Everyday Humans. Extraordinary Impact.

Financial Freedom for Single Mums

Some movements are born from strategy. Others are born from fire. Lioness Den is both.   In this episode, Mel sits down with Jenna Wilson and Rachael McKenzie - two women who have turned lived experience, professional grit, and a fierce sense of justice into a movement reshaping what’s possible for single mothers across Australia.   Jenna, the founder of Lioness Den, has built a community and social-impact organisation that challenges one of society’s quietest crises: the housing insecurity, financial exclusion, and systemic invisibility faced by single mums. Her work is grounded in dignity, agency, and long-term stability, ensuring women are not just supported, but empowered to step into economic participation and generational change.   Alongside her is Rachael, whose journey from high-level corporate leadership in London to becoming a voice for women’s financial confidence is as raw as it is powerful. Once known as “The Boss” in male‑dominated boardrooms, she has rebuilt her life and leadership around authenticity, emotional intelligence, and feminine strength.   Together, Jenna and Rachael have launched Lioness Loans - an all‑female team of mortgage brokers, money coaches, and housing specialists dedicated to helping single mums access home ownership with clarity, confidence, and the right information at the right time. Their mission is simple but revolutionary: remove barriers, rewrite narratives, and ensure no woman walks this path alone.   This conversation goes deep into their stories, their purpose, and the movement they’re building - one that recognises the strength of single mothers and the power of community to change futures.   Get ready to meet the Lionesses. Home - Lioness Den [https://lionessden.com.au/] On behalf of the Hair Therapist we acknowledge the Turrbal and Jagera people, the traditional custodians of the land on which this podcast is produced.   The topics in this podcast are of general nature, we are not licensed professionals, so if any of the content brings up anything for you, please turn it off and reach out for support:   Lifeline Australia - 13 11 14 - Crisis Support. Suicide Prevention. [https://www.lifeline.org.au/] 13YARN - Call 13 92 76 | 24 /7 Crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders [https://www.13yarn.org.au/] Home | 1800RESPECT [https://www.1800respect.org.au/] National Domestic and Sexual Violence Counselling Service Kids Helpline | Phone Counselling Service | 1800 55 1800 [https://kidshelpline.com.au/] Ask Izzy [https://askizzy.org.au/] Search over 450,000 support services   CREDITS: Host: Melissa Alsemgeest Guests: Rachael McKenzie & Jenna Wilson Editor: Robert Alsemgeest   GET IN TOUCH:       https://linktr.ee/InfectiousBehaviour [https://linktr.ee/InfectiousBehaviour] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

When Life Doesn’t Follow the Script

Today’s guest is powerful, polished, and razor‑sharp, but beneath the success is a woman who has walked through heartbreak, survival, reinvention, toxic relationships, divorce, resilience, and the gritty, unglamorous work of rebuilding a life from the ground up.   Belinda J Shaw is an author, speaker, coach, stylist, and the President of Professional Speakers Australia QLD/NT. She’s also a fierce advocate for women over 55 who are facing homelessness, invisibility, and the quiet erasure that happens in communities that don’t always know how to value aging women. Her work spans personal transformation, style as identity, and the deeper emotional landscapes women navigate as they move through life’s most confronting chapters.   This isn’t just about style, success, or speaking stages - well, maybe a little. This is about what happens when life strips everything back: marriages ending, identity shifting, moving back in with your mum, starting again when you thought you were already “there,” and learning how to keep putting one foot in front of the other when the plan you had for your life dissolves overnight.   It’s a conversation about resilience, reinvention, womanhood, aging, visibility, and the quiet battles so many women carry behind closed doors. Belinda brings honesty, humour, and hard‑won wisdom - the kind that only comes from living through the fire and choosing, again and again, to rise.   Settle in. This one is real, raw, and deeply human. Belinda Shaw [https://belindajshaw.com/#] The Becoming of Wisdom: From fragmented to free : Shaw, Belinda: Amazon.com.au: Books [https://www.amazon.com.au/Becoming-Wisdom-fragmented-free/dp/0648752704] Belinda J Shaw - Lifestyle Architect - Professional Speakers Australia - PSA | LinkedIn [https://au.linkedin.com/in/belindajshaw]   On behalf of the Hair Therapist we acknowledge the Turrbal and Jagera people, the traditional custodians of the land on which this podcast is produced.   The topics in this podcast are of general nature, we are not licensed professionals, so if any of the content brings up anything for you, please turn it off and reach out for support:   Lifeline Australia - 13 11 14 - Crisis Support. Suicide Prevention. [https://www.lifeline.org.au/] 13YARN - Call 13 92 76 | 24 /7 Crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders [https://www.13yarn.org.au/] Home | 1800RESPECT [https://www.1800respect.org.au/] National Domestic and Sexual Violence Counselling Service Kids Helpline | Phone Counselling Service | 1800 55 1800 [https://kidshelpline.com.au/] Ask Izzy [https://askizzy.org.au/] Search over 450,000 support services     CREDITS: Host: Melissa Alsemgeest Guest: Belinda J Shaw Editor: Robert Alsemgeest   GET IN TOUCH:       https://linktr.ee/InfectiousBehaviour [https://linktr.ee/InfectiousBehaviour] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Punk Rocker Chef Paramedic Author Part 2

Some lives read like a novel you can’t put down - chaotic, funny, raw, and unexpectedly profound. Scott Lamond’s story is exactly that. Growing up in the wild western suburbs of Melbourne, his childhood was anything but quiet. He and his mates spent their days mischievously exploring the neighbourhood, building skate ramps, riding boards, and making noise in punk bands. He was kicked out of three schools before he turned fifteen, labelled a “little turd” and tossed into the “too hard basket.” But that restless energy, that spark, just needed the right direction.   And when Scott found cooking, everything changed.   What followed is a life lived at full throttle. From kitchens in Paris, London, Ireland and Canada, to a stint on a rogue fishing boat that accidentally kidnapped him to Alaska, Scott carved out a career defined by curiosity, grit, and a refusal to sit still. Then, in a twist only he could pull off, he went back to uni, became a paramedic, and spent years working around the world. From the Paralympics in London to offshore search and rescue with the AFP and Navy, to mines, festivals, rodeos, and remote Australian communities.   He’s a traveller, a storyteller, a collector of tattoos and experiences, a man who has spent 15 years crossing continents by motorcycle and finding home in unexpected places - especially a tiny cabin in Kinsale, Ireland, where he writes, swims in freezing water, and drinks good coffee.   Today, Scott joins Mel to talk about the tumultuous beginnings that shaped him, the mischief that fuelled him, the careers that saved him, and the adventures that continue to define him. This is a conversation about storms, safe harbours, and the kind of life you build when you refuse to be boxed in. Horatio Jones | Book - The Tales & Troubles of Horatio Jones and His continuing Sadness [https://horatio-jones.com.au/] On behalf of the Hair Therapist we acknowledge the Turrbal and Jagera people, the traditional custodians of the land on which this podcast is produced.   The topics in this podcast are of general nature, we are not licensed professionals, so if any of the content brings up anything for you, please turn it off and reach out for support:   Lifeline Australia - 13 11 14 - Crisis Support. Suicide Prevention. [https://www.lifeline.org.au/] 13YARN - Call 13 92 76 | 24 /7 Crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders [https://www.13yarn.org.au/] Home | 1800RESPECT [https://www.1800respect.org.au/] National Domestic and Sexual Violence Counselling Service Kids Helpline | Phone Counselling Service | 1800 55 1800 [https://kidshelpline.com.au/] Ask Izzy [https://askizzy.org.au/] Search over 450,000 support services     CREDITS: Host: Melissa Alsemgeest Guest: Scott Douglas Editor: Robert Alsemgeest   GET IN TOUCH:       https://linktr.ee/InfectiousBehaviour [https://linktr.ee/InfectiousBehaviour]   ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Punk Rocker Chef Paramedic Author Part 1

Some lives read like a novel you can’t put down - chaotic, funny, raw, and unexpectedly profound. Scott Lamond’s story is exactly that. Growing up in the wild western suburbs of Melbourne, his childhood was anything but quiet. He and his mates spent their days mischievously exploring the neighbourhood, building skate ramps, riding boards, and making noise in punk bands. He was kicked out of three schools before he turned fifteen, labelled a “little turd” and tossed into the “too hard basket.” But that restless energy, that spark, just needed the right direction.   And when Scott found cooking, everything changed.   What followed is a life lived at full throttle. From kitchens in Paris, London, Ireland and Canada, to a stint on a rogue fishing boat that accidentally kidnapped him to Alaska, Scott carved out a career defined by curiosity, grit, and a refusal to sit still. Then, in a twist only he could pull off, he went back to uni, became a paramedic, and spent years working around the world. From the Paralympics in London to offshore search and rescue with the AFP and Navy, to mines, festivals, rodeos, and remote Australian communities.   He’s a traveller, a storyteller, a collector of tattoos and experiences, a man who has spent 15 years crossing continents by motorcycle and finding home in unexpected places - especially a tiny cabin in Kinsale, Ireland, where he writes, swims in freezing water, and drinks good coffee.   Today, Scott joins Mel to talk about the tumultuous beginnings that shaped him, the mischief that fuelled him, the careers that saved him, and the adventures that continue to define him. This is a conversation about storms, safe harbours, and the kind of life you build when you refuse to be boxed in. Horatio Jones | Book - The Tales & Troubles of Horatio Jones and His continuing Sadness [https://horatio-jones.com.au/] On behalf of the Hair Therapist we acknowledge the Turrbal and Jagera people, the traditional custodians of the land on which this podcast is produced.   The topics in this podcast are of general nature, we are not licensed professionals, so if any of the content brings up anything for you, please turn it off and reach out for support:   Lifeline Australia - 13 11 14 - Crisis Support. Suicide Prevention. [https://www.lifeline.org.au/] 13YARN - Call 13 92 76 | 24 /7 Crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders [https://www.13yarn.org.au/] Home | 1800RESPECT [https://www.1800respect.org.au/] National Domestic and Sexual Violence Counselling Service Kids Helpline | Phone Counselling Service | 1800 55 1800 [https://kidshelpline.com.au/] Ask Izzy [https://askizzy.org.au/] Search over 450,000 support services     CREDITS: Host: Melissa Alsemgeest Guest: Scott Douglas Editor: Robert Alsemgeest   GET IN TOUCH:       https://linktr.ee/InfectiousBehaviour [https://linktr.ee/InfectiousBehaviour] ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.

Women’s Choices Shouldn’t Be Controversial

In this episode, Mel sits down with Shelby Mahoney, Intake Coordinator at Children by Choice - Queensland’s leading pro‑choice, all‑options pregnancy support service. Shelby is often the very first voice people hear when they reach out for help, and she brings a rare blend of compassion, clarity, and deep sector knowledge to one of the most complex and misunderstood areas of healthcare: reproductive rights.   Across this conversation, Shelby opens a window into the real work happening behind the scenes at Children by Choice, from non‑judgmental pregnancy options counselling, to navigating abortion access, reproductive coercion, contraception, and the systemic barriers that still shape people’s choices today. She shares what it means to support thousands of women and pregnant people each year through moments of uncertainty, crisis, and profound vulnerability, and how the organisation continues to advocate for autonomy, safety, and evidence‑based care across Queensland.   Shelby also reflects on the challenges past and present, from the legacy of abortion’s criminalisation to the ongoing need for safe access, community education, and trauma‑informed support. It’s a grounded, human conversation about the realities of reproductive health work, the emotional labour of intake, and the power of meeting people exactly where they are.   If you’ve ever wondered what reproductive rights look like on the front line, this episode brings you right into the heart of it. Pregnancy Support & Reproductive Health Service | Children by Choice [https://www.childrenbychoice.org.au/] Children by Choice (@childrenbychoice) • Instagram photos and videos [https://www.instagram.com/childrenbychoice/] Children by Choice | Brisbane QLD | Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/childrenbychoice/] Children by Choice | LinkedIn [https://au.linkedin.com/company/children-by-choice] On behalf of the Hair Therapist we acknowledge the Turrbal and Jagera people, the traditional custodians of the land on which this podcast is produced.   The topics in this podcast are of general nature, we are not licensed professionals, so if any of the content brings up anything for you, please turn it off and reach out for support:   Lifeline Australia - 13 11 14 - Crisis Support. Suicide Prevention. [https://www.lifeline.org.au/] 13YARN - Call 13 92 76 | 24 /7 Crisis support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders [https://www.13yarn.org.au/] Home | 1800RESPECT [https://www.1800respect.org.au/] National Domestic and Sexual Violence Counselling Service Kids Helpline | Phone Counselling Service | 1800 55 1800 [https://kidshelpline.com.au/] Ask Izzy [https://askizzy.org.au/] Search over 450,000 support services     CREDITS: Host: Melissa Alsemgeest Guest: Shelby Mahoney Editor: Robert Alsemgeest   GET IN TOUCH:       https://linktr.ee/InfectiousBehaviour [https://linktr.ee/InfectiousBehaviour]   ---------------------------------------- Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy [https://acast.com/privacy] for more information.