Seize the Yay

Sarah Davidson
Seize the Yay

A lawyer turned funtrepreneur's investigation into how some of the world's most inspiring people find their "yay", whether it's through work, rest or play and any other pearls of wisdom they have along the way.

  1. Jessie Stephens // From a Masters to Mamamia with a side of motherhood

    18 HRS AGO

    Jessie Stephens // From a Masters to Mamamia with a side of motherhood

    We are back with a guest episode and I’m thrilled to have one of Australia’s most known and loved voices on the show this week, Jessie Stephens. Many of you will probably recognise Jessie as one of the hosts of Mamamia Out Loud (among many other shows in the prolific Mamamia network of which she is also an executive editor and which we are so excited to have joined in a new chapter for the show). While now she is dominating the airwaves (and has authored two books), you may not know she actually began as junior burger editorial assistant a decade ago and worked her way up the ranks to become one of the few people who can say they’ve been in the one workplace for ten years - an example that you don’t have to leave your job to grow and find new yays. And one of the coolest parts? Jessie is an executive editor alongside her twin sister, Clare Stephens, who after studying different things but both doing their Masters of Research left academia to BOTH become newbie editorial assistants and they’ve worked their way up in different but parallel ways. And the two also have twin brothers, so it was fascinating to learn about such a uniquely special facet to her pathyay. She is also a little bit ahead of me as a working mum and a great source of inspiration having lent her wisdom to a chapter of The Juggle by my friend and manager Genevieve Day who you heard from a few episodes backs. Despite having many mutual friends, I’d never chatted to Jessie before but you’d never know she’s such a great conversationalist and I hope you enjoy as much as I did. LINKS You can follow Jessie here. You can buy her books and more here. + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah + Join our Facebook community here + Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    1h 2m
  2. 13 NOV

    Seize the Bébé // A session on sleep regressions

    We are back with our third episode of Seize the Bébé on a topic that’s definitely been the most requested in my DMs and that I personally found sparked a level of desperation in me for information that I’ve never experienced before. We are talking, of course, about the elusive and emotionally charged topic of sleep and more particularly the dreaded "sleep regression" or (regressions as supposedly there are several). Even within parenthood where most topics are already a bit emotional or judgy, sleep seems especially sensitive, often because you’re usually only talking about it if you’re not getting enough, which is never anyone’s best version of themselves. So, as with all these episodes, a big disclaimer to start - this is all anecdotal and not an exhaustive fully researched guide. I have no professional experience or scientific backing, just answering your questions about what we did and there are many sleep specialists who you can turn to for actual advice. I actually found this one quite hard to write as not only there an infinite amount of variables when choosing sleep techniques, every baby and family is different (perhaps moreso in this area than any) plus even what worked for us this time might not work next time. Having said that, I didn’t care when I was in the depths of it - I still wanted to know what everyone else did just to get ideas or guidance even on where to start. So I’ll lay out what we ended up doing (which, to reassure anyone out there in the thick of it, did work wonderfully and quicker than I expected) and how we decided on that pathway, but just reminding you this area is VERY specific to you. For context, I’m talking about our experience getting through the so-called four month regression which is the first major one that gets talked about. Teddy was born two weeks early and this hit almost exactly at 4 months and two weeks - he’s punctual that boy. I'm sure we'll be back again with new and different views and answers for regressions in future! But for now, I hope even parts of this are useful! LINKS More info on Dr Golly's guides are here.You can follow Dr Golly on instagram here.More info on Baby Spa's sleep consultations here. You can follow Baby Spa on instgaram here. + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah + Join our Facebook community here + Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    35 min
  3. Dr Matt Agnew PART 1 // Mars rovers, mental health and modern masculinity

    30 OCT

    Dr Matt Agnew PART 1 // Mars rovers, mental health and modern masculinity

    We are back with a guest episode for you and one that has been a long time coming. I’m so excited to have finally sat down with a dear friend of mine Matt Agnew who much of Australia may know as “Matt from the bachelor” but who I met outside of that context completely. I think this was the first time I admitted I never actually watched his season (you guys know I’m a true crime girly not a reality girly) and I deliberately didn’t catch up on it because I wanted to focus on Matt NOT from the Bachie which hasn’t been as exhaustively covered everywhere else (the link to Abbie's latest ep we discus is here). With all our guests I love to show a side people know a bit less about and even more so with a friend but then the great challenge is squeezing that all in to an hour when you want to showcase every single thing you think is great about them... WHICH obviously I didn’t manage to do so heads up that this is part one of a two parter where we set the scene around the early days of Matt’s way to yay - you really should read his LinkedIn to understand why it’s reductive to only refer to his TV stint rather than the FIVE DEGREES in hectic maths and science that he’s amassed including an actual pHd on space… plus two wonderful books, an amazing new business Pash, a stint on Sharktank… hopefully you get a dose of a Matt you might not already know but I think astrophysics, AI, dating and both of our experiences with sobriety deserve more time so you’ll hear those in part two. Perhaps it’s fitting that a lot of part 1 was spent on what Matt calls his "salad of mental heatlh issues" about which he speaks so vulnerablty and powerfully as we move into Movember and a sharper focus on men’s health (for reference the Jess Rowe episode we mention is here). So a content warning that we do briefly touch on suicide and similar in this episode - please take care while listening and see Lifeline's number below. Otherwise this was above all a chat between firends and I hope you enjoy! If this conversation raises any emotional distress for you, please reach out to someone, or call Lifeline for 24 hour crisis support and suicide prevention services on 13 11 14. MATT'S BOOKS: Dr Matt's Guide to Life in Space Is My Phone Reading my Mind? The real facts about Artificial Intelligence + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah + Join our Facebook community here + Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    1h 22m
  4. Seize the Bébé // Twenty tips on travel with tiny humans

    23 OCT

    Seize the Bébé // Twenty tips on travel with tiny humans

    Welcome to our second episode of Seize the Bébé, thank you all so much for the lovely feedback on our debut episode with Gen covering the juggle - I’m so glad it was as reassuring for you guys as it was for me. We’re going back to back just for this week - firstly, because I’ve owed you answers on travelling with a baby since Italy which is now MONTHS ago and, secondly, because we’re freshly back from more travel with Teddy to Sydney then are going overseas again tomorrow so it seemed timely.   For those of you who aren’t interested in the parenthood content, we’ll be back next week with a regular interview episode and those will then keep dropping fortnightly. For today though, I thought the easiest way to set this one out was to give you the top twenty tips I’ve found useful travelling with Teddy so far. I must add a disclaimer quickly for this segment that my inner A type is so tempted to try and make this a neutral and comprehensive layout of the entire landscape on each topic, but the juggle episode will tell you there's simply not enough time. These episodes are simply me answering your questions from my personal anecdotal experiences based on yes, a lot of research, but also our personal choices, the fact that I often was recommended something by a friend and didn’t bother trying anything else, Teddy’s age at the time, etc. So I’m sure I’ll miss many other great options or tips on these subjects, but just keep in mind every baby and family is different (and my own answers will probably differ in future chapters of our life). For context, our biggest trip was with Teddy at four months before solids or crawling so of course that’s relevant too. LINKS The IG post where I shared some of the items we took (pre Italy) is here.The shopping list of the items I've mentioned is here.If you'd like my packing list, send me a DM! + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah+ Join our Facebook community here+ Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    53 min
  5. Seize the Bébé // The Juggle with Genevieve Day

    16 OCT

    Seize the Bébé // The Juggle with Genevieve Day

    As promised, welcome to the very first episode of our new motherhood segment - Seize the Bébé (I know, I couldn't help myself). This all came about when I realised I'd been screenshotting my own TED Talk length answers about adjusting to mum life on socials to hundreds of different people wanting to make sure I answer as thoroughly as possible and felt those fuller answers needed somewhere better to live… plus I wanted to signal more clearly to those who aren’t as interested in this content what’s heavily parent related and what isn’t. The most hotly asked questions so far have been around sleep, breastfeeding and the juggle as a working Mum, but I’m starting with the latter because it’s particularly timely for two reasons. Firstly, I personally feel my management of the juggle has taken a very steep dive over the past few weeks so it’s very close to home right now. And secondly - one of the mum role models I turn to often and incidentally, my manager, Genevieve Day, who is a huge part of how I maintain any kind of juggle, just released her new book CALLED The Juggle featuring interviews with some of our very own past guests on the topic so a conversation on this topic was meant to be. One thing I've really had to grapple with is letting go of perfectionism at work now there’s less time to play with, so sadly you don’t get the nice new intro I was hoping to organise to accompany the new segment because you’d be waiting all year for these episodes otherwise. I also feel like I got so distracted by Gen’s wisdom that we kind of venture into sleep and feeding anyway and I’m not sure I delinate clearly enough how Nic and I juggle working with parenting but hopefully you can gather most of it amidst what was otherwise such a cathartic and validating conversation. I hope you guys enjoy and please let me know your thoughts on the segment! Next up will likely be sleep and travelling with a baby…. Stay tuned! GET THE JUGGLE HERE. + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah + Join our Facebook community here + Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    1h 7m
  6. Katherine Bennell-Pegg // Our first ever Australian astronaut!!!

    9 OCT

    Katherine Bennell-Pegg // Our first ever Australian astronaut!!!

    Every now and then I get a particular guest in my head and can’t rest until I’ve tried everything in my power to reach them because their story is so extraordinary. In this case, there are literally only a handful of people in HISTORY on this particular pathYAY so to be able to sit down with not an astronaut... and not only one of less than 100 female astronauts in the world... but the first EVER AUSTRALIAN astronaut is literally a dream. I am so honoured to have Katherine Bennell-Pegg in your ears this week (who has just a few days ago earned an honorary doctorate, so should really be DOCTOR Katherine Bennell-Pegg) who qualified as the first Astronaut under the Australian flag in April this year and first Australian female astronaut under any flag. She is an incredibly impressive woman and an absolute ICON for women in STEMM with two masters degrees across four international countries, positions with Airbus and NASA before becoming director of Space Technology at the Australian Space Agency where she remains today. I don’t know how but she has also generously makes time to speak about her career around the country and so excitingly, with us, as well as being a Mum to two girls Clara and Hazel. The I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did! + Follow Katherine Bennell-Pegg here. + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah + Join our Facebook community here + Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    1h 8m
4.8
out of 5
835 Ratings

About

A lawyer turned funtrepreneur's investigation into how some of the world's most inspiring people find their "yay", whether it's through work, rest or play and any other pearls of wisdom they have along the way.

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