Get Off The Bench Podcast – Détails, épisodes et analyse

This week I spent 2 days at a Changemaker workshop facilitated by the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation. It was challenging but in the most wonderful way. I had a lovely realisation when my ‘list of things I need as a changemaker’ made it clear that it’s all about the journey.

I also found out a life changing secret about the humble sticky note!

This episode includes a conversation between Sophie and Mike as they review my book ‘Get Off The Bench’ and pull out the key insights. Frankly, I’d forgotten how much juicy stuff was in this book since writing it in 2019. But there’s a kicker… you’ll have to listen to find out!

Full of wonderful little gems and one great big surprise at the end!

I'm Ben, a passionate motivational speaker and entrepreneur dedicated to inspiring others to overcome adversity, especially those facing disabilities. My journey is one of resilience and triumph, and I'm committed to sharing the lessons I've learned along the way. 

As someone who understands the challenges of living with a disability firsthand, I advocate for disability employment and rights while providing practical advice and support to individuals and organisations alike.

Through my motivational speaking engagements, I aim to empower audiences with the tools and mindset needed to conquer obstacles and achieve their goals. Additionally, I am deeply involved in disability advocacy, working tirelessly to promote inclusivity and accessibility in all aspects of life.

One of my missions is to provide enriching day program activities that foster personal growth and fulfilment for individuals with disabilities. By creating supportive environments and offering innovative programming, I strive to enhance the quality of life for those I serve.

Overall, my goal is to reshape perceptions, break down barriers, and uplift communities worldwide. Join me on this journey of empowerment and transformation as we strive to create a more inclusive and supportive society for all.

Socials

Website: https://corcoranenterprises.com.au/

LinkedIn: Ben Corcoran

FB: Corcoran Enterprises

Insta: Corcoran Enterprises @corcoran_enterprise

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Jordan Wylie is an international bestselling author, award winning adventurer and one of the stars of Channel 4’s BAFTA-nominated shows Hunted and Celebrity Hunted. He is also currently the United Kingdom’s national ambassador for the Army Cadet Force.

Jordan grew up on one of the largest council estates in the country in Blackpool, Lancashire. After a few brushes with the law at an early age, some harsh lessons learnt and having left school with no qualifications, Jordan talk the life-changing decision to join the British Army at 16 years old and has never looked back since.

Jordan has an exemplary military service record which saw him dedicate 10 years to Queen and country. He saw operational service in Northern Ireland and Iraq where he specialised in military intelligence, close reconnaissance and armoured warfare. Jordan spent much of his spare time as a soldier playing football and studying, he left the military proudly having represented the British Army as a player and coach and having obtained a foundation degree, Bachelors degree and Masters degree in the field of Security and Risk Management.

On leaving the Army, Jordan entered the world of Maritime Security, making headlines after armed Somali pirates boarded a ship that he was tasked with protecting. As the onboard security team leader, Jordan found himself in charge and forced to make critical decisions for the safety of his crew. It was this period of his life and unique experiences that led Jordan to write “Citadel: The True Story of One Man’s War Against the Pirates of Somalia”, which became a Sunday Times bestseller (general paperbacks) on publication.

Jordan has had a thirst for adventure and the great outdoors since he was a young boy but after having a mental breakdown in late 2015 with a diagnosis of severe depression and chronic anxiety, he has since dedicated himself to using the power of purpose and the spirit of adventure to have a positive impact in the world and the lives of others, especially the next generation.

Jordan is respected as a multi-discipline adventurer around the world and has set and broken several official world records whilst raising over one million pounds in the process for charitable and good causes including delivering a school from concept to completion and opening on the Horn of Africa.

Jordan is a proud patron, trustee, ambassador and volunteer of several charities. He is also the author of 4 books, two of which have been bestsellers in both the UK and US. Jordan is a regular commentator on Sky News and an accomplished keynote conference speaker.

Jordan lives by his own mantra of “Be The Difference That Makes A Difference”…

Socials:

Website: https://www.jordanwylie.org/

LinkedIn: Jordan Wylie

Insta: JORDAN WYLIE @mrjordanwylie

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Known across the region as a little ball of joy and energy! Arianna Fox may come in a small package, but her ideas are as revolutionary as they are wide-reaching. For several years now, Arianna has devoted her life and much of her time to reaching out to others to spread messages of hope, inspiration, and self-confidence. Making a positive impact upon others and helping them rock their lives to maximum potential is part of this upcoming Kidpreneur’s goal for her interactions with kids, her fellow tweens, teens, adults, and all.

With her kid-tastic kapow speaking style and her ability to engage audiences of all ages, it’s easy to understand how Arianna has been able to raise her platform from her humble hometown in Delaware to a wide network online.

She is a National Award winner with the acclaimed NFPW (National Federation of Press Women), and Multi Award winner with the DPA (Delaware Press Association). She’s also a professional Voice-over actress & talent, performing for online commercial ads, web series and professional commercials.

In addition to this, Arianna has been interviewed and featured by many media outlets and is a regular contributor for award winning nationally published K.I.S.H. Magazine. An avid consumer of literature, Arianna first took pen to the page around the age of six and has been unstoppable ever since. Her first publication, a novel The Princess Chronicles: Not Your Average Princesses, was released in early 2017, teaching young children how to build their own character, confidence, and to create lasting friendships. Her new book, a young adult novel titled False Awakening, has been published and a hot item, including a knock-out book signing event at Barnes & Noble Bookstore in Newark, Delaware. Her latest book is ‘Sabre Black’.

A social media sensation, Arianna has consulted and taught professionals how to build their networks and platforms effectively. In her own family business, SPLASH DESIGNWORKS LLC, she proudly works as Jr. Marketing Director and has also taken on the title of ‘Social Samurai’. At her young age, she is instructing and teaching adults and professionals all about Social Media management. “I came to be taught, but didn’t expect to actually be learning so much from someone so young,” was one comment from an attendee from one of the Social Media Workshops that she and her parents conducted. Watch out world, because here she comes, spreading her wisdom of “You Rock, Dream Big & You Got This!”

She has been featured multiple times in and on News & Media outlets.

Socials:

Website: https://ariannafox.com/

LinkedIn: Arianna Fox

FB: Arianna Fox

Insta: Arianna Fox @afoxauthor

Youtube: Arianna Fox @AriannaFox

Mentions:

MX Publishing

Sherlock Holmes

The Box in the Basement (Movie)

Mia’s Bridge (Movie)

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Nikita Dhawan is a high school student at the American Embassy School in New Delhi. She has always been passionate about animal rights and environmental conservation and is the founder of an animal welfare initiative called "Youth for Animals.” 

Nikita is leading the organization’s flagship campaign #FreeShankarDelhiZoo to free Shankar, an African elephant languishing in the Delhi Zoo, from his life in solitary captivity. Nikita has filed a legal petition in the Delhi High Court for Shankar’s freedom and has received over 200,000 signatures for her online petition. The campaign has been covered extensively by Indian and International media, including BBC, ABC News, Newsweek, Financial Times, Hindustan Times, Times of India, Indian Express etc. 

Nikita is a recipient of the prestigious Diana Award and the Youth Award from the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organization (FIAPO). Nikita is also a Youth Ambassador for Born Free Foundation and Earthday org and a member of IUCN’s Commission on Education and Communication (CEC). Nikita is also a host for a UK based community radio station: All About Animals Radio.

Socials:

Website: Youth For Animals https://youthforanimals.org/

FB: Youth For Animals - YFA

Insta: Youth For Animals (YFA) @youth_for_animals

LinkedIn: Nikita Dhawan https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikita-dhawan/

Petition to free Shankar #FreeShankarDelhiZoo 

Mentions:

Animal Liberation - Peter Singer (Book)

Aspinall Foundation

Yellowstone eco system

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Growing up in a small rural town, Elle always had big city dreams. Her love of art, fashion and creating beautiful things lead her to a career as a makeup artist. Living in Gippsland and predominantly working in Melbourne may seem like a lot of unnecessary travel to many but to Elle it has given her the best of both worlds - fulfilled her love for all things hustle, bustle and great work opportunities in the city Vs empty beaches with her little loves and familiar happy faces around town. 

It was also the perfect place to be when covid hit and like many businesses - the makeup world came to a halt. It made Elle stop and re evaluate her career, and also lead to Elle creating Night Babe - her product based e-commerce business where she sells her mulberry silk pillowcases. 

She was able to use her beauty connections to help grow her name and get her product to the people. All Night Babe pillowcases are made from Elle’s family’s own soft furnishings studio in Seaspray, which she is extremely proud of.

Socials:

Website: https://nightbabe.com.au/

Insta: 100% Mulberry Silk Pillowcases @night__babe

FB: Night Babe @the.ultimate.beauty.sleep

Website: https://www.ellejames.com.au/

Insta: Elle James Makeup @ellejames_makeup

FB: Elle James Makeup Artist @ellejamesmakeupartist

Mentions:

Napoleon Purdis

Startup Gippsland

Jessica Mauboy

Kate Langbroek

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This episode is reflection that we need to extend much more love, and instead of focusing on how hard 2022 has been, let’s focus on the moments of joy that blessed us throughout the year. We all had those moments, but it’s so easy to override them with the things that have caused stress.

Together we can make a huge difference to the world if we just invest more love, care, hope and joy, and spend time celebrating the small moments that have brought a smile, not only to our face, but to the faces of others. And celebrating the moments that have brought joy into our hearts.

Life is not all about great big achievements and conquering massive mountains. There’s huge benefit in all the little moments that join together to create this things we call life.

Let’s get better at acknowledging and cheering on the positive.

Much love to all xx

Billie Groom is the creator of UPWARD Dogology, as well as being a social entrepreneur, innovator, expert in Canine Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CCBT), award winning author, podcast host, speaker, and animal welfare activist. Her work spans over three decades. She is featured in magazines, blogs, and on many podcasts and tv shows, including the LA Tribune, CTV, Roku TV, and Psychology Today Magazine. 

Billie has received awards and accolades for her success in rehabilitating thousands of street dogs, community dogs, and dogs with unknown, or disadvantaged pasts, from Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Panama, Thailand, Spain (Galgos), and China, as well as dogs rescued from the Yulin Festival, dog fighting rings, meat markets, backyard breeders, and death-row. She is currently working (pro-bono) with dogs rescued from the Ukraine war. She also works with dogs who have no history of abuse or neglect to keep them out of the system and in good homes, and works tirelessly to create change to help animals in need.

Billie is a member of the Dog Writers Association of America, Comparative Cognition Society, and the Animal Behavior Society, is a graduate of University of Western Ontario, and is enrolled in the Graduate School of Leadership and Change at Antioch University. She lives in Regina, Saskatchewan Canada with her rescued dogs and cat who came to live with them.

Her mission is to continue to spread awareness on CCBT to decrease surrenders and euthanasia, increase adoptions, end harmful methods, and increase our understanding of adolescent and adopted dogs.

Socials:

Website: https://www.upwarddogology.com/

LinkedIn: Billie Groom

FB: Upward Dogology - Dog Behavior, Dog Training, Animal Welfare 

Insta: UPWARD Dogology @upwarddogology

Twitter: UPWARD Dogology

Podcast: Dog Training DisrUPted

Book: The Art of Urban People With Adopted and Rescued Dogs Methodology: Rescued Dogs: The Misunderstood Breed 

YouTube: Dog Cognition and Canine Behavior 

LinkTree: Billie Groom - UPWARD Dogology

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James Clancy is the co-founder of Scarlet & Grace. Here’s the story…

The idea for Scarlet & Grace was born in 2016 on a Clancy family holiday on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia.

Recalling our childhood home and the wonderful scents that always filled the air, we started lamenting the fact so many home fragrance products today were made overseas and often contained harmful chemicals.

Mum then posed the big question. "If you don’t think the products are safe, why don’t you do something about it?"

This ignited a conversation about creating a range of personal care products unlike anything else on the market. Products that were designed to delight the senses, that take you on a real sensory experience, and were made from 100% Australian ingredients.

The next two-years were spent developing fragrances and building an exclusive supply chain of pure, natural, and Australian produced materials.

We were relentless in our search and refused to compromise on quality. We had a clear vision. We wanted to create the safest, purest, and highest quality products available on the market.

We knew there was a lot of competitors in the market, but we believed strongly that people deserved access to products that were made using natural Australian ingredients at the core, that offered a superior fragrance throw, and greater value for money.

Refusing to compromise on the quality or source of our products we released our first products just in time for Christmas 2018.

Beginning with a modest range of candles and diffusers, the Scarlet & Grace range has rapidly grown to a diverse product offering including room sprays, hand-creams, body-lotions, washes, and accessories.

While sales weren’t huge that first Christmas, we got something a lot more valuable than sales. We got feedback. Now for the first time we had the chance to hear from the most important person. The customer. The feedback we received from our retail partners instantly told us we were on a winner.

Customers returned to the stores wanting to order more. They told the retailer they loved the scents, the fragrance throws and routinely reported it was the best product they had used.

This feedback validated everything we had been working so hard to create and soon the sales volumes would follow. 

Since launching we have opened a new manufacturing and distribution centre in Sale, grown a network of hundreds of retail partners across Australia and New Zealand and in 2022 launched Scarlet & Grace across the UK and parts of Europe.

Our brand promise remains the same today as it did the day we conceived Scarlet and Grace. Anytime you buy a Scarlet and Grace product you can be confident it’s using the most natural, 100% Australian Made ingredients available.

As one of the only brands to have every ingredient scientifically tested and certified, we can guarantee the quality of everything we produce.

Driven by passion, the Clancy family continue to explore cutting-edge technology, new ingredient blends and fragrances, with the goal to further enhance the customer experience, elevate the sensory impact, and deliver unrivalled value and quality in every product we produce.

Socials:

Website: https://scarletandgrace.com.au/

FB: Scarlet and Grace Aromas

Insta: Scarlet and Grace @scarletandgracearomas

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