Built for Africa with Michael Stewart (part 1/2)
Michael’s childhood was filled with outdoor adventure and freedom in Rhodesia, growing up on a hobby farm, fishing and riding, but also navigating a complex relationship with his Scottish father’s temper. Being sent to boarding school at a young age shaped Michael’s sense of independence and self-reliance but also led to feelings of abandonment and […]
Clinical depression and advocating for struggling men with Wayne Wigham • Connecting Seniors
Wayne’s early years were filled with rugby union and league, providing him companionship and a mental outlet. Despite personal struggles with depression, sports helped him cope. From a young age, Wayne faced debilitating depression, navigating periods of despair unseen by others. Misdiagnosis and inadequate treatment marked his early experiences with mental health systems but did […]
Unmuting Women of Colour: From Silence to Reclaiming your Voice with Richa Joshi
Host Emma Bellamy-Dodd sits with Richa Joshi, who helps quiet voices get loud – especially women of colour who have been muted by systems, labels, and cultural expectations. In this episode, Richa shares her personal journey of (un-)learning to “shrink” to fit in and how parenthood became the catalyst for breaking generational cycles of silence. […]
Building awareness and advocating for wildlife with Sandy Steers • Connecting Seniors
Sandy Steers is a biologist, energy healer, writer, and entrepreneur. With a degree in biology, she has led 14 trips to the Galapagos Islands; run the environmental educational nonprofit, Friends of Big Bear Valley, for 24 years; and written hundreds of high-engagement educational social media posts describing the lives of the local bald eagles. During […]
The importance of mindfulness, connection, & spiritual awakening with John Shearer
John had a tough childhood, surviving mental and physical abuse. Living on the streets at fourteen shaped his empathy, wisdom, and understanding of the challenges facing many men today. From truck driver to mindfulness coach, John’s story includes surviving a catastrophic accident, experiencing a spiritual awakening, and transforming years of darkness into clarity. He teaches […]
Living a full life despite its challenges with Karen Sander • Connecting Seniors
In today’s conversation, Karen shares her private journey with lifelong crippling anxiety – make no mistake – it has never stopped her! Here’s just a snippet of what Karen has created over her latter years Karen is a master of storytelling, founder of The Story Room Global, a platform for people to come together and […]
Ian Westmoreland OAM – Founder of Kintsugi Heroes. Please support our crowdfunding campaign
Help secure the future of Kintsugi Heroes. Support our mission so storytelling, healing, and connection continue — even if Ian can’t lead. Donate to keep our stories alive. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🎙️ ABOUT KINTSUGI HEROES ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Kintsugi Heroes is a not-for-profit Australian podcast network sharing real stories of resilience, disability, and transformation. Named after the Japanese art […]
The harsh realities of caring for a loved one with Gary Watson • Connecting Seniors
Gary grew up curious and spirited, always eager to solve problems. He discovered his innate passion for helping others early on in his life. He studied business and economics and combined academic rigor with practical insights, eventually earning a doctorate. Gary entered the automotive industry, quickly rising through the ranks and became known for his […]
The healing power of compassion with Dr Petrina Barson
Petrina Barson grew up as the youngest of five girls in a loving family, surrounded by compassion and kindness. Her early life set the foundations for her caring nature. She attended a church school, learning about Christian principles and compassion. The experience shaped her guiding light, even though she did not fully embrace all its […]
Rising Strong: Resilience and Rebuilding After Cerebral Malaria with Stephenie Rodriguez
Stephenie Rodriguez is a digital strategist, entrepreneur, and passionate advocate for women’s empowerment. As an Ambassador for the Global Fund and The Women’s Resilience Centre, Stephenie leverages her voice and expertise to champion gender equality and resilience initiatives globally. Her journey is a powerful story of resilience – surviving a life-threatening battle with cerebral malaria, […]