Chef, author, My Kitchen Rules alum and Good Farm Shop co-founder Scott Gooding is one of those rare people who has done the deep inner work to turn a difficult start into a life of meaning, discipline and love.

Scott spent his childhood living in English pubs - surrounded by drunk adults, chaos and the ever-present possibility of violence. It forged a tough exterior, a readiness to fight and a constant sense of vigilance. That same energy might have consumed him. Instead, over decades, he learned to reframe and redirect it:

• Aggression into ambition

• Anxiety into anticipation

• Fear into fuel

In this wide-ranging and emotionally honest conversation, we explore:

• Growing up in pubs: learning to read danger, hold his ground and the cost of living on high alert

• Sliding-door moments: key points where he consciously chose not to escalate, and in doing so, chose a different man to become

• Reinvention in Australia: booking a ticket, leaving the old persona behind and building a new life from scratch

• Seven years of chronic back pain: losing the athletic identity he’d built, moving through depression, and finding empathy and perspective on the other side

• My Kitchen Rules and stage fright: why he almost scared himself out of it, what it took to get through filming while “white-knuckling” anxiety, and how the show became a springboard rather than a vanity play

• Saying yes for a year: the deliberate decision to say yes to every opportunity for 12 months to dismantle long-held self-limiting beliefs

• Good Farm Shop with Matilda: creating a business rooted in “healthy comfort food” that reflects his values around nourishment, care and community

• Fatherhood and masculinity: how all of this inner work shows up in the way he parents - as a present, emotionally available, deeply engaged dad

Scott doesn’t present as a guru. He’s disarmingly humble, quick to laugh at himself, and the first to say he’s not “the best” at anything. But in that humility lies his real genius: an unwavering commitment to show up, to work, to keep going, and to use every challenge as a chance to grow.

For founders, creatives and leaders, this episode is a blueprint for:

• Integrating your past rather than running from it

• Building true resilience instead of just performance armour

• Honouring your opportunities - and the people you love - by continually walking towards what scares you

If you’re navigating your own reinvention, trying to turn a rough beginning into a life of depth and contribution, Scott’s story will stay with you long after the credits roll.

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Listen on Spotify & Apple Podcasts, or watch the full series here on YouTube.