Welcome back to a brand new season of There's More to Our Story podcast with return guest from Queensland, Australia Sandy Davies. It was no accident that Alica chose Sandy Davies as her first guest to return to the podcast. Sandy once again shares her sparkle, her wisdom, her generous heart, and an inspiring personal story about when her 6-year-old self learned about getting back up. Together they discuss friendship; life resets; chapter endings; new beginnings; and the often times much needed pauses in between. A conversation that reminds us it's ok and often time necessary to find joy when life can feel heavy, and the import role artists and storytellers have during challenging times.

About The Guest: Sandy Davies

Positive ageing advocate and author Sandy Davies calls Australia’s ancient Daintree rainforest home.

Born and raised in the American Midwest in the state of Kansas, Sandy immigrated to Australia on a Rotary Fellowship in the 1990s to do her master’s degree in social justice at the University of New South Wales in Sydney.

After graduate school, tourism beckoned. Sandy operated an adventure tourism business with her soul mate on World Heritage Listed K’Gari for decades before semi-retiring to the tropical idylls of Far North Queensland.

You may remember Sandy from her years of producing HappyPause™ Balm. While you’ll no longer find HappyPause™ on the shelves of your favourite pharmacy, Sandy’s passion for smashing the stigma around menopause hasn’t waned.

Sandy is a harbinger of joy. Her contagious enthusiasm and life stories reaffirm that we all have the capacity to live our dreams, no matter our age.

Sandy has authored many projects, but the one closest to her heart is the book The Power to Rise Above. The stories within its pages serve as proof of the strength within each of us. Sandy is a firm believer that joy always returns if only we let her in.

You can find Sandy on LinkedIn or follow her happy vibe on Insta @thepowertoriseabove and @happypause_menopause

You can also listen to her previous episodes here:

From Kansas to Queensland: A Journey of Inspiration, Resilience, and "Magic"

Group Discussion on the film "Good Luck to You, Leo Grande"

This is another special solo episode with host Alica Gallagher following up on her last one about the election on November 5th. It wasn’t the result she was hoping for, and it’s been a rollercoaster of emotions for her since election night.

She chose to record a follow up episode to help process her own thoughts and feelings about all of it, and thought her story might be relatable to someone else out there.

She shares how the arts provided her a much needed place of refuge and comfort as she tried to regain her center, and how the words of Toni Morrison reminded her of the critical role artists and storytellers have in our society, especially during challenging times.

And she explains how the lessons she learned while trying to capture a photo of the moon with her cell phone have given her a way to navigate this vulnerable moment and find her way forward, one small step at a time.

This is a special personal solo episode with host Alica Gallagher discussing the election on November 5th in the United States and why she is whole-heartedly supporting Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz as the next President and Vice President of the United States.

Because of the unprecedented moment we find ourselves on the eve of an incredibly consequential election and the historic nature of this moment, Alica felt that recording a special stand-alone episode on the topic of the election was not only important and necessary, but also appropriate and very much aligned with the mission of the podcast There's More To Our Story.