Seize the Yay

Sarah Davidson
Seize the Yay Podcast

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. Noémie Fox // Paddles, podiums and Paris 2024!!

    12 SEPT

    Noémie Fox // Paddles, podiums and Paris 2024!!

    I am SO excited to have another guest for you this week and a very special one that’s been in the making for a long time. If you were anywhere near the Paris Olympics this year, it was impossible to miss the incredible Fox sisters whose medal tally as a duo rivalled some of the top performing COUNTRIES in the games!  And while you’ll all remember our episode with 2024 flag bearer and Aussie golden girl Jess Fox after Tokyo a few years ago, this year was all about her younger sister Noémie Fox’s Olympic debut which saw her not only beat Jess in her kayak cross event but become the first ever gold medallist in this new event after years of a technicality squashing her Olympic dream. Having met Noémie back then when the Olympics still wasn’t on the cards, it made my life to see her time to shine in Paris and I am SO grateful to have caught up with her while it’s still fresh in her mind - I mentioned we tried to record while she was actually in the village, but it worked out far better that we got to catch up a afterwards as things turned out. There are so many beautiful facets to this story - a whole family of Olympians and their French connection, the long wait in the wings and the complexity of patience, Noémie’s entire career outside of the sport as a corporate girlie, and what I feel shines through the most - the INCREDIBLE power of mindset and choosing a narrative for yourself. If you haven’t already been, I hope you are as impacted by her humility and good sense as I am!  Follow Noemie 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 6m
  2. Athan Didaskalou // Baggage banter on the journey to July

    4 SEPT

    Athan Didaskalou // Baggage banter on the journey to July

    We are back with another incredible guest whose brand you will likely know and love but whose backstory you may know less about. If you follow me on socials, especially as we just came back from a trip, you’ll know we are BIG fans of July Luggage with their unique polycarbonate hard shell, silent move 360 spinner wheels and quality so high they come with a lifetime warranty…. But do you know the fellow Melbournian co founder and the quite unexpected way he ended up, as he humbly puts it, selling suitcases on the Internet? Athan Didaskalou started off, of all places, in a charcoal chicken shop stopping off in co-working, coffee sales and even considering shellac nail kits before July was born in 2018. And despite the enormous success you’ll have seen July experience in the past few years growing into a multimillion dollar company, he has equally lived through losing 95% of sales when travel came to a halt but survived (and thrived) to tell the tale so this is a fascinating one. Other fun facts - Athan met his business partner in a cafe who previously founded Brosa Furniture and is married to the CEO of the incredible Rationale Skincare, so there is SO much to unpack in this one and my sleep deprived mum brain missed half of what I wanted to ask. But we cover so much interesting ground and I hope you enjoy as much as I did.  Follow Athan here Check out July 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.

    51 min
  3. OLYMPIAN SPOTLIGHT // MADISON DE ROZARIO // Paralympian, puppy mama and Barbie's 2020 Australian Shero

    29 AUG

    OLYMPIAN SPOTLIGHT // MADISON DE ROZARIO // Paralympian, puppy mama and Barbie's 2020 Australian Shero

    We are so lucky to have had so many wonderful Olympians on the podcast over the years, so to celebrate Olympic fever during Paris 2024 we are throwing it back to some of our favourites who are competing again this year. Olympians aren't allowed to do audio or video interviews from within the Olympic village, so we sadly had to postpone a few follow ups to these that we had locked in. But one thing we love about the podcast is being able to reflect on how far we've come and having a record of how we felt a moment in time. So I hope you enjoy looking back as much as we did! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ While I was up in Sydney, I was lucky enough to spend time with Madison de Rozario, three-time Paralympian who is heading off for her fourth in Tokyo this year. Madi made her Paralympic debut in wheelchair racing at just 14 years old at the Beijing 2008 games taking home three silver medals since then as well as a string of other accolades and achievements. She is an incredible role model and advocate for the visibility of the disabled community, reshaping our perception of disability and truly going after your dreams. As you’ll hear, she is delightfully bubbly, humble and articulate and it’s no surprise to me that she was named the 2020 Barbie Australian Shero (that’s she-hero) as part of Barbie’s Global Role Model campaign inspiring women the world over with a one of a kind doll. As one of my favourite childhood brands, I’ve loved learning how Barbie is inspiring the limitless potential of every girl introducing different body types, hair, skin and everything in between and as you’ll see in the episode image, Madi’s doll comes complete with her racing chair. Madi’s excitement and drive is infectious and I hope you enjoy hearing her story! + Follow Madison 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.

    56 min
  4. OLYMPIAN SPOTLIGHT // SINEAD DIVER // Olympic Marathon Runner

    7 AUG

    OLYMPIAN SPOTLIGHT // SINEAD DIVER // Olympic Marathon Runner

    We are so lucky to have had so many wonderful Olympians on the podcast over the years, so to celebrate Olympic fever during Paris 2024 we are throwing it back to some of our favourites who are competing again this year. Olympians aren't allowed to do audio or video interviews from within the Olympic village, so we sadly had to postpone a few follow ups to these that we had locked in. But one thing we love about the podcast is being able to reflect on how far we've come and having a record of how we felt a moment in time. So I hope you enjoy looking back as much as we did! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Welcome back to our Power Your Inner Runner podcast series in partnership with Nike Running and Rebel. This is our second of three episodes with elite Nike athletes who are sharing their best running tips and tricks - whether you’re a complete beginner all the way through to a pro looking for a fresh perspective. It’s been so wonderful to see how many of you enjoyed our kick-off episode on mindset with the wonderful Catriona Bisset and have already been implementing some of your learnings into your training. My top takeaway was the power of running with friends – I’ve been enjoying running alone for the mental benefits but hadn’t realised how much harder it can be to push into new distances when you’re on your own. So, I locked in my first long run with Ang and a few friends just a few days after this chat with Catriona and went from a solid 10km plateau to a lovely 18KM RUN and I could have kept going but didn’t want to overdo it by going too hard too fast. I’m so thrilled with the breakthrough and hope that some of you found Catriona’s chat useful too – do keep sharing your runs with us along the way, it’s so much fun to do this as a yayborhood! Given I also had a sneak peek of this episode, I had the chance to implement some other tweaks recommended by today’s Nike athlete which were equally as impactful so I’m VERY excited to share this one with you. In case you were worried, the episodes aren’t sequential, so if you’re only tuning in now don’t worry each segment stands alone and you can listen in whatever order you like. I met this wonderful woman during my first foray into running when we were training for the half marathon in 2019 and even though I’ve heard her story before, I was blown away all over again this time. While Catriona was a sprinter focusing on the 800m, we’ve got a long-distance perspective today from a superstar Olympic marathoner. Yep, I’m THRILLED to have the inimitable Sinead Diver with us today who, like Catriona, took a less conventional pathway into running. She is not only one of our best performing marathon runners ever at the Olympics coming in the top 10 in Tokyo – she was also our oldest athlete competing at 44 years old to cross just the line just four minutes behind the race winner. The twist? Sinead only started running AFTER her second child at aged 33 when she was roped into a fun run at the Tan in Melbourne. In her debut marathon, she finished in SECOND place overall then won Melbourne Marathon just four years later and she just keeps getting faster and faster. So, if you’ve ever been told you can’t do it or had sceptics doubting your potential, Sinead is your woman showing how she continues to surprise with her sights set on Paris 2024 as she continues to improve each year. She also answers so many of our burning questions specific to longer distances, especially around the elusive management of eating, drinking and nature calling along the way! Coming into running later in life, she’s a fabulous brain to pick about getting your body and mind into those 30 and 40km distances and living to tell the tale! She’s humble, funny and full of warmth – I hope you enjoy! + Follow Sinead Diver here + Announcements on Insta at @spoonful_of_sarah + Join our Facebook community here + Subscribe to not miss out on the next instalment of YAY! S

    58 min
  5. OLYMPIAN SPOTLIGHT // CATRIONA BISSET // Olympic 800m runner

    7 AUG

    OLYMPIAN SPOTLIGHT // CATRIONA BISSET // Olympic 800m runner

    We are so lucky to have had so many wonderful Olympians on the podcast over the years, so to celebrate Olympic fever during Paris 2024 we are throwing it back to some of our favourites who are competing again this year. Olympians aren't allowed to do audio or video interviews from within the Olympic village, so we sadly had to postpone a few follow ups to these that we had locked in. But one thing we love about the podcast is being able to reflect on how far we've come and having a record of how we felt a moment in time. So I hope you enjoy looking back as much as we did! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Welcome to the very first episode of our Power Your Inner Runner podcast series. I am so thrilled to be partnering with Nike Running and rebel, to bring you three elite Nike athletes who will help us build our running toolkit - whether this be your first venture into running or you’re seasoned and ready to go further, faster and fresher than ever. If you’ve been listening since the early days, you’ll have witnessed the transformative power of sport in my life, with the remarkable conversion from non-runner – or dare I say even anti-runner – to signing up, voluntarily, for my second half marathon this year and ACTUALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO IT. Six transformative months back in 2019 with the incredible team at Nike taught me all about gradually building your distance, warming up and warming down, fuelling yourself properly and, crucially, wearing the right gear. I’ve been revisiting all those lessons again, turning back to longer runs as a physical, mental and therapy-like outlet during lockdown spurring me to sign up for another 21.1km at Melbourne Marathon. When that was pushed back to December, we had some extra time up our sleeves to consult the experts and with just over six weeks to go, I’m SO excited to be able to share them with you thanks to the support and generosity of rebel and Nike. I was surprised but thrilled to see how many of you in the yayborhood are also on your own running journey! And thank you all so much to those who submitted questions for our guests. The next three episodes have been split into different themes, focusing on the topics YOU want to hear about most! Introducing, Catriona Bisset... As to our very first guest, I’m delighted to have with us the incredible Catriona Bisset – Olympian, Nike Athlete and Lifeline Ambassador, to help us lay some strong foundations with mindfulness and mindset. If I’ve learnt anything over the past few years, it’s that your mind will often give up way before your body will, so getting your head in the game first is crucial. Catriona found her first successes in running at just six years old but took a hiatus from the sport to work on her mental health, pursuing studies in architecture at university. When she did resume racing, however, in a very short amount of time she became the first Australian woman in a decade to break the two-minute barrier – and went from strength to strength to race earlier this year in the 800m at the Tokyo Olympics. You’ll hear all of the details in between from Catriona herself as we cover her pathYAY first then her tips and tricks for managing mental health, building speed, and navigating the relationship between success and the self. What a CRACKING first episode to kick off with, I hope you all enjoy. + Follow Catriona Bisset 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
  6. OLYMPIAN SPOTLIGHT // TALIQUA CLANCY // Olympic Beach Volleyballer

    7 AUG

    OLYMPIAN SPOTLIGHT // TALIQUA CLANCY // Olympic Beach Volleyballer

    We are so lucky to have had so many wonderful Olympians on the podcast over the years, so to celebrate Olympic fever during Paris 2024 we are throwing it back to some of our favourites who are competing again this year. Olympians aren't allowed to do audio or video interviews from within the Olympic village, so we sadly had to postpone a few follow ups to these that we had locked in. But one thing we love about the podcast is being able to reflect on how far we've come and having a record of how we felt a moment in time. So I hope you enjoy looking back as much as we did! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I’m joined this week by our first Wulli Wulli woman, Beach volleyball Olympian and Commonwealth silver medallist, Taliqua Clancy. You’ve probably seen I’ve been reflecting on Seize the Yay’s commitment to diversity (of all kinds), but also, in light of the past few weeks, the best way to contribute to the BIPOC dialogue specifically and Taliqua is the first of a few wonderful guests coming up who offer some generously personal and thought provoking insights to the conversation. Growing up in Kingaroy QLD (otherwise known as “peanut town”) over 200km from the nearest beach, you wouldn’t expect Olympic success at beach volleyball to be in Taliqua’s future. And yet, she reached the quarter finals in the Rio Olympics becoming the first Aboriginal Olympian to compete in the sport and is on her way to the slightly delayed Tokyo Olympics next year. Taliqua is also an Ambassador for our mutually beloved Cadbury who are launching an amazing Smart Watch campaign this week to support us all staying active in #iso which you’ll hear more about. I hope you enjoy as much as I did… NOTE: Terra Nullius is the concept we discussed, that you might want to research. + Follow Taliqua here + Find out more about the Cadbury Smart Watch campaign 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.

    44 min

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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