Maggie Beer AO: A Life Well Served - Recipes for Joy, Purpose & Appetite for Life

This week Nicola and Di chat with the one and only Maggie Beer AO, Australia’s culinary queen. Maggie is a beloved cook, restaurateur, author and food icon. She’s spent a lifetime stirring up joy, creativity and a love of good food across the country. Maggie has inspired generations through her best selling cookbooks, TV shows, and of course her delicious products. To top it all off, in 2010 Maggie was awarded Senior Australian of the year for her impact on Aussie food and local produce. Now at 80, Maggie is gracing the cover of the Australian Women’s Weekly and is truly a role model for so many people. In this episode we chat to Maggie about her love of food and how she’s cooked her whole life because she came from a family where good food and music were the two things that were incredibly important and the biggest sources of joy. She shares how she learnt by osmosis from her parents the beauty of simple, nutritious food and because she grew up around it, she’s always intuitively known how to put flavours together.  Maggie also tells us about the fall that changed her life. She shares the story of how it happened, the time she had to spend in hospital, her extensive rehabilitation and what it was like to experience the quietest time in her life, being forced to rest and rely on the support of her husband Colin, her family, friends and community. Maggie describes how despite the physical pain, it was the least stressful time in her life and really transformed the way she sees the world. We ask Maggie about her secrets for a long, happy marriage and she shares what she loves about her husband Colin, who she’s been married to for 55 years and counting.  We also talk to Maggie about becoming Senior Australian of The Year and the incredible foundation that she’s created where she is helping to transform the kitchens and food across aged care centres in Australia. It was absolutely inspiring to chat to Maggie - a woman who is so vibrant at 80 and pursues life with so much passion and purpose that you can’t help but feel uplifted and energised talking to her. We hope you love this episode as much as we did.  This episode is proudly supported by Montgomery Investment Management, trusted experts helping you build and protect your financial future. For further information, please contact David Buckland, Chief Executive Officer or Rhodri Taylor, Account Manager on (02) 8046 5000 or [email protected] Follow Maggie on IG here - https://www.instagram.com/maggie_beer/ Buy Maggie’s products and hampers here - https://www.maggiebeer.com.au/ Follow Maggie Beer Foundation on IG here - https://www.instagram.com/maggie_beer_foundation/ Follow Coast New Zealand on IG here - https://www.instagram.com/coastnewzealand/ Find out more about Coast New Zealand’s Products and enjoy $50 off here - coastnewzealand.com Follow Nicola and Di on IG here - https://www.instagram.com/overthebackfencepodcast/ Watch Over The Back Fence on YouTube here - https://www.youtube.com/@Overthebackfencepodcast/podcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we are sharing our most replayed and requested interview - an incredible conversation with the absolutely amazing Dr. Gladys McGarey. At the time of this interview, Gladys was a 103 year-old holistic doctor, who’d written several books and had so much wisdom to share with us. Her final book, The Well-Lived Life, has become Nicola and Di’s bible and is full of Dr. Gladys’ secrets for living a healthy and happy life. Just 7 months after we recorded this interview, Dr. Gladys passed away, but we want to share this episode with you again to keep her wisdom alive.  In this chat Gladys shares some incredible stories of what it was like growing up in the Himalayas of India with her parents who were both doctors, well ahead of their time. Gladys says she knew she wanted to be a doctor ever since she was a little girl and announced it to her parents as soon as she could speak. She witnessed the power of love as a healer and medicine, which led her down the path of holistic medicine.  We hear about the 5 ‘L’s that Dr. Gladys says we all need to live a good life and how love is the key that activates them all. Dr. Gladys also tells a heart-wrenching story of what it was like when her husband of 46 years asked for a divorce, and how she was able to turn that around and ultimately see the gift of the end of her marriage. You’ll need to listen in to hear the end of that story - you won’t believe what happens!  Dr. Gladys also shares some beautiful and powerful advice for the small steps that you can take to give love, receive love and tap into the flow of life. We talk about the importance of community and how we can each build it together.  This is such a beautiful and special conversation with a woman who knew what it was like to live a happy, healthy and long life. We are so grateful that Dr. Gladys gave us her time that day and shared her wisdom and stories with us and we hope you’ll be as captivated as we were.  This episode is proudly supported by Montgomery Investment Management, trusted experts helping you build and protect your financial future. For further information, please contact David Buckland, Chief Executive Officer or Rhodri Taylor, Account Manager on (02) 8046 5000 or [email protected] Buy Gladys’ Book The Well Lived Life here Follow Nicola and Di on IG hereSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to another episode of bitesize chats with Nicola and Di. Mini moments, without any guests, where you get to listen in on a fun chat between besties. This week they chat about what friendship means to them, the qualities they each appreciate in a friend, and how connection is really the key to a beautiful life. They also chat to their producer Sam about her take on friendship and the joy and richness that comes from having friends across all different generations.  We’d love to hear from our backfencers too - what does friendship mean to you? This episode is proudly supported by Montgomery Investment Management, trusted experts helping you build and protect your financial future.  Follow Nicola and Di on IG here - https://www.instagram.com/overthebackfencepodcast/ Watch Over The Back Fence on YouTube here - https://www.youtube.com/@Overthebackfencepodcast/podcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Nicola and Di chat with the humble leader Philip Corne. Philip has an extraordinary career story - by accident, in the 1980s he found himself working for a little-known company called Louis Vuitton. He went on to help Louis Vuitton become the world’s leading luxury brand and the LVMH Group become the world's most successful luxury group, comprising 70 brands with sales in excess of 46 billion euros. These days he serves on several boards including Camilla, APT Travel and many more. He’s also a proud husband and father of two sons.  In this conversation, we get to hear the incredible story of how Philip overcame a learning disability at school, went on to study economics at Sydney University, and then found himself having a conversation with a friend in his backyard on a Sunday afternoon, which led to an interview for a financial controller position for a company he’d never heard of, called Louis Vuitton. The rest is history.  Philip shares some of his best lessons from an amazing career at Louis Vuitton, which culminated in him becoming CEO of Louis Vuitton Oceania, as well as a period as CEO of Louis Vuitton North America. We talk about the power of building a brand, the core values behind the brand and why leadership is really about listening and leading by example.  Philip opens up about what it was like to be working in New York on September 11, 2001 when the twin towers fell, and how this really helped remind him that at the end of the day, the only important things in his life were his wife and kids.   We also love what Philip shares about giving things a go, not being complacent, and always having humility in what you do.  We really loved chatting to Philip and hearing his wisdom and insights. We hope you learn as much from him as we did.  This episode is proudly supported by Montgomery Investment Management, trusted experts helping you build and protect your financial future. For further information, please contact David Buckland, Chief Executive Officer or Rhodri Taylor, Account Manager on (02) 8046 5000 or [email protected] Follow Philip on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-corne-37a3b86/? Follow Nicola and Di on IG here - https://www.instagram.com/overthebackfencepodcast/ Watch Over The Back Fence on YouTube here - https://www.youtube.com/@Overthebackfencepodcast/podcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Nicola and Di are back with the next episode of our monthly financial series, Over The Money Fence with Roger Montgomery. This series aims to help you take control of your finances with clarity and confidence. Roger is the Founder and Chairman of Montgomery Investment Management, has over 30 years’ investing experience and is a highly respected financial commentator featuring on various ABC programs, as well as his popular column in The Australian newspaper. He is also the author of best-selling investment guidebook Value.able. In this episode we chat to Roger about 2 of the most talked about assets - Gold and Bitcoin. Roger tells us the story behind Gold and why it has skyrocketed to record highs in the current climate. He explains why investors turn to Gold in times of uncertainty and why at the end of the day, it’s more of a bet, rather than an investment.  We also go through crypto currency in simple terms. Roger teaches us what the blockchain is, why Bitcoin is becoming more and more mainstream, and how to invest in digital assets like Bitcoin without as much of the risk or volatility.  This is such an interesting episode that helped us really understand the ins and outs of Gold and  Bitcoin, and as always we learnt so much from Roger. We hope you love his simple way of breaking down finance for us and come away feeling more calm and confident like we do.  This episode is proudly supported by Montgomery Investment Management, trusted experts helping you build and protect your financial future. For further information, please contact David Buckland, Chief Executive Officer or Rhodri Taylor, Account Manager on (02) 8046 5000 or [email protected] Find out more about Montgomery Investment Management here - https://montinvest.com Find out more about Montgomery private credit funds here -    https://www.montinvest.com/privatecredit Learn more about Roger and read his articles here - https://rogermontgomery.com Buy Roger's book Value.able here - https://rogermontgomery.com/valueable-book/ Follow Roger’s YouTube channel here  - https://www.youtube.com/user/rogerjmontgomeryFollow Roger on X here - https://x.com/rjmontgomery Follow Roger on Facebook here - https://www.facebook.com/montgomeryroger/Follow Roger on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rogermontgomery/ Follow Nicola and Di on IG here - https://www.instagram.com/overthebackfencepodcast/ Follow Nicola and Di on YouTube here - https://www.youtube.com/@Overthebackfencepodcast/podcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Nicola and Di chat with the brave and inspiring Julie Goodwin. Julie is a cook, author, radio and television presenter who all Australians came to know when she won the very first series of MasterChef Australia back in 2009. Since then she’s gone on to have an incredible career in the media, and has released multiple cook books with her delicious recipes, including some of the ones she created on MasterChef. Her latest book however, is a beautifully honest and brave memoir called Your Time Starts Now, which tells her story of a richly lived life.  In this episode Julie is so open, honest and vulnerable and shares some of the most touching and difficult moments from her life. We hear about her struggles with mental health, the challenges she faced with an alcohol addiction, the lowest point in her life when she wanted to end it all and the incredible story of the kindness of strangers in that moment that literally saved her life.  We also chat to Julie about her favourite moments from that very first series of MasterChef, the hilarious story of what happened when Julie was briefly let out from the MasterChef headquarters to attend her Nan’s 90th birthday, and what it felt like when she realised she’d won and her whole world changed overnight.  Just like the richness of Julie’s life, this episode is beautifully deep and takes you on an emotional journey. We cover the highs and lows, there’s laughter and tears, it really has it all!  We really hope you love Julie’s heart and honesty as much as we did.  This episode is proudly supported by Montgomery Investment Management, trusted experts helping you build and protect your financial future. For further information, please contact David Buckland, Chief Executive Officer or Rhodri Taylor, Account Manager on (02) 8046 5000 or [email protected] Follow Julie Goodwin on IG here - https://www.instagram.com/_juliegoodwin/ Buy Julie’s Book - Your Time Starts Now here - https://www.booktopia.com.au/your-time-starts-now-julie-goodwin/book/9781761341151.html Follow Nicola and Di on IG here - https://www.instagram.com/overthebackfencepodcast/ Watch Over The Back Fence on YouTube here - https://www.youtube.com/@Overthebackfencepodcast/podcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Nicola and Di chat with the incredible Jim Murphy. Jim’s book Inner Excellence stands alongside Mel Robbins’ New York Times best-selling self-help books, offering powerful insights on overcoming fear and unlocking true potential. In addition to being a best selling author, Jim is a high-performance coach who helps athletes and leaders master their inner game with clarity, confidence and resilience. In this episode, we hear Jim’s inspiring story of how he went from being $90K in debt to his book becoming a global sensation when an NFL footballer was spotted reading his copy of Inner Excellence on the sidelines during a televised game. The rest is history.  Jim shares what that Inner Excellence is really about being able to live and experience the fullness of life. He gives so many powerful ideas about how we can develop our inner world, and how it’s our heart that holds the key to extraordinary performance. Jim talks about love being the most powerful force in the universe because it is fearless and selfless, and ultimately we are here to learn selfless-actualisation.  We also talk about manifesting and the power of the words and language we use. Jim explains how making a small shift in the way we talk about things can have a life-changing impact - you’ll want to tune in for this tip.  We had such a great time speaking with Jim and we hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did.  This episode is proudly supported by Montgomery Investment Management, trusted experts helping you build and protect your financial future. For further information, please contact David Buckland, Chief Executive Officer or Rhodri Taylor, Account Manager on (02) 8046 5000 or [email protected] Follow Jim Murphy on IG here - https://www.instagram.com/innerexcellencejimmurphy/ Buy Inner Excellence here - https://innerexcellence.com/jim-murphys-books/ Follow more of Jim’s Work here - https://innerexcellence.com/ Follow Nicola and Di on IG here - https://www.instagram.com/overthebackfencepodcast/ Watch Over The Back Fence on YouTube here - https://www.youtube.com/@Overthebackfencepodcast/podcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Nicola and Di chat with the wonderful Callan Boys. Callan is the Good Foods National Restaurant Editor for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age and the NSW restaurant critic for The Good Weekend. If you like to eat out and discover new culinary adventures, including in regional areas of Australia, this is the episode for you.  In this episode we chat to Callan about how he got his start as a food critic and landed his dream job. We hear the funny ways that Callan uses his family members to make fake bookings in other people’s names so that restaurants don’t know he’s coming ahead of time. He talks us through the Good Food Guide and the rating system, giving us the inside scoop on how they give out the hats.  Callan also gives us his best of the best when it comes to restaurants in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, WA and Tassie and we go through some of his latest finds in regional NSW. You’ll want to stay tuned to hear the restaurants to put on your list for your next special occasion. We also go through some cheap eats, including the best burger Callan’s ever found in Australia!  We also chat about where we met Callan, at the incredible Qualia lunch put on by Will Cowper in Hamilton Island and some of the highlights from that day. And we finish up with some foods that are on trend that you won’t want to miss!! We had so much fun chatting all things food and wine with Callan and we hope you find this episode as delicious as we did.  This episode is proudly supported by Montgomery Investment Management, trusted experts helping you build and protect your financial future. For further information, please contact David Buckland, Chief Executive Officer or Rhodri Taylor, Account Manager on (02) 8046 5000 or [email protected]   Follow Callan Boys on IG here -https://www.instagram.com/callanboys/ Follow more of Callan’s work and food reviews here - smh.com.au/goodfood Follow Nicola and Di on IG here - https://www.instagram.com/overthebackfencepodcast/ Watch Over The Back Fence on YouTube here - https://www.youtube.com/@Overthebackfencepodcast/podcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Nicola and Di chat with the CEO of the Northern Beaches Women’s Shelter, Narelle Hand. The shelter is a place that offers more than just a roof - they support women facing domestic violence, financial hardship, mental health struggles or family breakdown. They help them rebuild with kindness, community and compassion. It’s a story of challenge but also one of hope and transformation, and we certainly heard that shine through in the stories that Narelle shared with us. In this episode we hear how Narelle got started working in this field, and why it fills her with so much purpose every day. She takes us through a day in the life of a woman who might need the support and services of the women’s shelter and what it’s like for them from the moment they arrive in the women’s shelter until they’re ready to leave.  Narelle shares some of the beautiful stories of the way that the women have been cared for by the community and are able to feel truly loved, safe and at peace. She shares some of the well-earned and hopeful stats with us, like the fact that they have a 98% success rate with women who come to the shelter being able to move out, rebuild their lives and achieve their goals.  This is such an important topic and we talk about the different issues that can lead to homelessness and women needing to seek services like this, but we also talk about all of the phenomenal ways the community has come together to provide help and support and the overwhelmingly positive impact that NBWS is having. It was an absolute pleasure to have Narelle join us in the studio, and we hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did.  This episode is proudly supported by Montgomery Investment Management, trusted experts helping you build and protect your financial future. For further information, please contact David Buckland, Chief Executive Officer or Rhodri Taylor, Account Manager on (02) 8046 5000 or [email protected]   Follow Northern Beaches Women’s Shelter on IG here - https://www.instagram.com/nbws_org/ Find out more about the work Northern Beaches Women’s Shelter do here - https://nbws.org.au/ Donate to the Northern Beaches Women’s Shelter here - https://nbws.org.au/donate/ Follow Northern Beaches Women’s Shelter on Facebook here - https://facebook.com/NBWomensShelter/ Follow Nicola and Di on IG here - https://www.instagram.com/overthebackfencepodcast/ Watch Over The Back Fence on YouTube here - https://www.youtube.com/@Overthebackfencepodcast/podcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week Nicola and Di are back with the next episode of our monthly financial series, Over The Money Fence with Roger Montgomery. This series aims to help you take control of your finances with clarity and confidence. Roger is the Founder and Chairman of Montgomery Investment Management, has over 30 years’ investing experience and is a highly respected financial commentator featuring on various ABC programs, as well as his popular column in The Australian newspaper. He is also the author of best-selling investment guidebook Value.able. In this conversation we talk about the different ways that you can build wealth, and for our younger listeners, we go through why it’s so important to start now. We talk about the incredible impact of compounding interest over time - and Roger shares with us some amazing numbers of what you could expect to earn if you were to start investing from an early age.  We also talk about the different options available when it comes to investing - from shares, to property, to private credit - Roger takes us through each one and why you might choose one option over the other.  Finally we talk about crypto currency and where this fits into your wealth building. Roger shares some interesting benefits of digital assets like crypto, and brings another fresh perspective to the table. And we go through some listener feedback and questions we received after our last episode, so stay tuned for those.  We love these episodes with Roger because we get to learn so much practical information that we can actually digest and implement. We hope you are also getting a lot out of this series. Keep sharing your feedback with us.  This episode is proudly supported by Montgomery Investment Management, trusted experts helping you build and protect your financial future. For further information, please contact David Buckland, Chief Executive Officer or Rhodri Taylor, Account Manager on (02) 8046 5000 or [email protected] Find out more about Montgomery Investment Management here - https://montinvest.com Find out more about Montgomery private credit funds here -    https://www.montinvest.com/privatecredit Learn more about Roger and read his articles here - https://rogermontgomery.com Buy Roger's book Value.able here - https://rogermontgomery.com/valueable-book/ Follow Roger’s YouTube channel here  - https://www.youtube.com/user/rogerjmontgomeryFollow Roger on X here - https://x.com/rjmontgomery Follow Roger on Facebook here - https://www.facebook.com/montgomeryroger/Follow Roger on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rogermontgomery/ Follow Nicola and Di on IG here - https://www.instagram.com/overthebackfencepodcast/ Follow Nicola and Di on YouTube here - https://www.youtube.com/@Overthebackfencepodcast/podcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.