How to Get Unstuck with Helen Thomas

19: Bridget Johns on collecting memories, not things

In this episode, Helen chats with Bridget Johns.

Bridget is a Life Simplifier and Time Optimiser, who’s redefining how we go about decluttering and organising our lives. 

She’s the founder of Be Simply Free, an online declutter coaching and life organisation business dedicated to empowering women to live simpler, more fulfilling lives by streamlining their physical and mental spaces.

Bridget is also a skilled grant writer, helping businesses, councils and community groups to turn their dreams into reality by finding the funding they need.

And, she’s an ex-city girl turned farmer’s wife, living happily with her family on a sheep and cereal farm at the top of the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. 

In this conversation, Bridget discusses the psychological aspects of why people accumulate stuff and offers practical tips for decluttering, organising, and prioritising well-being and balance in life.

Highlights:

• Professional burnout: Bridget explains how working on a workplace well-being event brought about the lightbulb moment that she needed to make changes.
• Sharing the load: How to ask for help, communicate your needs, and share the mental and physical load with your family or team.
• Stop, focus, notice: Bridget outlines her organising mantra and methodology.
• The bold leap into self-employment: How organisational restructures led Bridget to recognising the need for a career transition.
• Decluttering tips and strategies for a simplified life: The reasons why we become overwhelmed by our “stuff” and practical tips for creating more organisation.

 

More about Bridget

If you’d like more information about Bridget and her work, you can find it here:

Be Simply Free: besimplyfree.com.au

Listen to the Clear Clutter, Find Time podcast

Connect with Bridget on -

Instagram - @be.simplyfree

Facebook - @BeSimplyFree

 

Did you love this podcast episode?

If you found this interview interesting, helpful, entertaining, or inspiring, I’d be so grateful if you’d leave a review on iTunes or where you listen to podcasts. 

Great reviews will help others to find my podcast and learn how to get unstuck.

 

Interested to know more about me and this podcast?

To contact me or provide any feedback, please email helen@helenthomas.com.au

Please visit me at https://helenthomas.com.au/

Take the Fix Your Career quiz at fixyourcareer.com.au

Or, for more insights and practical tips to help you get unstuck, join my weekly Wednesday words email at https://helenthomas.com.au/wednesdaywords/

Or follow me on -

LinkedIn - @helenlthomas

How To Get Unstuck With Helen Thomas is hosted by Helen Thomas and edited and produced by Snappystreet Creative.

18: Melissa Finlay on feeling energised through nutrition

In this episode, Helen chats with Melissa Finlay.

Melissa is a women's health nutritionist, Pilates instructor, and strength coach.

Mel spent around 15 years working in the corporate world and during that time, she picked up a host of unhelpful habits and adopted an almost sedentary lifestyle… something many of us can relate to!

Finding herself burnt out and lacking in energy, she knew things were just not right and that she needed to make some changes. Numerous health professionals were unable to help her feel much better, so she decided to take matters into her own hands.

She started researching the impact of food and nutrition on her health, and once her energy returned, she really wanted to help others make the same positive changes. 

In this conversation, Melissa shares her personal experience with burnout and health issues, and how self-education on nutrition and movement helped transform her life and career.

Highlights:

• From corporate cubicle to women’s health: Mel outlines the steps she took to changing her career when she was burnt out and unhappy.
• The turning point: How the benefits of implementing regular exercise and nutritional changes in her own life led Melissa to want to help others.
• A series of small steps: Reducing the overwhelm of making a big change by taking small, achievable steps.
• Addressing women’s health: Mel explains the common reasons and challenges women experience that leads to unhelpful habits in mid-life.
• A simple strategy for better health: The holistic approach Mel applies to supporting women to implement a step-by-step plan to achieve their individual health goals.

 

More about Melissa

If you’d like more information about Melissa and her work, you can find it here:

Mel’s website: melissafinlaynutritionist.com

Get Mel’s perimenopause online workshop

Connect with Mel on -

Instagram - @melfinlay_nutritionist

 

Did you love this podcast episode?

If you found this interview interesting, helpful, entertaining, or inspiring, I’d be so grateful if you’d leave a review on iTunes or where you listen to podcasts. 

Great reviews will help others to find my podcast and learn how to get unstuck.

 

Interested to know more about me and this podcast?

To contact me or provide any feedback, please email helen@helenthomas.com.au

Please visit me at https://helenthomas.com.au/

Take the Fix Your Career quiz at fixyourcareer.com.au

Or, for more insights and practical tips to help you get unstuck, join my weekly Wednesday words email at https://helenthomas.com.au/wednesdaywords/

Or follow me on -

LinkedIn - @helenlthomas

 

How To Get Unstuck With Helen Thomas is hosted by Helen Thomas and edited and produced by Snappystreet Creative.

17: Julie Crockett on preparing for the future with real estate investments

Shownotes: 17 Julie Crockett

 

In this episode, Helen chats with Julie Crockett.

Julie is a renowned buyer’s agent and the founder of Australian Property Investment Solutions. 

Over the last 20 years, Julie has transitioned herself from being a financially stuck single mother to a successful property investor and educator. She now works exclusively with investors to help them build wealth by making informed investment decisions.

In this conversation, Julie discusses the importance of overcoming fear, making strategic investments, and the role of education in empowering individuals to build wealth through property.

Highlights:

• The financial turning point: Julie explains how reviewing her superannuation statement led to her taking control of her financial future.
• From teaching to property investment: The steps Julie took and realising the importance of changing your mindset to positively impact your life.
• Becoming a buyer’s agent: Despite becoming a real estate agent, Julie chose instead to support people through the purchase process (rather than selling properties).
• Addressing a lack of confidence: Education and knowledge as a key requirement for taking the fear and risk out of making investment decisions.
• Property (and economic) cycles: Julie gives her thoughts on the current economic climate and the associated impacts on property investments.
• How to step into property investment for the first time: Julie provides her thoughts and tips for those considering enter​​ing the property investment market.

 

More about Julie

If you’d like more information about Julie and her work, you can find it here:

Julie’s website: juliecrockett.com.au

Australian Property Investment Solutions: apisolutions.com.au

Listen to the Her Investment Property podcast.

Connect with Julie on -

Instagram - @juliecrockett3

LinkedIn - @juliecrockett

 

Did you love this podcast episode?

If you found this interview interesting, helpful, entertaining, or inspiring, I’d be so grateful if you’d leave a review on iTunes or where you listen to podcasts. 

Great reviews will help others to find my podcast and learn how to get unstuck.

 

Interested to know more about me and this podcast?

To contact me or provide any feedback, please email helen@helenthomas.com.au

Please visit me at https://helenthomas.com.au/

Take the Fix Your Career quiz at fixyourcareer.com.au

Or, for more insights and practical tips to help you get unstuck, join my weekly Wednesday words email at https://helenthomas.com.au/wednesdaywords/

Or follow me on -

LinkedIn - @helenlthomas

How To Get Unstuck With Helen Thomas is hosted by Helen Thomas and edited and produced by Snappystreet Creative.

16: Sammi Jaeger on getting unstuck by focusing on yourself first

In this episode, Helen chats with Sammi Jaeger.

Sammi is a multi-passionate entrepreneur. She’s a Co-Founder, Coach, Speaker, Facilitator, Integrator, Podcaster and Author (in the making)! 

After experiencing burnout that made her fall out of love with herself and her life, she knew something had to change. She set about reimagining her world and getting laser-focussed on her aspiration to live a “fuelled up life”. 

This led to her creating The Fuelled Up Life, a place where she shares tools, tips and tricks on how to design and live your own Fuelled Up Life.

Sammi’s methodology of using “fuel tanks” to assess and enrich various life areas offers a practical framework for achieving balance, success and fulfilment.

In this conversation, Sammi shares her candid insights into personal growth, relationship building, and making life-affirming choices in order to live authentically and purposefully.

Highlights:

• The impact of burnout and making a conscious decision to change: How exhaustion and overwhelm led to a career crisis and the necessity of making a change.
• Self-reflection and rediscovery: Sammi describes the journey she took to understand what had led to burnout and what she needed to do to get back to a life she loved. 
• Tell tale signs you’re “stuck” with yourself: The importance of creating some “white space” in your life in order to reflect, adjust and make positive changes.
• The Fuelled Up Life framework: Sammi takes us through the 8 important “fuel tanks” to consider, keep filled up and nurtured in order to live your best life.
• Celebrating good relationships: Sammi provides the background and reasons behind starting the Date Forever podcast with her husband, Nathan.
• Making an intentional choice not to have children: Sammi candidly shares how she and Nathan navigated feeling stuck on the decision to have children and how they eventually found their way to a place of peace and acceptance.

 

More about Sammi

If you’d like more information about Sammi and her work, you can find it here:

Sammi’s website: sammijaeger.com

The Fuelled Up Life: fuelleduplife.com.au

Check on the status of your fuel tanks

Listen to the Date Forever podcast.

Connect with Sammi on -

Instagram - @sammisomewhere

LinkedIn - @sammijaeger

 

Did you love this podcast episode?

If you found this interview interesting, helpful, entertaining, or inspiring, I’d be so grateful if you’d leave a review on iTunes or where you listen to podcasts. 

Great reviews will help others to find my podcast and learn how to get unstuck.

 

Interested to know more about me and this podcast?

To contact me or provide any feedback, please email helen@helenthomas.com.au

Please visit me at https://helenthomas.com.au/

Take the Fix Your Career quiz at fixyourcareer.com.au

Or, for more insights and practical tips to help you get unstuck, join my weekly Wednesday words email at https://helenthomas.com.au/wednesdaywords/

Or follow me on -

LinkedIn - @helenlthomas

How To Get Unstuck With Helen Thomas is hosted by Helen Thomas and edited and produced by Snappystreet Creative.

15: Leah Stanistreet on feeling confident about telling your story

In this episode, Helen chats with Leah Stanistreet.

Leah is the founder of Snappystreet Creative and is the creative force behind this very podcast. 

Leah is a photographer, podcast creator and audio producer. An experienced audio engineer who spent a large portion of her career producing content for some of Australia’s largest radio networks including TripleM, Nova Entertainment, and 2DayFM. 

Now she supports female business owners and entrepreneurs to feel confident about sharing their stories through visual and audio content.

It’s fair to say that Leah has been instrumental in getting me “unstuck” from starting a podcast, something that languished on my “to-do” list for many years.

In this conversation, Leah emphasises the importance of storytelling and shares practical tips for gaining confidence, leveraging one’s unique story, and the benefits of creating pros and cons lists for decision-making.

Highlights:

• The importance of taking a first step: Understanding that getting unstuck requires taking a step, even if it’s not the “right” step.
• Expectations created by big decisions: Leah explains how she became paralysed making big decisions about what path to take at the very beginning of her career.
• Pros and cons lists: Leah shares her love of a pros and cons list to help her think through working out how to make progress when she’s feeling stuck.
• Fear of “showing up”: Why people feel vulnerable showing up in images, video or audio to share their stories.
• Providing support and accountability: Leah’s process for supporting and holding people accountable to overcome the obstacles in the way of getting started with sharing their stories.

 

More about Leah

If you’d like more information about Leah and her work, you can find it here:

Snappystreet Creative: snappystreetcreative.com.au

Connect with Leah on -

Instagram - @snappystreetcreative

LinkedIn - @leah-stanistreet-8896b728

 

Did you love this podcast episode?

If you found this interview interesting, helpful, entertaining, or inspiring, I’d be so grateful if you’d leave a review on iTunes or where you listen to podcasts. 

Great reviews will help others to find my podcast and learn how to get unstuck.

 

Interested to know more about me and this podcast?

To contact me or provide any feedback, please email helen@helenthomas.com.au

Please visit me at https://helenthomas.com.au/

Take the Fix Your Career quiz at fixyourcareer.com.au

Or, for more insights and practical tips to help you get unstuck, join my weekly Wednesday words email at https://helenthomas.com.au/wednesdaywords/

Or follow me on -

LinkedIn - @helenlthomas

How To Get Unstuck With Helen Thomas is hosted by Helen Thomas and edited and produced by Snappystreet Creative.

14: Veronica Llorca-Smith on turning "stuck" into a life-changing adventure

Shownotes: 14 Veronica Llorca-Smith

 

In this episode, Helen chats with Veronica Llorca-Smith.

Veronica is a highly accomplished professional, master of reinvention, and author of three Amazon bestsellers.

Originally from the Canary Islands and now living in Hong Kong, in August 2021 Veronica found herself stranded in Australia with her two young daughters, due to travel restrictions.

She used this experience as an opportunity to reinvent herself, transitioning from a corporate senior role to becoming a successful solopreneur. 

In this conversation, Veronica speaks about her approach to overcoming challenges and seeing 'stuckness' as an adventure, rather than an obstacle. 

Highlights:

• Feeling stuck in a corporate career: Realising there are many different ways to look at a career, rather than just as a linear path to the top.
• Building self-awareness: Veronica explains how having lived in a number of different countries has helped her to develop a strong sense of self-awareness
• The process of reinvention: How Veronica completely reinvented her professional life during the period she was stranded in Australia during the pandemic.
• Rewriting your internal narrative: Reframing all the negative stories you tell yourself that stand in the way of your success and making progress.
• Becoming a solopreneur: Veronica explains her journey becoming a published author, a public speaker and a facilitator.

 

More about Veronica

If you’d like more information about Veronica and her work, you can find it here:

Website: veronicallorcasmith.com

Join her Substack newsletter: The Lemon Tree Mindset

Buy Veronica’s books

Connect with Veronica on -

LinkedIn - @veronicallorcasmith

 

Did you love this podcast episode?

If you found this interview interesting, helpful, entertaining, or inspiring, I’d be so grateful if you’d leave a review on iTunes or where you listen to podcasts. 

Great reviews will help others to find my podcast and learn how to get unstuck.

 

Interested to know more about me and this podcast?

To contact me or provide any feedback, please email helen@helenthomas.com.au

Please visit me at https://helenthomas.com.au/

Take the Fix Your Career quiz at fixyourcareer.com.au

Or, for more insights and practical tips to help you get unstuck, join my weekly Wednesday words email at https://helenthomas.com.au/wednesdaywords/

Or follow me on -

LinkedIn - @helenlthomas

How To Get Unstuck With Helen Thomas is hosted by Helen Thomas and edited and produced by Snappystreet Creative.

13: Jane Vandermeer on building confidence through style

In this episode, Helen chats with Jane Vandermeer.

Jane is a personal stylist and advocate for women's confidence. 

She believes in connecting with clients who are challenged with their personal style and helps them redefine their aesthetic to truly reflect themselves. 

Jane is an established figure in the fashion industry with over 30 years of experience and now runs her business called Finesse Your Style, a personal styling service dedicated to helping women regain their confidence through fashion.

In this conversation, Jane talks about the importance of self-confidence, how societal expectations can affect our self-perception and how changing the way we view our bodies and personal style can contribute to overall happiness and confidence. 

Highlights:

• The impact of self perception and confidence: How feeling and experiencing “stuck” can increase your self doubt and adversely affect your confidence.
• The evolution of personal style: Jane explains that your personal style can get stuck when your identity becomes tied to sticking with a look that’s worked in the past.
• The process of getting your personal style “unstuck”: Expanding your thinking to be curious and explore new aesthetics that align with who you truly are.
• Achieving body positivity: Jane discusses how feeling confident about yourself starts with reframing your mindset and view of your body to focus on the positives, rather than the negatives.
• Creating a business around personal style: Creating a new paradigm around fashion and styling to empower women by helping them to feel really good about themselves.

 

More about Jane

If you’d like more information about Jane and her work, you can find it here:

Finesse Your Style: finesseyourstyle.com

Join the next intake for Grace & Sophistication - Multi-Award Winning Personal Styling Program

Find out more about the Paris Retreat.

Connect with Jane on -

LinkedIn - @janevandermeer

 

Did you love this podcast episode?

If you found this interview interesting, helpful, entertaining, or inspiring, I’d be so grateful if you’d leave a review on iTunes or where you listen to podcasts. 

Great reviews will help others to find my podcast and learn how to get unstuck.

 

Interested to know more about me and this podcast?

To contact me or provide any feedback, please email helen@helenthomas.com.au

Please visit me at https://helenthomas.com.au/

Take the Fix Your Career quiz at fixyourcareer.com.au

Or, for more insights and practical tips to help you get unstuck, join my weekly Wednesday words email at https://helenthomas.com.au/wednesdaywords/

Or follow me on -

LinkedIn - @helenlthomas

How To Get Unstuck With Helen Thomas is hosted by Helen Thomas and edited and produced by Snappystreet Creative.

12: Dr Lucy Burns on achieving long term health and weight loss

In this episode, Helen chats with Dr Lucy Burns.

Dr Lucy Burns is a GP and lifestyle medicine physician. But that’s really just the headline because she is soooo much more than that.

The first and most important thing to know about Lucy is that she is “real” - a real person and a real doctor with the real health and wellness issues we all experience every day.

In her late teens, Lucy was diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy, which impairs her mobility… but not her intellect or determination.

Becoming overweight during her 40s, Lucy embarked on the search for a solution and in 2018 she lost 20 kgs by adopting a real food, low carb lifestyle and applying focussed psychological strategies to adjusting her mindset. 

Her experience highlighted the gap in medical information and education around the relationship between insulin-resistance and weight gain, particularly for women experiencing perimenopause and menopause.

In this conversation, Lucy talks about the importance of setting yourself up for success, understanding the role of insulin resistance in weight gain, and reprogramming your mindset to create a healthy relationship with food and your body.

Highlights:

• Being a “do-er”: Doing something or taking action of any type is Lucy’s go to solution for those moments when she recognises the onset of feeling stuck.
• Career transition: How being fully booked in her clinical practice led to her transitioning her work into the online world in order to meet demand.
• Reframing “healthy”: Dr Lucy explains that being healthy is not about being skinny or “having a thigh gap” but rather about embracing a healthy lifestyle and mindset.
• Unlocking the wood shed: Using her trademark “wood shed” story, Dr Lucy outlines how a carby / starchy diet leads to insulin resistance and weight gain; and, provides some simple strategies to start bringing things under control.
• Medical hypnotherapy: It’s hard to change our behaviour without understanding our subconscious brain and the fact that we’re subjected to a wide range of subliminal or overt messaging influencing our eating habits.
• Holistic health practice: Health care policies and other systemic issues that mean that society is generally more focussed on “sickness” rather than wellness and prevention.

 

More about Lucy

If you’d like more information about Lucy and her work, you can find it here:

Real Life Medicine: rlmedicine.com

Find out more about the 12 Week Mind & Body Rebalance.

Listen to the Real Health and Weight Loss podcast

Connect with Real Life Medicine on -

Facebook - @reallifemedicine

Instagram - @real_life_medicine

Connect with Dr Lucy on -

Instagram - @dr_lucy_burns

LinkedIn - @drlucyburns

 

Did you love this podcast episode?

If you found this interview interesting, helpful, entertaining, or inspiring, I’d be so grateful if you’d leave a review on iTunes or where you listen to podcasts. 

Great reviews will help others to find my podcast and learn how to get unstuck.

 

Interested to know more about me and this podcast?

To contact me or provide any feedback, please email helen@helenthomas.com.au

Please visit me at https://helenthomas.com.au/

Take the Fix Your Career quiz at fixyourcareer.com.au

Or, for more insights and practical tips to help you get unstuck, join my weekly Wednesday words email at https://helenthomas.com.au/wednesdaywords/

Or follow me on -

LinkedIn - @helenlthomas

Instagram - @helenthomasau

How To Get Unstuck With Helen Thomas is hosted by Helen Thomas and edited and produced by Snappystreet Creative.