My Body My Story

#103 My Body My Story 45 Over 45 - Anna

In this episode, you will learn 10 FACTS about Anna, what age she would like to go back to, and what advice she would give herself at that age! We also talk about the main causes of body image issues, how they come up, and how she overcomes them. And we discuss what aging means to her and her body.

 

10 Facts About Anna

(at the time of the project)

 

1. 52 years old.
2. Born in Sydney, Australia, and absolutely loves living in Sydney.
3. Anna lived in many places. She lived in London for nearly two years, in Paris, in Madrid for three and a half years. Anna has also lived in Melbourne, where she went 20 years ago to do her Master of Art Therapy for three and a half years.
4. Anna has a teenage daughter, who was born in Madrid nearly 15 years ago.
5. Anna’s favorite cuisine is Vietnamese.
6. Red is Anna’s signature color. She feels that it's powerful, dynamic, and energetic.
7. Anna works across three professions plus one, but they're all very aligned.
8. She is an art therapist working from a psychotherapeutic perspective, where she helps people through the art process, to connect with themselves and the world in a very integrative, holistic way.
9. Anna is also a lecturer and a qualitative researcher for about 25 years. She teaches as part of the Bachelor of Art Therapy and Bachelor of Counselling and Psychotherapy courses.
10. For the last 10 years, Anna’s side hustle is Mama Creatives, a community for creative mothers and creative women. Anna is helping them to find their voice, share their stories, celebrate creativity, and build their confidence.

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#102 My Body My Story 45 Over 45 - Amy

In this episode, you will learn 10 FACTS about Amy, what age she would like to go back to and what advice she would give herself at that age! We also talk about the main causes of body image issues, how they come up and how she overcomes them. And we discuss what aging means to her and her body.

 

10 Facts About Amy

(at the time of the project)

1. 51 years old.
2. Amy is from Hong Kong, and she came to Australia when she was 10 years old with her family.
3. She speaks Cantonese, not Mandarin.
4. Amy was educated in Australia. After finishing primary and high school here, she went to UNSW to do her bachelor's and her MBA. She also just got her Doctorate in Business Administration from Geneva Business School.
5. Amy loves ballet. She goes around the world chasing ballet. She’s been to Moscow twice to see the Bolshoi.
6. Amy loves fashion, and she loves sparkles as well. Bling- bling.
7. Amy’s favorite color is pink, the ballerina pink.
8. Amy teaches MBA students. She’s been teaching for 15 years now.
9. Before that Amy was an accountant. She is a CPA and she’s been teaching accounting to undergraduates as well.
10. Amy’s goal for 2024 is that she wants to get on the board career. So, she can teach 50% of the time and then have another 50% of her time dedicated to the board.

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#101 My Body My Story 45 Over 45 - Catrina

In this episode, you will learn 10 FACTS about Catrina, how she survived domestic violence and sexual abuse as a child, and achieved a lot in her life, regardless of what she’s been told as a child with special needs. We also talk about aging and body image issues in modern society.

 

10 Facts About Catrina

(at the time of the project)

 

1. 56 years old.
2. Catrina was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, in the spring of 1967 and moved to Australia 20 years ago
3. Catrina’s mother nearly died when giving birth to her. Catrina was born as a child with complex needs and was told, that she would never achieve anything, but she knew deep inside her that she was much more worthy than these professionals were telling her.
4. Catrina grew up in an alcoholic and quite abusive family. When she was 10, her mother left her husband.
5. Also, Catrina is a survivor of sexual abuse twice, once with a family member, and another one with the next-door neighbour
6. Catrina went through some therapy and wrote a list of exactly what she wanted. Anyone who didn't treat her right got red flags. But she met an amazing man, and they’ve been married for 27 years and had two children together – a son and a daughter. They are now 24 and 26.
7. Catrina has written a book, which has been reviewed and hopefully get published. It's called, It's not okay, in the prevention of child sexual abuse. It's an interactive book for children. Also, Catrina is writing another novel now called Broken Sunflowers.
8. Catrina runs 2 businesses. First is Airbnb which is called Serenity On The Bay, because she lives by the beach near Nelson Bay Area. Also, Catrina runs a training business. She trains people to work in community services.
9. Catrina loves to climb mountains. She climbed several peaks, including Meara Peak and Kilimanjaro.
10. When Catrina’s daughter turned 18, they went on a trip and did 18 countries, raising awareness for domestic violence.

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#100 My Body My Story 45 Over 45 - Dominique

In this episode, you will learn 10 FACTS about Dominique, her life in Australia, and how the 2008 financial crisis and losing everything she had taught her resilience. We also discuss aging and body image issues.

 

10 Facts About Dominique

(at the time of the project)

1. 57 years old.
2. Dominique is from Belgium and her first language is French.
3. Dominique moved to Australia when she was in her 20s after backpacking around the world for about 12 months. She fell in love with Sydney straightaway. So Australia became her home almost 30 years ago.
4. Dominique lived in Drummoyne initially and then she’s moved 14 times in the last 20 years.
5. Dominique has two kids. Laura 25, and Sebastian 23.
6. Dominique met her husband 26 years ago in Sydney, but he's from Belgium as well.
7. Together they opened three Belgian restaurant in Sydney that were very popular.
8. In 2008, during the financial crisis, they lost everything they had built in 20 years – three restaurants, a house, and money - and had to start from scratch in 2012.
9. All these events taught Dominique to be resilient. And that's when she connected with spirituality. She did lots of meditation, yoga, and retreats. That's when she really got to know herself and made her strong. It taught her the real values of life.
10. After leaving her husband a month ago, Dominique is starting from scratch at 57 and thinks it's exciting.

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#99 My Body My Story 45 Over 45 - Stephanie

In this episode, you will learn 10 FACTS about Stephanie, what age she would like to go back to, and what advice she would give herself at that age! We also talk about the main causes of body image issues, how they come up, and how she overcomes them. And we discuss what aging means to her and to her body.

 

10 Facts About Stephanie

(at the time of the project):

1. 45 years old.
2. Stephanie was born in Malaysia.
3. She came to Australia when she was 21. During the Olympics year, the year 2000.
4. Stephanie is a single parent. She has one daughter, she's 11.
5. Stephanie is an architect and runs her own design practice called 30axis.
6. Stephanie graduated top of her class, and she got offered a scholarship to finish her degree but didn't want to go to Perth. So, Stephanie gave it to the next person and came to Sydney by herself.
7. In 2008 Stephanie travelled by herself to Europe through about 20 countries for about nine months, connecting with people in each country and staying with complete strangers.
8. Stephanie’s favorite country is France. This year she took her daughter there.
9. Stephanie craves adventures and likes learning about other people, how they live, other cultures, different foods, and different family traditions.
10. Stephanie also reads a lot. On average, she reads about 20 books a year!

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#98 My Body My Story 45 Over 45 - Meran

In this episode, you will learn 10 FACTS about Meran, what age she would like to go back to and what advice she would give herself at that age! We also talk about the main causes of body image issues, how they come up and how she overcomes them. And we discuss what aging means to her and to her body.

 

10 Facts About Meran

(at the time of the project)

1. 60 years old.
2. Meran was born and grew up in Sydney Australia. She lived in Sydney most of her life apart from having spent about 10 years up on the Sunshine Coast near Noosa.
3. Meran has done some work in publishing and in television. And somehow, even though she had no training for it, she was working in graphic design at her last job.
4. Meran also studied anthropology, which she absolutely loves.
5. Meran has one son who's now 33 years old.
6. Meran had a leg lengthening surgery at the age of 10. Then after that, they discovered that their original diagnosis was completely wrong. Now Meran’s feet are three sizes different, which is very expensive because she has to buy two pairs of shoes.
7. Meran except life challenges and believes that it is a great way to keep yourself feeling alive and growing.
8. When her son was small, she decided to go and get her motorbike licence
9. For her 50^th birthday Meran got her first tattoo
10. Meran also did a parachute jump. It was a terrifying and wonderful experience at the same time.

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#97 My Body My Story 45 Over 45 - Susan

In this episode, you will learn 10 FACTS about Susan, what age she would like to go back to, and what advice she would give herself at that age! We also talk about the main causes of body image issues, how they come up, and how she overcomes them. And we discuss what aging means to her and to her body.

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#96 Waste and Recycling – How is it done / Courtney / My Body My Story 45 Over 45

In this episode, you will learn 10 FACTS about Courtney, who was born and raised in Texas, US, and her passion for the environmental industry. We get into details of the waste and recycling business and discuss how it works. We also talk about aging and the main causes of body image issues, how they come up, and how she overcomes them.

 

10 Facts About Courtney

(at the time of the project)

1. 42 years old.
2. Courtney was born in the US and raised in Houston, Texas.
3. She left Texas when she was 18 years old and went to university on the East Coast in Virginia for four years and got her degree in anthropology.
4. Then she moved to Washington DC and got her dream job with the Discovery Channel.
5. Courtney played field hockey in the NCAA Division 1 and loved the sport.
6. In her 20s, Courtney had a plan to travel the World and had this awesome itinerary booked. She was supposed to go to India, Bali, Thailand, and Vietnam, but every single place on her itinerary ended up having a natural disaster that year.
7. She moved to Australia when she was 24 and started her career in the environmental industry. Courtney loved it, specifically the waste and recycling segment. She was there for nine years. When Courtney was overseas, she would always take pictures of bins.
8. Courtney also worked as a sustainability consultant for Harris farm markets. Also, she set up recycling programs for all the major stadiums in Victoria and New South Wales, for Qantas Airlines, hospitals, and KFC.
9. Courtney is married and has two kids. Two boys. One is 12 and the other is 10.
10. Courtney and her family live out in a rural area outside of Sydney with a little horse farm and feels more Texan there than she should.

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#95 My Body My Story 45 Over 45 - Michelle

In this episode, you will learn 10 FACTS about Michelle, and how she changed her 35-year corporate career and became a holistic grief and loss counselor. We also talk about the main causes of body image issues, how they come up, and how she overcomes them. She also talks about how your inner world is just as important as your body. And we discuss what aging means to her and to her body.

 

10 Facts About Michelle

(at the time of the project)

1. 55 years old.
2. Michelle has two kids and a one-year-old granddaughter. Michelle’s daughter is 28 and a half, and her son will be 26 in November.
3. Michelle has a Maltese heritage. Her dad's from Malta and she went there for the first time last year.
4. Michelle spent 35 years in the corporate world until the beginning of last year when she completed her studies for counseling.
5. Michelle is now a holistic grief and loss counselor, and she has her own business called Inner You Life. So she works with grief that comes with any loss or any major life transition.
6. Michelle is very passionate about mental health and helping people get through their hardships.
7. Michelle is also a crisis support volunteer for Lifeline.
8. Michele loves the beach. For the last 5 years, she’s been living on the Northern Beaches and the beach is her place of happiness and peace. Before that, she lived in the Blue Mountains all her life.
9. Michelle loves connecting with people. She is a big believer in holistic health. And a huge believer in your inner world is just as important as your body.
10. To bring herself back in physical and spiritual shape Michelle uses 3 questions rule. Is there something I can do with this? How do I feel about it? And what do I need to do to feel better?

 

You can find Michelle here: @inneryoulife

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#94 My Body My Story 45 Over 45 - Danica

In this episode, you will learn 10 FACTS about Danica and her passion in the area of mental health services! She also talks about a massive crisis in veteran mental health, the main causes of body image issues, how they come up, and how she overcomes them. And we discuss what aging means to her and to her body.

 

10 Facts About Danica

(at the time of the project)

1. 43 years old.
2. Danica was born in Yarrawonga in Victoria and grew up in Austinville, just about 30 minutes Southwest of Byron Bay. She is now in Goonellabah, which is just at the top of Lismore.
3. Danica is the second eldest of seven kids.
4. Danica’s family was also a foster family. So on top of their own seven kids, her parents took in 48 kids over 12 years.
5. Danica and her ex-partner moved to London for a couple of years and traveled around Europe.
6. Danica is a single mother of two boys 15 and 13 years old.
7. Danica is a mental health worker and is about to start building a business proposal for a mental health crisis center, like a mental health emergency department that's separate from the hospital and separate from community mental health.
8. Before that, Danica was in the Army as a combat medic. Then she moved into suicide prevention crisis, a crisis intervention, and she worked in that field as a volunteer from the beginning, just while her kids were little.
9. Danica disagrees with the saying that money cannot buy happiness. She believes that having money and being comfortable with money makes a huge difference and gives one a comfortable life and freedom.
10. Danica strongly believes that any trauma needs to be spoken about to open that wound so it can be cleaned out and healed into a scar. So, it's no longer infecting your life.

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