WHAT I'VE LEARNT Deborah Blashki- Marks

California has one of the lowest literacy rates in the country and according to the National Center for Education Statistics, around one in five adults cannot read.
One Costa Mesa father is working hard to change his own personal stats and encourage others in the world to read.


Thirty-five-year-old Oliver James says he was forgotten in school and was seen as a bad child. He felt like adults gave up on him. But it wasn’t just in school, he says he didn’t have that extra push at home either. 
"There was not one book in my house. No, no, there was nothing," James recalled. 

"There were no books, no magazines. There was nothing."


As the world slowed down during the pandemic, James decided that could be his chance to learn to read.
"It opened my mind to see if you can grow this little bit in this little time. Imagine what you can do in a time that you really focus. Like getting up every day, and spending five years reading. You don't know who you're going to be in front of," James said.
Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/

Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3TQjCspxcrSi4yw2YugxBk

Buzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1365850

Hi, Welcome to the What I’ve Learnt podcast

From food to fashion and art to music we’ve got you covered. We wanted to highlight some amazing moments of the podcast from July to September.

This Episode Features

Caitlin Marshall & Lizzie Rose:  Are founders of the award-winning MakeShift. This not-for-profit org is one of the first creative prescribing agencies in Australia. Lizzie and Caitlin are known and respected internationally for their work on creativity and mental health.  They have worked with thousands of individuals, communities and businesses, including first responders and communities affected by bushfires, floods and other natural disasters, to provide trauma-informed creativity programs.

Tammy Casseslon: A surviour of Domestic Violence and Inspiring people to amplify their strengths and live their best lives with kindness & compassion is her passion. She's an advocate for education, awareness building and social justice change.

Annabelle Hickson: The editor of the award-winning independent print magazine GALAH. Despite having no publishing or business experience, Annabelle started the magazine from her kitchen table to document regional Australia and the people who live there.

Michelle Stanton: The founder and CEO of Complete Success utilises her expertise to empower people to achieve exceptional results through innovative speaking, teaching and coaching programs. Formally, the CEO of her family's 8O­ year-old business Bevilles Jewellers, Michelle led the company out of receivership, driving exceptional growth and orchestrating a lucrative sale to a global multinational.
Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/

Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3TQjCspxcrSi4yw2YugxBk

Buzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1365850

Michelle Stanton, Founder and CEO of Complete Success utilises her expertise to empower people to achieve exceptional results through innovative speaking, teaching and coaching programs.
 
Formally, the CEO of her family's 8O­ year-old business Bevilles Jewellers, Michelle led the company out of receivership, driving exceptional growth and orchestrating a lucrative sale to a global multinational.
 
Michelle is a true student of leadership, business, and personal transformation and has dedicated over 10,000 hours to learning and being mentored 1 on 1 by many of these renowned luminaries: Bob Proctor, Mary Morrissey, John Assaraf, Jean Houston & Darren Hardy.
 
Additionally, Michelle is a Certified Life Mastery Consultant at the Brave Thinking Institute and also serves as the founding partner and Board Director of the Life Changer Foundation.
 
Happily married for over 28 years, Michelle takes pride in raising two accomplished teenagers excelling in Downhill Mountain Biking and Snowboarding.
 
Michelle is super passionate about helping people achieve exceptional results both personally and in business, whilst empowering them to create a life they love with far more ease and speed than they ever thought possible.
Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/

Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3TQjCspxcrSi4yw2YugxBk

Buzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1365850

Annabelle Hickson, editor of the award-winning independent print magazine GALAH. Despite having no publishing or business experience, Annabelle started the magazine from her kitchen table to document regional Australia and the people who live there.


In the past, young people left country towns to find opportunities in the Big Smoke.
But the big rural story of the past few years is where young people returned. The Covid-19 pandemic supercharged the regions in a way that surprised Australians. 


Nearly a third of Australians, over 7 million, now live outside the cities. The latest quarterly data shows that more people are moving out to the regions than back into cities. Capital-to-regional migration is tracking at 11.7 per cent above the pre-pandemic average. Sydney accounted for a whopping 80 per cent of all people moving from capitals to regions, up from 61 per cent in the previous 12 months. Millennials are the largest group making the move. 


So what is life actually like outside of the cities? Annabelle Hickson is the embodiment of the Australian tree-changer.
Annabelle didn't plan to live in regional Australia, but she fell in love with a handsome farmer from western NSW and thought she'd give it a shot. She knew there'd be some sacrifices - her journalism career at The Australian, the beach and takeaway food that is still hot by the time you get home - but she had no idea how many opportunities there would be for her in this new life, too.


While her husband Ed planted pecan trees, Annabelle looked after their three young children and began to learn what it was to be part of a community, all in it together. She saw smart, clever and resilient people everywhere she looked who talked about opportunities instead of limitations. This was in stark contrast to the simple-country-people stereotypes she'd bought into in the city. Annabelle wanted to read stories from regional Australia that weren't about disadvantage.  Stories that reflected her sense of luck at living out of the city. And she wanted a publication that acted as a bridge between the city and country divide. So, she made Galah the magazine.
For the first time, Annabelle has collected the most loved and enduring stories from all issues of her award-winning magazine in book form - GALAH: Stories of Life Outside the City, published by Murdoch books 


The changing face of regional and rural Australia
1. The COVID-19 pandemic supercharged the regions in a way that surprised Australians.
2. The latest quarterly data shows that more people are moving to the regions than back winto cities.
3. Capital-to-regional migration is tracking at 11.7 per cent above the pre-pandemic average. Sydney accounted for a whopping 80 per cent of all people moving from capitals to regions, up from 61 per cent in the previous 12 months.  (RAI data. The most significant demographic making the move is millennials.  
Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/

Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3TQjCspxcrSi4yw2YugxBk

Buzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1365850

Tammy Casseslon was just 15 years old when she first saw him from across the room. They smiled at one another, and that was it. She was smitten. 
"He was 17. Charming, funny, very good looking and looked at me like I was special," says Tammy. 
Their relationship began with laughter, love and lightness. "He was so proud of me and showered me with adoration. I loved being loved. I loved how funny he was. I thought we were building a very strong foundation of trust."
The pair became fully enmeshed in each other’s lives and families. 
"He wooed my family with his magnetic character and his wicked sense of humour. They fell in love with him."
Looking back now, Tammy says the behaviour screams of 'love bombing'. At the time, it just felt like love. The couple built a life together, they had two children - a pigeon pair. They were the picture perfect family - well educated, good jobs, attractive. But behind closed doors, the picture looked a little different.
Watch: Can You Spot The Red Flags Of Domestic Violence? Post continues after the video.


Coercive control is so insidious, so sly. It creeps up in a way that it’s almost impossible to notice," shares Tammy. 
It started with the occasional joke or jibe at Tammy’s expense, tiny little comments that made Tammy wonder if she heard right, made her question if she misunderstood. 
"What I only realised later was that he was always in control. We started saving money together before we were ever married. I had no access and never even questioned it. I trusted him completely, naively," says Tammy. 
After they got married and Tammy began to make independent decisions, discovering a need to explore her own purpose, things escalated. 
"It began with jokes at my expense and subtle, almost like under your breath insults, and later there were long periods of controlled calm, then bursts of extreme anger and yelling, including threats and very cruel comments. 
"When I stepped out of his rules, he started saying unacceptably disgusting things." Then the physical threats of violence started.  
"Threats of violence against myself and our children and himself. Pretending to punch me to within a millimetre of my face, using looks to control and threaten me, smashing things."
A picture perfect couple
Despite the prolific gaslighting, the verbal abuse, the emotional and financial abuse, the isolation and the physical threats, to the outside world, they were the perfect family.


My ex-partner painted a picture and I went along with it. Until the very end I would not have labelled it abuse. I did not understand the enormity of all we were going through and had been through."
Tammy grew up in a comfortable middle-upper-class suburb of South Africa before moving to Australia. Her childhood was carefree, happy, protected. She was well educated, had lots of friends, a close family and a large extended family. 
"I have an educational background in commerce, psychology, education, counselling, and teaching. When people think of a typical abuse victim, I wouldn’t come to mind, however there are many like me out there.
"It can happen to anyone, from any background, no religion is exempt, no education makes you exe
Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/

Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3TQjCspxcrSi4yw2YugxBk

Buzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1365850

Turnonthesubtitles 


Extensive research from top academics in many countries has shown that simply turning on the subtitles for children’s television improves literacy. Dramatically. In fact it may double their chance of becoming a proficient reader, in particular those children between the ages of six and 10.
As former ministers, secretaries of state, civil servants, charity CEOs, business leaders and academics, we all now call on Sky, Netflix, Amazon Prime, YouTube Kids, ITV, Channel 5 and the BBC to all turn on the subtitles, by default, for children’s TV programmes. This needs to be done as a matter of urgency. This simple change will make the world of difference to millions of young people at this extremely challenging time. You can find out more at the website www.turnonthesubtitles.org.


On Sunday 12th April 2020, The Guardian published a news article introducing the TOTS Campaign and what it was trying to achieve, alongside a letter in their commentary section. The letter was signed by over 30 former ministers, secretaries of state, civil servants, charity CEOs, business leaders and academics urging broadcasters to turn on their subtitles by default for children’s content.


This isn’t a company. This isn’t a charity. This is just some like-minded people who think this idea is so blindingly obvious that it just has to happen.
It was devised by Oli Barrett MBE and Henry Warren, they are old friends who have started multiple businesses and charities over the years.


Henry Warren
Henry is a multi-award winning innovation expert and entrepreneur specialising in Education Technology. He is the co-founder & Chairman of the African education company Watobe and sits on the boards of several other charities and companies – almost always around education and technology.
He’s the former Director of Innovation for Pearson plc and the former Head of Innovation for GEMS as well as an advisor to His Highness The Aga Khan’s schools. Prior to that, he founded the school’s network Rafiki and the charity Gemin-i.
He’s a dad of three and is the alter ego of Barry T Tooth Fairy. Henry holds one of the more stupid Guinness world records involving sumo wrestlers and has also rafted the Nile holding a London traffic cone for reasons best known to himself.


Oli Barrett MBE
Oli Barrett is a serial founder who enjoys making useful connections between people and ideas. He created Tenner, the UK’s largest schools enterprise challenge, in which over 250,000 pupils have made money and made a difference in a month, starting with just ten pounds. He co-founded Volunteer It Yourself (VIY), the social venture supported by Wickes, which has helped thousands of young people to fix their own youth clubs. His first job was at Walt Disney World in Florida, and his first experience in television was working on the launch of Bob the Builder. He co-founded The Rainmakers (an innovation and incubation company) in 2004, which continues to operate out of San Francisco. From 2008, he co-created and led eleven international trade missions (including WebMission and the Clean and Cool Mission), to help companies succeed overseas. In 2011, h
Deborah's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/what.ive.learnt/

Mind, Film and Publishing: https://www.mindfilmandpublishing.com/

Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/what-ive-learnt/id153556330

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3TQjCspxcrSi4yw2YugxBk

Buzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1365850