Over the Back Fence

• Sam Bloom: When Family, A Magpie, A Renewed Purpose and Adventure Brought Her Back To Life

  This week Nicola and Di chat with the remarkable Sam Bloom. Sam’s a mum of 3, who lived a very full and active life until a devastating accident in Thailand left her paralysed. In the midst of rebuilding, along came Penguin, the little magpie who helped her heal. Their story became a best-selling book, captured by her photographer husband Cam, and later turned into a global hit film, Penguin Bloom. Now a world-champion para-kayaker, surfer and a passionate advocate, Sam is testament to the inner strength that each of us can find when faced with adversity. In this conversation, we hear about that fateful day in Thailand, when in the blink of an eye, Sam’s life changed forever when she fell through a rotten balcony railing and crashed six metres onto the concrete below. Sam shares just how awful that experience was, including the moment when she was told she would never walk again, and she thought that her life was over. Sam opens up about how much guilt she felt as a mother who could no longer look after her 3 boys in the way that she used to. The simple things she wasn’t able to do for them, and how much she hated the way the tables had turned and her boys needed to look after her. We also hear about the incredible moments of support and acts of kindness from her family and those around her, that gave her a renewed sense of purpose and allowed her to find hope again through competitive para-kayaking. Sam went on to compete in competitions around the world, and was also encouraged to get back into surfing, and went on to win Gold for Australia in the 2018, 2020 and 2023 World Para Surfing Championships. And of course we talk about the beautiful story of a little magpie named Penguin, who also played a big part in Sam’s healing. Sam shares how what started as an Instagram account, went onto become a best-selling book and then a film with Naomi Watts. This is such a beautiful and honest conversation about the importance of community, resilience, and the healing power of laughter and purpose. We were so honoured to have this chat with Sam and we hope you love it as much as we did. If you love our Over The Back Fence chats, come and hang out with us and some amazing guests at our in person event on the 19th of June at the Woolly Bay Hotel in Sydney. You can buy your tickets here - https://events.humanitix.com/over-the-back-fence-podcast-9r2scfqj/tickets This episode is proudly supported by Montgomery Investment Management, trusted experts helping you build and protect your financial future. Follow Sam on IG here - https://www.instagram.com/samjbloom/?hl=en Follow Sam on Facebook here - https://www.facebook.com/sambloomaustralia# Find out more about Sam and her work here - https://sambloom.com.au/ Buy the books Penguin Bloom and Sam Bloom here - https://www.penguinthemagpie.com/ Follow Nicola and Di on IG here - https://www.instagram.com/overthebackfencepodcast/ Buy your Eir Women products here. Use code OTBF20 at checkout for a 20% discountSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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• Nici Andronicus and Tania Taylor-Frost: Two Women's Inspirational Stories to Give You a Huge Boost - Changing Lives with Be Centre and GIANTS.

  This week Nicola and Di chat with 2 incredibly inspiring women, Nici Andronicus and Tania Taylor-Frost, whose stories will give you a huge boost. Both of these women do incredible work for the charity Be Centre, which changes the lives of children through play therapy. Nici is a former elite athlete, who represented Australia in triathlon and modern pentathlon. She competed in 10 world championships and over 90 international events, becoming world no. 2 in 1997 and a three-time national triathlon champion. Not only that, Nici is a mother of 5, and does a lot of incredible work for different charities. Tania is the CEO of the Be Centre, helping children navigate trauma and big emotions through play therapy and early support. She’s also the director of the Sydney Skinny, a passionate force for children’s mental health and a fierce advocate for early intervention. Tania is also a proud mum of 2. In this conversation you’ll hear Nici’s powerful story of what it was like when her husband was diagnosed with brain cancer when she was 20 weeks pregnant with their 5th child. Nici was able to draw on the incredible resilience and strong mindset that she developed in her career as an elite athlete, to help her get through what was arguably the biggest challenge of her life. Nici shares openly and vulnerably about what it was like for her family, and how her youngest child was deeply affected and needed the support of the Be Centre to be able to process the trauma and difficult emotions that he was going through. We also hear Tania’s story, and how she originally met Nicola during a hiking trip with Wild Women On Top, where they were supposed to share a tent - you’ll have to listen in to hear what actually happened. She shares about why she was motivated to switch from working in tech for corporates and government to working for charities, and what it’s like for her now in her role as CEO for the Be Centre. When you listen to the passion that these 2 women have for making a positive difference in the world and the way they talk about giving as a gift to self, we guarantee you’ll feel inspired like we did. If you want to give back in a really fun way, we’d love you to consider attending the Be Centre Annual Charity Gala, on Friday May 30th. Tickets are $280 and all proceeds help families and children who otherwise could not access therapy due to financial hardship. This episode is proudly supported by Montgomery Investment Management, trusted experts helping you build and protect your financial future. Follow Be Centre on IG here - https://www.instagram.com/becentrefoundation/ Buy Tickets to the Be Centre Annual Charity Gala here - https://www.becentre.org.au/events/save-the-date-be-centre-annual-gala-dinner-30-may-2025/ Follow Be Centre on Facebook here - https://www.facebook.com/becentre/ Follow Nici on IG here - https://www.instagram.com/niciandronicus1/ Follow the GIANTS on IG here - https://www.instagram.com/gwsgiants/ Follow Nicola and Di on IG here - https://www.instagram.com/overthebackfencepodcast/ Buy your Eir Women products here. Use code OTBF20 at checkout for a 20% discountSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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• Over The Money Fence: Where should you invest when markets feel wild and you feel scared?

  This week Nicola and Di are excited to bring you the first episode of our new financial series, Over The Money Fence with Roger Montgomery. This series aims to help you take control of your finances with clarity and confidence. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by investing, unsure about what’s happening in the markets, or you just want to make a smarter decision with your money then you are in the right place. We will be joined each month by financial expert Roger Montgomery, who you may remember from our 100th episode. Roger is the Founder and Chairman of Montgomery Investment Management, has over 30 years’ investing experience and a highly respected financial commentator featuring on various ABC programs, as well as his popular column in The Australian newspaper. He is also the author of best-selling investment guidebook Value.able. In this conversation we chat about a really important topic - where should you invest when markets feel wild and you feel scared? Roger gives us such reassuring and calming advice about what we need to pay attention to, what we can tune out, and why it’s important to take your time when it comes to making financial decisions. He is able to explain the share market in a way that’s not only understandable, but interesting and talks to us about the difference between speculating and investing. We also talk about other ways of investing that aren’t as volatile as the share market, including private credit, gold and term deposits. Roger gives us a brief overview of the pros and cons of each of these investments, and why you might choose one over the other. We also have a meaningful chat about what’s really important in life, and that true value lies in the relationships we have with the people we love. We learnt so much from Roger in this episode, and more importantly we already feel more calm and confident when it comes to our finances. Roger also set some homework for us all this month - get all of your investments down on paper, make sure you know where all your money is, and find out what return they’ve been generating for you. Stay tuned until the end of the episode to hear Di, Nicola and their producer Sam chat about what impacted them from this conversation - believe it or not, there are tears already. This episode is proudly supported by Montgomery Investment Management, trusted experts helping you build and protect your financial future. If you're interested in further information about managing and protecting your financial future, please contact David Buckland, Chief Executive Officer or Rhodri Taylor, Account Manager on (02) 8046 5000 or [email protected]. Find out more about Montgomery Investment Management here - https://montinvest.com Learn more about Roger and read his articles here - https://rogermontgomery.com Buy Roger's book Value.able here - https://rogermontgomery.com/valueable-book/ Follow Roger’s YouTube channel here - https://www.youtube.com/user/rogerjmontgomery Follow Roger on X here - https://x.com/rjmontgomery Follow Roger on Facebook here - https://www.facebook.com/montgomeryroger/ Follow Roger on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rogermontgomery/ Follow Nicola and Di on IG here - https://www.instagram.com/overthebackfencepodcast/ Follow Nicola and Di on YouTube here - https://www.youtube.com/@Overthebackfencepodcast/podcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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• Kelly McCloskey - Feng Shui Expert: Transform Your Space, Shift Your Life

  This week Nicola and Di chat with the fascinating Feng Shui expert, Kelly McCloskey. Kelly has been transforming her client’s spaces and lives for the past decade and helps them to create environments of love, growth, financial abundance and wellbeing. She is one of only a handful of individuals in Australia who has trained under masters of San Yuen Yuen Gua Feng Shui, a method that can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty. In this conversation, we hear all about the fascinating world of Feng Shui, which is essentially the energy of a house or space. Kelly explains about the 9 different sectors of Feng Shui, which everyone has in their homes and how to find out what they are so you can get the most out of the space you’re in. Kelly gives us great tips on some of the simple things we can do in our homes to make sure we have good energy (chi) flowing through our space and are attracting the things we want in life. You’ll have to tune in to hear those. She tells us how powerful artwork can be in the home, and the incredible story of how she has manifested everything that’s ever been on the wall behind her bedhead. Di also shares her own amazing story of how she was told to take down paintings of single women in her home, because it was blocking the energy of love, and shortly after, she met a man. We had so much fun chatting with Kelly. There was good energy all round in the studio that day and we hope you can feel the good vibes as you listen. This episode is proudly sponsored by Eir Women. Use code OTBF20 at checkout to receive a 20% discount on any purchase. Follow Kelly on IG here Find out more about Kelly’s work here Follow Kelly on TikTok here Follow Nicola and Di on IG here Buy your Eir Women products here. Use code OTBF20 at checkout for a 20% discountSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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• Roger Montgomery - The One Finance Voice You Want To Hear

  This week Nicola and Di celebrate their 100th episode!! To mark this special occasion, Nicola and Di chat with the successful and relatable Roger Montgomery. Roger is the Founder and Chairman of Montgomery Investment Management, has over 30 years’ investing experience and a highly respected financial commentator featuring on various ABC programs, as well as his popular column in The Australian newspaper. He is also the author of best-selling investment guidebook Value.able. We really wanted to have Roger on our podcast because he has a gift for making investing andfinances so easy to understand, and he keeps things relevant and fun. He is full of wise advice and has even been described as the Warren Buffet of Australia. Roger is also a family man, with a beautiful wife and 3 children, who we get to hear more about in this interview. In this conversation Roger helps us understand how we can become more aware of our attitude towards money and how it forms when we’re really young. He shares with us a great little test you can do with your kids, which will give you a good idea of whether they’ll be a good saver when it comes to money, or whether they’ll spend it. Roger chats to us about the money challenges that women in their 50s and over are facing, with divorce rates going up and many women being faced with a situation they weren’t expecting, and having to learn how to navigate their financial future, which can feel a bit daunting at times. We talk about why it’s so important to learn more about managing your money, slow down rather than being rushed into a financial decision, surround yourself with people you trust, and be more empowered when it comes to your money. We also get to hear a little bit of Roger’s personal story, the jobs he had as a kid and the values his mum instilled in him at an early age. Roger shares the beautiful story of how he met his wife on the ferry when he was 27, and they’ve now been married for 26 years. Di brings up her fear of the stock market, and Roger gives her some great, calming advice. The good news is, this is the very beginning of our conversations with Roger, who is going to teach us everything we need to know about finance and help break down some of the fears we might have when it comes to money or investing. We are thrilled to announce we will be doing a monthly series with Roger called Over the Money Fence, which is going to help us all feel more confident about managing our money. Happy 100th episode! We hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did and we want to say a huge THANK YOU to all our listeners who have been with us from the beginning, and to those who have joined along the way. We could not do this without you. This episode is proudly sponsored by Eir Women. Use code OTBF20 at checkout to receive a 20% discount on any purchase. Find out more about Montgomery Investment Management here - https://montinvest.com Learn more about Roger and read his articles here - https://rogermontgomery.com Buy Roger's book Value.able here - https://rogermontgomery.com/valueable-book/ Follow Roger’s YouTube channel here - https://www.youtube.com/user/rogerjmontgomeryFollow Roger on X here - https://x.com/rjmontgomery Follow Roger on Facebook here - https://www.facebook.com/montgomeryroger/Follow Roger on LinkedIn here - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rogermontgomery/ Follow Nicola and Di on IG here - https://www.instagram.com/overthebackfencepodcast/ Buy your Eir Women products here. Use code OTBF20 at checkout for a 20% discount See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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