AudaciousNess

In the final episode of the AudaciousNess podcast, Helen and Maribel talk about the conception and growth of the podcast and its transformation into the book. Following two years of interviewing 40 amazingly audacious guests, we’ve managed to collate the experiences and wisdom they shared with us into ten common threads that audacious people live by. These threads became the titles of the book chapters: 1. Triggers | 2. Following our Calling | 3. Mindset | 4. The Inner Critic | 5. Outer Critics | 6. Challenges | 7. Role Models | 8. Values | 9. Advice | 10. Solid Grounding Using these chapter headings as prompts, we discuss our two-year AudaciousNess journey from the podcast to the book and reveal what’s next in the AudaciousNess story. Keep up-to-date with the latest AudaciousNess developments by signing up to our mailing list on our website at audaciousness.club Thank you for following us on the AudaciousNess journey for the past two years. We look forward to continuing walking this path with you in 2023!

In our penultimate episode of the AudaciousNess podcast, Maribel interviews Helen about the audacious things she’s done in her life so far. Helen talks about: growing up in the north of England, living in Germany for 20 years, and returning to the UK to finally settle on a remote island in northwest Scotland the extreme highs and lows she used to experience and how she’s now managed to stabilise them in a life of ‘semi-high’ contentment her encounter with God after being a non-believer for most of her life, and how that has helped her reach a place of calmness and serenity how letting yourself be directed from a higher place means your goals will be much more audacious than what the ego could ever come up with how the mind and the ego are useful tools for getting stuff done and achieving our goals, but that they should be the servant, not the master -- Music: Pablito's Way by Paolo Pavan

As we near the end of the second and final season of the AudaciousNess podcast, we take the opportunity to interview each other about our own audacious goals, and the bold and daring choices we’ve made in our own lives. In this episode, Helen interviews Maribel, who talks about: the first 23 years of her life in the Dominican Republic and her moves to Chile, Switzerland and finally Germany her search for adventure and how she feels now that she’s living a passionate and exciting life how she deals with the highs and lows and how she comforts her inner critic during the low points the strategies she has developed for dealing with people who criticise her choices asking yourself: if you don’t already lead an audacious life, what is it that’s keeping you from doing that? -- Music: Pablito's Way by Paolo Pavan

Kenneth Mackay campaigned tirelessly throughout the 1970s and 1980s to have a paved road built to his remote village of Rhenigidale on the island of Harris off the northwest coast of Scotland. After a long and arduous struggle involving many conflicting voices, the road was finally opened in 1990 and the future of Kenneth’s village was secured. In this interview with our oldest ever guest on the podcast, 87-year-old Kenneth talks about:  what drove him to fight so hard for so long for the road into his remote village  how instrumental the village women were in encouraging Kenneth never to give up  the resistance he faced in his quest to keep his village connected to the outside world  why it’s important to halt the abandonment of remote places and secure their future  the importance of getting help and support when undertaking such audacious work  Kenneth documented his struggle to get the road built in a book, published in 2016, Rhenigidale: A Community’s Fight for Survival  NOTE: As a background to this episode, we’d recommend taking a quick look at this short blog post that Helen wrote earlier this year, as it contains photos and maps that show the location of Rhenigidale and what the area looks like.  And this is the blog post mentioned in this episode about the island of St Kilda that was evacuated in 1930.  --  Music: Pablito's Way by Paolo Pavan

Dalia Feldheim has spent a large part of her career marketing feminine hygiene products for companies such as Procter and Gamble, and has achieved international recognition for her bold advertising campaigns. Having worked all over the world, Dalia is now based in Israel, where she runs her own consultancy, Uppiness, which helps people identify their purpose in life and how to achieve it. In this interview, Dalia talks about:  the connection between femcare products and women’s empowerment her 5Ps of happiness: Purpose, Perspective, Power Up, People, Positivity  how recognising our pains can lead us to uncovering our passions how ‘failing’ leads to the development of resilience and a growth mindset how focusing on our strengths helps to deal with ‘impostor syndrome’  how to recognise and overcome our fears and limiting beliefs Dalia’s book, Dare to Lead Like a Girl, was published in 2022.  This is the link to Dalia’s TED Talk that she mentioned in this episode.  --- Music: Pablito's Way by Paolo Pavan

Terry Tucker is a motivational speaker based in Denver, Colorado. His life and career path has taken him from playing basketball to working in the corporate world to being a SWAT Team Hostage Negotiator. For the past 10 years, Terry has been battling a rare form of cancer which led to his leg being amputated. In this interview, Terry shares with us:  how we are all born uncommon and extraordinary, with unique gifts and talents  why we need to take personal responsibility for our lives and stop blaming others how to learn from our failures and to achieve success by not giving up how to deal with the bad days and use them to strengthen our resilience how death is nothing to fear as long as we are living our purpose  how his faith, his family and his friends are the cornerstone of his life  Terry’s book, Sustainable Excellence: Ten Principles To Leading Your Uncommon And Extraordinary Life, was published in 2020.  Terry can be contacted via his website at www.motivationalcheck.com --- Music: Pablito's Way by Paolo Pavan

Gavin Scott is a Life Coach based in Malaga, Spain, whose mission is to wake people up to enable them to make their life decisions from an increased level of consciousness. Gavin hosts a podcast called Stay Outstanding, in which he aims to inspire people to create space in their lives for betterment. In this interview, Gavin talks about:  why living a conscious life is so much more rewarding than living unconsciously  how we have been programmed to have the beliefs, behaviours and habits we do why it’s important to change ourselves first to be an inspiration to others his challenge to swim the English Channel to raise awareness of plastic pollution our superhuman abilities to achieve anything in life we put our minds to Gavin can be contacted via his website https://stayoutstanding.com/  --- Music: Pablito's Way by Paolo Pavan

Jen Armstrong is a professional singer and songwriter from England. After years co-writing ‘meaningless pop songs’, Jen decided to use her musical talents to stand up for what she truly believes in. Jen now writes songs which give a voice to those who are silenced and oppressed, whether human or animal, and released her debut album, Freedom Warrior, in the summer of 2022. In this interview, Jen talks about:  what drew her to the field of human and animal rights and fighting for the oppressed  the therapeutic value of being a voice for the voiceless in a cruel and oppressive world why it’s important that people know the truth about modern captivity and oppression how we have been conditioned and brainwashed into believing how the world should be how we all have the power to change ourselves and improve the situation for everyone Jen goes by the artist name of Vegan Queen V and her website is veganqueenv.com.  --- Music: Pablito's Way by Paolo Pavan and The Power by Vegan Queen V

Charlene Camilleri Duca runs her own clinical psychology and gestalt therapy practice in Malta. In November 2021 she started a 9-month tour of Europe with her husband and 2-year-old son, living in rented accommodation for a week at a time and shifting her work online. As she nears the end of her trip, Charlene reports on her experience and shares with us:  why she wanted to take time out of her busy work schedule to tour Europe  how she adapted her dream of travelling to her current life situation how we tend to stand in the way of our own goals and how to deal with that  why being comfortable is not a good place to be and how to let go of comforts the techniques she employs to deal with life’s stresses and challenges  The book mentioned in this episode is The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter.  --- Music: Pablito's Way by Paolo Pavan

At the tender age of 18, Katie Taylor has already set herself the audacious goal of becoming an expert in Natural Horsemanship. Having spent much of her youth in a homeschooling environment, Katie has developed the skills, confidence and resourcefulness to be able to achieve her goals. In this interview with our youngest ever podcast guest, Katie explains:  what natural horsemanship is and how it differs from conventional horsemanship  how learning horsemanship skills can develop leadership and communication skills how being homeschooled gave her the confidence and desire to educate herself how years of dedication and hard work have led Katie to be considered an expert how to literally be outstanding in your field This is the Parelli Natural Horsemanship Program that Katie mentioned.  Note: we first ‘met’ Katie when we interviewed her Mum, Jen, whose audacious goal was to travel Europe in a campervan with her family of five for one school year. Katie was 9 years old at the time. If you wish to learn more about Katie’s educational background, the interview with her Mum is Episode 2: Homeschooling in a Campervan with Jen Taylor --- Music: Pablito's Way by Paolo Pavan

In 2017, while working for an international company in the north of England, Tish Joyce took the bold decision to attend a meeting in Germany by flying to Amsterdam and travelling the rest of the way on foot. Thus began Tish’s marathon trip across northern Europe with just a backpack, a tent and a pair of running shoes. In this somewhat jaw-dropping interview, Tish explains:  what motivated her to run an average of a marathon a day across northern Europe  how she overcame adversity through positive thinking and being gentle on herself what she learned during hundreds of meditative hours spent running alone  how she learned to slow down, live in the moment and be her own authentic self how she has achieved life balance and a solid grounding through self-love Tish is now based in the Scottish Highlands, where she runs an Ayurveda practice. She can be contacted at www.highlandayurveda.com  The desert marathon Tish mentioned in this interview is the Marathon des Sables, also known as ‘The Toughest Footrace on Earth’.  --- Music: Pablito's Way by Paolo Pavan

Timmy Douglas is a podcaster, coach and entrepreneur from Austin, Texas. Still only in his early twenties, Timmy has set himself the audacious goals of firstly, securing financial freedom for himself and his family, and secondly, alleviating world poverty. In this interview, Timmy talks about:  what financial freedom is and how it can be achieved  how he plans to set up a system to alleviate world poverty his passion and drive for helping people achieve their dreams and goals why it’s important to lead an authentic life and take care of yourself having a moral obligation to achieve our wishes Timmy can be contacted via his website: workwithtimmydouglas.com The books mentioned in this episode are The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy and Who Not How by Dan Sullivan and Benjamin Hardy --- Music: Pablito's Way by Paolo Pavan

Primary school teacher Nik Pandya started his teaching career in an inner city school in London before relocating to Barcelona. After becoming frustrated with the current state of the education system, Nik is now developing projects to transform primary school education, in order to equip children with more relevant life skills for our modern times. In this interview, Nik shares with us:  what 21st century skills are and why developing them from a young age is so critical  what the role of education should be and how the current model is failing our children why it’s more difficult to teach 21st century skills than to teach for exams and grades how he deals with both the inner and outer critics when embarking on such a major project why he surrounds himself with supportive people who will critically question his choices  For more information about Nik’s projects, see www.21skillshub.com If you enjoyed this episode you may be interested in: Episode 30: The Accidental Emigrant with Philip Keay and Episode 27: Question Everything with Mike Patterson --- Music: Pablito's Way by Paolo Pavan

Susanne Hillmer grew up in Germany and since 2014 has been living a nomadic lifestyle, having travelled and worked in Australia, Europe and India. She started by offering her services as a professional house- and pet-sitter and now combines housesitting with living out of a campervan, financing her lifestyle with online training. In this interview, Susanne shares with us:  what professional housesitting is and what type of person it’s suited to  how she pivoted her career to enable her to work from any location why she chooses a life which constantly pushes her out of her comfort zone how she explains her lifestyle to people who question her choices  how she never feels loneliness despite being alone Susanne’s website is www.50 plus-travel-live.com, where you can find out more about what she does and even contact her if you feel inspired to join Susanne on her travels!  --- Music: Pablito's Way by Paolo Pavan

In 1991, Philip Keay accidentally emigrated to Thailand, where he accidentally became a teacher. He now devotes his life to exploring the inner and outer worlds and to inspiring others to empower themselves. His book Menu for a Spiritual Revolution, which brings together what Philip has learned over decades of life experience, was published in 2021. In this interview, Philip talks about:  what brought him to Thailand and what made him stay  how to embrace life’s ‘accidents’ and live in the moment  the differences between teaching and learning; leadership and control how nurturing self-control advances freedom, reinforces values and reduces fear the problems with our current broken schooling model and how we can fix it For more information about Philip’s book and his online course for home educators, go to https://linktr.ee/philipkeay or follow Philip on his Facebook page or YouTube Channel.  The TED Talk mentioned in this episode is Sir Ken Robinson’s Do schools kill creativity? If you enjoyed this episode you may be interested in Episode 27: Question Everything with Mike Patterson and Episode 32: 21st Century Skills with Nik Pandya --- Music: Pablito's Way by Paolo Pavan

Julie Trager is a writer, a channel and a spiritual mentor based in California. After 15 years working in hospice and palliative care which eventually led to burnout, Julie surrendered herself to God. She learned to stop trying to fit into societal norms and pressures, and now lives a magical and fierce life she finds 'incredibly joyful and peaceful and interesting and fun.' In this interview, Julie talks about:  what it means to surrender to a higher power: to stop doing and start being  how everyday distractions hinder us from discovering who we really are trusting our intuition and understanding fully our connection with nature how society causes us to tamp down our potential in order to 'fit in' the failings of modern medicine and the benefits of holistic healthcare what channelling is (and that any one of us can do it!) Julie can be contacted at fiercelifewarrior@icloud.com  --- Music: Pablito's Way by Paolo Pavan

Alistair Maigurira and Peter Guess run a Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Consultancy in South Africa called SALTAR (South Africa Let’s Talk About Race). Their vision is to create connection between people and ultimately a more inclusive world. In this interview, Alistair and Peter share their thoughts with us on:  what exactly ‘race’ is and how we can best talk about it  viewing race from a trauma-based perspective in order to find solutions the challenges around inclusion in the South African context how storytelling and coaching can help connect and de-traumatise people why their ultimate aim is that their services will no longer be required The TED Talk that Alistair mentioned in this episode is Fadzi Whande: How Diversity Heaven can be Inclusion Hell.  --- Music: Pablito's Way by Paolo Pavan

Mike Patterson is a business consultant based in the United Arab Emirates who has so far helped over 50,000 people achieve their dreams. A keen researcher who has never believed in conforming, Mike has spent the last 20 years studying facts and figures in search of the truth. In this highly informative interview, Mike talks about:  the difference between laws and rules  why it’s important to set goals and to plan for the future how the system has been designed to dumb people down why we need to question everything and do our own research the impact of our diet on the positivity of our thoughts reframing ‘failure’ as feedback and ‘problems’ as challenges  the difference between activities and results  If you enjoyed this episode you may be interested in Episode 30: The Accidental Emigrant with Philip Keay and Episode 32: 21st Century Skills with Nik Pandya --- Music: Pablito's Way by Paolo Pavan

Rebecca Allen grew up in Hong Kong and now lives in Sydney with her husband and two children, whom she water-birthed. Thirteen years ago, she gave up her full-time job in advertising to start her own coaching business helping women achieve career success. In this interview, as well as explaining why she chose to naturally birth her children, Rebecca gives some invaluable advice on:  creating your own outcomes and focusing on what you wish to achieve  seeking information and informing yourself to help reduce your fears  developing the mindset that you are worthy and deserving of success launching your own business and dealing with learning curves and plateaux adapting your expectations, and releasing the need to control situations  --- Music: Pablito's Way by Paolo Pavan

Originally from Spain, Aurora Pérez-Vico lives with her husband and three young sons in Munich, Germany, where she has experienced a culture of ‘mom-shaming’ of full-time working mothers. In this interview, Aurora talks about:  her drive to constantly improve her skills and knowledge and to learn new things  how she’s learned to adapt to the challenges of each day without trying to control everything  her local network of ‘Alpha Vitamin Women’ who help her recharge her batteries  the importance of saying ‘Yes’ to projects that push you out of your comfort zone  how she deals with ‘imposter syndrome’ and being judged by other women  how she views the roles of men and women in the home  --- Music: Pablito's Way by Paolo Pavan