Speaker:can't just completely rebranded. Changed
Speaker:the whole direction of the show and.
Speaker:Yeah, three 2-3 years later, here we are.
Speaker:Love it. I'm a bit the same, just good
Speaker:conversations with good people and and
Speaker:you mentioned in your bio you've got a
Speaker:pretty good sized network. Is that
Speaker:something that you've always done? You've
Speaker:always sort of connected with people and
Speaker:then and then nurtured the
Speaker:relationship or, or still found a way to
Speaker:connect at any time? It's it's
Speaker:funny because I've always people
Speaker:just love to talk to me, which is really
Speaker:funny because I'm 6 foot 2 covered in
Speaker:tattoos and. They would just love to talk
Speaker:to me, especially on a night out or
Speaker:whatever. But I've met some of the most
Speaker:amazing people and especially like footy
Speaker:players and stuff like that. I don't sit
Speaker:there and I won't chat about like footy
Speaker:and stuff they'll talk about with
Speaker:everyone. So I kind of just built it from
Speaker:there and it's not until recently that
Speaker:I've started to go well, all right, I've
Speaker:got this network, I've got a good
Speaker:relationship. I'm going to start pulling
Speaker:strings on it. Yeah, that's good.
Speaker:I often talk to people with the same sort
Speaker:of way of living and, and my mum's a lot
Speaker:like this and and I imagine one of your
Speaker:parents, if not both, would be the same.
Speaker:It's like somehow people just open up
Speaker:their whole life story out of nowhere.
Speaker:And what I've had a
Speaker:realisation is, is that we we probably
Speaker:grew up not necessarily having a
Speaker:that feeling of safety, being able to do
Speaker:it when we were younger. So we've learned
Speaker:how to create a safe environment from
Speaker:from other people. Is that something that
Speaker:you'd resonate with? Yeah, absolutely. My
Speaker:mom's very, very, everyone talks to
Speaker:mom. Everyone just wants to know
Speaker:everything about her. She wants to know
Speaker:everything about everyone. So it's kind
Speaker:of just. Passed down I guess. Yeah,
Speaker:and you find that?
Speaker:You just naturally know the right
Speaker:question to ask when you're when you're
Speaker:in that, you know, like you mentioned,
Speaker:just people come up to you at the pub,
Speaker:like you just know the right things to
Speaker:ask in those situations. Yeah, it kind of
Speaker:seems that way because they won't stop
Speaker:talking half the time. But but yeah,
Speaker:that's good. I I enjoy sitting there
Speaker:talking to people. I just love chatting
Speaker:to people and everyone's got a story. So
Speaker:it's kind of why I started my podcast.
Speaker:Yeah, that's good. Now tell me generally
Speaker:when you you have that experience, there
Speaker:can be. The odd time where it feels like
Speaker:you're the one doing all the question
Speaker:asking and and. Like there are times
Speaker:where maybe you want to open up and
Speaker:you're like, well, who's going to
Speaker:actually listen to me talk, which is so
Speaker:it's good timing that you're on here.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely. I I haven't shared
Speaker:my story with anyone, so let's go. This
Speaker:is good and.
Speaker:Now, obviously this is a sport podcast,
Speaker:but it's not all about sport. It's more
Speaker:about well, what have we, what have we
Speaker:learned from sport? What are those? What
Speaker:are those lessons that are transferable?
Speaker:Now, the big connection for you around
Speaker:sport is the people that you've connected
Speaker:with and and some of the other work that
Speaker:you do. But let's go into your story now,
Speaker:like one of the bits that like it sounded
Speaker:like you were excited to tell and I'm
Speaker:definitely excited to hear. Was rugby
Speaker:league in Papua New Guinea
Speaker:because it's like like they're passionate
Speaker:fans in Australia but they are next
Speaker:level. Are they? It's crazy over there.
Speaker:It's absolutely crazy. So I won't
Speaker:give you the massive long story, but mum
Speaker:and dad aren't together. I've never been
Speaker:together, split when I was 2. So dad's
Speaker:always lived in Papua New Guinea since he
Speaker:was. I don't know, maybe 20
Speaker:something early 20s. So he's still there
Speaker:now. He just loves it so. Didn't have
Speaker:much to do with him growing up, but every
Speaker:so often I get on a plane and I'd just
Speaker:be in Port Moresby. So when I was
Speaker:there we could went to a couple of local
Speaker:games. I can't remember what the old name
Speaker:of the stadium was before they changed it
Speaker:to Santos, but back then you
Speaker:used to have like the barbed wire
Speaker:fences, like the razor wire fences around
Speaker:the ground so no one could get on there
Speaker:And it was just, it was absolute mayhem
Speaker:like. Obvious great story of when I was.
Speaker:He would have been nine and my dad had
Speaker:remarried a local lady.
Speaker:So I'd flown to Port Moresby because dad
Speaker:was based in Moresby at the time. And
Speaker:he's like, oh, we're going to his
Speaker:partner Anne's village for a few days.
Speaker:Like, and I made a proper village. Like
Speaker:there's no power. They built a heart for
Speaker:me to sleep in. It was absolute
Speaker:mayhem. And so we get on the plane,
Speaker:we fly over to Lay and then. Were
Speaker:there for a few days like out of the
Speaker:village, which is like 40 minute boat
Speaker:ride or whatever. And we come back and dad
Speaker:'s like, oh, we'll watch the Vipers are
Speaker:in town, which is the local Port Moresby
Speaker:team and we'll watch them. And now
Speaker:they're playing late and I think, I think
Speaker:that lay snacks they're called. So I was
Speaker:like, yeah, sweet. So we wrote the game
Speaker:and we were watching the game with Sir
Speaker:Michael Samari, who was the 1st Prime
Speaker:Minister of Papua New Guinea and one of
Speaker:the last prime ministers of Papua New
Speaker:Guinea. And I was like, what?The hell is
Speaker:going on? Like, I had no idea who this
Speaker:man was. And we're like, sitting there
Speaker:like, like royalty. And I was like, this
Speaker:is crazy. And then we ended up flying
Speaker:back on his jet from Lay back to
Speaker:Moresby to go home. And it was just, I
Speaker:wish it was now so I could ask 1000 .
Speaker:questionsLike, he's passed away. He
Speaker:wasn't the best feller in the world,
Speaker:obviously, but yeah, yeah. And the fans
Speaker:just made him like, I still go back now.
Speaker:And I got a lot of not not seeing my
Speaker:dad, but I have friends over there. And
Speaker:I've met a lot of people in like,
Speaker:Penrith. Wellington Albert, who played
Speaker:with Penrith and he's in
Speaker:England now playing for London, London
Speaker:Broncos. But yeah, I've got a lot of
Speaker:friends over there and I love it. I love
Speaker:it over there. So much fun. So when you
Speaker:were going over there as a youngster,
Speaker:you're flying on your own. Was it an
Speaker:adventure? Was it scary? Was it like a
Speaker:good distraction from the day to day
Speaker:life? Like what was it about that whole
Speaker:experience? It was so magical at that
Speaker:age. It was. I think last
Speaker:Sinai at the time it was it was the
Speaker:best. So first time I went over, I went
Speaker:over with an uncle and auntie, which was
Speaker:good, my dad's sister. And then like we
Speaker:did all the touristy, as much touristy
Speaker:things as you can do in Port Moresby. But
Speaker:then when I started going back by myself,
Speaker:it was there's a big eye opener, don't
Speaker:get me wrong. Like and it's meant to be
Speaker:one of the most dangerous countries in
Speaker:the world. And I've only almost been
Speaker:kidnapped twice, but. Apart from
Speaker:that. You gotta tell us that you gotta
Speaker:tell. How old are you when that happened?
Speaker:Probably 11, maybe, maybe 11 was the
Speaker:first time, yeah. So a lot of the
Speaker:expats will drink at Port Moresby Yacht
Speaker:Club. It's just what they do. It's the
Speaker:bar. It's safe and.
Speaker:There's no drink driving rules over
Speaker:there. So like, my dad was a heavy
Speaker:drinker and he just go there. So I'd sit
Speaker:in his office all day. I'd go around in
Speaker:the truck with his truck driver, which
Speaker:looking back at was crazy enough in
Speaker:itself that he trusted this man.
Speaker:Yeah. So one day Dad wanted to stay and
Speaker:my stepmom and she was like, oh, we'll go
Speaker:back to the back to the house, which, you
Speaker:know, security guards raise a wire at the
Speaker:house and when we're in the cab. The
Speaker:taxi driver was speaking in pigeon and I
Speaker:can pick up little bits of pigeon now,
Speaker:not so much then, but he was speaking to
Speaker:Anne in pigeon and offering
Speaker:like we can take him, like we can take
Speaker:him. We'll split it. 5050 and.
Speaker:And lucky she is so loyal to my
Speaker:dad because, yeah, just being a blonde
Speaker:haired, blue eyed baby. Well, kid, they,
Speaker:they froth it. So that's the dark side of
Speaker:popping again. But a lot of great people.
Speaker:Yeah. Right. So you knew
Speaker:You've taken the time to listen to this
Speaker:whole episode. Now it's time to take
Speaker:enough then at the time to know that. No,
Speaker:action. Commit to one thing you've
Speaker:not at all. Like 90. What was going on? I
Speaker:learned today and make it happen. And to
Speaker:was just looking out the window. Just. So
Speaker:avoid any obstructions, join the Sporty's
Speaker:how did you find out? How did you find
Speaker:out that that was the case then?I was
Speaker:Life movement by clicking on the link in
Speaker:the show notes. sitting on a lounge
Speaker:watching MMTV, which is the local
Speaker:channels like our channel 9, like EMTV
Speaker:and. Dad and Anne were in the kitchen
Speaker:fighting about what had happened. And
Speaker:yeah, so that's how I found out.
Speaker:So. So kidnapping is then like, then they
Speaker:would try and they try and extort
Speaker:that for cash. Because
Speaker:Dad, Dad's pretty well known in Papua New
Speaker:Guinea. Like he built Manus Island when
Speaker:it started and that sort of stuff. A lot
Speaker:of like worked in the gold mine. He's
Speaker:been there for forever. So his company's
Speaker:very well known.
Speaker:Poor SO.
Speaker:Did it then change your
Speaker:perception of being there once you've
Speaker:sort of found out what had gone on or put
Speaker:you on edge? I think that trip it did.
Speaker:But then going back like it
Speaker:was, it was alright. I was always with
Speaker:Dad or I was always with Dad's truck
Speaker:driver Talum, who was a great
Speaker:man, still is a great man. I don't talk
Speaker:to him anymore. He joined like some
Speaker:church and disappeared. Like don't know
Speaker:where he is, but. He had had, so he was
Speaker:Dad's truck driver and that was the
Speaker:second time that I'd been offered to get
Speaker:kidnapped. But I could understand that
Speaker:one. But Talon was a bloke who had had
Speaker:his fingers chopped off
Speaker:and then they'd re sign them on so they
Speaker:were like facing all different directions
Speaker:and I was remembering just what, just
Speaker:driving with his fingers just. But, yeah,
Speaker:but he used to get like people all the
Speaker:time. So I'll be like, like try and get
Speaker:the drivers attention and then, yeah,
Speaker:want to thank you. Yeah, right. It's,
Speaker:it's when for those of us who've grown up
Speaker:here, like realising we've lived such a
Speaker:sheltered life, right. Some of the things
Speaker:that go on, yeah, part of their world,
Speaker:it's absolutely crazy. But like,
Speaker:now I go back to Papua New Guinea, I have
Speaker:no issues. Like I'm always with a like a
Speaker:local friend or something and. Know what
Speaker:to say, anything, then I'll sit there
Speaker:and. I'll have a smoke with a local or a
Speaker:true boy with the locals, which is like
Speaker:beetle nuts, depending on what island
Speaker:you're on. And yeah, yeah, I love it so
Speaker:much. Great part of the world. It's
Speaker:honestly, it's great. And if you can ever
Speaker:get over there to watch footy game, yeah,
Speaker:I highly recommend it, especially if the
Speaker:hunters are playing. They love the
Speaker:hunters, all the Kumuls. So yeah,
Speaker:awesome. They just live and breathe.
Speaker:Yeah, like it's, it's the gun.
Speaker:Yeah, it's crazy because we're there for
Speaker:Origin one year. And if you're a NSW fan.
Speaker:Don't don't say anything, just just
Speaker:keep your mouth shut. And that always
Speaker:made a comment like, I wonder how many
Speaker:people are going to die. And I think it's
Speaker:I think it's nine mile. It might be 6
Speaker:mile or nine mile in Port Moresby.
Speaker:And they put like a big projector up in
Speaker:like 1 of the local parks. And there's
Speaker:always people always get bashed to death
Speaker:after the game. What scrap? Yes, crazy.
Speaker:It's crazy. Yeah,
Speaker:so they choose a state. Yeah, they all
Speaker:pretty much Queenslanders, but.
Speaker:They'll still fight each other. Wow. It's
Speaker:a it's a whole nother world. But it's
Speaker:it's a good follow up. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:The the only country that rugby league is
Speaker:a national sport and yeah, national like
Speaker:they're, they're hardcore. It's a it's a
Speaker:love. So they make the
Speaker:NRL we'll be seeing.
Speaker:Yeah, the challenge, yeah, Get players to
Speaker:actually commit to going there. That's
Speaker:gonna be the challenge, I think, which is
Speaker:maybe why it's gonna be quite about that
Speaker:recent months. Oh yeah, I think that
Speaker:makes it out of cans if they if they make
Speaker:a town. Yeah, right. They smell the cans
Speaker:and just fly them over for games and
Speaker:stuff. Yeah, like you said, the
Speaker:Australian team go over there and it's
Speaker:really like royalty. Any NRL players just
Speaker:royalty. Like obviously you'll have to
Speaker:pay them danger money I suppose. But
Speaker:yeah, getting colitis on the board and
Speaker:you'll be right. We won't go over there,
Speaker:we won't go there. Not too type of
Speaker:Roosters fan.
Speaker:That gives you permission to say whatever
Speaker:you like, I guess. Yeah. So
Speaker:you, you grew up, you
Speaker:know, it's obviously important part of
Speaker:your upbringing. Having a
Speaker:single mum looking after you, one of
Speaker:the thoughts I have there is like how
Speaker:many professional footballers talk
Speaker:about actually cricketers and all sorts
Speaker:of people like their their mum, how
Speaker:important their mum was and that their
Speaker:mum did everything for them to make sure
Speaker:that they were going to thrive in in
Speaker:their sport. But I guess in life is that
Speaker:the experience you had too, like your mum
Speaker:just was there for everything. Absolutely
Speaker:mum, like we had a nice house
Speaker:and that sort of stuff but. It wasn't
Speaker:until recently that I found out how much
Speaker:we struggled. Like, yeah, right. It was,
Speaker:yeah. It was pretty crazy. And she's
Speaker:always been there for me, despite what
Speaker:I've done, like getting in trouble with
Speaker:the police or whatever. She's always who
Speaker:I call and. Yeah, Mom's been
Speaker:really good. Like we grew up on property.
Speaker:We had horses. I think that's where like
Speaker:my animal advocation. Is that a
Speaker:word? Advocation.
Speaker:Big advocate for animals either way. So
Speaker:it's kind of come down from her and like
Speaker:I had a lot of positive male role models
Speaker:in my life like her brothers and that. So
Speaker:that definitely helped. So take me to
Speaker:those times of getting in trouble with
Speaker:well, in general, but also a place like
Speaker:was was that you're looking back now,
Speaker:like from a more
Speaker:mature perspective of life? Was it,
Speaker:was it just because you were bored? Was
Speaker:it because you're hungry over the wrong
Speaker:crew? Was it actually a attention seeking
Speaker:thing? What do you what do you reckon you
Speaker:went down that path? I don't know, like I
Speaker:was like, I was a good kid until.
Speaker:Probably 18I reckon and then it was
Speaker:kind of like that early. Like so I
Speaker:moved out of home when I was 17. I got a
Speaker:chef's apprentice ship. I was working
Speaker:full time. I was only making like 380
Speaker:bucks a week at the time just
Speaker:drinking. Couple of the older
Speaker:boys and I was friends with were like,
Speaker:well do you want to make some extra cash?
Speaker:So then comes in drugs and
Speaker:selling at the nightclub and stuff like
Speaker:that. And I kind of I went to a bad
Speaker:breakup when I was 21 on my 21st birthday
Speaker:and. The company I work
Speaker:for, they were from, they
Speaker:owned a pub up here in Tweed Ads and
Speaker:then they had venues in Western Sydney.
Speaker:So I was like, Oh well, my family like I
Speaker:grew up in the Blue Mountains. So I'll
Speaker:go, I'll go home and go work in Denver
Speaker:for you. So like sweet, no worries. So I
Speaker:went to work in Penrith and like I was
Speaker:doing bar work and I was doing security
Speaker:as well on the side just to make extra
Speaker:cash and. I don't know, I kind of
Speaker:just like I lost my licence during
Speaker:drivingjust before I left to go down
Speaker:there because I was drinking and getting
Speaker:over a break up and still drive all the
Speaker:way down there, still drive to Sydney.
Speaker:Your mine car got caught driving
Speaker:disqualified, lost my licence for anextra
Speaker:2 years and it wasn't until I got with
Speaker:my ex that I was. Kind
Speaker:of turn that leaf because I was, yeah,
Speaker:like, we're in the nightclub and like
Speaker:doing security work and that, and people
Speaker:are doing drugs in the toilets and stuff.
Speaker:And you'd walk in there and you'd be
Speaker:like, well, you got two options. You
Speaker:either give me the bag or we'll call the
Speaker:cops. And nine times out of 10 now give
Speaker:you the bag. And then after work, me and
Speaker:all the Islander boys would just sit
Speaker:there. And yeah,
Speaker:that was kind of not so much the boys,
Speaker:but it was just that lifestyle.
Speaker:Yeah, right.
Speaker:So I guess sometimes life just takes you
Speaker:into places you're not really thinking
Speaker:that you were going to end up, but it
Speaker:just becomes a product of the environment
Speaker:you're in. Absolutely. And when you got
Speaker:that much extra cash coming in, you kind
Speaker:of just like, sweet, well, what are we
Speaker:going to do? Play the pokies and do
Speaker:drugs? It's not like automatic or
Speaker:anything, but yeah, I get it. Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah. Be a very different story if that's
Speaker:the part he'd go down. But it makes me
Speaker:think that's probably why you you've got
Speaker:such a good. Poor with professional
Speaker:athletes because the journey you've
Speaker:described there is a lot like a lot of
Speaker:them experience, right? Some who make it,
Speaker:some who don't make or lots who don't
Speaker:make it suddenly got all this extra
Speaker:income. Not that
Speaker:much, not absolutely lots of spare time
Speaker:maybe maybe some hangers on that that
Speaker:aren't so helpful. So what? So
Speaker:what have you learned through that
Speaker:process that that you're able to?
Speaker:The other part is the people. It's
Speaker:dumb. Don't do it. It's just, it's not
Speaker:honestly, it's not worth it. It's not
Speaker:worth it. I got in, got in a bit of
Speaker:trouble for it. Like, I was very lucky. I
Speaker:didn't go to gaol, get
Speaker:caught, anything like that, didn't
Speaker:lose my job. But it's definitely
Speaker:not worth it. It's not worth it for the
Speaker:extra money at the end of the day. Like
Speaker:you'd rather have your freedom and be
Speaker:free. Yeah. So you mentioned that like,
Speaker:you know, you, you a new relationship.
Speaker:What was it about the relationship that
Speaker:sort of stopped you heading down that
Speaker:path?I think it was.
Speaker:So my ex now, she was kind
Speaker:of like my high school sweetheart,
Speaker:so. I chased
Speaker:her through school, we've been on and off
Speaker:through school and then we went out
Speaker:separate ways for years and just happened
Speaker:that we ended up talking. I think she
Speaker:replied to one of my
Speaker:Snapchats at the time or something
Speaker:because I put up there me with the boys
Speaker:doing drugs after work and she told me to
Speaker:be careful like. Stop doing dumb shit
Speaker:and. That kind of just turned
Speaker:into an 8 year relationship which
Speaker:unfortunately ended last year. But that's
Speaker:part of life and we're still good friends
Speaker:and that but. Yeah, I think
Speaker:she really saved me in that sort of sense
Speaker:where she was. She's a very
Speaker:strong woman herself. Like she's a
Speaker:lawyer, she's a very strong woman, but
Speaker:she also very grounded and
Speaker:kind of that brought me down as well
Speaker:where I needed to just simmer.
Speaker:I look at, I look at you now and you've
Speaker:got a couple of podcasts on the go which
Speaker:will get further into as we chat.
Speaker:You, it sounds like you, you are always
Speaker:looking at like what are the good things
Speaker:in life?So is it fair to say
Speaker:you've got lots of ideas and, and you're
Speaker:like that sort of big picture thinking
Speaker:about what, what the future could look
Speaker:like?It's funny,
Speaker:'cause I up until recently
Speaker:I've always been the sort of bloke who'll
Speaker:get handed great
Speaker:opportunities and I'll just be like
Speaker:sweet, no thanks. And then or
Speaker:I'll start a project and just be
Speaker:like get to where I need to get it to.
Speaker:Yeah, just go, Nah, I'm bored
Speaker:or no, I'll try something else. I'm very
Speaker:probably about it or something, but. Very
Speaker:just like, OK, cool, I've done that. I
Speaker:can do it. I know I can do it. Yeah, now
Speaker:I'm going to move on to the next scene,
Speaker:whereas I need to now like with the
Speaker:podcast. And I've started training boxing
Speaker:and I think that's kind of helped me a
Speaker:lot. Where I stay, I stay a lot more
Speaker:focused on what I need to do. I step back
Speaker:from work because I'd work a lot being a
Speaker:workaholic and stuff. So now I only work
Speaker:three days a week, which gives me four
Speaker:days to train to focus on the
Speaker:podcast and do stuff like that, so.
Speaker:The reason I ask is that that that big
Speaker:picture thinking, like generally a lot of
Speaker:teenage years doesn't fit because it's
Speaker:like school tells you you need to
Speaker:be very regimented and it's got to be
Speaker:this way. But the, the big picture
Speaker:thinker sometimes is diagnosed
Speaker:as ADHD is always thinking of something
Speaker:else and an idea here. And it's like a
Speaker:superpower, right? And so part of it is
Speaker:exactly what you describe. It's like,
Speaker:here's an idea. I've done that part of it
Speaker:and. Then I want the next idea and the
Speaker:next idea and the next idea. I look at
Speaker:someone like Richard Branson who's who's
Speaker:like the same who, who is wired the same
Speaker:way. You know, he talks about how he
Speaker:never, he was no good at school, but he
Speaker:can just come up with an idea and then
Speaker:just make it happen and then he moves on
Speaker:to something else. So. I
Speaker:wonder, like you mentioned, the
Speaker:boxing, to me, the
Speaker:boxing brings you, forces you to be back
Speaker:in your body, right, And to be more
Speaker:grounded because if you're not, you're
Speaker:going to get your shit beaten out here.
Speaker:Yeah, absolutely. It was, yeah. And I
Speaker:wasn't even going to, didn't even think
Speaker:about doing boxing or anything like that.
Speaker:It was kind of just just before my break
Speaker:up, I I was 155 kilos
Speaker:andI
Speaker:was like, what the hell am I doing? I got
Speaker:down to. 1:30.
Speaker:And I was like sweet, cool and just
Speaker:left it. And then it wasn't until
Speaker:probably about two months ago a mate said
Speaker:to me like, well, you like, like you like
Speaker:watching boxing, you like watching MMA
Speaker:and all that. Why don't you go and do
Speaker:something like, why don't you? Because
Speaker:it's not like I was, I don't know, it's
Speaker:hard to explain. Like after my breakup,
Speaker:probably for, I don't know, maybe
Speaker:nine months, I was doing things, I was
Speaker:getting out there, I was doing whatever,
Speaker:but I wasn't like motivated to do
Speaker:anything, if that makes sense. So I. When
Speaker:he said that, I was like, OK, like I
Speaker:know I can. Like I know I can fight in a
Speaker:street fight. Like that's fine, I'll back
Speaker:myself. I can like go get in a
Speaker:ring or whatever. So I just went down to
Speaker:the local boxing gym after he said saying
Speaker:to me with him and had a
Speaker:training session and I was like, I'm so
Speaker:unfit. But this is so much fun. So
Speaker:I've just stayed with it.
Speaker:And I think that's really changed a lot
Speaker:of my thinking. Whereas like now I'm there
Speaker:3-4 days a week. I feel good, I
Speaker:feel fresh, I'm eating hell of a lot
Speaker:better and just, yeah, life's just
Speaker:everything is kind of like snowballing
Speaker:all at once like the last month. Just
Speaker:went bang. So I got
Speaker:a bunch of good guests, signed up for the
Speaker:podcast, started Mama Jamie sitting here
Speaker:with you booked a fight for
Speaker:boxing like at the end of the year and
Speaker:was like, oh God, but it's good.
Speaker:Sink or swim. Yeah. I just think
Speaker:about the the positive influence of
Speaker:being in that environment. We talked
Speaker:about environments before you're in an
Speaker:environment, you need to be very
Speaker:disciplined about your your fitness,
Speaker:about what you're eating. You're already
Speaker:talking about how it's. Finished because
Speaker:it's a necessity right you can't keep
Speaker:yeah showing up to box if you've been
Speaker:eating shit all day and and putting that
Speaker:sort of stuff in your body so it creates
Speaker:a discipline. What else has that
Speaker:boxing process taught you about
Speaker:life in general? What have you had to put
Speaker:in place to that's helped you just with
Speaker:the rest of your life? It's got to make
Speaker:me step back from work a lot but why not
Speaker:step back but stop taking as many
Speaker:extra shifts stop doing this like focus
Speaker:on yourself like. This next 12 months of
Speaker:mine is now.
Speaker:Rebuilding, like I didn't do that
Speaker:straight after my breakup. So now it's
Speaker:kind of like this is my time to focus.
Speaker:This is my time to look after me, do what
Speaker:I need to do. Like I'm 30 years old now.
Speaker:I need to just focus on myself
Speaker:and who knows what will happen,
Speaker:Yeah. I
Speaker:often work with young athletes who
Speaker:have been through or are going through
Speaker:some of the things you described in in
Speaker:earlier years, getting mixed up in the
Speaker:wrong crowd. Is there something over that
Speaker:time that?
Speaker:You look back on and think I would have
Speaker:been great to actually get some support
Speaker:through that part of my life, to have
Speaker:someone be able to guide me out the other
Speaker:side. There's not
Speaker:one specific moment, I think.
Speaker:Sydney in the courtroom was pretty
Speaker:scary and you did that on your own.
Speaker:The first one I did. So, yeah, right. Got
Speaker:my lawyer, went to court,
Speaker:and then my lawyer's like, OK, we're
Speaker:gonna get this adjourned. So I was like,
Speaker:sweet, no worries. And I
Speaker:hadn't told Mom, I hadn't told anyone,
Speaker:but I was living with my Nan at the time.
Speaker:So I told Nan and she was like, alright,
Speaker:like I'll come to court with you. And I
Speaker:was like, oh God, OK 'cause my dad's a
Speaker:very strong woman.
Speaker:So I was like, yeah, OK, but I'm kind of
Speaker:like the baby of the family, I suppose,
Speaker:where you get away with everything and
Speaker:that but. I can't do
Speaker:anything wrong in her eyes no matter what
Speaker:I do, but I think the moment that really.
Speaker:Made me turn like I've started seeing my
Speaker:ex at the time, but I was
Speaker:also, I wasn't playing up
Speaker:anymore, but I was being not playing up
Speaker:in the sense of on her, but like with the
Speaker:law. Yeah. But then seeing my Nan in
Speaker:court cry, I think it was just like,
Speaker:OK, I got to change something. Like, I
Speaker:mean, that was kind of like the final
Speaker:straw where I was just like, OK.
Speaker:Yeah, that's powerful, isn't it? Because
Speaker:there's one thing to do it to yourself,
Speaker:but when you see the impact it's having
Speaker:on the people that really care for you,
Speaker:that's that's huge. Absolutely.
Speaker:Especially when my nan would do anything
Speaker:for me, so would my mum, but I was too
Speaker:scared to tell mom.
Speaker:She's a strong Dutch woman. She wouldn't
Speaker:have been happy. Yeah. You've actually,
Speaker:you've mentioned that a few times. Like
Speaker:you've had all these really strong women
Speaker:in your life, like you. You imagine
Speaker:where your life might have ended up if
Speaker:you didn't have those strong women who
Speaker:have been such a powerful support for
Speaker:you. Yeah. I never really thought about
Speaker:it, but I don't know. Probably in gaol.
Speaker:Who knows? Yeah, who knows where I'd be?
Speaker:It's, it's one of the like we talked
Speaker:about before like that, how many sports
Speaker:people talk about like how influential
Speaker:their their mum's been and it's.
Speaker:Obviously dads play an important role
Speaker:in different ways, but yeah, there's
Speaker:yeah, it's important for us to take that
Speaker:time to actually have that appreciation,
Speaker:I reckon. And if at least people
Speaker:listening, they maybe think maybe I need
Speaker:to reach out to the to their mum.
Speaker:Don't leave it too late. Absolutely. And
Speaker:like, I had good, good rail,
Speaker:good male role. Good
Speaker:male role, medals, role models. God, I'll
Speaker:get there. Good male role models going up
Speaker:and like I'm pretty close with one of my
Speaker:best mates dads and like I'll just go
Speaker:around his and have a beer on the farm or
Speaker:whatever and just have a chat and it's
Speaker:kind of it's good. I think it's good for
Speaker:him as well because he had, he had lost
Speaker:his wife and like all the kids had moved
Speaker:out. Like the kids will visit him and
Speaker:stuff, but I'll pop around and he can
Speaker:kind of talk to me as well about stuff
Speaker:that he can't really. Talk to the kids
Speaker:about so it's good back and forth, which
Speaker:I enjoy going around there and chatting
Speaker:with him. So he's been a big part of my
Speaker:life and. Obviously my uncle's as well
Speaker:and Jamie as well. Jamie's been
Speaker:very important to me as we've, we've been
Speaker:friends for 10 years now, I think.
Speaker:And he's kind of just like that older
Speaker:brother that I never had because I'm an
Speaker:only child. So he pulls me into line
Speaker:when I need to be pulled into line. And
Speaker:yeah, he'll call me every day. Like when
Speaker:I first called him about, umm, going
Speaker:through my break up and then he called me
Speaker:every day, check in on me, make sure I
Speaker:was good, send me a song or.
Speaker:National guide, something that yeah, just
Speaker:be like, keep punching. So
Speaker:that's awesome. So for him to do
Speaker:that, I imagine you've left it quite an
Speaker:impression on him. Like, I know. So I
Speaker:did Fox Sports for 18 years and you'd see
Speaker:the athletes come in and what what I got
Speaker:a real sense of is their insecurities in
Speaker:those spaces, sort of out of the bubble
Speaker:and and dealing with every everyday
Speaker:people. I imagine for you,
Speaker:you would have been able to be different
Speaker:to what he's experienced and made it safe
Speaker:to just to be, to be hanging out a member
Speaker:of the general public. Like how did that
Speaker:relationship come about and, and, and
Speaker:sort of how did it unfold?It's a part of
Speaker:you, so it's pretty funny. So
Speaker:we I was working
Speaker:at a pub just out of Penrith
Speaker:and we lived like 2-3 streets apart. We
Speaker:didn't know at the time but he'd come in
Speaker:after. He'd come in
Speaker:after a game or something and just
Speaker:sitting down, having dinner with his
Speaker:partner Maddie and came up to
Speaker:the bar. We'd have a chat, like just a
Speaker:casual chat. And cause in Penrith there's
Speaker:a very strong. They just
Speaker:live in Brave Panthers. Like everything
Speaker:is just that. That's crazy. It's probably
Speaker:the craziest town about that football
Speaker:team apart from Townsville. And
Speaker:you come in and everyone just feel like
Speaker:Jamie, Jamie, Jamie, can I get a photo?
Speaker:Can I get a photo? So I keep. And
Speaker:everyone was really good. All the locals
Speaker:were really good. They're really nice and
Speaker:respectful and all that. But he'd come in
Speaker:a few times and we'd got talk in and I
Speaker:was finishing shift one day and he was
Speaker:just like, oh, do you want to come and
Speaker:have a beer? And I was like, Oh yeah,
Speaker:sweated on my licence. My. Just come to
Speaker:pick me up and he's like, oh, bring her
Speaker:in, we'll have a beer. And Janelle,
Speaker:my ex partner, and Maddie got along
Speaker:really well and Jamie and I got along
Speaker:really well. And we just went from there.
Speaker:We had lots of good nights together. We'd
Speaker:cheat in trivia together on
Speaker:trivia. And it was just, yeah,
Speaker:they just kicked off from there and we
Speaker:started hanging out just doing boy things
Speaker:really. We're still playing for Penrith
Speaker:at the time and. Just someone to talk to
Speaker:when you need someone to talk to close to
Speaker:home because being out in Penrith, he had
Speaker:moved out there. All his friends like
Speaker:further in Sydney so. It was a good
Speaker:relationship and it's kind of just gone
Speaker:from there. Yeah. It shows just how much
Speaker:those those guys need to have that
Speaker:companionship. That's that's not
Speaker:football. And and not like, you
Speaker:know, you weren't fanboying him or
Speaker:anything. Like you were just like
Speaker:genuine, genuine relationship and, and
Speaker:asking how they're going, which would
Speaker:have been a real point of difference. So
Speaker:yeah, that's huge. And I imagine there'd
Speaker:be an element of that. Your your
Speaker:upbringing, your experiences would would
Speaker:have. Put you in that state of mind to be
Speaker:able to be that sort of natural, genuine
Speaker:person for them. Yeah, absolutely. And
Speaker:like, I'll talk to anyone on when
Speaker:they'd come into the venue. I'd like, I
Speaker:pride myself on my customer service. I
Speaker:think it's really good. But like a bit of
Speaker:other footy players come in and be like
Speaker:talking to a fucking soggy wet blanket.
Speaker:Yeah, right. You're like, I'm not, I'm
Speaker:not even trying to talk to you about
Speaker:footy or anything. I'm just trying to ask
Speaker:how, you know, he's like, hey mate, how
Speaker:are you?And you just get cold shoulder,
Speaker:like, just give me my beer. Yeah, right.
Speaker:So, OK, whatever. Sleep. Yeah, won't name
Speaker:names, but there's a couple of
Speaker:them. Why do I have a lot of beef with
Speaker:now? A lot of beef with now?
Speaker:But he happened to follow me up here at
Speaker:the Gold Coast, so played for the Gold
Speaker:Coast. Not anymore. But yeah, anyway,
Speaker:that's a different story. I'll
Speaker:leave that for another time. Yeah, that's
Speaker:rock camera, that one.
Speaker:Now you've got the two podcasts, which
Speaker:are very much sport related. Like how
Speaker:important was sport for you growing
Speaker:up?Yeah, it was. It
Speaker:was pretty important. I kind of wasn't
Speaker:forced into playing soccer, but
Speaker:I played soccer for a club that my
Speaker:granddad or my pop sorry, I played for,
Speaker:my uncles had all played for. So it's
Speaker:kind of like that the generation playing
Speaker:for the club. My point was the 1st
Speaker:president and I was like you have to play
Speaker:here, you have to play the Hasbro Hawks.
Speaker:So did that. That was
Speaker:good played for. I
Speaker:don't know, many years I got my 250th
Speaker:badgeor whatever, like
Speaker:the 200 badges that you get for playing
Speaker:games, which was my last game actually
Speaker:that I got it, which was good. We lost
Speaker:the grand final though, 4 nil but and it
Speaker:was happened to be against a bunch of
Speaker:kids we went to school with. We played
Speaker:for another club. So yeah, it
Speaker:was one of those things where mum, she
Speaker:didn't make me play for them but had to
Speaker:travel further where all my friends from
Speaker:school play for a different club, but you
Speaker:have to play at this club so. But
Speaker:the aeroplane soccer growingup played a
Speaker:bit of rugby league, nothing too
Speaker:interesting, wasn't an overly
Speaker:outstanding athlete. I mean, I went state
Speaker:for swimming, for butterfly, but that was
Speaker:about it. Apart from that, there was.
Speaker:Yeah, right. There was nothing that I did
Speaker:that was impressive. But have you always
Speaker:been a fan though, of
Speaker:sport? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Absolutely, Massively always. It was
Speaker:always rugby league on Sunday over
Speaker:4:00 and. Friday night,
Speaker:Yeah, but what's your
Speaker:best memory as a fan?
Speaker:Oh, actually this is a good one. So it
Speaker:stands out so easily. So the 2006
Speaker:906 00:34:57,073 --> 00:34:59,633 WorldCup, FIFA World Cup, Yeah. The
Speaker:local cinema at Katoomba, the edge
Speaker:they put on the games in
Speaker:like on the cinema. Yeah. So I remember
Speaker:waking up at, God, I don't even know what
Speaker:time it was. It was so early. And we go
Speaker:and I think we watched them play. I think
Speaker:it was Japan. I think we were in the same
Speaker:group as Japan. That's right. Japan,
Speaker:yeah. Yeah. Brazil and then
Speaker:Croatia. Yes, yeah.
Speaker:So the we watched, oh, maybe it was a
Speaker:Croatian one. We watched one of those two
Speaker:games and then they put on the one
Speaker:against Italy and that
Speaker:was all I remem my the only thing I
Speaker:really remember from all those games that
Speaker:might have been the Croatian 1 was Harry
Speaker:kill kicking that gold. And I was just
Speaker:like, this is sick. The whole cinema is
Speaker:just going up like it was just yeah, Mum
Speaker:took me out there. Mum's not a big sport
Speaker:buff herself, so. It was good to see her
Speaker:getting around it. And how how old would
Speaker:you have been there?2006, I would have
Speaker:been in year 6 or so. What's that, 12?
Speaker:Yeah, right. So, so a crowd of that, like
Speaker:everyone going for the same team
Speaker:like that would have been crazy. Yeah, it
Speaker:was unreal. So much fun. I was a
Speaker:little bit further down the track, so
Speaker:we're at Star Casino with all
Speaker:my mates, teammates that we played
Speaker:football together. So you could imagine
Speaker:the craziness because we went there for
Speaker:all four games. I think the Croatia game
Speaker:might have been two or three in the
Speaker:morning and then I went straight to work
Speaker:at Piedmont afterwards, which wasn't.
Speaker:Finest, finest moment. But that
Speaker:happens. But yeah, the
Speaker:same, the same sort of memory. It's
Speaker:amazing. Like you're not actually at the
Speaker:ground, but just the
Speaker:having a crowd. It's like frenzied
Speaker:almost like it was something.
Speaker:Yeah, it was good because like we hadn't
Speaker:really experienced that success in
Speaker:soccer, football, whatever you want to
Speaker:call it before. And. Unfortunately, we
Speaker:haven't been able to live up to it again,
Speaker:but. That's that was great then and
Speaker:hopefully it happens again. But it was
Speaker:really good. Honestly, it was fine. It
Speaker:was sick. Yeah. Yeah. So
Speaker:good. So how do you end up a Roosters
Speaker:fan living in the outskirts of
Speaker:Pennsylvania when you're growing up?
Speaker:Um, honestly, I know
Speaker:one of my uncles went for the Roosters
Speaker:and my nan randomly was a
Speaker:member in like 1978 or something. She
Speaker:gave me a pin and I was like like my
Speaker:Nana is not a crazy sport Fanny.
Speaker:Like she's she's English, she's from not
Speaker:known she. Yeah, nothing really doing
Speaker:any like any sport. So I
Speaker:went for them and I think, I think it was
Speaker:probably because of Minicello at the
Speaker:time. So I kind of, it was
Speaker:my favourite player. Andby the time I
Speaker:was old enough to like understand
Speaker:football, it was Minicello,
Speaker:Bradfielder, Luke Richardson, those sort
Speaker:of players. That was something
Speaker:special. Yeah. And Freddie, I mean,
Speaker:probably before your time, definitely
Speaker:before your time starting in Penrith and
Speaker:then moving out to the East. I think
Speaker:there'd be a few. Penrith
Speaker:fans would have a bit of a soft spot for
Speaker:the Roosters, if not be fans.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:So you've been through all these
Speaker:different challenges and then you decide
Speaker:to start a podcast. Was there was there
Speaker:something that inspired that idea
Speaker:the the Off Season podcast?
Speaker:No, not really. I just like
Speaker:enjoy talking to people really. I love
Speaker:hearing people's stories. So I thought,
Speaker:why not? Like, So me and a mate through
Speaker:school had always said like let's be the
Speaker:Australia or let's be the next Hamish and
Speaker:Andy. Let's like, let's do that like.
Speaker:Drama and acting like
Speaker:stuff like that and then but we're like
Speaker:we're polar opposites like we are so
Speaker:different in just everything like I tell
Speaker:him the Sky's blue and he'll tell me it's
Speaker:pink and vice versa yeah and the
Speaker:podcast we start together we're like
Speaker:let's start a podcast, let's start a
Speaker:podcast and just one of those things that
Speaker:never happens kind of like talk to your
Speaker:mates about opening a bar yeah and we
Speaker:I finally just went one day just after
Speaker:sweet and sour finish. I was like fuck
Speaker:it, I'm buying the gear so.
Speaker:Bought all the gear and just said be at
Speaker:my house next week we're starting. And
Speaker:then it just went from there. It was lots
Speaker:of fun. It was good like few
Speaker:listeners. It was going well. And then he
Speaker:obviously moved. So then it was like,
Speaker:well, I like talking to people. I want to
Speaker:speak to people, hear their stories and
Speaker:that and he had left. So
Speaker:I took her like a couple of months off
Speaker:from doing it and then reached out to a
Speaker:few people and. Started from there.
Speaker:What's been the highlight form from all
Speaker:of the people that you've interviewed?
Speaker:Like has it been a moment where you've
Speaker:where someone's told you something that
Speaker:maybe they haven't spoken about before?
Speaker:Or can you think of a moment from all the
Speaker:podcasts? That's a tough one.
Speaker:I mean, I spoke to Doctor
Speaker:Kwan, who's street vet.
Speaker:He's got his own TV show and stuff in.
Speaker:The States and now he does like he
Speaker:started up a company with John Legend and
Speaker:Chrissy Teigen. I can still keep in
Speaker:contact with him. He's really cool. So
Speaker:hopefully in the future they'll be a lot
Speaker:to come from him. But.
Speaker:I might, I don't know about a moment.
Speaker:I mean, Jamie opening up about his
Speaker:mum and dad, and that was pretty
Speaker:stuff, like, weird spoken about
Speaker:but not really gotten into. And I
Speaker:was like, crap, like, this is
Speaker:crap. God damn. Yeah,
Speaker:yeah, yeah. So
Speaker:anything where the host gets emotional
Speaker:too is usually sort of a good episode,
Speaker:right?Oh, yeah, yeah. It was crazy.
Speaker:It was crazy. I mean, I did an episode
Speaker:with Ed Cavalier. So I,
Speaker:we have a mutual friend, so I got in
Speaker:contact with her and he put me in contact
Speaker:with Ed. And the day,
Speaker:couple of days before the episode, Ed was
Speaker:like, oh, it was just after
Speaker:Queen Elizabeth had passed away. He's
Speaker:like, I just got to do some royal
Speaker:coronation stuff. Like can we just push
Speaker:back? I'm like, Yep, sweet, no worries.
Speaker:In those few days I got so sick. So I
Speaker:recorded this episode with Ed and I had.
Speaker:Covad pneumonia and
Speaker:influenza A, and I was so
Speaker:sick. And yeah,
Speaker:about two hours after the episode, I went
Speaker:to hospital and didn't get out
Speaker:for 2 1/2 weeks. Ye. ah. CommitmentYeah,
Speaker:it was crazy. It was crazy. Like I was, I
Speaker:was off the whole episode, but it was
Speaker:really good. Like it was still a good
Speaker:episode. Yeah. But yeah, so I can add and
Speaker:we'll do another one in the future. But I
Speaker:was so sick. I was not good.
Speaker:Yeah. Wow. I love it. Now, you
Speaker:mentioned before, I can't remember if it
Speaker:was before we hit record or not, but you
Speaker:said like, you're working less
Speaker:these days because you, you were a
Speaker:workaholic. Yeah. Did
Speaker:that? Like, was there a catalyst
Speaker:for that? Like, did did you get wind at
Speaker:the moment you started working? Were you
Speaker:always like just someone who worked
Speaker:really hard? And I think it's
Speaker:probably. It's probably the only good
Speaker:habit that I picked up from my dad was
Speaker:he's a very hard worker, just. Doesn't
Speaker:stop. Always wants to work. He'll never
Speaker:retire. Umm, I've
Speaker:always worked either
Speaker:6070 hour weeks
Speaker:or works two jobs to work 60-70 hour
Speaker:weeks and I think
Speaker:that obviously puts a strain on
Speaker:relationships. It does a lot of things
Speaker:like that and it's not because I don't
Speaker:want to be at home or anything. I just, I
Speaker:don't know, I just get home and got to
Speaker:do something like that. Not like do
Speaker:something like clean the house or do
Speaker:anything like that. It's just. I just
Speaker:like to be busy and get busy and don't
Speaker:want those voices in your head talking
Speaker:too long. Stay busy and
Speaker:yeah, do whatever. And then I think kind
Speaker:of like the last three
Speaker:months, once I finish getting over
Speaker:breakups and stuff like that, I have
Speaker:just turned around and just gone.
Speaker:Alright, you gotta focus on yourself.
Speaker:Like let's get the next chapter going
Speaker:and. Yep, yeah, now I'm just work
Speaker:three days a week and. I'm around the
Speaker:rest, coffee training, nothing exciting.
Speaker:Yeah. But I think what you're describing
Speaker:there is what life should be like, right?
Speaker:More of a balance. And and I love how you
Speaker:highlighted that, that that what you
Speaker:realised was the busyness was to
Speaker:stop the boys, the voices in your head,
Speaker:because that's been a repeating theme for
Speaker:the different people that I've either
Speaker:interviewed or worked with is it's a
Speaker:distracting themselves from from a lot of
Speaker:the noise. So is that something that
Speaker:you've always experienced like growing
Speaker:up, did you have a lot of. Noise as well,
Speaker:I think so. And it's not like it's not
Speaker:bad head noise as such. Well, I suppose
Speaker:it's not good, but I can't. I'm one of
Speaker:those people that I'll sleep with the TV
Speaker:on because I don't want to hear my
Speaker:thoughts and not bad thoughts or
Speaker:whatever. I'll just lay there all night
Speaker:and just think that I've done this
Speaker:different. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's
Speaker:good. I've done this differently. Could I
Speaker:have done that different and just stuff
Speaker:like that, Like what can I do? Like,
Speaker:should I do this? Should I do that?
Speaker:Should I speak to this person?Speak to
Speaker:that person. And yeah, it's, it's the
Speaker:overthinking, right? It's not necessarily
Speaker:a whole lot of dark thoughts. It's like,
Speaker:oh, just give me a break for five seconds
Speaker:for fuck sake. Like it's just like one
Speaker:thought after the next thought after the
Speaker:next thought. So, So
Speaker:what have you been able to put in place
Speaker:to be able to slow your mind down enough
Speaker:to, to allow yourself to not have to be
Speaker:busying yourself? Is there, is there?
Speaker:Have you taken strategic steps?
Speaker:I think that I I still keep busy.
Speaker:So I don't, but like I'm doing, I'm
Speaker:focusing on things that I want to do. So
Speaker:it's like I'm not trying to make someone
Speaker:else money and I'm not trying to do this.
Speaker:Like I'm working on myself to do things.
Speaker:I want to grab my podcast. I want to do
Speaker:this, I want to do that. So I think
Speaker:that's helped a lot. I still sleep with
Speaker:the TV on though, because now I can't
Speaker:sleep without it. I need noise. But.
Speaker:Yeah, it's focusing on myself a lot more,
Speaker:where positive things like I make sure
Speaker:it's probably bad and you hear about the
Speaker:cost of living crisis and all that, but
Speaker:like, I'll make sure I go out and grab a
Speaker:coffee every day, just get out of the
Speaker:house, just walk down to local coffee
Speaker:shop, something like kilometre halfway.
Speaker:So I get my steps in and just little
Speaker:things just yeah.
Speaker:It's good, nothing too exciting, nothing,
Speaker:nothing too exciting, but you've, you've,
Speaker:you've made some really powerful points
Speaker:there. And is that is like one working on
Speaker:yourself because I think sometimes people
Speaker:get caught in the whole like, you know,
Speaker:here we go again, the overthinking and
Speaker:they, they spiral down. But the, the
Speaker:answer is that it's working on yourself
Speaker:and, and finding the positive things and,
Speaker:and I to me that's a great investment
Speaker:going for a walk to get a coffee like.
Speaker:We get to choose how we spend our money.
Speaker:No one can tell us that, you know, like.
Speaker:There's a cost of living crisis, so you
Speaker:can't do that. It's like, no, this is
Speaker:actually, I'm doing this Cos I feel good
Speaker:for me. I think that's yeah, choosing
Speaker:you. They're both examples of you
Speaker:choosing you instead of, you know,
Speaker:putting everyone else first. Yeah,
Speaker:absolutely. And it's good at the moment
Speaker:because mum's on three months holiday. So
Speaker:I just feel like, oh, do you want to meet
Speaker:me down at Coolangatta? We'll grab a
Speaker:coffee or whatever. And she's like,
Speaker:Yep. So. Yeah, no, I don't have to pay
Speaker:for coffee. Yeah, Nice, nice. I I
Speaker:remember reading I think you'll relate to
Speaker:this I remember reading a story from.
Speaker:A a well
Speaker:probably my age in these 40s or 50s and
Speaker:his mum used to go to dinner with the
Speaker:with the with his with his dad like every
Speaker:week or whatever Sunday. And then the
Speaker:dad passed away and and.
Speaker:She stopped. She did the dinosaurs on her
Speaker:own for a while. Then she went, oh, I
Speaker:can't keep doing this is actually
Speaker:torture. And he sort of found out about
Speaker:this and and he's like, oh, I'll take her
Speaker:mum and just thinking he'd do it once
Speaker:and. She got so
Speaker:much out of it, like she just absolutely
Speaker:loved it. And he started thinking, well,
Speaker:how many more hours have I got left with
Speaker:my mum? And she's always there, but how
Speaker:much time am I actually spending with
Speaker:her? And she said that a
Speaker:fuse down the track after I've been
Speaker:having these dinners, just what a, what
Speaker:an impact, a positive impact that it had
Speaker:on her life. And it's something that I've
Speaker:undertaken as well. It's like. Actually,
Speaker:Mum's coming around just after we finish
Speaker:recording. And justice,
Speaker:making sure that you create as many of
Speaker:those moments because I know after my dad
Speaker:passed that you can't get those moments
Speaker:back. You can't get that time back. And.
Speaker:And so I love how
Speaker:you're prioritising that withyour mom.
Speaker:And I bet she gets heaps out of that too.
Speaker:Does she? Yeah. Mum loves it because
Speaker:I'm an only child. So no matter what
Speaker:happens I get get everything. So
Speaker:like not, not in a bad way, but like I
Speaker:get all the anger, I get all the love.
Speaker:It's it's good. It's really good. And she
Speaker:like she. Partner, he just works away a
Speaker:fair bit and mum's always
Speaker:out travelling so likeI might not hear
Speaker:from her for a couple of weeks and she'll
Speaker:be in long reach or wherever they are in
Speaker:the caravan, which is good, but.
Speaker:Yeah, it's always good to catch up and I
Speaker:enjoy those moments, especially since I
Speaker:don't have a relationship with my dad. So
Speaker:it's it's a lot better than having
Speaker:nothing, I guess. Yeah, right. So. And I
Speaker:wouldn't change it for the world. Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah. I mean, you think of
Speaker:like everything she's given you. Like,
Speaker:you know what? You said you didn't
Speaker:realise how much she struggled. Like,
Speaker:that's that's awesome, mate. That's
Speaker:commitment for my mum. I love her. Yeah,
Speaker:absolutely. You mentioned your dad
Speaker:like that you were you were visiting him
Speaker:in. Papua New Guinea.
Speaker:But like, was there, was there something
Speaker:where it all fell over? Was it when you
Speaker:got to adulthood or like was even like
Speaker:this? Yeah, yeah. I'm having to talk
Speaker:about it's all good. So he, he was kind
Speaker:of like never there. We lived on the Gold
Speaker:Coast for a couple of years when I was
Speaker:born. And then mum and I came down to the
Speaker:mountain. We went to the mountains. So
Speaker:he's never really dare. So like the only
Speaker:time I'd seen him was he'd come back to
Speaker:Australia for like a week, two weeks. I'd
Speaker:fly the Gold Coast spend. With him. But
Speaker:it was always kind of like the same
Speaker:routine and like I have a lot of positive
Speaker:memories from it, but it was always wake
Speaker:up. She lived in Chuga and wake up. Go to
Speaker:the bakery, get a pie or a sausage roll
Speaker:with an iced coffee or a candy coat
Speaker:because dad would let me have that. We'd
Speaker:go back home. It was normally around 9-10
Speaker:o'clock. It was just happened to always
Speaker:be when the cricket was on. So we'd watch
Speaker:the start of the cricket. Then
Speaker:come like tea time, like in the cricket,
Speaker:we go to the park just down at
Speaker:Currumbin, which is a short walk from his
Speaker:house, play cricket. And then we'd end up
Speaker:at Shugan Surf Club and we'd be there
Speaker:until eight, 9:00 at night. He'd be
Speaker:pierced, we'd get home, he'd pass out
Speaker:with a long neck, I'd watch South Park,
Speaker:let's go home. Mom would call him or day
Speaker:after I got back abusing him because
Speaker:let's see what he went to South Park and
Speaker:she wouldn't let me. And then like
Speaker:obviously. I don't know how he did it,
Speaker:but he gained enough trust from my mom to
Speaker:let me go to Papua New Guinea. And I was,
Speaker:I was always safe when I was there. So,
Speaker:yeah, I can't discredit him for that at
Speaker:all. Then when I was 15, he
Speaker:left me in Thailand.
Speaker:So that was. Hang on
Speaker:a big moment. Yeah. So.
Speaker:Mohammed Mohammed said
Speaker:he can go with you to Thailand for two
Speaker:weeks, but if anything happens, I will
Speaker:kill you. You're done. And dad was like
Speaker:nothing will happen, nothing will happen.
Speaker:And the trip was pretty good that night,
Speaker:a big fight one day, 'cause like I was, I
Speaker:was 15 and I had like a
Speaker:baseball cap and you know, at that age
Speaker:you think you're a rapper and whatever.
Speaker:And I think I was wearing it like
Speaker:backwards or something or to the side.
Speaker:And he just looked at about that like
Speaker:he'd been drinking and stuff and I'd been
Speaker:drinking. So like, we'll sit in a bar and
Speaker:I was drinking with him. I was 15.
Speaker:And then we'd gone from
Speaker:Pattaya to
Speaker:Phuket. Oh, no, we're going from Bangkok
Speaker:to Phuket. And
Speaker:the last night that we were there, he
Speaker:had gone, OK, We've gone out for a drink.
Speaker:And then he'd gone, OK, you go back to
Speaker:the motel and I'll meet you back there
Speaker:later because we fly out in the morning
Speaker:at like, 11:00 to Bangkok to fly home. So
Speaker:I was like, Yep, sweet, no worries. Went
Speaker:back three AMI get a phone call on the
Speaker:phone in the room and it was hey, Mr
Speaker:Ashburn, umm, they're shopping down here
Speaker:for you. And I was like, what?So I went
Speaker:downstairs and there was this lady, like
Speaker:this Thai lady, she goes, oh here you go,
Speaker:your dad left this for you. And I was
Speaker:like okay, but just a random bag of
Speaker:shopping like clothes and whatever.
Speaker:So I went back to the room and I was like
Speaker:okay, whatever and went back to sleep.
Speaker:Woke up when my alarm went off at 8:00
Speaker:and dad still wasn't back like he was. He
Speaker:was nowhere to be seen. I was like, what
Speaker:the hell? And the taxi called at 9.
Speaker:They're like, we're downstairs waiting
Speaker:for him, like my daddy not back. Like,
Speaker:what the hell am I going to do? Yeah, so.
Speaker:So he's always taught me. It's probably
Speaker:another good thing that my dad taught me.
Speaker:He's always travel with U.S. dollars,
Speaker:always travel with 500 U.S. dollars. So I
Speaker:knew he had it. So I took it out of his
Speaker:bag and jumped in the taxi,
Speaker:went to the airport, flew from Phuket
Speaker:to Bangkok. So I wasn't missing my flight
Speaker:to go home. Flight 500 U.S. dollars and
Speaker:I'm like what do I do?So I went and
Speaker:bought a, a new phone 'cause I don't have
Speaker:a phone or anything. So I went bought a
Speaker:phone and then stupid me logged into
Speaker:Facebook and was like lost my dad, don't
Speaker:know where he is and, and my phone
Speaker:was blowing up. It was mum like
Speaker:where are you? Where's your dad? And I'm
Speaker:like, no idea, don't know where he is.
Speaker:So dad was gone. And then she's like just
Speaker:get to the airport, fly home, it'll be
Speaker:alright. So I get on the plane, check in,
Speaker:get on the plane. And Mom's like, I deal
Speaker:with this, it's all good. And I was like,
Speaker:OK, so then, yeah, flight was like
Speaker:8 hours away. So I get on the plane
Speaker:and Dad walks on the plane, walks
Speaker:straight past me, kept going to his
Speaker:seat. Yeah, yeah, like, batted and
Speaker:bruised and stuff. So he reckons he got
Speaker:jumped and lost. I think it was like
Speaker:, 9000 or something. Lost $9000 they
Speaker:robbed you for, apparently. But
Speaker:mum had a friend who she went to
Speaker:school with. So mom would put up things
Speaker:on Facebook as well and if someone had
Speaker:contacted her she went to school with and
Speaker:he owned a couple of bars
Speaker:in Phuket. So she's never
Speaker:told me the story today. But I feel like
Speaker:he might have found him and got him on
Speaker:that plane. But oh damn
Speaker:yes. Then from there like that was long
Speaker:winded version but from then didn't speak
Speaker:to him for ages. Didn't hear from him on
Speaker:my 18th birthday. Anything like that
Speaker:, 21st birthday, nothing like that. And
Speaker:then?One of my uncles, he's one of
Speaker:his brothers who I was close with,
Speaker:committed suicide and Dad and I rekindled
Speaker:after that and that was all good. But
Speaker:then it kind of just drifted out and
Speaker:don't really talk to him now. And
Speaker:that's alright. That's part of life, I
Speaker:guess. Yeah. You're comfortable with
Speaker:that? Yeah. Fif 15,
Speaker:Right. That's incredible presence of mind
Speaker:to go. To like a I'm thinking about me
Speaker:at 15. I already got into panic. But I
Speaker:guess you don't know what you don't know
Speaker:what you do until you're faced with a
Speaker:situation. Presence of mind, you go, OK,
Speaker:there's the money, but also I'm going to
Speaker:take on this cab ride and that
Speaker:first flight on my own.
Speaker:Wow. And and before you call your mum,
Speaker:you get on Facebook, Yeah, dumb. It was a
Speaker:dumb decision. But no,
Speaker:everyone's, everyone's safe, I guess now.
Speaker:Yeah. Do you remember
Speaker:like any of those moments of like having
Speaker:to sort of really like, you know, Rev
Speaker:yourself up to go and do it all, all
Speaker:that. Yeah, so I had to get
Speaker:from 1 airport in
Speaker:Bangkok to the International Airport.
Speaker:Yeah. And I was like, I don't know how to
Speaker:get there. Like how do I get there? And I
Speaker:need to trust a cabdriver to take me
Speaker:there. And yeah,
Speaker:luckily how he did and
Speaker:part of the price and off I went so.
Speaker:Wow. Maybe by that stage I was like, oh,
Speaker:this much money, this is all I got. You
Speaker:got to get me there. And he did.
Speaker:Yeah. Awesome. It's like incredible
Speaker:resilience for for a kid that age, like,
Speaker:seriously. But I guess like, you know
Speaker:what, you talked about the upbringing and
Speaker:having those experiences with your dad
Speaker:and another country, third world country,
Speaker:like they would have stealed you in a way
Speaker:to know that. OK, well, I've been in this
Speaker:experience before. I know what to do.
Speaker:Yeah, well, yeah, 'cause I'd fly in the
Speaker:line before and that, so it was wasn't so
Speaker:bad that it was glad you got through
Speaker:customs and all that. So and customs in
Speaker:Thailand, it's a hell of a lot different
Speaker:to customs in Papua New Guinea, trust me.
Speaker:So yeah, I bet. Were they were they
Speaker:asking questions about why you're on your
Speaker:own or anything like that? So when I
Speaker:checked in, I was like, I don't know
Speaker:where my dad is. And she was like, OK,
Speaker:let me just. Yeah, there you go. So I
Speaker:don't know if he's getting on the flight
Speaker:or not, but on me. Yeah,
Speaker:Legend. So good. Well, somewhere,
Speaker:yeah. Tell me, you said you're
Speaker:an animal advocate. What? Yeah. What,
Speaker:where did that come from And, and, and
Speaker:what are you doing in that space now? So
Speaker:I think just growing up, like on
Speaker:property, grew up with horses, that kind
Speaker:of stuff. Mum is very much
Speaker:if it's got a name, if it's on our
Speaker:property, it's a pet. Doesn't matter what
Speaker:it is, it's a pet. Yeah, so.
Speaker:Grew up with horses. Mum's ex partner was
Speaker:like a proper cowboy. Like just
Speaker:you're right proper. And I love
Speaker:love that. It was just like they go to
Speaker:snowies every year. Catch the wall
Speaker:Brumbies because you know, like they go
Speaker:down there and call them and that kind of
Speaker:stuff, which I don't agree with. It's all
Speaker:different subject, but.
Speaker:Yeah, they come in, I watch them breaking
Speaker:horses together and I love that
Speaker:side of thing. I work in an industry
Speaker:now where I can't so
Speaker:much speak out about a lot of
Speaker:things, but yeah, yeah, my
Speaker:boss knows my feelings. I'm very open in
Speaker:the office about it. I don't hide it.
Speaker:Yeah, and I think just, I've always had
Speaker:animals, always had pets, you know,
Speaker:whether they're horses,
Speaker:dogs, cats, anything like,
Speaker:yes, love them. Can you, can you see a
Speaker:future where you're you're working in
Speaker:that space?
Speaker:I don't think directly, I think I
Speaker:have something big coming up which I
Speaker:can't talk too much about just yet
Speaker:because I haven't signed a contract for
Speaker:it yet, unfortunately, yeah. But there
Speaker:will be some work in that
Speaker:space with. Like in shelter,
Speaker:where most of all advertise for that. I
Speaker:do a lot for gone. I shouldn't
Speaker:say a lot. I I don't have a lot of money
Speaker:and that sounds so snobby. I don't have
Speaker:money and no, but you know,
Speaker:like just things overnight. Like, yeah,
Speaker:good. Well, it must feel great to be able
Speaker:to do that, right? Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker:absolutely. I'm a big advocate for
Speaker:greyhounds, like owned one.
Speaker:Greatest dog in the world and.
Speaker:Yeah, any, any animal I can save, I'll do
Speaker:whatever I can do. I mean, a few groups
Speaker:where they'll get them from like our Bush
Speaker:and they need money or food or
Speaker:whatever. So I do a lot of that, but I do
Speaker:a lot more. Umm,
Speaker:that's kind of like background stuff, but
Speaker:I'll do a lot more openly over the next
Speaker:six months. Awesome mate.
Speaker:With your podcasts.
Speaker:Yeah, give us a little bit of a
Speaker:snapshot of both of both of them because
Speaker:they're different. We'll make sure we get
Speaker:the links in the show notes as well so
Speaker:people can find them if they want to
Speaker:look. But tell us a little bit about each
Speaker:of those. All right, so offseason
Speaker:podcast is me just
Speaker:talking to people in a
Speaker:relaxed environment where they can share.
Speaker:They're not getting the usual questions
Speaker:I'll get from if if they're a
Speaker:personality, they won't get the usual
Speaker:like, why do you love?Ball or something
Speaker:like that or like why do you like
Speaker:acting? Just random stuff like that. So I
Speaker:just just like a cruisy chat with like
Speaker:with a friend, which I find works really
Speaker:well and then a lot similar to this and
Speaker:then all the gear. No idea
Speaker:with Jamie Soured is NFL
Speaker:based at the moment, but that'll expand
Speaker:to NBA and.
Speaker:Different stuff like that. So that's just
Speaker:a sports, purely sport chat
Speaker:about the week just happened and.
Speaker:Players to watch, stuff like that, sort
Speaker:of like US sports predominantly at the
Speaker:moment it is. We'll see what happens in
Speaker:the future with obviously
Speaker:like Jamie's career and what he ends up
Speaker:doing and stuff like that, whether we can
Speaker:focus on it during the Australian
Speaker:league season and AFL season and that.
Speaker:But at the moment it's just
Speaker:predominantly. US now for me,
Speaker:what I love about this platform is is an
Speaker:opportunity for people to tell their
Speaker:story. Like I just know how powerful one
Speaker:the person telling the story. It's such a
Speaker:great experience for them and hopefully
Speaker:you've had a bit of that today because
Speaker:you said you haven't done any heap of
Speaker:this. You've been more of the
Speaker:interviewer. And it's also that the
Speaker:impact it has for the listeners as well,
Speaker:like hearing other people have gone
Speaker:through similar stuff and, and they've
Speaker:made it out the other side and they've
Speaker:learned the different lessons. Is, is
Speaker:there something that you get out of it,
Speaker:the, the, the process in itself that,
Speaker:that you really love and it keeps coming
Speaker:back to do more of them.
Speaker:I think a lot of people are very
Speaker:relatable to. And no
Speaker:matter what they do, like
Speaker:whether they're homeless, like I've
Speaker:talked to a lot of homeless people, not
Speaker:so much on the podcast, but I talked to a
Speaker:lot of people and that, but you know,
Speaker:whether you're an actor, like an actor
Speaker:bloke who was on home and away,
Speaker:his story is very similar, like a lot of
Speaker:similarities in that, you know,
Speaker:professional athletes to Joe Blow walking
Speaker:on the street like. Everyone's. Everyone
Speaker:'s got a story and I just like hearing to
Speaker:it because you can relate to it. You can
Speaker:relate to everyone. At the end of the
Speaker:day, there's something. With someone that
Speaker:you can relate to, you just have to try
Speaker:and find it. So I enjoy that
Speaker:and yeah, I love it.
Speaker:Awesome. Yeah. I think that's
Speaker:one of the great parts of life is when we
Speaker:find something that we relate to and, and
Speaker:how that can touch us in a way that we we
Speaker:wouldn't get any other way. So I love
Speaker:that that's what you're doing. I I know,
Speaker:I know much. I love it and how powerful
Speaker:it is. And particularly when you see the
Speaker:impact it has has for the person who gets
Speaker:to tell their story as well.
Speaker:I appreciate you coming on and and taking
Speaker:the time like we, we literally not met.
Speaker:It was purely just a, a coincidence
Speaker:or how I look at it, not a coincidence,
Speaker:but just meant to, to come across that so
Speaker:we could have this chat. You've
Speaker:you've shared some stuff that and the
Speaker:lessons that they'll be positive impact
Speaker:for people. I appreciate it, mate. Thank
Speaker:you. Yeah, no, thanks for having me on.
Speaker:It's been, it's been good and I'm glad we
Speaker:glad we linked and hopefully we'll meet
Speaker:in the future and we can have a beer or
Speaker:do whatever. Absolutely. You're you're in
Speaker:Sydney. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I'll, I'll
Speaker:make sure when I, when I head up there
Speaker:again in the not too distant future that
Speaker:we'll have to catch up. That'll be cool.
Speaker:Yeah, cool, mate. Is there
Speaker:anything you want to leave with the
Speaker:audience just around like.
Speaker:Something to take forward in their life
Speaker:to, to make sure they keep, you know,
Speaker:having a crack and, and taking on
Speaker:projects like you have. I I
Speaker:think just don't be afraid to fail. I
Speaker:know it's so cliche but don't
Speaker:be afraid to fail. Just try and try
Speaker:again. Like what do I say? Throw enough
Speaker:shit at a wall, eventually it'll stick.
Speaker:I've tried many things, I've had plenty
Speaker:of jobs. I've been,
Speaker:I've got to work right now like it's
Speaker:nowhere special, it's nowhere near where
Speaker:I want to be, but I'm moving forward and
Speaker:as I was told, keep punching and you'll
Speaker:land one. Yeah, it's really good
Speaker:mate. I, I love that. You know, one of
Speaker:the key lessons there was like working on
Speaker:yourself and it's, and it's a credit to
Speaker:you that you have kept punching and you
Speaker:kept moving forward. Now, now quite
Speaker:literally punching as well with the
Speaker:boxing and, and
Speaker:found a good balance in your life, which
Speaker:I think for me is what I'll take from
Speaker:this as a, as a real key lesson from
Speaker:from what is possible and how important
Speaker:is to prioritise that. And I'm sure the
Speaker:people listening will as well. So thanks
Speaker:Carl. No worries. Thank you. Good
Speaker:stuff mate. Cheers. Right, thank you.
Speaker:What a great chat. Could you imagine
Speaker:being stuck in Thailand at 15 on your
Speaker:own? There's no way I ought to cope with
Speaker:that. The key lesson today that I'm
Speaker:taking and I'm adding to my game plan is
Speaker:around the importance of not
Speaker:using work and being busy to quieten the
Speaker:noise in your head. Now, if
Speaker:that's something that you know that you
Speaker:do, that you make yourself busier when
Speaker:decide try and distract yourself, then
Speaker:have a look at my meditation training.
Speaker:That is going to allow you to be able to
Speaker:overcome that workaholic burnout that you
Speaker:get to have more stamina and to be able
Speaker:to have the clarity to be able to move
Speaker:forward in a much more balanced way that
Speaker:Cole described today.
