Season 2 Episode 1 – Sheryl Worthington [Healthy Ageing Advocate]

Hi everyone.  Welcome to our first guest for season 2.   On our latest Podcast I talked to Sheryl Worthington, a Senior Laboratory Scientist from Auckland New Zealand.

She is  a Healthy Ageing Advocate and a business mentor in a wellness company. From early on in her life she lived life like any normal adult. Along her journey she realised that her body wasn’t keeping up with her activities in life.

She was relatively fit and healthy, but found her body had more creaks and groans she thought she should have at her age.

She shares with us a little bit about her background and some reasons why she sought a path in natural medicine to help her body age as gracefully as possible. This was more evident as she is now a mum with young kids. She became a mother later in life, so she understood that her body needed a bit more care and nurturing. She wanted the energy to enjoy being with her kids as they grew older. She also wanted to continue to be the fittest that she could be for as long as can be.

Nutrigenomics

Along the way she searched for anything that would align herself with her holistic approach. Her search for solutions led her  to using essential oils and nutrigenomics. Sheryl has always had a background in science. She believes in natural health solutions that can be evidenced by results.Her journey was like everyone else’s. In her 20’s she played hard and was not very kind to her body. She exercised and partied like everyone else but realised that her body was not keeping up with her activities. She realised that to maintain her body in reasonable condition, she had to look at a more holistic approach to health.

It was a couple of years ago that she was approached by a colleague of hers to check out a product that she had come across.  A week later, after doing her research, she went back to him and was happy to give them a go. Two and a half years later, she is still using the same products and can see herself never being without them.

LifeVantage

What makes the supplements Sheryl uses different than others. With health and immunity being in the focus of the world in recent years during  the pandemic many people are searching for natural solutions.  Never before has our bodies and our health has been under so much pressure. With the world’s food supply also under threat, finding the right supplementation for our bodies has become an important part of life. There is a reason that the supplementation industry worldwide is now worth around $220 billion in revenue.

There are millions of supplements available around the world and much of them are under constant scrutiny from naysayers, regulators and health practitioners etc. Of course, they all say that their products are based on science. The  products she uses are based on a relatively new field of science called nutrigenomics. This concept is based on how foods have the ability to impact on our genes at a cellular level.

Photo by Taryn Elliott

The products are totally sourced from natural ingredients and formulated with the right quantities to get the desired results. The uniqueness of these products however are backed by medical research and also backed by scientific results. The research results are also peer reviewed on various independent medical journals. This is the reason why Sheryl knew she was on a good thing.

In her words, she says that “these supplements aren’t adding something to the body that enhances energy or performance, but it assist in the body at a cellular level to create its own natural immunity and energy.”

Moving along her health journey,  she started to share the product and her knowledge to others. She enjoys sharing her story with others and it has become a passion for her to help others to also become healthier.  As a self-proclaimed introvert, Sheryl began her journey into entrepreneurship knowing nothing about the business model. You see, the products are available only by word of mouth. The business model that she works with is based entirely online and by just using the products for herself she was able to tap into a whole network of mentors and positive people who are working together for the one goal.

Her company helped her set up an online e-commerce portal and she is now  mentoring others to build their businesses. Previous to this, she has had never been involved with business before in her life. Now, she is a bona fide small business owner and her company is continuing to help her  grow and become a leader in the industry.  She is now building a sustainable e-commerce business that will eventually grow exponentially. All the while doing it part time whilst she is working in the medical science field.

Sheryl knows and understands that in business, she will get knocked down constantly. Her health journey is testament to her determination to share what she has with as many people as possible. She is an example of the products working and she believes in what the company is trying to achieve. This is why she continues to connect with like-minded people that have an interest in health and wellness. This is how we connected on LinkedIn.

Thank you very much  Sheryl for sharing your story with us.  I like the fact that you did not hesitate to try the product once you knew it was all about the science.

I look forward to watching her grow and develop her business further as she ages gracefully with her husband and her kids in the future. Hopefully we can touch base later in about 12 months’ time to get an update on your journey.

Until next time. Live Work Digital..

Luki…………Ciao.

Episode 11 – Kathryn Morland [Adventure Racer]

Today we are chatting with Adventure Racer, Kathryn Morland, who competed in the recent World’s Toughest Race which was featured on Amazon Prime video.

Worlds Toughest Race Trailer

I met Kathryn through the local running group. I have the watched her journey from being a local runner and then watched her move through to orienteering, mountain biking and then adventure racing.

She found her love for adventure and the outdoors by accident and then continued to push the boundaries of what her mind and body could do.

Team Kathryn

By day she runs her Town Planning business and in her free time, she focuses on anything to do with the outdoors. After I found out that she was doing the race, I waited intently to watch it on Amazon.

The race itself was based in Fiji and it is a 670km plus event where 50 odd teams of 4 race against each other against the clock.  There is open water paddling, stand up paddle boarding, mountain bikes, thunderstorms, cliffs,  waterfalls and plenty of mud. Throw that in the mix with checkpoints to reach, time deadlines to meet and then getting along with your teammates and you get a recipe for a TV show.

The Mexicans & The Aussie

Kathryn shares her experiences on how she got to be a competitor in the race. She also shares with me some intimate details of where she has come from. She touches on some of her past and how far she has come. Very few people would know her story and more of this information can be unpacked, but the message is a positive one. She is one amazing lady. She is testament to the fact  that when you set your mind to something that is worthwhile, it can be done.  She has had many challenges in her life and at different points in it, the end result could well have been very different.

Her message is one of hope and positivity. She made a decision to change her life and started off with small steps. This is her message. Change doesn’t need to be big. It just needs a decision and then the small steps that come from it will create the change. Once small steps have been achieved these leads to bigger ones.

We love her story and we love the way she leads her life. Now what does all this have to do with living a digital life you may ask? Well, the reason the show exists is because it is a streaming series on Amazon.

And the reason I knew Kathryn was competing was because of social media

And now, she gets to share her story on a Podcast.

Until Episode 12,  Live Work Digital….Peace.

Luki

Live Work Digital Update: Beyond 2022 #nogrey

The timing seems right for me to update  and refresh this digital blog. I thought I would also give people and update as to how I have been going and what I have been up to.

Like most people around the world, my life has  been governed  by the pandemic. Currently, I am based in Singapore. I have been here for the most part of the last 12 months, but I also have just recently come back from a trip to Melbourne, Australia. This gave me an opportunity to see how Melbourne looked like coming out of lock down compared to here. I lived through the first year of the pandemic in Melbourne and I remember how I felt living it.

Singapore Photo by Kin Pastor on Pexels.com

I went back to Melbourne during the Omicron Peak over the New Year. It was an interesting trip. It felt like people were trying to get Covid just to get it over with. It was a culmination of the lockdowns where people just wanted to be free and to party like the normal days before the proverbial hit the fan a couple of years ago. As a result, the numbers spiked, and everyone started to bunker done for the start of the new year. The beginning of January was very quiet. I think people spent the school holiday period on the coast or just kept a low profile at home. Whilst I was in Melbourne I did a bit of work as an Uber driver, so I got to see the place, as I did through the pandemic right from the beginning. Contact tracing and checking in was around, but it was a haphazard affair and most people generally ignored the need to do it. What was evident from people I knew who travelled interstate was that every state had a different App to use as a check in tool.  This meant you would need multiple Apps when travelling. Strange, but given the way the Premiers dealt with power during this time, not entirely surprising.

This was also a time when PCR tests were required to travel interstate. Testing centres were inundated, and I had the pleasure of visiting one of these centres twice. Both times, I  waited in the car for over 2 hours each time just to get a test done. Common sense and logistics eventually prevailed, and things started to change from there.

Melbourne Photo by Mitchell Luo on Pexels.com

There have been no surprises here in Singapore. Things were very measured and the approach to coming out of the pandemic was a very cautious one. I likened it to living under the same roof as strict parents. It wasn’t like in Melbourne where things looked like decisions were made randomly and based on the science fact of the day.

At this very moment, masks are optional outdoors and group gatherings are now increasing enough that it looks normal. During the weekends , there are massive crowds enjoy this new found freedom in the parks and beaches. There are now tourists again and evidence of this is in and around Marina Bay. People are taking photos in front of Marina Bay Sands and the TIk Tokers are up and about. Small crowds are also now gathering around the Merlion again with people fighting for clear space to get the perfect photo.

We also now do not need to check in everywhere we go. You couldn’t do anything or go anywhere unless you used the Trace Together App here in Singapore. It became ingrained in daily life. Currently there is no requirement to check in except for major events. Having said that, major events have still yet to happen in a big way.

Having been into running for the past 10 years now, I am waiting for more running events and fitness to open up. Singapore has always had running events, triathlon events, obstacle racing throughout the year.

The good news is that a real triathlon event is going to happen here on the 29th of May. This is the first real event for 3  years. Triathlons are something I have enjoyed doing in the past and I am hoping to do more of them. I did run an event in Melbourne in February, so it has rekindled my interest. This Live Work Digital platform is in fact the catalyst to share the next part of my fitness journey.

Asia Pacific Masters Games, Jeonbuk Korea, 2023

I have recently set a goal to compete in the Asia Masters Games in Korea in May 2023. My sights are set to compete in the Triathlon event. I hope to share my experiences in the blog, podcast and maybe even YouTube. Hey anyone can be a digital entertainer right? Let’s see if I can follow it through and see how I can grow interest in social media in general. Along the way, maybe I can interview people who are on the same journey as myself. I will share health and training tips and even nutritional and supplement tips.

I want to spread the message that it is never too late to give something a go. As a 50 Plus year old guy, it gets tough on the old body, but it can be done. I hope you can continue this journey with me. There will be more to come in the coming months.

Cheers, Luki

#nogrey #raisethebar #nevertoolate

Life Updates

A few weeks ago, Lisa and I touched base to record our latest podcast episode. It had been a long time between drinks so really it was just to catch up and also see what we both have been doing since we initially started the Podcast that is Live Work Digital.

Photo by George Pagan III on Unsplash

Obviously we haven’t posted much in recent times but there is actually also 2 episodes that were done last year that remain unpublished. They will be launching shortly.

We could have easily shut everything down, but I had always had the feeling that the podcast had to keep going. I felt that it would help us both in the longer term. It was just a gut feel because we put in a lot of effort to get it started and it would have been a shame to let the knowledge go by the wayside.

Lets face it, the last 12 months has been an interesting one for everyone. For me, it was being apart from my wife who is a Permanent Resident in Singapore. From the very start, we were in a long distance relationship and we both just travelled back and forth the whole time. With having kids from a previous marriage and the fact that I was finishing my University Degree in Digital and Social Media, this was the path we were destined to follow. Like everyone else in most parts of the world, we just had to do what we could to get through and remain as positive as we could. So, now I start my new journey in Singapore and looking forward to opening more doors, whilst I build my brand and doing a little more studying. (TESOL – Teaching English as a Second Language).

Photo by Hello I’m Nik on Unsplash

For Lisa, her e-Learning business was going from strength to strength. She had plenty of learnings along the way as all small business owners do. More on this on our podcast but her business was gaining momentum and she knew she had to make changes to take it to the next level. Currently she is in the process of rebranding but she also has changed the structure of her business. Along the way, she also consulted for a large Queensland based corporation. This was where she had an ‘AHA’ moment. She realised that she was not built to work for anyone else again! She was a busy girl indeed but she knew this fact. So much so that she was not able to start her last University Subject to graduate. She is about to finish that shortly now that she has a bit more time up her sleeve.

Photo by Aditya Saxena on Unsplash

More insight into both our journey’s will be on our upcoming podcast but what is evident is that both our paths are clearly involved in working and living in the digital environment. We will therefore continue to spruik the Live Work Digital message. Of course, it isn’t for everyone, but what is evident now is that the workplace environment in most industries has changed forever. Whether we like it or not, most of us cannot avoid this fact.

Until next time, Live Work Digital.

Luki

It’s time to Adult again!

It has come to the time that I need to start to become an Adult again. Well it has been a month since I have finished my last assignment and closing my University degree which I started 3 years ago. It really hasn’t hit me that I was able to finish it within the 3 years since I set my goal to study. As a major bucket list item, I spent a lot of mental energy in getting it done through the past few years. During my travels I have managed to complete it whilst at the same time living the Uber experience as a driver. I have spent the past few weeks unfocused on many things.

Graduation guy does a DAB - Live Work Digital
https://unsplash.com/s/photos/graduation

During 2020, I spent a lot of mental energy on focused on the small things and like everyone, just tried to get through every single day as best I could. In reality, this has been my life the past 10 years, so in many ways it has been not much difference in that respect. Every day my energy  is spent on getting through another day. For 10 years I have fought so hard to get through every day and build my life from scratch again. Throughout all of this, I have seen my kids grow up to be young men. I am very proud of them and I have a sense of optimism for them, despite everything that has gone on.

Looking back at the back end of the year, the second major lockdown of Melbourne really took it out of me. My last couple of subjects took some doing as I struggled to focus on the assignments and keep up with the required tasks. Somehow I got through it and I will now graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Digital and Social Media  from Curtin University. What a mind blast! It still hasn’t hit home yet. Once I attend the ceremony and walk on the stage to get that piece of paper, it will only become real then. It is of course easier for me to get the document delivered to me, but I want the whole Shebang graduation experience. With Co-Vid and all things that are surrounding it there are no defined dates for this to happen soon. There is also the logistical hurdle being in Melbourne and getting to Perth to attend it. I have however registered for my graduation to happen in Singapore as they have a campus there, so this suits me fine. Of course, the date is yet to be confirmed also.  I have waited 30 years for this, and I will do it in style.

Live Work Digital - Time to be an adult
https://pixabay.com/photos/legs-street-alone-challenge-loner-1031653/

What some people don’t realise is that my wife actually lives in Singapore, and we have not been together since early March when I surprised her for her birthday with a quick visit. I got back as the world was crashing around us and Australia went into lockdown after the Formula 1 Grand Prix.  It sure hasn’t been easy on both of us.  I have survived daily by not focusing too much on it for too long and now I have finished my studying, I have had some extra time to reflect on the situation. She has endured so much through the year being isolated from me and her family in Indonesia. I have my kids here so to a certain extent; and this has helped me get through it so far, but I feel guilty for still being here in Australia whist she is there on her own.  

There is a constant feeling of fear in my mind and I haven’t quite pinpointed the reason for it. Maybe it is a combination of many things. I am not so much scared for my kids as I am of what lays ahead for me in the future. I have been living through a sense of failure now for nearly a decade now. So much so that surviving each day was no different to any other day since I went through my divorce.

I have had so much to do with my kids and no matter how I look at it, I have had this sense of fear that I have failed them. Every time I dwell on it, it upsets me. I know this is not the case, but my failings are my own and this impacts on my point of view. This Christmas has been a tough one as I am normally with my wife travelling in Australia or elsewhere. I have spent a lot of time just being with myself and trying to chill. I have also been driving more on the roads again as the city has come out of lockdown. This has kept me busy and things are nearly back to normal on that front, but I am finding it more fatiguing than I remembered it to be. My future however does belong  in the digital space.  My instinct and intuition are that I will continue with this blog and podcast as I move forward. I also have been working on an e-commerce project the past 6 months and am working through the testing and soft launch phase of this. I haven’t spent as much time on this as I should have in recent weeks, but I am guided by my energy levels at the moment. Part of the getting back on the horse is writing this blogpost and getting the momentum back in my goals for the next 12 months.

BARS Supplements - Logo
E-Commerce – Its a thing. Are you in or out?
https://barssupplements.com/

So here I am. I still have lots to share and write about, but it is a start. I have some podcast episodes to launch in the coming week or so and I need to get the feelers out on the job market (maybe). The cynical me is thinking about who would want to hire a 51-year-old graduate. I am now at the point where my previous work experience maybe doesn’t get me in the door to similar roles. Having said that, I don’t actually want to do the roles I used to do. It defeats the purpose of doing my degree and forging a career in the digital world. My instincts continue to tell me that this is my path and I need to make sure I continue down it. There is a business side and a creative side of me that is ready to show to the world and it is time to come in from the long run.

Stay tuned world – Live Work Digital

Luki

TikTok – Is it Safe?

Live Work Digital
Live Work Digital – The Podcast

TikTok is currently one of the most downloaded Apps in the world. It currently has around a billion monthly active users. So, what is it?  In short, it is a platform where people can upload short form video content. It is a little like YouTube, but  the videos only go for 60 seconds. In recent times, the company has been under the spotlight because of its links to China. So much so that the US Government is looking to ban the company from operating in America. So, what are the issues with it? Why is there so much fear surrounding the company if it is so popular around the world? The platform is already banned in India, Bangladesh and Malaysia and there is increasing concern that it also provides a security risk in Australia. Why is there so much concern about this particular social media platform which is not only predominantly used by teenagers but also growing in the older demographics.

Photo by visuals on Unsplash

The company is owned by a Chinese group called Bytedance who launched in China in 2012. By 2017, it took over a relatively small company called Musicly which had slowly been growing in the US market since it began in 2014. Here lies the main reason causing concern for the US Government. Essentially, Musicly was not on the radar in the US until Bytedance took it over. The company merged under the TikTok name and the popularity of the platform skyrocketed.

Suddenly this brought the company into  the focus of the US Government regulators. From this point, people started to realise the significance of its reach. The  company had  a social media  presence in the US, with 180 million users on it  worldwide. People started to ask questions on how it all happened. How was the company able to operate in the country without any oversite or approval? The answer to this question is simple. They didn’t ask. They must have gone  through the appropriate legal process, but it seemed that, because no one was looking, they went and did it anyway.

Photo by Solen Feyissa on Unsplash

The difference between TikTok and the others is that this platform uses information that is garnered through peoples interests and choices rather than just socially connected links. What this means is that the intelligence behind the platform, remembers places, locations, type of content watched and so on and so forth. This builds a story and a picture of the person’s life and it starts immediately after the App has been downloaded and the profile is set up. With the content being short, a lot of information can be harvested quickly as people watch more and more video clips.

So how can a social media platform be a security risk? How can we let platforms control so much of our data? The answer to this is that we allow it. When someone signs on, not only do they enter in all their relevant requested details, but they also  click yes to the terms and conditions of using the platform. This opens the door for the data to be collected.

Bytedance,  the company, continuously argues that all personal information is safe and that it is not given to the Chinese Government. They point out that their servers are stored in the US and in Singapore. Interestingly enough however, deep in the TikTok website,  there is a note that says information can be potentially be shared with Bytedance and any of its affiliates.  Of course, because all users of the App have already agreed on the Terms and Conditions of the platform, it leaves the door open.

The question we ask ourselves in Australia is whether we also should be looking to ban the platform. As from February 2020 there were 1.6 million Australians who were already using it. The mood seems to be a very cautious approach by the federal government with Scott Morrison flagging that there is “no reason” currently to look at banning TikTok. He does acknowledge that there is risk for personal data to be sent to Beijing and “Australians need to be very aware” of such platforms.

Source: Hootsuite/We Are Social

However, there are some very serious concerns that are being raised by cyber security experts in Australia who warn of the dangers of not being vigilant with personal information online. They warn that the difference between this and other social media platforms is that there are no guarantees that the information isn’t being spied on by the Chinese state. TikTok continues to spruik how safe their App is and at the same time has set up offices in Sydney . It looks like they’re here for the long haul. So, for the moment, we will watch this space. Maybe we may even dance a bit along the way.

Will you download TikTok?

Information Links

Tik Tok and Law Primer https://www.lawfareblog.com/tiktok-and-law-primer-case-you-need-explain-things-your-teenager

Concerns over Chinese access to personal data gathered through TikTok. https://youtu.be/CAUIaC7hDpQ

TikTok Statistics https://www.businessofapps.com/data/tik-tok-statistics/

What’s going on with TikTok https://www.businessinsider.com.au/whats-going-on-with-tiktok-censorship-privacy-2019-11?r=US&IR=T#:~:text=TikTok%20lets%20users%20easily%20share,that%20doesn’t%20appease%20China.

China’s Bytedance is buying Music.ly https://techcrunch.com/2017/11/09/chinas-toutiao-is-buying-musical-ly-in-a-deal-worth-800m-1b/

TikTok Revenue and Statistics https://www.businessofapps.com/data/tik-tok-statistics/

TikTok Terms and Conditions https://www.tiktok.com/legal/terms-of-use?lang=en

The Australian governments concern about Tik Tok https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jul/09/the-australian-governments-concern-about-tiktok-is-not-just-about-data-ethics-its-about-politics

Over 1.6 million Australians already using TikTok http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/8289-launch-of-tiktok-in-australia-december-2019-202002240606#:~:text=Already%20over%201.6%20million%20Australians,known%20Instagram%2C%20Facebook%20and%20Pinterest.

Revealed:how TikTok censors videos that do not please Beijing. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/sep/25/revealed-how-tiktok-censors-videos-that-do-not-please-beijing

What countries have banned Tiktok https://www.distractify.com/p/what-countries-have-banned-tiktok

Buyer beware…Of TikTok https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/buyer-beware-prime-minister-says-there-is-no-case-to-ban-tiktok-20200805-p55inl.html

Why this data expert says Tikok is not safe https://youtu.be/hZNHJNcO7BM