The Remarkableness Podcast

Yemi Penn is a British born Nigerian living in Sydney, Australia. She is an Engineer by profession, an entrepreneur by passion, and mindset transformation coach by mission. Yemi currently runs four successful businesses, is the author of the book, “Did You Get the Memo?”, has recently presented a TEDx talk in Florida and been interviewed by best-selling author Jack Canfield. Yemi has also recently released her first documentary titled ‘Did I Choose My Trauma?’ This short documentary follows her experience of childhood abuse into adulthood and is integrated with the knowledge and insight of leading therapists and healers. In this podcast, Yemi talks about her culture and background and how she broke away from family expectations. She shares how the trauma she experienced as a 7 year old has moved her around the world and how acknowledging in her 30s that her power was taken from her as a child and the long term effect of that, has fuelled her mission to help heal trauma in others. Dedicated to change, Yemi discusses how she empowers others to find their purpose by looking at not just what brings them joy but also what causes them pain. She has learned that our pain points are so often linked to our mission and a catalyst for our desire to see change in the world. Yemi’s next project is a full-length documentary about trauma, drawing from the experiences of people from different cultures and backgrounds to highlight, on a global scale, the importance of healing and understanding of the effects of trauma.

Romny is an internationally trained and professionally registered Art Therapist committed to empowering growth through resilience and creativity. Her practice is based in Sydney’s North. She has extensive experience working with people under a range of circumstances from clients with health concerns, to people suffering from social or interpersonal issues. Romny also teaches art to adults with disabilities and acquired brain injury, guiding them through the therapy itself as well as co-curating exhibitions, allowing them to showcase their work and reflect on their progress. She additionally facilitates corporate workshops to promote creative thinking and employee wellness and helps run international art therapy retreats with Artful Retreats. In this podcast, Romny explains the difference between art as therapy and art therapy. She shares her passion for her work, the wonderful outlet art therapy provides and the many benefits she sees in her clients. She also discusses the profound effect creativity has on the brain and what it brings to people’s lives and their well-being.

Carmen Marshall is the founder of the Soul Craft™ line of modern-spirited educational programs, products, courses, gifts, and wisdom to help you create a life you (really, actually) love—while earning great money and, yes, figuring out how to have it all. Based on her distinctive body of work that focuses on a unique east-meets-west approach, Carmen is a fierce advocate for designing your work around your lifestyle, and teaches women from around the world how to craft their souls—and their pocketbooks. Carmen currently lives in Maui and Bali. In this podcast, Carmen talks about growing up with an entrepreneurial mindset and her love of travel. She shares the path she took before making the decision to take her work ethic and use it to build her own business. Carmen discusses the challenges she faced and shares some thoughts and advice for those who may be looking to start their own business together with the skills and mindset she feels are necessary. Carmen stresses the absolute importance of finding ways to incorporate doing what one loves into creating a successful business long term and how to start working towards that to uncover one’s passions and purpose. She also shares some valuable business and lifestyle habits she practises daily to stay focused, healthy and joyful.

Growing up on fast food and pharmaceuticals in Southern California, and continuing on with a fit but unhealthy lifestyle as an airman in the U.S. Air Force, Joshua Rasco fortunately discovered meditation and a whole new world of natural health and complementary therapies beginning in 1997. Since then he has been inspired to help others discover and bring about a greater sense of well-being and natural health in their own lives. Joshua practises Bowen Therapy, Craniosacral Therapy, teaches meditation classes and offers Bioptron Light Therapy at the Wholebeing Health Centre in Roseville, Sydney. He is also the former President of the Bowen Association of Australia. In this podcast, Joshua talks about his own search for a greater sense of emotional and spiritual well-being whilst travelling the world in the US Air Force, leading to his decision to move to Australia and becoming a Bowen practitioner. He explains what Bowen Therapy is, how it works and the benefits it can have on multiple health conditions. Joshua also shares his love for teaching meditation and how his classes differ from many others. He discusses ways to maintain our emotional and physical well-being and his desire to help bring that peaceful meditative state into our daily lives.

Rachael is a massage therapist, singing teacher and opera singer. Not a combination you often see together, but after years of singing professionally, she enrolled in a massage course and fell in love with bodywork - in fact she loved it as much as singing! Rachael then realised she could combine her two passions by becoming an expert in vocal massage, the neck, head and jaw areas, and postural alignment for excellent breath work. In this way, she offers solutions to other singers, people suffering from pain and tension in these areas and those struggling with vocal problems. In this podcast, Rachael discusses her love for music and singing and the powerful physical, as well as emotional, benefits that singing can have. She talks about how common it is that adults who have been silenced as children and told they can’t sing often carry a strong desire to find their singing voice again and how she helps them to do that. Rachael talks about the amazing work she does for people with vocal injuries including opera and rock singers, and the need for greater awareness in many other professions where strain is put on the voice of the importance for regular checks with speech pathologists and more self-care.

Yenie was born in Vietnam and, at the age of one, became ill with polio. Despite being left unable to walk without support and, ultimately, bound to a wheelchair, Yenie has led a very physically active life. Yenie came to Australia at the age of 14 and started playing many sports whilst attending Bossley Park High School. Becoming extremely good at wheelchair racing, Yenie was all set to go to Beijing as part of the Australian Paralympic team when she had a major setback resulting in an operation on her knee. In this podcast, Yenie talks about growing up surrounded by a loving family and friends who supported her, her love of sport and her disappointment and depression after being forced to drop out of the Beijing Paralympics. Yenie is now an independent associate with USANA Health Sciences and is on a mission to support others with their health and wellbeing and to inspire young people through sharing her story.

Heather is an experienced adventurer who has hiked, kayaked and biked in Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Leaving her job and home in Sydney for six months, Heather hiked the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada in 2018. Having never hiked for longer than 5 days, the opportunity to hike the Pacific Crest Trail in America for 6 months excited Heather as she learnt the skills and built the strength to become a successful thru-hiker. In this podcast, Heather talks about the challenges and joys of hiking 4,265 km over 177 days. She discusses the relief and sense of freedom she felt being removed from social media and outside influences, and being able to ‘just be herself’. Heather shares how she coped in extreme conditions and the acts of human kindness she experienced and witnessed along the trail. She also discusses how important she believes it is for everyone to challenge themselves in some way to really find out what they are capable of as human beings.

Jackie is a Certified Jamu Practitioner specialising in Post Natal Binding, Wrapping and Jamu Massage in the sanctuary of the mum’s home post birth. She is also a qualified Paediatric Infant Massage Instructor and Consultant. Her passion and focus lie with nurturing and caring for mums post birth so they can look after themselves, family and the new baby. She also focuses on maternal anxiety and post-natal depression within mums and reflux / colic / constipation within babies. Jackie’s business is called Nurture by Touch. She is a qualified Clinical Aromatherapist, Reflexologist, Massage Therapist and a Health & Skin Care Therapist. She holds a Masters of Marketing Management Degree and has been in roles ranging from Project Director for a Spa Design & Consultancy Firm in London, International Business Development Manager (EMEA), Spa Development Manager, Sales, Marketing and Training roles within the Spa, Health & Skin Care Industries. Jackie has a son and was privileged to experience the ancient ritual of Jamu care in Singapore where her son was born. In this podcast, Jackie discusses what inspired her to create Nurture by Touch and why she believes this kind of support is so important for new mums. She also talks about her own experience with postal-natal depression and shares some of her learning about possible causes.

Dawn is a pain transformation coach and a pain management specialist. She has recently had her story published in Living Your True Story, a collection of inspiring chapters showcasing individual success and achievement and been nominated as a finalist in the Change Maker 2018 Altitude Awards. Dawn lived with years of abuse at home and a pattern of being told her chronic pain was imaginary, which finally culminated in her being diagnosed with acute ulcerative colitis when she was 21. Though Dawn had to learn to walk again, and later faced a number of other serious health challenges and depression, she never gave up and realised there had to be a better way to deal with her pain, start doing the things she loved again and enjoy loving relationships with her husband and little boy. In this podcast, Dawn talks about how, after 15 years of research, she overcame her addiction to painkillers, her hopelessness and lack of self worth. She discusses how incredibly debilitating constant pain can be and how important it is not to give up hope. Today, Dawn is pain free and is helping her clients combat and better manage chronic pain using techniques she discovered and learned to use on herself with great success.

Liz completed her Yoga teacher training in 2003 and since this time has been teaching yoga in her studio at Pymble, on the North Shore of Sydney. Yoga classes became a method of finding “the quiet” that Liz needed to re-energise and find clarity while she was working in the hectic and fast moving hospitality industry in her twenties. During the last 13 years since graduating from the IYTA Teacher Training Course Liz has followed the teachings of Judith Hanson Laster, TVK Desikachar, Kausthube Desikachar, Donna Farhi, Dr Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani and she acknowledges her colleagues and peers in the IYTA (including her teacher Margaret North who encouraged her to participate in further yoga studies) of which she believes provide such a great source of knowledge and wisdom. Liz spent 4 years teaching Asana and class planning as part of the YTA Teacher Training course and believes very much in sharing knowledge, providing honest and loving encouragement to students by mentoring and helping them to grow and develop their own yoga journey. In 2014 Liz completed the IYTA Advanced graduate diploma Yoga, which has further enriched her Yoga training. Liz is a member of the IYTA and a Committee of Management Member and also a member of YA (Yoga Australia) and is absolutely convinced that yoga is the path to happiness, contentment and a healthy mind, body and soul. In this podcast, Liz discusses how she moved from the world of hectic kitchens and hospitality to the calmer realm of yoga and the realisation that yoga is much more than just a physical practice. She shares her love for teaching yoga and the multiple benefits of a regular practice for the body, the breath, the mind and the soul.