Creative Bones Trish Johnstone

Meet Deanna Ezzy, the brains behind Canberra broking firm, More Than Mortgages. She’s been named the top female broker in the ACT for an impressive six consecutive years but also on the national scene with a Top 100 ranking for eight straight years.

De’s been helping her clients get the keys to their dream homes without selling a kidney for over 14 years. I’ve seen her eyes light up when she finds a way to make home ownership more accessible, or save someone thousands of dollars on their mortgage so they can take a trip and make memories. 

I first met De at the gym when I was a personal trainer. She was driven and loved a good challenge, which is still true to this day as she hikes the Himalayas and helps educate young girls in Nepal. She loves salsa dancing, golf, and belting out a ballad at karaoke, and from the moment I heard that she once gave her nail lady extra money to send to her family, I’ve seen De’s generous spirit shine in everything she does. She’s also a great friend of our studio, and we love working with someone who will let us put Beyonce lyrics on her front windows. 

In this episode we chat about how her recent long service leave helped her reset on life and work prioroties. She told me about the way she’s continually evolving processes in the business, and how she embraces failure. Better yet, how it allows her to be authentically herself. 

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Dr John Bartholomew is a Senior Lecturer in Quantum Science and Director of the Quantum Integration Laboratory at the University of Sydney. His team is engineering next generation technology for computing, communication and metrology using single atoms that absorb and emit light. Prior to joining the School of Physics at USYD he held research positions at Caltech, Chimie Paristech and the Australian National University where he did his PhD. John helped establish the Sydney Quantum Academy, and is currently the Deputy Director of the Australian Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems.

The first time I met John, well actually… saw John, I was peaking around the church hall door, where myself and the other girls had heard that the two new ministers had moved into town with their three sons. I’d go on to call John a great friend through high school, uni and beyond, where I saw him succeed at literally everything he put his mind to. Whether he was the captain of the school or the hockey team, singing, playing music, working towards his PhD, or being a reliable and kind friend who was always the calmest person in the room.

John and I spoke about how a flexible concept like creativity helps him in his work with precise measurements and absolutes, as well as the role of flexibility in designing scientific experiments. I feel particularly spoilt to say I spent the morning shooting the breeze about atoms and lasers and quantum mechanics with my good friend Johnny B. As with all my guests, I started by asking him what he’d do with his days after winning $100M. Please enjoy my chat with John. 

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Dr Maria Zuschmann (affectionately known as Dr M), is an Integrative Chiropractor, Speaker, Podcaster, Author, and Stress Adaptation and Alignment Coach, and is based in Alexandria in Sydney. She’s been a part of the Health and Wellness industry for over 27 years.

Outside of her hands on work in her Chiropractic practice, she is a sought after speaker and has facilitated 100s workshops over the last 19 years focusing on Stress Adaptation, Personal talents and Strengths and Peak Performance at work, home and play. 

I first heard Dr M speak at a corporate lunch event, where after some dismal news about the state of the market and the effect of the war in Ukraine on stock prices, she spoke on her experience with stress and how we can manage it through our mindset and breath. 

I connected with her message because of my own experience with Chiropractic, but I wanted to sit down with her for an insight into the brain/body connection and hear how stress and misalignment can effect our ability to think creatively.

We spoke about the benefits of having an awareness of which brain wave state you’re in, the effect of rest and how going with the flow allows ideas to drop in. I was really excited to extend our broader conversation about creativity into something a little more neurological, and I really hope you enjoy my chat with Dr M. 

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When Erika Simons went to Germany in 2012 to sing with the Cologne Opera, she had no idea that one year would turn into ten. She’s a lyric-coloratura soprano, which means she has a very agile light voice with a high upper extension, typically distinguished by agile runs, leaps and trills. She’s played roles like Gilda from Verdi’s Rigoletto, Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, and Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro. And like the words she sang for Qantas back in the 90s, she’s still calling Australia home, recently returning with her two best German souvenirs, her husband Ziggy and little boy Lawrence. 

Erika and I were art and music buddies throughout high school. Learning the recorder, analysing musical genres, learning oil painting, and getting up early to for choir practise. She was turning heads back then, and she’s still doing it now, attracting reviews like this one by Jenny Camilleri from Bachtrack: On stage, Erika Simons is the emotional fulcrum of the experience. She moves with feline grace and sings with unbroken intensity.

In this chat she shares stories of how creativity has helped her in times of adrenaline and changed plans, the vulnerability of being on stage and managing feedback, and how she’s seen creativity and innovation in the arts applied in different countries. 

Your ears are going to love this one, and you might learn a few new things about Opera like I did. Please enjoy my chat with Erika Simons. 



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McComas Taylor is a professor of Sanskrit at the Australian National University. As a life-long learner of languages, he’s had previous careers in publishing, Chinese and Tibetan studies, and Ornithology (the studying of birds). He’s the author of many books ranging from a dictionary of ridiculous words, to a guide to birds of the Australian Capital Territory, to serious Indological academic texts.

I first met McComas when he answered the front door. His son and my high school friend Patrick, had invited our group of friends over for a spaghetti dinner. I was 16 at the time, and little did I know that McComas wasn’t a regular Dad… he was a cool Dad. 

McComas was one of the first names that came to mind when I was putting a guest list together. After years of hearing him speak passionately on everything from veggie gardens to Sanskrit literature, I knew he’d have something to say about creativity. He shared how he makes learning an ancient and complex language engaging and memorable, and he also challenged my belief that I wasn’t good at languages. I couldn’t stop smiling the whole way through this interview, and I really hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 

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Bree Element’s brain is always switched to ‘IDEAS ON’. She sees stories and creative opportunity everywhere: from the trolleys in the carpark at Woolworths to a random piece of McDonalds rubbish on the shores of Queanbeyan River. 

Plus you can’t miss her. She’s usually wearing a tutu, hight top sneakers, and a hair do that’s higher and closer to God than anyone in the Queanbeyan Palarang regional area. I’ve known Bree for about 6 years now, and I knew from the first time we met that we were on track to becoming fast friends. She’s hit me in the gut a couple of times, questioning why I’m not confident to make a leap, and reminding me of my greatness. But she’s made me a better person because of it, leaving me to channel her unicorn glitter backpack, playboy mansion photoshoot, suburban Mum, Toyota Kluger driving energy. 

Bree’s creativity has underpinned her 30-year career as an acclaimed writer and marketer, and in 2024 she’s ditching work for new project: a year that will see her live her life from a place of deep creativity.

We talk about the role that her family played in celebrating her creativity as a child, the pressure to be creative, and where she gets her inspiration from. 

Heads up, about half way through, Bree mentions a friend who was the victim of child abuse. It’s a beautiful explanation of how she was inspired to tell that story with authenticity and sensitivity, but if it’s a tricky topic for you, skip through minutes 44:15-48:00.

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