265: The axe-wielding nurse - inside Katrina Head's incredible double life

Meet Katrina Head, a nurse, mum of three, and…a competitive woodchopper who lives life at full throttle! By day, she coordinates Queensland’s Intensive Care Clinical Network. By weekend, she’s swinging axes at shows across the country alongside her husband and kids. Katrina’s story starts on a farm near Dalby, where her deep bond with her dad shaped her work ethic and love for hands-on challenges. After the heartbreaking loss of her father to suicide in 2017, Katrina found solace and strength in her family, her career, and the woodchopping community. In this episode, she shares candidly about the juggle of motherhood, a demanding healthcare career, grief, and finding joy in unexpected places. Her honesty, humour, and strength shines through in our beautiful chat. A wonderful way to wrap up our Autumn season of the show. Warning: This episode touches on mental health and suicide. If you or anyone you know needs help, contact Lifeline now on 13 11 14.Thanks to our Autumn sponsor Telstra for supporting rural and regional Australia through the incredible Connected Community Grants Program. In partnership with FRRR, these grants help improve digital access and skills in regional communities just like yours to help you thrive at home, at school, and in business. To learn more about the 2025 Telstra grant recipients, CLICK HEREhttps://www.instagram.com/motherlandaustralia

Nearly two years ago, I stood on stage at Parliament House in Canberra, emceeing the National Rural Women’s Award. I wore a stunning hot pink gown, hand-dyed, made entirely from 100% Australian merino wool, and created just for me. That gown wasn’t just beautiful, it was meaningful. And it was made by today's guest, Nikki Atkinson. Nikki is the founder of Horrocks Vale Collections, a rural fashion brand crafting one-of-a-kind wedding and formal gowns from Australian merino wool. She’s a mum of three, a hands-on designer, and the 2024 South Australian winner of the AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award. She lives with her family on a sheep farm in South Australia’s Flinders Ranges,  a region currently in the grip of a crippling drought. Over the past two years, Nikki’s designs have gained national and international attention, from magazine features to London Bridal Week. But behind Nikki’s success is another story - one she’s never shared publicly. Until now. While raising her kids and building her brand from the bush, Nikki has been facing the biggest challenge of her life: her husband Dallas’s diagnosis with stage 4 cancer. In this episode, we talk about building a brand with purpose, the power of wool, the grit of rural life… and what happens when your world falls apart, but you keep showing up anyway. This is her story.A big thank you to our Autumn sponsor, Telstra - championing regional, rural, and remote families across Australia. From next-gen networks to local community support, they’re redefining what’s possible. To learn more about their 5-year strategy, Connected Future 30, and what it means for you and your community CLICK HERERural Health Connect has more than 400 psychologists available to provide support across a broad range of areas. Sessions are done under a mental health treatment plan - simply share this flyer with your GP and request a referral. If accessing a GP is a barrier for you, you can see one bulk billed through RHC (for MHTPs only) here: https://ruralhealthconnect.com.au/general-practitioner/https://www.instagram.com/motherlandaustralia

At the start of this season we dropped a bonus episode about what it was like living through the devastating floods in outback Queensland. Two months on, that devastation is still being felt. But the aftermath isn’t getting a lot of media coverage. Shonelle Turner lives with her husband and five kids in the rural town of Eulo in outback Queensland, between Cunnamulla and Thargomindah - the floods absolutely ravaged properties and uprooted the lives of many families around her. Now, as floods continue to devastate parts of New South Wales, there’s simply not enough talk about what happens after the water goes down. Shonelle is a proud indigenous woman and has an incredible story that spans being a teen mum, to changing the lives of young Indigenous women through her work. Today she joins me to talk about everything from life as the only female in the shearing sheds, to her children being frequent flyers on the Royal Flying Doctors Service, and the ongoing impact of the floods on the community she loves. This is her story.Our Autumn sponsor Telstra is here to help you stay safely connected. Domestic and family violence can happen to anyone and staying connected is especially important if you’re in a volatile environment. If you are experiencing or have left a domestic or family violence situation, Telstra can help. CLICK HERERural Health Connect has more than 400 psychologists available to provide support across a broad range of areas. Sessions are done under a mental health treatment plan - simply share this flyer with your GP and request a referral. If accessing a GP is a barrier for you, you can see one bulk billed through RHC (for MHTPs only) here: https://ruralhealthconnect.com.au/general-practitioner/https://www.instagram.com/motherlandaustralia

Steph Wanless is the founder of FOUND Regional, a magazine in the New England area of NSW, and digital platform REGGIE, that focuses on showcasing the best of regional NSW. While she’s committed to sharing stories from across her region, she has one of her own that deserves to be told. Steph’s birth experience and her motherhood journey didn't exactly go to plan. Both her children were born premature –  they were rushed away in incubators before she got to hold them. The first time she saw her son was in a photograph, covered in tubes.  She said she lost count of the number of times she watched him stop breathing – and still wakes in the night remembering the machine's alarms beeping, doctors running and the smell of bleach. Fast forward 11 years and Steph and her husband have moved to her hometown of Armidale. They’ve been busy running businesses and their kids are approaching their teen years. But as Ted has gotten older, Steph realised that she’s been pushing down a lot of trauma from all those years ago.  11 years on, Steph has only just been diagnosed with anxiety and PTSD from her early NICU and premmie birth experiences. Steph is super generous with her time and her experience is incredibly eye opening. This is her story. This conversation touches on PTSD, anxiety and birth trauma. For support: PANDA: 1300 726 306birthtrauma.org.auOur Autumn sponsor Telstra is here to help you stay safely connected. Domestic and family violence can happen to anyone and staying connected is especially important if you’re in a volatile environment. If you are experiencing or have left a domestic or family violence situation, Telstra can help. To learn more about Telstra’s support for victims of domestic and family violence head to: https://www.telstra.com.au/aboutus/support-in-times-of-need/domestic-family-violenceWe are so excited to introduce Heritage 365 by our incredible partner, CABLE. This Woolmark-certified knitwear collection celebrates Australia’s iconic Merino wool with timeless pieces like cardigans, jumpers, singlets, beanies, and gloves—available year-round in Cable stores and online 365 days a year. To explore the new Heritage 365 collection CLICK HEREhttps://www.instagram.com/motherlandaustralia

Debbie Dowden arrived in Australia by boat when she was just 3 years old. Her family were ‘10 pound poms’ in search of a sunnier life in Australia. Little did she know that life would see her raising 4 children 600kms from Perth in Outback Western Australia. Debbie was working as a theory instructor at a flight school when she decided that she actually wanted to fly the planes, not just teach people about them. It was here that she met her husband Ash- and she approached her relationship with Ash the same way she did with learning to fly, getting out of her comfort zone. As a young single mum at the time, all of Debbie’s family lived in Perth. But when she met Ash Dowden, the owner of Challa Station in the Southern Rangelands of WA, she knew she needed to go bush. And bush she went. She packed up her life, her daughter and quit her job and arrived at Challa with limited experience. Fast forward to 2025 and she’s now running it alongside her husband. This is her story. Our Autumn sponsor Telstra continues to support communities with free calls from public phones to all standard national and mobile numbers, plus free Wi-Fi at over 4,000 sites. These phones are vital in emergencies, natural disasters, or when your mobile is out of battery, credit, or reach - A true lifeline, especially in rural and regional areas. To learn more about Telstra Public Phones including a new initiative underway to heritage list three public phones, and how you can share your own payphone story -  CLICK HEREWe are so excited to introduce Heritage 365 by our incredible partner, CABLE. This Woolmark-certified knitwear collection celebrates Australia’s iconic Merino wool with timeless pieces like cardigans, jumpers, singlets, beanies, and gloves—available year-round in Cable stores and online 365 days a year. To explore the new Heritage 365 collection CLICK HEREhttps://www.instagram.com/motherlandaustralia

Ingrid Matthews and her husband manage 4 beef cattle stations in Northwestern Queensland. They also have 4 kids, aged 12, 10, 7 and 6. But Ingrid and her youngest daughter Olivia have spent 6 weeks maximum at home over the last 15 months. Olivia is living with a chronic condition she was born with that impacts her stomach and her blood sugars. When she was just 8 days old she was rushed into surgery. And there were many more after that. These surgeries take place some 700kms away from their home and often see Ingrid away from her older children for weeks and months on end. When Olivia was 10 months old, Ingrid left for what she thought would be a 2 week stay in hospital. But they didn’t return for 10 months, and during that time she only saw her older kids 4 times. Now at 6 years old, Ingrid never knows when Olivia is going to need to go to hospital. During this interview Ingrid had to stop and check her blood sugars to make sure that they were stable enough. The mental load on Ingrid’s shoulders is huge but her strength shines through. Despite immense challenges, she somehow still manages to meet her family's needs. But, not always her own. This is her story.Thanks to our Autumn sponsor Telstra, cyber support is available to regional small businesses for free. Cyber Wardens is a cyber security program run by the Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia (COSBOA) with the support of Telstra. It helps regional small business owners and their teams learn how to protect themselves from cyber threats. To learn more about Telstra's work with the Cyber Warden's Program CLICK HERE. We are so excited to introduce Heritage 365 by our incredible partner, CABLE.  This Woolmark-certified knitwear collection celebrates Australia’s iconic Merino wool with timeless pieces like cardigans, jumpers, singlets, beanies, and gloves—available year-round in Cable stores and online 365 days a year. To explore the new Heritage 365 collection CLICK HEREhttps://www.instagram.com/motherlandaustralia

Dr Rebecca West grew up in England—far from red dirt, heatwaves, and the howls of wild animals echoing through desert nights. She never imagined that by 40, she’d be raising three young children on one of the most remote properties in New South Wales, 450 kilometres from the nearest supermarket and hospital. But since 2017, Rebecca and her husband Reece—both ecologists—have called the edge of the Strzelecki Desert home. Together, they manage an ambitious conservation project on 86,000 acres in Sturt National Park, rewilding a former sheep station and reintroducing native species like bilbies, pushing back against Australia’s extinction crisis. It’s ground breaking work. But it’s also life lived at the edge—where parenting and working without childcare centres, isolation, and the wild beauty of the land all collide. So what is it like being the most remote family in New South Wales whilst raising kids in the desert and trying to bring our endangered animals back from the brink? This is Rebecca West’s story.Our Autumn sponsor Telstra proudly partners with the ICPA to advocate for education equity by continually working on improved connectivity and communication for students and their families in rural and remote areas, particularly focusing on those relying on fixed land lines. To learn more about Telstra’s work with the ICPA and ‘RRed day’ CLICK HEREThe Country Women’s Association (CWA) of NSW is the largest women’s organisation in Australia, supporting NSW and ACT rural, remote and regional communities for more than 100 years – and they'd love you to JOIN THEM! Contact your local branch for more information, CLICK HERE to become a member today. https://www.instagram.com/motherlandaustralia

Nicky Prosser lives on a station in the middle of South Australia that spans 1.2 million acres. She’s spent a lot of her life travelling around the state working in remote areas as a teacher and a principal. When Nicky was living in Maree, she met her property manager husband Nathan. They underwent one round of IVF to have their now 18-year old son, Ned. But now, at 50, Nicky is looking down the barrel of a possible heart and lung transplant due to a condition she was born with. But when you have a lung transplant, it’s often the case that the lungs don’t last longer than 10 years, and as Nicky says, she’s not quite ready to tap out of her life at 60. So she quit her job, moved away from her son and joined her husband in the middle of the outback with three dogs and 30,000 sheep. Because when the time comes for her to get new lungs, she’ll need to be living in Adelaide. Nicky has a great outlook on life, and her story is full of hope and a lot of love. This is her story. Our Autumn sponsor Telstra delivers some amazing programs through the Telstra Foundation. Telstra Foundation with the support of its Youth Advisory Council, partners with for-purpose organisations to deliver “tech and youth” focussed programs and resources in regional and remote areas. To learn more, head to:  https://telstrafoundation.com                      Sign-up to the The Country Women’s Association (CWA) of NSW in April for a reduced rate on membership. Contact your local branch for more information, or CLICK HERE to become a member today. https://www.instagram.com/motherlandaustralia

Steph is a farmer, psychologist, and mum of three little boys who lives on a property in Worlds End, in South Australia. And right now, it kind of looks like the Worlds End is near because the state is in the midst of a horrific drought. Two weeks ago we released a bonus episode about the floods in central Queensland -  today, I’m sharing a story from the other end of the spectrum. Steph and her husband and their three little boys are feeding their sheep daily. They are in desperate need for rain across their properties and are starting to feel the impact of no rain, not only financially but also on their mental health. And on the days her kids want to tap out of farming, she has to remind them of the realities of a drought. Steph and I had a wide ranging conversation about drought, mental health and more specifically maternal mental health - because as we can all acknowledge, there is a lot of pressure on rural families right now. But we also talk about her experience with postnatal depression, rage, ADHD, parenting three little boys and the importance of looking after yourself as a mother. This is her story. Lifeline 13 11 144Beyond Blue 1300 224 636PANDA 1300 726 306Our Autumn sponsor Telstra are clear on their purpose for connecting regional, rural and remote Australian families just like yours. Do you think you know Telstra? To learn more CLICK HERESign-up to the The Country Women’s Association (CWA) of NSW in April for a reduced rate on membership. Contact your local branch for more information, or CLICK HERE to become a member today.   https://www.instagram.com/motherlandaustralia

When I say the name Liz Ellis, you probably think one of three things:One of the greatest Netballers our country has ever seen A very funny media commentatorThe winner of I’m A Celebrity Get Me out of here a few years ago.What you probably don’t think of is Liz Ellis the farmer. Liz, her husband of 25 years, Matthew, and their two children live on a farm in between Lismore, Ballina and Byron Bay growing beef cattle. Liz and Matthew bought the land 14 years ago when their professional sporting careers came to an end, Matthew as a former Waratahs rugby union player, and Liz as the captain of the Australian Netball team the Diamonds. Liz’s road to motherhood wasn’t as simple as she had initially thought. After falling pregnant easily with her daughter, Liz thought she’d be able to fall pregnant again with her second child. But after 3 miscarriages and IVF treatment, Liz and Matthew were ready to give up. But then, along came her son, in his own time. On this episode, Liz and I chat about it all - including farming, fertility, motherhood, and menopause. We look forward to sharing more from our autumn sponsor Telstra and their initiatives, programs, helpful tools and changes in regional technology impacting the lives of rural Australian families.  Do you think you know Telstra? To learn more head to: https://www.telstra.com.au/coverage-networks/telstra-regional-australia The Country Women’s Association of NSW has been supporting regional, rural and remote women, children and their communities for over 100 years and they want to keep that voice and diversity of membership strong into the future. Sign-up in April for a reduced rate on membership. Contact your local branch or head to: https://www.cwaofnsw.org.au/join to become a member today. https://www.instagram.com/motherlandaustralia