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.

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

Episode 6 – Joel Curtis [Psychologist]

Meeting Joel a number of years ago, he was always someone who had a different outlook on business and psychology.He isn’t the stereotypical psychologist with the thin wire rimmed glasses and tweed jacket with the elbow patches who sits on a leather sofa with pad and paper in hand. Well, maybe thats just the visual stereo type I have in my head because I have been watching a lot of movies during lockdown?!

He has worked with high profile sports clubs and personalities in the past, but his passion is the promotion of general wellbeing as a whole. He wants  to get people out of the old mindset of “whatever happens, she’ll be right mate!” This attitude does not cut it in this day and age.

Being as cutting edge that I know Joel is, I wanted to touch base with him to see how he has been these past couple of years and to see whether his approach to business has changed in this new digital frontier. I wanted to see what he was doing differently living and working in the digital world.

As Lisa and I recorded our podcast with Joel, he himself had also recently released his own podcast based on having conversations with people of all walks of life driving around in his Datsun 180b. Yep that’s right, a Datsun…not the Kingswood!

Tune Up Podcast Logo-Joel Curtis
The Tune Up Podcast featuring Joel Curtis & Friends

His episodes can be found on his Endeavour Wellness website and on his Youtube channel. He takes out ordinary people for a drive in his Datsun and gives them an opportunity to share and chat about life in general. It is his way of getting people comfortable and talking. Nothing too deep of course, but enough for people to open up and share their experiences in life.

Indeed, this unique experience encourages people to talk about everything and nothing in particular (Next think you know, he will create his own Seinfeld episode!).

As much as Lisa and I are advocates of the opportunities working and living in the digital world, Joel gave us another perspective which gave us a light bulb moment.

He points out that people shouldn’t just change their whole careers because thats what everyone else is doing. Sometimes people need to look at this option to know that going digital may not actually be their path.

What he does say is that there is now a new “normal.” There are now many different options for people and for businesses to operate within industries that can adapt and change how their workforce operates.

There is now the opportunity for people to work from home, and maybe even have a mix where people do both throughout the week. Businesses now need to be flexible to provide an adaptable working environment. He does heed however that some caution will need to be noted. Joel points out some people actually do not fair well working in isolation where others thrive on it. In general, most people like to have the the connectivity of face to face interaction that a regular workplace provides and many people will continue to work in the traditional office workspace.

There will, indeed be many new issues that companies need to navigate through in this new frontier of the working world. The fact is, many businesses are already geared up for people to work from home, a situation created by the current pandemic lockdown. It is now also relatively easy for small business to be set up to do the same.

So, there you go folks. Like I said, Joel is no ordinary Psychologist. His perspective and approach to psychology is down to earth and his outlook on getting his message to the masses is a breath of fresh air. He is on personal mission to break down the stigma around mental health and is making inroads in achieving this goal.

The example of his podcast is somewhat unorthodox in the psychology world, but the world needs more people like him. I look forward to catching up with Joel and maybe even sitting with him in the future, in the 180b, doing blockies  in the Shire.

Joel and his Datsun

Until next time, adios amigos.

Luki & Lisa

Episode 4 – Rory Callaghan [Integrated Health Professional]

Rory_Screenshot_Anchor Player

In this week’s instalment of our Live Work Digital Podcast we have Rory Callaghan. Currently he resides in Bali,  living what some may call, the  Dream Digital Lifestyle. He is a qualified Physiotherapist and also has a background in Sports Science. At the age of 25 he suffered burnout working 70+ hour weeks. It was at this time, he realised that something needed to change. So, started his journey to find a solution to live a better and healthier life for himself.

In the process of getting his health back he set about working on a solution so that others wouldn’t need to go through what he did. From this point on, he was devoted to the pursuit of recognising and developing this ‘Self Care’ revolution.

G4.-Personal-health-spectrum---4-zones-001-11

He wanted to develop a  holistic community dedicated to the preservation of health and wellness worldwide. For everyone, for mother earth and its oceans, mountains, plains and rivers. So this is what he did.

The essence of his philosophy is based on the need that we all need to work on our own self before we start giving and helping others. If our own cup is empty, how can we be the example for others? We all need to fill our own cups until it is overflowing with all the good stuff. Once it is full to the brim then we can allow the  overflow  to spill over to the people we want to help and share our lives with.

Along the way, through  his journey he made a decision to partner with a Health and Wellness company which took him to Indonesia. From here he realised that Bali was a place which nourished his soul and he literally decided to sell up everything to base himself there for the foreseeable future.

niklas-weiss--2WlTWZLnRc-unsplash

Photo by Niklas Weiss on Unsplash

From the Island of the Gods (Bali) he continues to work on his concepts and ideas. For those that want to know more about his selfcare framework, he has a free download  that is available to anyone via his website.

Self-Care-Logo

On our podcast He shares with us some of his journey and some of the hurdles he faced to get to this chapter in his life. He is one amazing guy who simply made a decision that this is the life he wanted, and he set about to achieve it.

He advocates that everyone has the ability to create a new and different chapter in their lives. His message to anyone who is questioning where they are in life,  is that if something doesn’t feel right, then you need to stop and take a breath. We all need to stop and think about we want with our own individual circumstances instead of accepting that this is the way it is. It is only then that we can lean towards a more rounded and healthier life.

He does live a lifestyle which many people may be envious off, and he uses the digital world to get his message across. He does, however,  cautions that it may not be for everyone. There is a lot of hard work still to get to this point, and the journey may be a never ending path. We must admit though, we like his version of working 9 to 5 very much.

His path is not the norm, but it is the exception. His dream is not everyone’s dream but he encourages everyone to be courageous, to be brave and to be bold. If anyone wants to know more about how to get involved, check out our blog or message us through any of our channels and we can connect you to him.

Until next time. Live Work Digital

Lisa & Luki

Special Episode [The Story So Far]

Special Edition Screenshot

Hi all! Yes we are only a few episodes into this journey and we are doing a special edition episode?

It’s ok, we aren’t getting ahead of ourselves. We are doing this for a few reasons:

  • We thought it would be fun to share how much we are having with it and also showing you the warmth and the openness that our interviewees have been. They are all very kind with their time and have so much passion with what they are doing or creating around them.
  • Secondly, we wanted to enter the Rode Cast Podcast Competition.  We can win some really cool equipment! In the process we wanted to do a mashup anyway so people can see the fun we are having with it. We also wanted to see that we are just ordinary people doing something pretty fun, mistakes and all.
  • Thirdly, did I mention the competition?
  • Lastly, as part of our evolution of learning new skills, putting it together and editing the content so it would flow was invaluable.  A sprinkle of everyones voice, leave in some umms and aaahs and add in some extra cringe worthy laughing clips in between the bits takes some doing.

Rodecaster_Comp Screenshot

The competition is due to close and up to this point we were about to drop Episode 4. We snuck this one in so we can get the episode locked in and submitted.

With everything going on, we currently have a bit of a backlog, but thats ok as we are fitting it all in around our normal day to day. At this moment in time there are currently 2 more episodes  to edit and write blog posts for.

We also have more people already locked in for interviews. I think we have got a pretty broad cross section of people for our whole season so far. The thing that has been  the constant for everyone is that they all had to navigate their way through the recent epidemic. No matter what industry they are in, it has been affected and they have had to shape their way through it and out of it.

Going through the  raw recordings also jogged the memory banks as to the things we learnt and even showed how we have progressed n the short time we have been doing this. A little more refined each time and the quality of the questions also are bringing some good responses and conversations.

Some of you may ask also who the dog is on our promo pic! Well since Toulouse, our CEO is a little media shy, we have used a Stunt Double for all our associated Memes, Instagram posts and story’s. If you have noticed, we also have used some of his four legged fan pups through our brand building evolution as well. We share the love with pictures of all sorts of dogs. Well mainly Frenchies as he is our CEO after all. Plus he is our boss. (Hmmm maybe we need a profile page for him?)

Waddup Tersday Meme Dog

Anyway, slightly off topic I know, but as we said, we are sharing everything we are doing along the way.   Seriously, the podcast thing is just a cool thing to do. When I originally suggested we do one with Lisa she didn’t hesitate and said yeah that could be awesome. From there, we just kept on going with it. This Special Episode  is indeed a really happy and fun episode to showcase our journey to date.

Frenchie Be Bold be Courageous

Live Work Digital to you all. Til next time…….Peace!

Luki & Lisa