Enjoyed this and want to let us know? Drop us a text A listener wrote in feeling completely torn apart by the weight of expectations. Family expectations, societal expectations, and the brutal “shoulds” we place on ourselves. In this How Are You Really? episode of Big Stuff, Danielle unpacks what it costs us when we say yes to someone else’s vision… and no to our own. Whether your dream is travelling the world, changing careers, choosing not to have kids, leaving a relationship, studying late...
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Enjoyed this and want to let us know? Drop us a text A listener wrote in feeling completely torn apart by the weight of expectations. Family expectations, societal expectations, and the brutal “shoulds” we place on ourselves. In this How Are You Really? episode of Big Stuff, Danielle unpacks what it costs us when we say yes to someone else’s vision… and no to our own. Whether your dream is travelling the world, changing careers, choosing not to have kids, leaving a relationship, studying late...
Enjoyed this and want to let us know? Drop us a text A listener wrote in feeling completely torn apart by the weight of expectations. Family expectations, societal expectations, and the brutal “shoulds” we place on ourselves. In this How Are You Really? episode of Big Stuff, Danielle unpacks what it costs us when we say yes to someone else’s vision… and no to our own. Whether your dream is travelling the world, changing careers, choosing not to have kids, leaving a relationship, studying late...
Enjoyed this and want to let us know? Drop us a text Jordana Borensztajn, a comedian, communication expert and mentalist, joins the show to share how her most humiliating moments became the fuel for her career. From bombing so badly on a cruise ship that an elderly passenger told her to get off while she was still at sea, to being escorted off Facebook’s campus in a giant Like costume, Jordana reveals how comedy, curiosity and creativity helped her transform embarrassment into influence and r...
Enjoyed this and want to let us know? Drop us a text In this deeply personal episode recorded only weeks after her mother’s death through voluntary assisted dying, Danielle shares the raw reality of grief, far beyond the familiar sadness people expect. She opens up about dissociation at work events, emotional numbness, and the biological impact of loss on the brain and body, from the amygdala to the mitochondria. This conversation explores what grief actually feels like, why it isn’t linear, ...
Enjoyed this and want to let us know? Drop us a text In this powerful episode divorce coach and founder of Women's Divorce Academy, Carolyn Tate, shares the heartbreaking yet inspiring journey of supporting her son Connor through a life-threatening crisis that ultimately revealed his truth which changed their lives forever. Carolyn and host, Danielle Colley, explore the reality of parenting through fear, confusion, and impossible choices where trusting your child matters more than fully...
Enjoyed this and want to let us know? Drop us a text What happens when you stop apologising for your choices with one tiny word? Lisa Schweighoffer went from saying "I'm just a stay-at-home mom" to co-founding Boost Lab, the irreverent skincare brand that's disrupting beauty by refusing to take itself too seriously. In this raw conversation, Lisa shares how just one single word was shrinking her presence and what it was like to build an international business after 10 years at home with...
Enjoyed this and want to let us know? Drop us a text Trigger warning: Episode discusses death, grief and choosing to die. This is part two of a series. If you haven't listened to Episode 12 where I first introduced you to my mum Carolyn and her decision to pursue voluntary assisted death, start there. On the 11th October, we threw my mum the living wake of the century. It was supposed to be four months before she died. We had time. We had plans. Then that night, she couldn't breathe. ...
Enjoyed this and want to let us know? Drop us a text Two months before her wedding, Dr. Phoebe Rogers, a clinical psychologist and couples therapist and she was having secret panic attacks. Every time she pictured herself saying “I do,” she imagined herself bolting from the altar instead. She almost went through with it anyway, because sometimes the voice whispering “at least someone loves you” can drown out the one shouting “this isn’t right.” In this raw, vulnerable, and inspiring con...
Enjoyed this and want to let us know? Drop us a text What happens when the thing you've built your entire life around suddenly disappears? Cooper Chapman was a top 100 professional surfer living what looked like the dream, traveling the world, sponsored by major brands, representing his country since age 14. But beneath the surface, his self-worth was being affected on a deeper level. Every competition result, every sponsorship deal, every sticker on his surfboard determined whether he felt w...
Enjoyed this and want to let us know? Drop us a text A listener’s raw confession stopped me in my tracks: “I know I’m not worthy because I fuck up.” She’s paying off $100K in debt, thriving at work, and being an amazing mom yet she wouldn’t let her daughters speak to themselves the way she speaks to herself. In this episode, we unpack the cruelest lie we tell ourselves: that self-worth needs to be earned, can be lost, or is up for debate. You’ll learn why those “not good enough” beliefs aren’...
Enjoyed this and want to let us know? Drop us a text Danielle’s beloved mother, Carolyn Colley, has lived with multiple sclerosis for 35 years. Now facing imminent respiratory and renal failure, she's been granted voluntary assisted death in New South Wales and she's happier than she's been in years. Not because she’s given up, but because after decades of being in surrender to her body making the decisions, she finally gets to make a choice for herself. In this deeply personal c...
Enjoyed this and want to let us know? Drop us a text When Andy Whitfield died at 39 from cancer, his widow Vashti faced an impossible question: How do you survive profound loss while raising two young children alone? In this deeply honest conversation about grief, solo parenting, and personal transformation, Vashti Whitfield shares how she turned devastating loss into meaningful legacy work. Vashti Whitfield is a transformational facilitator, executive coach, and filmmaker who co-created th...
Enjoyed this and want to let us know? Drop us a text Does it ever feel like you’re the only one doing the emotional work in your relationship? This episode dives into the emotional labor imbalance that shows up when one partner is growing, healing, and evolving — while the other stays the same. This is the personal growth gap that can leave you feeling like you’re in a one-sided relationship or slowly growing apart. Life coach Danielle Colley explores “the emotional gap” in relationships — wh...
Enjoyed this and want to let us know? Drop us a text This powerful episode features Preston O'Brien, a men's mental health advocate and founder of Every Sunday Motorcycle Collective (so you don’t kill yourself between Monday and Saturday) and The Triumphant Man. He’s sharing his journey from childhood sexual abuse survivor to drug dealer to advocate for doing the big work that allows deep healing. But he’s also sharing more than that, twenty years ago, Preston lived a dangerous double life th...
Enjoyed this and want to let us know? Drop us a text Casey Beros had interviewed hundreds of medical experts and built her career teaching people how to navigate healthcare. But when her father was diagnosed with terminal mesothelioma (asbestos cancer), all her professional expertise meant nothing when she was sobbing in a hospital corridor at 2 AM. In this raw and powerful conversation, Casey shares her journey of caring for her father through his final two and a half years, the return of hi...
Enjoyed this and want to let us know? Drop us a text Three years ago I thought I was losing my mind—snappy with my family, flat in my business, and waking up with zero desire to face the day. What I didn’t know then was that perimenopause had turned up the volume on something I’d been living with all along: ADHD. In this episode of Big Stuff, I share the real story of how I finally got diagnosed at 47, why so many women slip through the cracks, and how hormones can unmask ADHD in midlife. I’l...
Enjoyed this and want to let us know? Drop us a text What would you do if offered the adventure of a lifetime - knowing you could never come home again? Dr. Dianne McGrath said yes. Out of 200,000 applicants worldwide, she made it to the final 100 candidates for Mars One - a one-way mission to colonize Mars. For eight years, Dianne prepared to leave Earth forever, knowing she'd never see her family again. This is the story of what happens when you stop asking "Am I qualified?" and start askin...
Enjoyed this and want to let us know? Drop us a text If you're hiding in your car in a supermarket car park stealing five minutes of peace, this How Are You Really? episode is just for you. Welcome to what Danielle is calling "The Sausage Mincer of Midlife" - that brutal life stage where you're finally winning at work just as your teenagers turn feral and your parents need more support than ever. It's when everything demands 100% of your attention but you're maxed out at 60% because that's li...
Enjoyed this and want to let us know? Drop us a text What do you do when you have a burning dream, two kids depending on you, and absolutely no safety net? You ship it anyway. Jessica Mudditt knows a thing or two about backing yourself when the stakes are high. As a journalist who spent a decade navigating international media across London, Bangladesh, and Myanmar—including being the only foreign journalist at a propaganda newspaper during Myanmar's most politically volatile period—Jess has f...
Enjoyed this and want to let us know? Drop us a text How Are You Really? From blackout drunk at 14 to four months alcohol-free at 49 - this isn't your typical sobriety story. Hell, she's not even sure if she's sober. This episode of Big Stuff asks How Are You Really? about Danielle's complicated relationship with alcohol, from teenage rebellion to mummy wine culture to perimenopause reality checks. Danielle explores the socially acceptable way we've been taught to cope with everyt...
Enjoyed this and want to let us know? Drop us a text Six years ago, my friend Carolyn was a successful TV executive who liked to blend into the background. Then she lost every single hair on her body to alopecia - and it forced her to become the most confident version of herself she'd ever been. Carolyn Ozkoseoglu is the Vice President of Sales and Distribution at Sony Pictures Television, working in an industry notoriously obsessed with appearance. When Alopecia Universalis stripped away eve...
Enjoyed this and want to let us know? Drop us a text A listener wrote in feeling completely torn apart by the weight of expectations. Family expectations, societal expectations, and the brutal “shoulds” we place on ourselves. In this How Are You Really? episode of Big Stuff, Danielle unpacks what it costs us when we say yes to someone else’s vision… and no to our own. Whether your dream is travelling the world, changing careers, choosing not to have kids, leaving a relationship, studying late...
