The Motivate Collective Podcast by Melanie Suzanne Wilson

Melanie Suzanne Wilson

The Motivate Collective Podcast features conversations with Melanie Suzanne Wilson and wellness thought leaders from around the world. This show contains explicit content.

  1. 5d ago

    S7 Ep 109: Saskia Kalwinek on relationships, self-love and spirituality

    Sexologist Saskia Kalwinek on mismatched libido, honest communication, self-love and being your own battery in a relationship. Content note: adult themes, including frank discussion of sex, and mentions of drug use and mental illness. Not medical advice.   Content note: This episode includes adult themes, with frank discussion of sex, libido, pornography and affairs. It also mentions drug use, anxiety, depression and psychosis. It is general information and personal opinion, not medical or mental health advice. Support details are at the end of these notes. Saskia Kalwinek is a Sydney sexologist who also works with meditation, breathwork and energy practices. She says the most common problem she sees in couples is mismatched libido, and that the harder part is talking about it. In this conversation with Melanie Suzanne Wilson, Saskia explains why she treats libido as something a couple works on together, why opening up a struggling relationship rarely fixes it, and what a breakup can teach you. She also talks about self-love as feeling your own feelings, being your own battery in a relationship, and the times when meditation and exercise became an escape for her. In this episode 1. What a sexologist does, and how Saskia combines therapy with spiritual practices. 2. Why couples therapy is harder than individual therapy. 3. Mismatched libido, and why she sees it as the couple's issue and not one person's problem. 4. Why people avoid talking about sex and about feelings. 5. Opening up a relationship: when it can work, and why it rarely fixes one that is struggling. 6. Moving in together, and partners as mirrors. 7. Why growth hurts, and the chase in modern dating. 8. Self-love as feeling your own feelings, and why affirmations need to be believable. 9. Manifesting: releasing emotions, changing habits and feeling it in your body. 10. People pleasing, rest and being kind for its own sake. 11. Being your own battery, with a relationship as the spare. 12. When meditation and exercise become an escape, and Saskia's own experience of anxiety and depression. 13. Breakups as withdrawal, and what a former partner was teaching you. 14. Boundaries, loneliness and dealing with difficult people. 15. Three habits: a scheduled weekly talk with your partner, sitting with yourself, and being bold. Quotes from this episode "You need your own battery as well." Saskia Kalwinek "Our partners are our biggest mirrors for these issues." Saskia Kalwinek "Big love brings big connection but also big problems." Saskia Kalwinek "Everyone has an escape." Saskia Kalwinek "Life is discomfort." Saskia Kalwinek "Be courageous about things. Be very bold." Saskia Kalwinek "Being your own battery is an amazing way to put it." Melanie Suzanne Wilson About Saskia Kalwinek Saskia Kalwinek is a Sydney-based sexologist and psychosexual therapist. She holds a bachelor's degree in psychology and a master's in sexual therapy, and works with individuals and couples on relationships, communication and sexual health. Alongside therapy she draws on meditation, breathwork, yoga, Reiki and past life regression hypnosis. She grew up in Poland and has also lived and worked in the Netherlands, New Zealand and Thailand. She is the author of Break Up Ascension and Decoding Quantum Design. Connect with Saskia Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/love.empowerment.clinic/ Book launch: Saskia launches her new book, Decoding Quantum Design, on Saturday 31 October in Darlinghurst, Sydney, with an evening of meditation and conscious connection. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/decoding-quantum-design-book-launch-conscious-connection-evening-tickets-1999251107882 Upcoming events: https://www.eventbrite.com/o/108754532801 Support If this episode raises anything for you, support is available. Lifeline: 13 11 14 Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636 In an emergency, call 000. Listeners outside Australia can contact their local crisis service. Enjoyed this episode? Here's how to get more from The Motivate Collective. Become a member Join The Motivate Collective community for more conversations, events, and resources built around growth, wellness, and conscious living. https://www.motivatecollective.com/join Listen ad-free on Substack Subscribe on Substack to hear episodes without the ads, and help keep these conversations going. https://substack.com/@themotivatecollective New here? Start free The Motivate Collective Podcast is free to hear on Spotify and other major podcast platforms. Follow the show there so you never miss an episode. Full show notes and transcript: https://www.motivatecollective.com/s-7-ep-109-saskia-kalwinek

  2. Oct 24

    S7 Ep 108: Rica Elysée — Delegation, AI and Care in the Chair

    BeautyLynk founder Rica Elysée explains how she delegates at home and at work, how her team learns AI together, and how beauty professionals can care for clients without carrying everything they hear. Content note: brief reference to domestic violence. Content note: This episode includes a brief reference to domestic violence. If you need support in Australia, contact 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call 000. Outside Australia, please contact your local crisis support service. Rica Elysée runs three distributed teams while raising twin three-year-olds and a new baby, and she says delegation is one of her superpowers. She is the Founder and CEO of BeautyLynk, which she says now works exclusively with multicultural brides, and the co-creator of Care in the Chair, a trauma-informed training for beauty professionals. In this conversation with Melanie Suzanne Wilson, Rica explains how she decided what to hand over at home and at work, why she has a home manager, and how members of her team now lead small teams of AI bots. She also talks about the trust clients place in the person doing their hair, the emotional weight beauty professionals carry, and the boundaries and scripts she teaches so they can point clients to help without becoming the therapist. In this episode, we explore: 1. Why Rica has a home manager, and how she chose what to delegate first 2. Parenting twins and a newborn while running three teams 3. "Balls to blow dryers": her move from raising money for prostate cancer research to on-location beauty services 4. Narrowing from serving everyone to multicultural brides, and why she feels no guilt in turning a customer away 5. How the cost of building a business with technology has fallen, in her experience 6. Team members who lead their own teams of AI bots, and what Rica means by painting with a different brush 7. What AI changed in her team: the roles it replaced, and why one-to-one customer service stays human 8. Learning circles, where the team teaches each other the AI tools each person uses 9. What COVID taught her about the kind of founder she wanted to be 10. Beauty deserts: places where people travel an hour or two for beauty services 11. Trust and touch: why clients share so much in the chair, and what that costs the professional 12. Care in the Chair: scripts, boundaries, a QR code on the mirror, and Rica's suggestion to charge an extra rate for emotionally heavy appointments 13. How technology may change the physical work of beauty, from braiding to a smart mirror 14. Learning to trust people enough to delegate, and the mentors who helped and hurt along the way Quotes from this episode "There's no guilt in not being able to service someone. There's guilt when you can't make payroll." – Rica Elysée "You're painting a beautiful picture that requires multiple brushes." – Rica Elysée "Just because you're in a service space doesn't mean that you do not have boundaries in what you're willing to hear and experience for yourself." – Rica Elysée "I want you to find that help. I just can't be the person to give it to you." – Rica Elysée "We shouldn't be scared of tech. We should be embracing it and learning it together." – Rica Elysée About Rica Elysée Modjossorica "Rica" Elysée is Founder & CEO of BeautyLynk®, an on-demand beauty platform bookable in 180+ U.S. markets. With psychologist Dr. Charmain Jackman of InnoPsych, she co-created Care in the Chair™, a trauma-aware client-care training for beauty professionals. Rica is an EY Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2020 New England Award Finalist and a Boston Business Journal 40 Under 40 Honoree, and she has been featured on CNBC, Fox Business and GBH News. Connect with Rica Elysée Website: https://ricaelysee.com Free Clarity in Chaos workbook: https://ricaelysee.com/clarity BeautyLynk: https://beautylynk.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ricatheceo/ Keep the conversation going Become a member of The Motivate Collective for more conversations, events, and resources built around growth, wellness and conscious living: https://www.motivatecollective.com/join Prefer ad-free episodes? Subscribe on Substack: https://substack.com/@themotivatecollective You can also listen free on Spotify and all major podcast platforms. Full show notes and transcript at the Motivate Collective Podcast website.

  3. Oct 14

    S7 Ep 106: Dane Hiser on people pleasing, a dystonia diagnosis and being yourself on stage

    Comedian and fundraising manager Dane Hiser on his start at Vinnies, a first gig that ran 75 minutes, a dystonia diagnosis, and letting go of what other people think. Content note: depression, anxiety, OCD and mental health medication. Not medical advice.   Content note: This episode includes discussion of depression, anxiety, OCD and mental health medication. Dane shares his own experience, which is not medical advice. Please do not stop or change any medication without talking to your doctor. Support details are at the end of these notes. Dane Hiser is a Sydney comedian and fundraising manager who spent years worrying about what other people thought of him. A limp in his left leg led to a diagnosis of dystonia, a neurological movement condition, and to a choice that changed how he looks after himself. In this conversation with Melanie Suzanne Wilson, Dane talks about his start at Vinnies, the manager who backed his idea two weeks into the job, and his first comedy gig, which ran for an hour and fifteen minutes. He also shares what happened when he came off a medication he had taken for 20 years, on his specialists' suggestion, and why he now puts looking after himself ahead of pleasing everyone else. See Dane live Excuse Me, Your Authentic Self is Showing, part of Geoff The Comedy Festival Saturday 17 October 2026, 1:00 pm Ashfield Bowling Club, corner of Orpington St and Parramatta Rd, Ashfield NSW Tickets: https://www.trybooking.com/au/event/1620694 In this episode 1. Life in Newtown and the inner west, and growing up in Penrith. 2. How a newspaper clipping posted by his grandfather led to ten years at Vinnies. 3. Two weeks into the job: pitching a regional launch in Parkes built around the film The Dish, and the manager who said "go for it". 4. A night for 800 people, 50 media spots, and why they never screened The Dish. 5. Bringing people together before everything is perfect. 6. People pleasing, and why Dane now makes himself the priority. 7. A limp, eight months of physios, and a diagnosis of dystonia. 8. A panel of twelve specialists, a medication he had taken for 20 years, and the two options he was given. 9. Anxiety, OCD and depression in his twenties, and the ways he hid a twitch. 10. Coming off the medication: what fell apart, what improved, and the break he wishes he had asked for at work. 11. His first comedy gig: an hour and fifteen minutes at a bowling club, where most people start with five. 12. The advice from comedian Stewart Francis that changed his stage persona, and why he is moving on from it. 13. Reading a room, and why a quiet audience is not always an unhappy one. 14. Moving towards solo shows, MC work and keynote speaking. 15. Mindfulness through connecting with an audience, and what wellness means to him now. Quotes from this episode "I have to be the priority. Because if I'm not the priority, I can't help the people I want to help." Dane Hiser "Working out why you're depressed is the hardest part about being depressed." Dane Hiser "People don't come to me expecting perfection." Dane Hiser "I should have asked for a timeout." Dane Hiser "In any moment you need funny." Dane Hiser About Dane Hiser Dane Hiser is a Sydney comedian, fundraising manager and comedy promoter. He started in the non-profit sector more than 25 years ago at Vinnies, the St Vincent de Paul Society, where he spent ten years in marketing, and he has since worked in fundraising, including for a children's cancer charity. He has performed stand-up since about 2008 and has run comedy rooms. He is now moving into solo shows, MC work and keynote speaking. His solo show is Excuse Me, Your Authentic Self is Showing. Support If this episode raises anything for you, support is available. Lifeline: 13 11 14 Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636 In an emergency, call 000. Listeners outside Australia can contact their local crisis service. Full show notes and transcript: https://www.motivatecollective.com/s-7-ep-106-dane-hiser --- Support the show and the community behind it: 🌿 Become a member: https://www.motivatecollective.com/join 🎧 Ad-free episodes on Substack: https://substack.com/@themotivatecollective Or listen free on Spotify and all major podcast platforms.

  4. Oct 13

    S7 Ep 105: Personal Trainer and Life Coach Alessandra Spadoni on Getting Fit for Yourself, Not for Everyone Else

    Personal trainer and life coach Alessandra Spadoni on using fitness as validation, learning to be still, making recovery non-negotiable, and taking one small step today. Content note: brief discussion of under-eating and over-exercising.   Content note: This episode includes a brief discussion of under-eating and over-exercising. Support details are at the end of these notes. Alessandra Spadoni used to exercise to show other people she was worthy. Today the personal trainer and life coach trains because she loves it, and she asks her clients what being fit means to them before she plans a single session. In this conversation with Melanie Suzanne Wilson, Alessandra shares how feeling lost in 2020 began a journey into stillness, self-love and spirituality. She explains how that journey changed the way she trains, coaches and runs her own business, and why she believes lasting change comes from small steps repeated over years. Full show notes and transcript: [EPISODE LINK] In this episode 1. The "be, do, have" approach: embodying who you want to be first, so the right actions and results follow. 2. How Alessandra once used fitness as outside validation, and what changed when she began training for herself. 3. Learning to be still: podcasts, guided meditation, time in nature, and facing her own thoughts. 4. Why she now asks each client what "fit" means to them instead of assuming. 5. Her own training then and now, including why recovery is non-negotiable for her. 6. Coaching beyond fitness: mind, body and spiritual connection, values and boundaries. 7. Starting a business during COVID, and why confidence comes from doing. 8. Working for yourself or for someone else, and how your values change with each stage of life. 9. Self-judgement, self-talk and self-respect, and how they shape the way other people treat us. 10. Doing the work on yourself, handling setbacks, and building up slowly. 11. Where to begin: one small, realistic action you can take today. Quotes from this episode "The confidence starts doing things." Alessandra Spadoni "No one can do the work for you." Alessandra Spadoni "One single episode doesn't change who you are." Alessandra Spadoni "The more we think of it, the more we procrastinate." Alessandra Spadoni "Nothing will change if we don't actually do the thing." Alessandra Spadoni "Great things take time." Alessandra Spadoni About Alessandra Spadoni Alessandra Spadoni is a personal trainer and life coach who runs her own business. She began her self-discovery journey in 2020, and her coaching focuses on mind, body and spiritual connection: helping clients connect with themselves and their values, and set boundaries, so they can create the life they want. She started her business during COVID with Zoom sessions before moving to outdoor training, and prefers working one-on-one or with couples. She also runs a workshop called Love Yourself First. Connect with Alessandra Website: https://alessandraspadoni.com Instagram: @_alessandraspadoni_ Facebook: [FACEBOOK LINK] Email: info@alessandraspadoni.com Support If this episode raises anything for you, support is available. Butterfly National Helpline: 1800 33 4673 Lifeline: 13 11 14 In an emergency, call 000. Listeners outside Australia can contact their local support service. Enjoyed this episode? Here's how to get more from The Motivate Collective. Become a member Join The Motivate Collective community for more conversations, events, and resources built around growth, wellness, and conscious living. https://www.motivatecollective.com/join Listen ad-free on Substack Subscribe on Substack to hear episodes without the ads, and help keep these conversations going. https://substack.com/@themotivatecollective New here? Start free The Motivate Collective Podcast is free to hear on Spotify and other major podcast platforms. Follow the show there so you never miss an episode.

  5. Oct 10

    S7 Ep 104: Roop Singh on nervous system regulation, hypnosis and changing your state

    Content note: This episode includes discussion of family violence, the death of a parent, grief and trauma. Support details are at the end of these notes. Roop Singh calls himself a "computer science nerd". He is also a certified hypnotist. After years working at the intersection of technology and strategy, including two TEDx talks, he now coaches and teaches people how to change the state of their mind and body. In this conversation with Melanie Suzanne Wilson, Roop shares how losing his mother in 2007 led him to a silent Vipassana meditation retreat, and to the years of study that followed. He explains why he thinks of the body and nervous system as hardware and the mind as software, what the window of tolerance is, and how he uses hypnosis and somatic work with clients. He also guides Melanie through three short practices you can try as you listen. In this episode 1. Roop's story: growing up in India, caring for his mother in hospital in 2007, and the Vipassana retreat he says saved him. 2. Two careers in parallel: technology strategy, and the inner work that has become his main work. 3. Hardware and software: why Roop says you can enter the body through the mind, or the mind through the body. 4. Why, in his experience, intellect can become a limiting factor. 5. States and the window of tolerance: being neither too wired nor too flat. 6. Inside a silent retreat: ten to eleven hours of meditation a day, and what he noticed about thoughts and the body. 7. Hypnosis as Roop sees it: a natural state rather than something done to you, and a tool for change rather than entertainment. 8. Why he combines hypnosis with somatic work. 9. The mailman story, and the life events that act as alarms. 10. The gazelle and the tiger: completing the fear cycle and learning to feel safe. 11. Three practices, demonstrated: the physiological sigh for calming down, fire breath for waking up, and an eye movement routine before sleep. 12. The five skills in his State Change Mastery program. A note on the practices Roop says fire breath is not for anyone who is pregnant or has heart issues or high blood pressure, and that it is the wrong choice when you are already anxious. This episode is general information, not medical or mental health advice. The views on hypnosis and the nervous system are Roop's own. About Roop Singh Roop Singh is the creator of State Change Mastery, a program that helps high performers take command of their state (mind, body, and breath) so they can think clearly, perform under pressure, and find more joy in their lives. His own transformation began in 2007, when a turning point in his life sparked a nearly two-decade obsession with understanding how state shapes everything. Since then, he has trained across more than 19 modalities spanning ancient practice and modern neuroscience, including 10-day silent meditation retreats, three forms of yoga, breathwork, and hypnosis. Alongside that inner work, Roop spent 20 years in tech and corporate leadership, advising startups, working with Fortune 1000 companies, and mentoring founders and executives through high-stakes decisions. State Change Mastery brings those two worlds together, pairing what works in direct practice with what holds up in the research, and turns it into a practical toolkit for reclaiming agency and building capacity. Connect with Roop State Change Mastery, a 6-week cohort course with live weekly practice: https://www.statechangemastery.com Free State Change Assessment, a 5-minute assessment that scores five nervous system skills: https://www.statechangemastery.com/assessment 1:1 coaching with Roop: https://www.mindfulrebelsedge.com Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/singhroop_/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@roopunfiltered Support If this episode raises anything for you, support is available. Lifeline: 13 11 14 1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732 In an emergency, call 000. Listeners outside Australia can contact their local crisis service. Full show notes and transcript: [EPISODE LINK] Enjoyed this episode? Here's how to get more from The Motivate Collective. Become a member: https://www.motivatecollective.com/join Listen ad-free on Substack: https://substack.com/@themotivatecollective The Motivate Collective Podcast is free to hear on Spotify and other major podcast platforms. Follow the show there so you never miss an episode.

  6. Oct 7

    Podcaster and Former Healthcare Executive Natalie Bulger on Why You Should Say Your Story

    Content note: This episode includes discussion of assault, pregnancy loss, grief, and suicide loss. Support details are at the end of these notes. Natalie Bulger spent years as a healthcare executive, including seven years in federal healthcare for veterans in the United States, before burnout led her to step away. She now hosts the podcast Motivation N'at. In this conversation with Melanie Suzanne Wilson, Natalie talks about what podcasting has taught her about listening, why she treats AI as a tool, and what she does now that she has left a demanding role. She also shares, in her own words, a story from when she was 17 and 18 that she kept hidden for years, and what changed when she began speaking about it. In this episode Podcasting as a lesson in listening, and the themes Natalie's guests keep returning to: leadership, imposter syndrome, mental health, grief, and AI. Using AI well: why Natalie checks the research AI gives her, why she gives it a persona before asking, and why she believes search engines still have a job to do. Melanie's prompt tip of asking AI to think like a specific person, and who Natalie would choose. Leaving federal healthcare after burning out, and the mix of fractional support, training and podcast editing Natalie does now. Voice and speaking habits: filler words, accents, vocal fry and how the way we talk rubs off on each other. Making space for heavy conversations, and what happens when first-time guests tell their stories. The shower lamp: a small sensory change that Natalie calls a game changer. The story Natalie carried from the age of 17 and 18, how it shaped her as a leader, and why she no longer rewrites it for other people. Inside a large government agency: the mission she loved, the cost of change made without asking questions, and the grief of leaving work that matters to you. Valuing workers, the wealth gap, and accepting that some people want to work for someone else. Quotes from this episode "If you don't speak it into existence, it sits in your body, and it sits there, and it's this thing that you carry that no one else knows." Natalie Bulger "I don't have to be two different people." Natalie Bulger "It becomes less weighted when it's not hidden." Natalie Bulger "Friends happen when you just take away the expectations, and you go talk to each other." Natalie Bulger "Conversations like this would be something AI can't replace." Melanie Suzanne Wilson About Natalie Bulger Natalie Bulger is the host of Motivation N'at. A former healthcare executive, she spent seven years in the Veterans Health Administration in the United States, focusing on risk, regulatory oversight, and compliance, with a background in social work and healthcare administration. She now focuses on curious exploration, the power of perspective and influence, and empowering awareness as the first step towards the best-informed decision-making. She describes herself as a survivor and recovering fixer. Support If this episode raises anything for you, support is available. Lifeline: 13 11 14 1800RESPECT: 1800 737 732 Red Nose Grief and Loss Support Line: 1300 308 307 In an emergency, call 000. Listeners outside Australia can contact their local crisis service. Enjoyed this episode? Here's how to get more from The Motivate Collective. Become a member Join The Motivate Collective community for more conversations, events, and resources built around growth, wellness, and conscious living. https://www.motivatecollective.com/join Listen ad-free on Substack Subscribe on Substack to hear episodes without the ads, and help keep these conversations going. https://substack.com/@themotivatecollective New here? Start free The Motivate Collective Podcast is free to hear on Spotify and other major podcast platforms. Follow the show there so you never miss an episode.

  7. Sep 26

    S7 Ep 102: Hannah Farrow - integrative health coach, Hatha yoga teacher, and chiropractic doctoral student discusses sleep, real food, and mindful attention

    🌿 Join The Motivate Collective community for more conversations, events, and resources built around growth, wellness, and conscious living: www.motivatecollective.com Support The Motivate Collective 💛 Enjoyed this episode? You can support the show directly via PayPal: paypal.me/differentlivingmsw 🌿 Want more? Join The Motivate Collective community for exclusive resources, trainings, and events: motivatecollective.com/join   ⚡ Special offer for our community: Get 10% off your entire order at HumanCharger — supporting your energy, circadian rhythm, and confidence. Use code THEMOTIVATECOLLECTIVE at checkout. As seen on The Motivate Collective Podcast. Get your HumanCharger light therapy headset now: humancharger.com Episode Title S7 Ep 102: Hannah Farrow on accessible integrative health: sleep, real food and mindful attention Short Description (subtitle) Integrative health coach Hannah Farrow on Hatha yoga, the nervous system, optimisation sickness and the simple habits that actually last. Long Description What if better health isn't about doing more, but about paying closer attention to what you're already doing? Melanie Suzanne Wilson is joined by Hannah Farrow, an integrative health coach, Hatha yoga teacher and doctoral student in chiropractic based in Fort Worth, Texas. Hannah helps people use the levers of biological and relational health to live a more integrated, wholesome life. They explore how Hatha yoga trains us to sit with discomfort, why relationships act like environments for the nervous system, Hannah's framework for hard, tragic and bad days, the trap of optimisation sickness, why there's no catching up on sleep, and how to eat real food on a budget. It all comes back to the fundamentals: get enough sleep, eat real food, move your body, love your people. This episode shares general wellbeing information and personal experience, not medical advice. Please speak with a qualified health professional about your own circumstances. Join The Motivate Collective community for more conversations, events and resources built around growth, wellness and conscious living: www.motivatecollective.com Tags Hannah Farrow, The Motivate Collective, Melanie Suzanne Wilson, integrative health, health coaching, Hatha yoga, nervous system, sleep, real food, healthy habits, optimisation, attention, relationships, wellness, personal development, budget eating Category: Health & Fitness > Mental Health (or Education > Self-Improvement) Author: Melanie Suzanne Wilson Explicit: Clean. There's some mild language, including "what the hell" and "suck", which is usually fine for a Clean rating.

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The Motivate Collective Podcast features conversations with Melanie Suzanne Wilson and wellness thought leaders from around the world. This show contains explicit content.