Send us a text

One sentence changed everything. Tina walked into a wellness talk determined to starve herself back into control and walked out with a new mission: stop the slow self-harm and start choosing life. What follows is a brave, unfiltered account of how a childhood comment and a teenage jab spiralled into years of disordered eating, fad diets, five coffees a day and a marriage stretched thin. This was complicated by an undiagnosed ADHD lens that made masking feel like survival.

We unpack the pivotal moments of hiding in jumpers through scorching Perth summers, the shock of an unrecognisable face in a photo and the party video that retriggered shame after motherhood. Then we trace the rebuild as Tina found steadier ground through creativity and community, returning to the stage to sing in Baltimore, leaning into a CrossFit-style gym that celebrates who she is and volunteering with Radio Lollipop and St John Ambulance to reconnect with purpose and presence. Along the way, nutrition becomes practical and compassionate. Guided by a naturopath, Tina embraces three meals a day, prioritises protein and relies on raw foods that support energy, digestion and consistent training.

This conversation is a resource for anyone navigating body dysmorphia, postpartum changes, ADHD, or the aftermath of divorce. We talk about turning “fitness” from obsession into function, measuring progress by energy and sleep rather than a scale and the hardest lesson of all, self-kindness. Tina shares how she’s setting boundaries, preparing to tell family the full story and stepping into speaking to help others catch their moment before harm becomes habit.

If this resonates, tap follow, share it with a friend who needs a lifeline, and leave a quick review so more everyday warriors can find these stories. Your words help this message reach the people who need it most.

Connect with Tina on Facebook here

Connect with Tina on Instagram here

Support the show

Thanks for listening in!

Contact me directly at https://everydaywarriorspodcast.com.au or head to
Instagram https://www.instagram.com.au/_trudie_marie or
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/trudie.dwyer

Support the Podcast - Buy me a Coffee

Buy my Book here

Apply to be a guest here

Music Credit: Cody Martin - Sunrise (first 26 episodes) then custom made for me.

Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and stories shared on this podcast are personal to the host and guests and are not intended to serve as professional advice or guidance. They reflect individual experiences and perspectives. While we strive to provide valuable insights and support, listeners are encouraged to seek professional advice for their specific situations. The host and production team are not responsible for any actions taken based on the content of this podcast.

Send us a text

Some moments split a life into before and after. When Matt was eight, a phone call about his mum’s fatal motorcycle accident shattered the version of childhood where safety felt assumed. What followed was a quiet agreement many of us make without words. To be perfect, pleasing and fine so no one else leaves. Years later, a high school essay cracked open the grief he’d pushed down, hinting that telling the story might be a way through rather than a way back.

We go deep into what came next. His grandmother who moved close and became a mother figure, the kind of unwavering presence that re-teaches nurture. When cancer came for her, Matt chose a different path than the one grief taught him at eight. He had the hard conversation while there was still time, saying everything that so often gets saved for eulogies. He stayed by her side for the final 96 hours, present for her last breath and found a devastatingly beautiful truth. That love can be most powerful in the moments we’d rather avoid.

The conversation broadens to pet loss and the myth that these goodbyes are somehow lesser. Matt shares how losing his dog Mikey upended his confidence as a “grief pro,” forcing him to confront guilt, timing and the silent calculus of mercy. Together we unpack why every grief writes its own map, why comparison steals compassion and why men must be allowed to name feelings without shame. Threaded through it all is the power of storytelling, when people voice the messy parts, isolation breaks and healing starts in the echoes we recognise.

If you found strength or comfort here, follow and subscribe, share this with someone who needs it, and leave a five-star review so more Everyday Warriors can find their way to these stories. Then tell us: what truth do you still need to say while there’s time?

Check out the Life Shift Podcast here

Connect with Matt on Instagram here or LinkedIn here

Support the show

Thanks for listening in!

Contact me directly at https://everydaywarriorspodcast.com.au or head to
Instagram https://www.instagram.com.au/_trudie_marie or
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/trudie.dwyer

Support the Podcast - Buy me a Coffee

Buy my Book here

Apply to be a guest here

Music Credit: Cody Martin - Sunrise (first 26 episodes) then custom made for me.

Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and stories shared on this podcast are personal to the host and guests and are not intended to serve as professional advice or guidance. They reflect individual experiences and perspectives. While we strive to provide valuable insights and support, listeners are encouraged to seek professional advice for their specific situations. The host and production team are not responsible for any actions taken based on the content of this podcast.

Send us a text

What if the hardest years of your life became the foundation for your boldest work? We sit down with Rhiannon, a single mum, artist and survivor who turned bipolar type 2 and C-PTSD into a creative engine, building a 1700 m² exhibition that celebrates women’s stories of struggle and strength. This is a fearless conversation about poverty, stigma, trauma and the radical power of art to connect people who feel alone.

We start at the beginning: moving homes, living in a shed and learning that time, love and presence outrank possessions. From there, the path zigs from Uni and fundraising for Kenya to then stripping to survive as mental health faltered. A sexual assault and a mother’s blunt wisdom become a pivot toward Rhiannon seeking help. Diagnosis brings context to a decade of chaos, where medication reframes fear into function viewing it as “glasses for the brain.” The highs and lows don’t vanish, but they get easier to manage. And in a rare twist, our guest learns to love how her mind works, using risk and intensity as strengths.

Art enters quietly and grows loud. First as therapy with calm hands, and steady breath, it becomes a private refuge. Then as purpose, portraits that act like mirrors for strangers. "If She Spoke, Stories from Struggle to Strength" fills a pavillion at the Brisbane Showgrounds with 30 monumental portraits and more than 180 unedited stories covering DV, grief, mental illness and survival. The scale is the point, as ordinary women rendered to museum size, their lives impossible to overlook. Built mostly solo, with a handful of sponsors, Rhiannon's show is community in action, witnessing pain, honouring resilience and reminding each visitor they’re not alone.

If you’re searching for language to name your own journey, or a place to feel seen, this one’s for you. Press play, share it with someone who needs a lift, and leave a review so more people can find these stories. Subscribe for future conversations and updates on the exhibition’s next steps, your support helps this movement grow.

Connect with Rhiannon on Instagram here

Connect with Rhainnon on Facebook here

Support the show

Thanks for listening in!

Contact me directly at https://everydaywarriorspodcast.com.au or head to
Instagram https://www.instagram.com.au/_trudie_marie or
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/trudie.dwyer

Support the Podcast - Buy me a Coffee

Buy my Book here

Apply to be a guest here

Music Credit: Cody Martin - Sunrise (first 26 episodes) then custom made for me.

Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and stories shared on this podcast are personal to the host and guests and are not intended to serve as professional advice or guidance. They reflect individual experiences and perspectives. While we strive to provide valuable insights and support, listeners are encouraged to seek professional advice for their specific situations. The host and production team are not responsible for any actions taken based on the content of this podcast.

Send us a text

Some stories start with a roadmap. Ours begins on the side of a highway, smoke from a sliced radiator curling into the night while Dayelene and her son lie on a picnic rug, laughing at the chaos and choosing to keep moving.

From Airlie Beach’s endless summer to Victoria’s four seasons in a day, this is a candid journey through starting over, co‑parenting after domestic violence and learning how to let go of identities that no longer fit.

Dayelene is a single mum who rebuilt life twice, first for safety, then for alignment. She opens up about the hidden cost of coercive control, the slow burn of CPTSD and what it took to find grounding when anxiety kept hunting for the next storm. We talk safety planning and court hurdles, the sting of rental shortages, sneaking a beloved dog into motels on a state-spanning drive and the moment she realised that “old ways don’t open new doors.”

There’s no gloss here, just the real, repetitive work of recovery and the honest truth that relapse and repair can live in the same week. The conversation leans into practical tools including EMDR and therapy, daily systems that respect limited capacity, ten-minute walks that restart the day, food that steadies the mind and hobbies that reignite confidence. We unpack how to stop replicating yesterday’s life in today’s context, how to choose connection over isolation and how to teach kids resilience by letting them see you break and rise.

We also share what’s next for Dayelene, finishing a body–mind practitioner qualification, stepping fully into trauma‑informed coaching and launching a free community event in Geelong with breath work, meditation and open‑armed connection.

If you’ve ever felt stuck between survival and growth, this episode offers hope you can hold and steps you can actually take. Subscribe, share with someone who needs a steady voice, and leave a review to help more Everyday Warriors find their way back to themselves.

Connect with Daylene on Instagram here

Support the show

Thanks for listening in!

Contact me directly at https://everydaywarriorspodcast.com.au or head to
Instagram https://www.instagram.com.au/_trudie_marie or
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/trudie.dwyer

Support the Podcast - Buy me a Coffee

Buy my Book here

Apply to be a guest here

Music Credit: Cody Martin - Sunrise (first 26 episodes) then custom made for me.

Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and stories shared on this podcast are personal to the host and guests and are not intended to serve as professional advice or guidance. They reflect individual experiences and perspectives. While we strive to provide valuable insights and support, listeners are encouraged to seek professional advice for their specific situations. The host and production team are not responsible for any actions taken based on the content of this podcast.

Send us a text

This is my longest episode yet but it deserves ALL the time to tell this incredible Everyday Warriors story!

What if “being strong” is the very thing keeping you from healing? Shaunace's story starts with speed, a senior OT by her mid‑20s, a mortgage, a wedding to plan and a body built for aerial silks and pole. Then breast cancer hits. She keeps it secret, rushes back to work after a double mastectomy and reconstruction. She then powers on until pain in her chest reveals metastasis and a fractured sternum. That’s the moment everything truly stops.

What follows is a radical reframe of strength and recovery. Guided by a counsellor who helps unwind childhood beliefs, Shaunace spends 40 days in deep stillness, learns to cry again, and chooses radiation and tamoxifen from a place of sovereignty, not fear. Within two weeks her pain vanishes, challenging the expected timeline. She starts seeing healing as science and nervous‑system safety working together. Gratitude, sunlight and calm become part of her healing journey. A cancer charity’s “feel better” kit packed with endocrine disruptors sparks a new mission; she builds 11:11 Lab, a clean and luxurious skincare brand that later wins awards.

The third diagnosis tries to break that momentum. Medical menopause, a grim prognosis and a hard conversation about kids collide with a pivotal insight. If PET scans track cancer using radioactive glucose, then glucose is fuel. Shaunace pivots to a low‑glucose, animal‑based approach, layers in targeted off‑label medications and botanicals and integrates standard care. Six weeks later, scans show a 75% reduction in tumour sizes, including cleared lung lesions. It’s not anti‑medicine, it’s pro‑agency, blending oncology, metabolism and mindset.

We also dive into life after crisis which includes coaching rooted in NLP, hypnotherapy and breathwork, retreats for high achievers and a VA agency built to free founders from busywork. Shaunace talks candidly about identity, reconstruction, redefining family and why she prefers “clear scans” instead of "cancer free" and “thriver” instead of "survivor".

If you’ve ever equated worth with doing more, this conversation offers a new blueprint. Choose differently, align your care and build a life that heals while you live it.

Connect with Shaunace on Instagram or her Website

Purchase from 11:11 Lab

Support the show

Thanks for listening in!

Contact me directly at https://everydaywarriorspodcast.com.au or head to
Instagram https://www.instagram.com.au/_trudie_marie or
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/trudie.dwyer

Support the Podcast - Buy me a Coffee

Buy my Book here

Apply to be a guest here

Music Credit: Cody Martin - Sunrise (first 26 episodes) then custom made for me.

Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and stories shared on this podcast are personal to the host and guests and are not intended to serve as professional advice or guidance. They reflect individual experiences and perspectives. While we strive to provide valuable insights and support, listeners are encouraged to seek professional advice for their specific situations. The host and production team are not responsible for any actions taken based on the content of this podcast.

Send us a text

What happens when your entire world collapses around you? For Bridgette, April 2020 brought an unimaginable storm – serious legal proceedings against her family's investment business, followed just two days later by the birth of her daughter Emerald, all during the earliest and most uncertain days of the pandemic.

In this raw and moving conversation, Bridgette reveals how she navigated this perfect storm while operating in pure survival mode. "I remember telling myself, Bridgette, you can have a breakdown later. Right now, your priorities are protecting your partner and caring for your newborn," she shares with remarkable candor. As the legal battles intensified, the family lost their home, faced 27 separate cases, and Bridgette's body eventually rebelled through severe autoimmune issues triggered by the prolonged stress.

The healing journey that followed touches on powerful modalities including Reiki, kinesiology, and forgiveness practices that allowed Bridgette to release the dark energy she'd been carrying. Perhaps most transformative was discovering how her daughter became her greatest teacher and mirror, helping her shift from robotic mothering to present, joyful parenting despite ongoing challenges.

Today, five years into their legal battle with no end in sight, Bridgette has found purpose in her pain. She's building communities for others facing adversity, creating wellness programs for mothers, and embracing a new identity forged through fire. Her partner James is even developing a social media platform allowing people to counter misleading press narratives with evidence-based corrections.

Listen now to this extraordinary tale of resilience that will inspire you to find strength in your darkest moments and transform adversity into purpose. How might your own challenges be preparing you for something greater?

Connect with Brigette on Instagram here

Link for Media.com

Support the show

Thanks for listening in!

Contact me directly at https://everydaywarriorspodcast.com.au or head to
Instagram https://www.instagram.com.au/_trudie_marie or
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/trudie.dwyer

Support the Podcast - Buy me a Coffee

Buy my Book here

Apply to be a guest here

Music Credit: Cody Martin - Sunrise (first 26 episodes) then custom made for me.

Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and stories shared on this podcast are personal to the host and guests and are not intended to serve as professional advice or guidance. They reflect individual experiences and perspectives. While we strive to provide valuable insights and support, listeners are encouraged to seek professional advice for their specific situations. The host and production team are not responsible for any actions taken based on the content of this podcast.

Send us a text

What if everything that happens in your life isn't happening to you, but for you? This perspective-shifting conversation with Jackie explores how reframing our challenges can transform our entire experience of life.

Jackie's journey begins with a simple yet profound "aha moment" when she realized how certain relationships were depleting her energy. This awareness became the foundation for a life of conscious choices about where and with whom she invested her time and energy, a skill that would prove invaluable through the extraordinary challenges ahead.

At just 15 years old, Jackie became a mother in a small country town where judgments and limitations were quickly placed upon her. Rather than seeing this as a setback, she and her son "grew up together" in what she describes as a journey of mutual discovery rather than traditional parenting. This unconventional beginning fostered a beautiful mother-son relationship that would later help her navigate the devastating loss of her son when he was 34.

Through grief came unexpected awakening when Jackie discovered Reiki and energy work, practices that opened doorways to understanding that there was deeper meaning behind every experience in her life. "It was like remembering who I truly am and what I came here for," she explains. This spiritual journey expanded into explorations of bioenergetics and the science of how our emotional states affect our physical wellbeing.

Jackie's story exemplifies what it means to be an everyday warrior, someone who has faced numerous adversities including childhood trauma, teen motherhood, violent relationships and profound loss, yet has transformed each experience into an opportunity for growth and service to others. By choosing to see everything that happened "for her" rather than "to her," she created a life of purpose and meaning.

Ready to shift your own perspective? Subscribe now to hear more inspiring stories of everyday warriors who've turned their challenges into stepping stones toward a more authentic, purposeful life.

Connect with Jacqui on Facebook here

Learn more about Jacqui's energy offerings here

Support the show

Thanks for listening in!

Contact me directly at https://everydaywarriorspodcast.com.au or head to
Instagram https://www.instagram.com.au/_trudie_marie or
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/trudie.dwyer

Support the Podcast - Buy me a Coffee

Buy my Book here

Apply to be a guest here

Music Credit: Cody Martin - Sunrise (first 26 episodes) then custom made for me.

Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and stories shared on this podcast are personal to the host and guests and are not intended to serve as professional advice or guidance. They reflect individual experiences and perspectives. While we strive to provide valuable insights and support, listeners are encouraged to seek professional advice for their specific situations. The host and production team are not responsible for any actions taken based on the content of this podcast.

Send us a text

Facing the open ocean despite a lifelong fear of water and motion sickness wasn't exactly how I'd planned to celebrate turning 50. Yet there I was, boarding a cruise ship for the first time, determined to make this milestone birthday unforgettable.

My 10-day journey through the South Pacific became so much more than a holiday. It transformed into a personal voyage of conquering fears and embracing new experiences. After struggling through two days of debilitating seasickness (green apples and magnetic wristbands didn't stand a chance), I finally found my sea legs and discovered the joy of life at sea.

The birthday itself was magical, consisting of a couples massage, professional photos at sunset and a spectacular dinner at a celebrity chef restaurant. But the real gifts came in unexpected moments, snorkeling for the first time at Mystery Island, jumping from platforms into crystal-clear waters in Vanuatu to even summoning the courage to sing karaoke onboard because "nobody knows me, it's my 50th!"

Throughout this adventure, I discovered that cruising offers a perfect balance of exploration and relaxation. Each port brought new discoveries, while onboard activities from theme nights to gourmet dining experiences kept us thoroughly entertained. The ship became a place where time slowed down and we could simply enjoy being together, creating memories that will last far longer than any physical gift.

Whether you're considering your first cruise or looking for inspiration for celebrating your own milestone birthday, this episode offers honest insights, practical tips and hopefully, the encouragement to step outside your comfort zone. Because sometimes, our greatest adventures begin when we face our biggest fears.

Would love to hear about your own milestone celebrations or bucket list adventures! Share your stories or questions, and don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode of the Everyday Warriors podcast.

Support the show

Thanks for listening in!

Contact me directly at https://everydaywarriorspodcast.com.au or head to
Instagram https://www.instagram.com.au/_trudie_marie or
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/trudie.dwyer

Support the Podcast - Buy me a Coffee

Buy my Book here

Apply to be a guest here

Music Credit: Cody Martin - Sunrise (first 26 episodes) then custom made for me.

Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and stories shared on this podcast are personal to the host and guests and are not intended to serve as professional advice or guidance. They reflect individual experiences and perspectives. While we strive to provide valuable insights and support, listeners are encouraged to seek professional advice for their specific situations. The host and production team are not responsible for any actions taken based on the content of this podcast.