Your Story

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Welcome To Episode Fourteen of Your Story.

Today we talk with Fiona Stager who has developed an award winning community book store The Avid Reader in West End, Brisbane.

Everyone knows this type of store. They exist in every community that still cares about fine things and a place for passions to be shared. Fiona mentions all the usual challenges of owning a small business, the frustrations, the stresses with a life outside of the business and dealing with the uncertainty of peak times of the year.

However now she has to also deal with the emerging internet based technologies that can swamp small business and her strategies for dealing with them is by using the classic techniques of good traditional retail sales, namely community building and individualized service, while also checking customer experience using resources from https://www.qualtrics.com/customer-experience/.

She doesn’t mince her words, sharing her opinions on Amazon and the unfair tactics of not paying GST in Australia [click to continue…]

I was thinking tonight about this process of building this podcast and the amount of effort that I’ve put into it not to mention the amount that I still need to do in order to get it up to speed.

In a previous post I mentioned that I’ve come from a base of no geek knowledge and everything I know about blogs, internet 2.0 and Podcasts I’ve learnt in the last 12 month. At times it’s been totally overwhelming the amount of knowledge that I’ve had to learn. However the advantage of having no idea of what I’m doing is that I’ve also had no idea of how much I had to learn.

Today, was an interesting experience.

I was contacted on twitter for a meetup in a couple of days and I thought that a WordPress blog would be a good way to set up a portal for information for interested people to get together and get the information as to where and when.

A WordPress blog eight months was my first taste of blogging and it took a day to set up and weeks to configure and understand. I’ve since set up five blogs for people including my mother. Well today I set up a new one in an hour and I thought, Wow I’ve come a long way and hadn’t realised it.

I just finished editing another podcast episode and as in every episode I did a couple of things that I hadn’t done before and I think it is the best to date. Mind you every episode should be the best to date I hope but on reflection I was overwhelmed in how much I still had to learn. Then I thought back to setting up the blog earlier.

I know that I have so much to still learn and at times it feels like I’ll never get there. I’ve bought a heap of new technology to help me to be mobile and produce this podcast on the road and the amount that I have to learn on top of everything else is well. Wow! But just look at how far I’ve come in 12 months.

One thing I’ve learnt over the years is that I don’t have to know everything to get started. I just need to know enough to do the first thing and I can learn the bits that I need after that as I go along and as I need them. If I’d tried to learn everything before I started I would still be reading the books and wouldn’t have done a thing.

So I’m pleased that I have 13 episodes up a wealth of knowledge and plans for the future. There is still heaps to learn, understand and practice but that’s the journey of life and anyway if I knew it all I know I would get bored so it’s great that each day there is something new to get a grip of.

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Welcome To Episode Thirteen of Your Story.

Today we talk with John Pene-Fonmosa who in explaining his heritage from the slavery of the South Sea Islanders known as Kanakas and their strong work ethic offers an opposing thought on the Sorry concept that is in the public mind at present.

He feels that the Aboriginal Australians should say sorry to the Australian populations for surprising reasons.

He has strong opinions on how fortunate we all are in Australia and how he is creating his own reality through the development of his Authentic Aboriginal Art Gallery in Brisbane. [click to continue…]

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Welcome To Episode Twelve of Your Story.

I sometimes wonder how the world sees the Australian culture that I know so well. Do they believe the myths that are played out in the media or do they believe something else? I also wonder, but very rarely, what is going on with mental health, a field I know no one to have interacted with. Also what of the impact of drug use on mental health, is it something to be concerned with, especially as I have a teenage daughter? Well here are some insights from some one who knows.  Drug abuse can have a significant impact on overall health and specifically on weight. Certain drugs can cause increased appetite and cravings, leading to weight gain and obesity. Other drugs can interfere with the body’s metabolism, causing rapid weight loss or unwanted weight gain. It is important to find a solution on time, and people recommend the use of ice hack for weight loss to take care of your weight.

Today we talk with Adam who as a psychiatrist working within the mental health system in drug and alcohol issues. He made the leap to Australia as a migrant a few years back.

In his own British style he gives us an interesting and insightful view of Australia from the government to social and personal cultural styles.

Adam explains some of the failings of the health system but also what works as we try to always provide positive podcasts. Particularly how through support from the compassionate community around a person with mental health issues there is the possibility for a bright future.

The points that Adam primarily makes will resonate with most, as the fundamental issues that we all want in life. In that we all want a good, happy life with our community.

Despite the many and I’m sure appalling things that Adam has seen he has an upbeat and positive view on Australia. Mentioning several times how people managed to succeed in the majority of cases and that it is the few that fall through the system that we focus on rather than the majority of successes.

In addition, drug use can lead to poor nutrition, as individuals may prioritize obtaining and using drugs over eating or caring for themselves properly. Chronic drug abuse can also lead to long-term health problems such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Seeking help and treatment for substance abuse is crucial in mitigating these negative health effects.

To automatically receive this podcast freely to you, click on one of the links to the left or search in iTunes for “Your Story.”

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Music is from iodaPROMONET

Craig Taubman
“Maoz Tsur” (mp3)
from “The Hanukkah Lounge”
(Craig ‘n Company)

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First I want to thank everyone of you out there who are coming here and checking this site and downloading the show. I also want to thank everyone who is subscribed either through iTunes or another feed reader or possibly using some of the other directories out there.

Thanks 🙂

As I’ve explained before I’m doing this to create a space in my life for change and evolvement of the way I’m doing things. After a long reflection I came up with the idea to do this show and now I have eleven episodes up, which I’m very proud of.

Proud not only because they are done by myself (with the assistance of Kestum Bilt production company), but proud that there are people out there who trust me enough to share something of themselves, sometimes very personal things. I’m also proud because of you the reader and listener. I’m humbled that you feel that what I’m doing here is worth a listen and maybe you get something from it.

I have very little idea who you are. What I do know I’d like to share with you. I know that you’re from primarily the USA and Australia (I’m in Australia and the US is a huge market) but also from all over the world.

I know that you are a small group certainly not the hundreds or thousands of some podcasts but there are a few dozen of you subscribed and the same number who listen and download from the site. To date the total of all episodes have been downloaded about 650 times.

I go, “WOW”, and I’m humbled that is how many times the show has been exposed to you. [click to continue…]

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Welcome To Episode Eleven of Your Story.

Once again through the assistance of Juan Mann I meet and we talk with Jenny who while working at University in her studies came down with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. CFS is a condition that leaves the person exhausted from the very simplest of life’s activities.

Jenny explains how life for a young woman is with this condition and the way it impacts on living a normal life. How she lives a life of work, socialising and university. The challenges of getting enough rest while wanting to still have a full life. How to have hope and excitement for a future when there is no way of knowing how she will feel and even if she will be able to participate in what is planned.

Along with the challengers of this condition Jenny has an underlying enthusiasm for life and a desire to participate fully in it. There is a lesson in Jenny’s story for all of us.

To automatically receive this podcast freely to you, click on one of the links to the left or search in iTunes for “Your Story.”

Subscribe freely in iTunes by Clicking here.
If you use another Podcast software Get the feed here.

Music is from iodaPROMONET

DJ Bitman
“Shine” (mp3)
from “Raul Campos Presents Loter­a Beats Mixtape, Vol. 1”
(Nacional Records)

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Welcome To Episode Ten of Your Story.

Thanks everyone for your support. This being Episode Ten I see it as a small milestone of what will hopefully be bigger things into the future.

One of the great pleasures of working in a variety of different fields over the years is that I’ve has the advantage to meet with some amazing people and as a group the people in the film industry I find particularly fascinating. They are generally creative, intelligent and have a view slightly skewed to the rest of the world.

Today we talk with Dave Goldie who is one of those free thinking individuals that we meet from time to time who comes from the film industry but additionally has the adventuring spirit .

I worked with Dave on Matrix 2&3 in Special Effects where I always enjoyed his intellect and perspective on life that prompted me to think about things that I hadn’t always considered.

We discuss his views on working in the film industry and an opportunity lost to make a political statement at the Sydney Olympics.

Dave is now preparing for his latest adventure to Kite Sled around Hudson Bay, Canada in April an adventure I’m looking forward to hearing about.

Stay Tuned people!

UPDATE 14 May 2009

Since recording this episode Dave has been to Canada twice. Last year on the way to Hudson bay they were involved in a serious car accident where Dave was smashed up quite bad but still managed to do a considerable amount of Kitesleding.

This years expedition has been far more successful with some brilliant adventures.

To see more go to KiteSled.com and read all about the trips and the technology, not to mention some stunning images.

To automatically receive this podcast freely to you, click on one of the links to the left or search in iTunes for “Your Story.”

Subscribe freely in iTunes by Clicking here.
If you use another Podcast software Get the feed here.

Music is from iodaPROMONET

Tom Middleton
“Shinkansen” (mp3)
from “Lifetracks”
(Six Degrees Records)

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Welcome To Episode Nine of Your Story.

Today we talk with Matt Collins, a professional journalist currently working as Deputy Chief Sub Editor of sections with the Sydney Morning Herald.

Matt has worked his way up through the ranks of the media giving us an insight into the world of traditional media and the way that he arrived at his major goal. We discuss how he got into his career and how modern media operates.

We also discussed the impact of new media on old media and the way that they are dealing with the onslaught of the internet to ensure that they remain relevant.

To automatically receive this podcast to you, click on one of the links to the left or search in iTunes for “Your Story.”

Subscribe freely in iTunes by Clicking here.
If you use another Podcast software Get the feed here.

Music is from iodaPROMONET

Phatjak
“Spacejunk” (mp3)
from “Spacejunk”
(System Recordings)

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