This Is Why We Fight

Sometimes, a pivot isn't triggered by a failure. Sometimes, it happens when you’re winning.
You can have the perfect life on paper - the apartment by the beach, the successful business, the long-term relationship - and still feel a quiet, persistent exhaustion. It’s that slow build of burnout that whispers: you are running 100 k’s an hour in the wrong direction.
But what happens when you finally brave that change, only to face a hurdle you never saw coming?
Jo Yates began her career studying analogue photography in the UK, right on the edge of the digital revolution. As the industry shifted beneath her feet, she was forced to re-educate herself - pivoting from photography into video production, then into large-scale event and marketing production here in Australia.
But alongside her creative career, Jo had a quiet safety-net hustle: flipping properties. What started as a way to create financial security slowly grew into something much bigger - until it became impossible to ignore.
Then life intervened.
After moving to Noosa, Jo was faced with the covid lockdown AND a diagnosis that forced her to stop, reassess, and reinvent her life yet again. It became the ultimate pivot - one that reframed her relationship with work, success, and what really mattered.
Today, Jo runs Bricks and More, a property renovation and buyer’s advocacy business with a difference - combining her creative thinking with commercial strategy to build homes that are genuinely meaningful to the people who live in them.
In this episode, we talk about adaptability, resilience, rebuilding after crisis, and why you don’t need a dramatic leap to change your life - just a clear vision and the courage to take the next small step
THE END BITS:
Want more from Sarah Davidson? Check out her podcast Seize The Yay.
Discover more Mamamia podcasts here.
Feedback: [email protected]
Share your story, feedback, or dilemma! Send us a voice message, and one of our Podcast Producers will get back to you ASAP.
Rate or review us on Apple by clicking on the three dots in the top right-hand corner, click Go To Show then scroll down to the bottom of the page, click on the stars at the bottom and write a review.
CREDITS:
Guest: Jo Yates
Host: Sarah Davidson
Executive Producer: Courtney Ammenhauser
Senior Producer: Sally Best
Audio Producer: Thom Lion

This show was brought to you in partnership with Charles Sturt University. Australia's largest and most experienced online uni. Take the next step. Search Charles Sturt University online.

Complete our short survey about education for for a chance to win a $1,000 gift voucher in our quarterly draw! https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/8467038/Ch
Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when you're not just climbing the ladder, but standing at the very top? For Lize Ratliff, that meant achieving her dream job as Head of Podcasts at Mamamia, after 10 years hustling to get there.

Lize’s journey is a masterclass in pure tenacity. She started at 19 as an intern from a small country town, so determined to work for Mia Freedman that she "literally didn't leave”. Over the next decade, she climbed the ladder through nine different titles - from intern to Mia's EA, to the first-ever producer of No Filter - eventually becoming the woman running the entire 29-show operation.
For Lize, the birth of her first child was the catalyst for an enormous change. Realising the demands of the job were incompatible with the life she wanted as a mother, she and her husband came to a terrifying realisation: they needed to ‘blow up their life.’
In a move that left many stunned, they both quit their high-profile Sydney jobs, moved to Newcastle, and Lize enrolled in a Master's degree to pursue a completely new career: As a high school English teacher.
This is a raw and candid look at what it means to walk away from the top. We cover the creative job application that got her hired, the moment she crashed her boss's car (and kept her job), and the overwhelming "what have I done?" feeling that hits after you trade a high-prestige career for a student ID.
Get ready to learn why sometimes, you have to "just jump.”

THE END BITS:
Want more from Sarah Davidson? Check out her podcast Seize The Yay.
Discover more Mamamia podcasts here.
Feedback: [email protected]
Share your story, feedback, or dilemma! Send us a voice message, and one of our Podcast Producers will get back to you ASAP.
Rate or review us on Apple by clicking on the three dots in the top right-hand corner, click Go To Show then scroll down to the bottom of the page, click on the stars at the bottom and write a review.

CREDITS:
Guest: Lize Ratliff
Host: Sarah Davidson
Executive Producer: Courtney Ammenhauser
Senior Producer: Sally Best

This show was brought to you in partnership with Charles Sturt University. Australia's largest and most experienced online uni. Take the next step. Search Charles Sturt University online.

Complete our short survey about education for for a chance to win a $1,000 gift voucher in our quarterly draw! https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/8467038/Ch
Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when a six-month holiday turns into a 14-year life chapter? You pack a bag for a gap year in the snow and accidentally stumble into a whole new world - a career, a husband, a mortgage, and three children. On paper, it’s the fairytale expat dream.
But eventually, the adventure stops feeling like freedom and starts feeling like distance.
Georgia Louise was living that dream as a ski patroller in Canada. However, when the global pandemic hit, her perception of being "a flight away" changed to feeling "a world away". That was the moment of the pivot: The realisation that to move forward, she had to go back to where she started - but as a completely different person.
In this episode of Pivot Club, Sarah Davidson talks to Georgia about the decision to pack up over a decade of life into seven suitcases to chase a dream she’d been ignoring for years: To become a nurse. Georgia opens up about the "messy middle" of relocating a family of five to regional New South Wales with no credit rating, no local employment history and nothing but a heartfelt letter to convince a landlord to take a chance on them.
We unpack the reality of dismantling a comfortable life to start from scratch, the humility of sitting in a university lecture hall with 18-year-olds as a mature-age student and how Georgia uses her thriving social media platform to fund her studies. Join us for a conversation about the logistics of moving a family across the globe when the pull of home becomes too loud to ignore.
Get ready to be inspired by a woman who is proving that it is never too late to go back to school.

THE END BITS:
Want more from Sarah Davidson? Check out her podcast Seize The Yay.
Discover more Mamamia podcasts here.
Feedback: [email protected]
Share your story, feedback, or dilemma! Send us a voice message, and one of our Podcast Producers will get back to you ASAP.
Rate or review us on Apple by clicking on the three dots in the top right-hand corner, click Go To Show then scroll down to the bottom of the page, click on the stars at the bottom and write a review.
CREDITS:
Guest: Georgia Louise
Host: Sarah Davidson
Executive Producer: Courtney Ammenhauser
Senior Producer: Sally Best
Audio Producer: Thom Lion

This show was brought to you in partnership with Charles Sturt University. Australia's largest and most experienced online uni. Take the next step. Search Charles Sturt University online.

Complete our short survey about education for for a chance to win a $1,000 gift voucher in our quarterly draw! https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/8467038/Ch
Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Leisel & Ellie used to be quite close, the kind of mother and daughter that shared clothes and loved spending time together. But, after a series of traumatic events, they went through a long period of estrangement and miscommunication that left them both heartbroken. They’re hoping that therapy can help them rebuild and repair their relationship.
Listen to Part 2 of Leisel & Ellie's sessions here.
Resources (Australia-only)
1800RESPECT: The national domestic, family, and sexual violence counselling, information, and support service.
Beyond Blue: For support with anxiety, depression, and suicide prevention.
Lifeline Australia: For 24/7 crisis support and suicide prevention services.
Motivated Minds: Learn more about host Sarah Bays’ practice.
Relationships Australia: A leading provider of relationship support services for individuals, families, and communities.
The End Bits
Want To Be On This Is Why We Fight? Apply here.
Host: Sarah Bays
Executive Producer: Naima Brown
Studio Engineer: Lu Hill
Audio production: Thom Lion and Jacob Round

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This mum & daughter have been asked to reflect on the default behaviours that keep them stuck in the unhelpful dynamic they’re in when conflict arises, and what to seek more positive and helpful behaviours that foster connection and communication.
This session explore how trauma, mental health challenges and other diagnoses can impact even our closest relationships, and what real repair looks like.
Listen to Part 1 of Leisel & Ellie's sessions here.
Resources (Australia-only)
1800RESPECT: The national domestic, family, and sexual violence counselling, information, and support service.
Beyond Blue: For support with anxiety, depression, and suicide prevention.
Lifeline Australia: For 24/7 crisis support and suicide prevention services.
Motivated Minds: Learn more about host Sarah Bays’ practice.
Relationships Australia: A leading provider of relationship support services for individuals, families, and communities.
The End Bits
Want To Be On This Is Why We Fight? Apply here.
Host: Sarah Bays
Executive Producer: Naima Brown
Studio Engineer: Lu Hill
Audio production: Thom Lion and Jacob Round
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.