SoundMesh, Sydney (2026)

21/05/2026

Regional Woman of the Year 2025 went to a commercial lawyer in Orange, New South Wales. Not for a flashy case or corporate win. For pulling over at 9pm to call a client and cry with her.

Kirsty Evans won that award for what happened after Molong flooded in November 2022. When insurance companies started denying business claims using a technicality about stormwater versus floodwater, business owners faced 12 to 18 month waits. Many drained personal savings to reopen anyway, because the cafe and the post office are where people go to heal.

Her law firm gave 250 hours of pro bono work, worth $200,000. They picked apart flawed expert reports, challenged every denial, used collective data to prove insurers wrong. Every client either had their decline overturned or their payout increased.

Then she went to the federal parliamentary inquiry. The committee made recommendations in October 2024. The government still hasn't responded. Since then, more disasters, same insurance problems.

Here's what she says to do if disaster hits. Four calls: your local member, your federal member, Service NSW for grants, your bank for loan moratoriums. Practical solutions from your phone.

The real story isn't about one lawyer. It's about regional professionals using their skills exactly where they are. Not waiting for metro firms or hoping someone else steps in. Just showing up with what you know and fighting for your neighbours.

Molong's main street is open again. That's what happens when someone decides their community is worth $200,000 and 250 hours.

18/05/2026

Is your private health insurance actually worth what you're paying every year?

Pete Burrows has the letters after his name - BCom, CPA, JP - and years of experience helping Australians make sense of their finances. His honest take on private health? On a purely financial level, it's very hard to make the numbers stack up. Australia's public system is genuinely good, and that changes the equation more than most people realise.

But walking away from private health isn't straightforward either. The government applies a Medicare levy surcharge for higher earners without hospital cover. And there's a lifetime loading penalty if you haven't joined by age 31 - meaning the longer you leave it, the more expensive it gets.

Ben McEachen and Pete work through all of it in this episode of Money, Faith & Finance - the real costs, the real trade-offs, and the questions worth asking before you make a decision either way.

Have a listen and let us know - are you in or out of private health, and has your thinking on it changed over the years?

15/05/2026

She had nothing. And everything still had to get paid.

Podcast Link in Comments!
What's the one thing you wish someone had told you about money before a big life change?

11/05/2026

What does 24 years of running a creative practice actually look like?

Darren Genner, Co-Founder of Studio Minosa, joined Linda Habak on Build Beautiful Podcast and didn't hold back. He talked about the philosophy behind Design Life Better, what bad clients really cost you, and why wanting fewer clients — not more — is the most honest business decision he's made.

The lessons that come from longevity are different. They're earned.
It's a privilege to be able to edit this podcast

What's shaped your practice philosophy most over the years?

04/05/2026

Your mum worked her entire life in Australia. Paid her taxes. Raised her family. Contributed to her community.

Now she needs help at home. And 30 cents of every dollar you're paying for her care is going to overseas shareholders. Not to the person giving her a shower. Not to the Meals on Wheels volunteer. To foreign company directors.

Ninety per cent of our aged care providers are foreign-owned. We've handed our elderly - OUR parents, OUR grandmothers - over to a profit extraction machine.

Beverly Baker, president of the National Older Women's Network, isn't mincing words about this betrayal. And neither should we.

If this makes you angry, you're paying attention.

💬 Drop a comment if you're navigating aged care for your parents right now. Let's support each other through this broken system.

Full conversation on She Wasn't Born Yesterday podcast - link in comments. 👇

27/04/2026

What does creative leadership actually look like when you strip away the ego?

Linda Habak sat down with Nasim Koerting, Design Director at Merivale, and the conversation challenged conventional thinking about leading creative teams.

You know Merivale's venues. The Press. Totti's. Some of Australia's most celebrated hospitality spaces. The kind of places where every detail feels intentional, where the atmosphere stays with you long after you leave.

When Linda asked Nasim about her creative process, the answer was unexpected. No talk of vision, control, or making the big decisions. Instead, Nasim said something that reframes everything.

"There is no superstar in the room. We all bring things to the table. Our junior designers will bring an idea, and I'll realize they just made the concept better."

She described sitting with Bettina Hemmes selecting fabrics for The Press, genuinely uncertain if their choices would work. Not performing uncertainty for the sake of collaboration. Actually uncertain. She trusted the process, trusted her team member, and the result became one of Sydney's most talked about interiors.

Here's what stands out most. When Linda asked what's hardest about her role, Nasim didn't say budgets or timelines. She said managing the team. Making sure everyone feels empowered. Balancing personalities so the best ideas can emerge.

But the reward? Watching someone who struggled grow into a designer who commands builders on site with confidence because they know their voice actually shaped the outcome.

This is leadership that builds capacity, not dependency.

What's your experience? Have you worked in creative teams where collaboration truly worked? Or ones where the superstar model killed the magic?

Listen to the full conversation on the Build Beautiful Podcast

22/04/2026

The moment you stop recognising yourself is the moment you need to stop.

What was the moment you realised you'd pushed past your limit? What made you finally stop?

20/04/2026

What actually helps when someone is overwhelmed by financial stress?
Rosie Kendall, CEO of Hope Economy, has spent 19 years helping Australians move from financial distress to a clear path forward. Her five steps don't start with a budget — they start with a conversation.
Talk to someone. Slow down. Be honest. Create margin. Stay connected.
Simple in principle. Transformational in practice — especially when someone walks alongside you through each one.
Which step would make the biggest difference for you right now? We'd love to hear from you below.

15/04/2026

When did Australia decide to use education funding to create a class system?

I just listened to Jane Caro AM on the latest She Wasn’t Born Yesterday episode, and honestly, I had no idea how extreme the inequality has become.

Australia has one of the most segregated education systems in the developed world. Public funding concentrates disadvantaged students in underfunded schools while overfunding schools serving privileged students. Jane explained that every public school in Australia (except a handful in Canberra) is underfunded according to what they actually need to do their job. Meanwhile, every private school in Australia (except a handful in the Northern Territory) is overfunded. Some by up to 200%. With public money.

Here’s what really hit me: Jane said public school teachers are spending over $1,000 a year from their own pockets buying lunches for hungry kids, subsidising excursions, and purchasing basic supplies like pens and paper. While elite schools are swimming in resources.

And here’s the thing that made me really uncomfortable: every time we make a school choice for our own kids, we’re participating in this system. Jane’s not saying don’t send your kids to private school if that’s your choice. But she is saying: if you do, agitate to change the funding. Because right now, the system is designed to reward some families and punish others. And it’s creating the segregated, unequal society our kids are inheriting.

The conversation was challenging, thoughtful, and honestly one of those episodes that stays with you.
What were your school choices like? Did you feel pressure to choose private? Or did you feel judged for choosing public? I’d love to hear your experiences.

Listen to the full episode wherever you get your podcasts, or head to our website (link in comments).

09/04/2026

Most people don't recognise vicarious trauma until they can no longer recognise themselves.

Journalist Adella Beaini spent years reporting on veteran suicides — carrying the weight of real people's stories because she genuinely cared about every single one of them. She gave everything to those stories. And somewhere along the way, she lost herself in them.

In this episode of Finding Sanctuary, Adella sits down with counsellor Debbie Draybi from Hills Sanctuary House to talk about what it really costs to carry other people's pain — and what it takes to put it down without letting them go.

If you've ever poured yourself into your work, your family, or someone else's crisis and forgotten to come back to yourself, this one's for you.
Have a swipe through and tell us — which slide hit closest to home?

Finding Sanctuary is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts.

31/03/2026

Most of us don't lose ourselves dramatically. We lose ourselves gradually.

One day you realise you haven't done anything just for you in months. You can't remember the last time you felt like a person outside of your responsibilities. You've been so focused on everyone else that somewhere along the way, you disappeared.

Journalist Adella Beaini lived this. She spent years reporting on veteran suicides, carrying the weight of real people's darkest moments. She poured herself into their stories because she genuinely cared. She didn't think about herself once during that period.
Until the day she looked in the mirror and didn't know who was looking back.
Counsellor Debbie Draybi from Hills Sanctuary House has a name for what Adella experienced. Vicarious trauma. And it doesn't only happen to journalists. It happens to parents who absorb their children's pain. Teachers who carry their students home with them. Nurses who never fully clock off. Anyone who has quietly made other people's wellbeing their entire world.

Adella rebuilt herself over two years. And the thing she wants you to know, if you're currently running on empty, is this: you cannot pour from an empty cup. Caring for yourself isn't selfish. It's the only way you stay capable of caring for anyone else.
Her full story is on the Finding Sanctuary podcast. Search "Finding Sanctuary" wherever you listen.

Have you ever reached a point where you stopped recognising yourself? What helped you find your way back? Share below, someone reading this might need to hear it.

SoundMesh

21/05/2026

18/05/2026

15/05/2026

11/05/2026

04/05/2026

27/04/2026

22/04/2026

20/04/2026

15/04/2026

09/04/2026

31/03/2026

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