January 21, 2025 • 15 mins
Welcome to the very first episode of Conversations That Count! 🎉
I’m Jeihan, your host, and in this special debut episode, I’m sharing the story behind the podcast, my personal journey, and the lessons that have shaped who I am today. From navigating heartbreak, loss, and career transitions to discovering the power of self-leadership, this episode sets the stage for what Conversations That Count is all about: raw, real, and deeply human conversations that inspire growth and connection.
In this episode, I talk about:
- The inspiration behind starting Conversations That Count.
- My personal “truck moment” and how it led to a profound life transformation.
- The importance of facing life’s storms head-on and embracing change.
- Four key lessons I’ve learned about resilience, mindset, and creating a meaningful life.
Whether you’re navigating a tough season or looking to grow and create impact, this episode is a reminder that your story matters. It’s not just about what happens to you—it’s about what you do with it.
Join me on this journey of discovery, growth, and conversations that truly count.
Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who needs to hear it. Let’s start this incredible journey together!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Hi everyone and welcome to my very first episode
of Conversations That Count.
I'm your host Gianne and I can'teven begin to tell you how
excited and honestly a littlenervous I am to have you here
with me today.
Launching this podcast feelslike stepping into something new
and vulnerable and I'm sograteful that you've chosen to
(00:22):
press play and join me.
I wanted to start this firstepisode by sharing a little bit
more about me, who I am and whyI created this podcast and what
Conversations That Count isreally about.
I hope that by the end of theepisode you feel like you know
me a little bit better and thatwe're starting this journey
together on the right note.
(00:43):
Let me start by asking you aquestion.
What's your story?
We all have one, the highs, thelows, the twists we didn't see
coming.
Our stories are what shape us,what teach us and and ultimately
define who we are.
But here's something I'velearned.
It's not just about the storyitself, it's about what you do
(01:06):
with it.
How you take those moments,those lessons, and use them to
move forward, to grow and tocreate impact.
And that's what truly counts.
For as long as I can remember,I've been fascinated by people.
I love hearing their why, whatdrives them, what fuels their
fire, and the experiences thathave shaped them.
(01:27):
Everyone has a really uniqueperspective and when we share
those perspectives, somethingmagical happens.
We connect, we inspire eachother and we teach each other.
Books and courses can only takeus so far.
The real growth happens inaction, in conversations and in
(01:49):
those moments when someoneelse's story shifts something in
you.
And that's why I've created thispodcast.
I want to have those kinds ofconversations with you, the raw,
the real, and deeply human ones.
This podcast is about getting toknow the heart of what makes us
human.
It's about exploring the storiesof incredible people, from
(02:11):
business people and leaders toentrepreneurs to artists to
coaches and everyday humansdoing extraordinary things.
But more than that, it's aboutunderstanding their why.
What were their pivotal moments?
What lessons have they learnedand how have they used their
stories to create impact?
(02:31):
Not just in their lives but inthe lives of others.
Some episodes will featureinspiring guests while others
will just be me sharing mythoughts and my lessons on
self-leadership, on growth, onresilience and creating a life
of purpose.
My goal is to make every episodefeel like a conversation with
friends, one that leaves youinspired, empowered, and maybe
(02:54):
even a little bit more connectedto your own story.
Since this is the first episode,I thought it would only be fair
to start with my story.
And instead of overthinking it,which I have been, I've decided
to treat myself like one of myguests and answer the kinds of
questions I'd ask them, and alsoknowing that you'll get to know
(03:15):
me during the podcast.
So here goes.
I'm Giam.
I'm the co-founder of We're MyInfluencers.
It's a company focused ondeveloping self-leadership
skills for current and aspiringfemale leaders.
We help people grow personallyand professionally in both life
and work settings.
But the journey to this pointwasn't easy.
(03:37):
A few years ago, I was goingthrough one of the hardest
periods of my life, and I'lltouch on that in a moment.
I was feeling stressed, anxiousand completely overwhelmed.
I felt stuck.
At that time I was working for abig company and I started
looking at the tools theyoffered for personal development
(03:57):
and working out what to do next.
Honestly, there wasn't a lotavailable for me.
And don't get me wrong, I don'tbelieve it's a company's job to
help you find yourself or yourlife's purpose.
However, considering how muchtime of our lives we spend at
work, It's kind of impossible toseparate our personal and our
(04:18):
professional lives as bothimpact each other.
Companies invest so much intechnical training and what
requires you to do the job.
But what about the peoplethemselves?
What about helping individualsbuild confidence, understand
their strengths or navigatechallenges or how to build
(04:38):
resilience, how to communicateeffectively or how to build
rapport?
For me, that was a huge gap.
If people are the heart of thecompany, then why aren't
companies having more of a focuson the people?
When the company didn't offerwhat I was hoping it would
offer, I started to lookexternally as I wanted to grow
(04:59):
as a person.
And with my background in HR andcoaching and it also being my
passion, it's a part of what hasinspired me to create We Are
Mindfluences.
But the biggest inspiration camefrom my story.
There's this analogy I love thatlife sends you signs.
It's always communicating withyou if you're listening.
(05:21):
And so the signs can come informs of a feather, a brick or a
truck.
A feather, those lighter littlenudges to say, hey, what are you
doing there?
A brick, the sign to get thatsign that gets a little bit
louder for you and you startpaying attention.
And if you're not, well...
(05:41):
That's the truck moment, whichessentially is a complete course
correct and a shake up from theuniverse.
And I feel like most people haveexperienced this in their life.
And for me, that truck hit aboutseven years ago.
It started with a breakup.
I didn't see company.
I had my life all planned outwith my partner at the time.
(06:02):
We had the house, the career,the car, planning a wedding and
a family.
And in an instant, everythingchanged.
It was a breakup that I didn'tsee coming yet one I can now
look back on and it makesperfect sense as to why it
happened.
Going through a breakup andexperiencing heartbreak is hard.
(06:23):
You're grieving a life that youthought you were going to have
and with a person you thoughtwas your forever person.
That alone was pretty tough andemotional for me.
And to add to the mix, the sameweek my dad was hospitalised and
was there for close to twomonths.
There were several times when myfamily and I said goodbye to him
(06:46):
as we didn't think that he wasgoing to make it.
His health deteriorated prettyquickly and was later diagnosed
with dementia and has been in anaged care facility ever since.
For anyone who has a familymember who has dementia, I see
you.
Like, it's hard and...
People always say it's harderfor the families going through
(07:07):
that than the person itself.
And even now when I see him,sometimes he looks straight
through me and doesn't know whoI am.
And other times he tells methese really random stories
about his childhood or somethinglike so bizarre.
And it's really heartbreaking.
(07:30):
I'll be honest, I was strugglinga fair bit during that time and
didn't know what I needed or howto communicate it.
Thank you.
(08:04):
It's like the water buffalo.
When a storm approaches, mostanimals instinctively turn away
from it and they try and runfrom it.
They move in the same directionas the storm, which often
prolongs their exposure to itsince the storm is moving in the
same direction that they are.
The water buffalo, on the otherhand, they turn and face the
(08:26):
storm head on.
Instead of running from it, theychange direction.
directly into the storm.
And by doing so, they movethrough it faster and minimise
the time spent in the storm'schaos.
During that time, I wasdefinitely moving away from the
storm.
I needed to get away and tofigure out what my next move was
(08:46):
and who I was now that I wassingle.
At the time, I didn't realisehow much of my identity was
wrapped up in the relationship.
During that time away, Iremember I was in Vietnam and I
received a call from my mum.
I still remember the exactconversation.
She said, who are you with?
(09:09):
Where are you?
And can you talk?
And to this day, I rememberwhere I was, who I was with and
what I was doing.
As she said the words, I havecancer.
And I'm still getting emotionaljust thinking about this.
Being so far away from home andreceiving a call like that was
(09:31):
heartbreaking.
And I know it was heartbreakingfor my mum to make it as well.
My mum went through chemotreatment and unfortunately lost
her battle with cancer about 18months later.
And even thinking about it andtalking about it, obviously, it
just brings up so much emotionbecause that time was hard.
(09:54):
You are so helpless when you seesomeone you love so sick and you
just wish that you could dosomething there.
All of this happened in thespace of about two years.
And I don't know about you, butthat's a lot for anyone.
No matter how good your mindsetor how optimistic you are about
(10:16):
life, it felt like my life wascrumbling.
I remember sitting in myBrisbane apartment during
lockdown and feeling pretty numband I kept asking myself, is
this it?
Is this what life is supposed tobe?
And I realised I was justexisting and not living.
For me, that was a massivewake-up call that I needed and
(10:39):
it was up to me and only me tochange.
There is this saying that whatyou're not changing, you're
choosing.
So I decided to make a changeand start doing all the things I
said I was going to.
I climbed Everest Base Camp andI did salsa lessons and I
traveled through CentralAmerica.
You kind of get the picturethere.
(11:00):
I was starting to say yes to alot more.
One of the easiest and quickestways to change is to change your
environment.
So I packed up my life and movedto the Gold Coast.
And I know that's not too farfrom Brisbane.
However, moving somewhere whereyou don't know anyone, it gives
(11:21):
you the opportunity toessentially recreate yourself
exactly the way you want.
It makes you step outside yourcomfort zone and reestablish
life on your terms.
What's important to you?
What do you value?
And start doing the things thatyou really want to do.
(11:42):
Moving to the Gold Coast forcedme to face a lot of the big
questions.
Who am I?
What do I want?
What kind of life do I want tocreate?
And the personal developmentworld is pretty big on the coast
and I dove straight in.
It was my wood buffalo momentand I faced the things head on
and ran towards the storm.
I became a master practitionerin NLP so that I could make
(12:08):
sense of my own mind, theprograms and my belief system
and how I was unconsciouslycreating the things in my life.
I became a breathworkfacilitator to make sense of my
nervous system and how toregulate it and the importance
of listening to your body andthe clues it's giving you, both
of which I will talk more intoon the podcast because I'm
(12:29):
really passionate about thoseparticular topics.
Basically any modality I founduseful in my own transformation,
I lent in and made thecommitment to myself to master
it so I could share with otherson a similar path.
The biggest lesson I learned, ifyour internal world creates your
external reality, then the mostimportant work you can do is on
(12:53):
yourself.
It wasn't easy and to be honestit's a constant journey.
in every interaction andsituation you're always given
the opportunity to learnsomething about yourself it's
how you react how you behave andwhat makes you you you and this
is in all scenarios includinghow you show up for work and
(13:13):
business by doing this work andrediscovering myself I realized
how important it is and how muchit can change your life and And
it's a big reason why I startedthe company.
And it's why I'm here with thispodcast, to share these lessons
and have conversations thatremind you that you're not
alone.
If I could leave you with a fewmore lessons from my journey,
(13:37):
that'd be these.
Number one, life is precious.
Don't wait for some day or oneday or until you're retired.
The time is now.
So do the things you've alwayswanted to do and follow your
heart.
Two, Hard moments reveal yourstrength.
It's not about what happens toyou.
(13:57):
It's about how you respond thatcount.
Life is always happening foryou.
Every failure is a learning.
Every rejection is aredirection.
Everything is always working outexactly the way it's meant to.
Three, your mindset iseverything.
The way you think you can eitherlimit you or set you free.
(14:20):
Your mind is such a powerfultool and once you understand how
you think, your patterns, yourprograms, trust me when I say
it's an absolute game changer.
And four, change starts withyou.
No one else can do it for you.
Take the driver's seat of yourlife and decide who you want to
(14:42):
be.
I know I've only touched on someof my story and there are so
many more layers and lessons andpivotal moments that have shaped
me to be me, which I know we'lldive into further at a later
stage.
But before we wrap up, I justwanted to say thank you.
Thank you for being here, forlistening and for starting this
(15:03):
journey with me.
It actually means the world tome.
This podcast and the reason Istarted it is because as much
for me as it is for you.
So if this episode resonateswith you or future episodes
resonate with you, I'd love foryou to subscribe, leave me a
review, send me a message or acomment as I'd love to hear from
(15:25):
you.
And I'm looking forward for youto join me in the next episode
where we'll dive into anotherconversation that counts.
So until then, remember yourstory matters and it's what you
do with it that truly counts.
Hi everyone and welcome to my very first episode
of Conversations That Count.
I'm your host Gianne and I can'teven begin to tell you how
excited and honestly a littlenervous I am to have you here
with me today.
Launching this podcast feelslike stepping into something new
and vulnerable and I'm sograteful that you've chosen to
(00:22):
press play and join me.
I wanted to start this firstepisode by sharing a little bit
more about me, who I am and whyI created this podcast and what
Conversations That Count isreally about.
I hope that by the end of theepisode you feel like you know
me a little bit better and thatwe're starting this journey
together on the right note.
(00:43):
Let me start by asking you aquestion.
What's your story?
We all have one, the highs, thelows, the twists we didn't see
coming.
Our stories are what shape us,what teach us and and ultimately
define who we are.
But here's something I'velearned.
It's not just about the storyitself, it's about what you do
(01:06):
with it.
How you take those moments,those lessons, and use them to
move forward, to grow and tocreate impact.
And that's what truly counts.
For as long as I can remember,I've been fascinated by people.
I love hearing their why, whatdrives them, what fuels their
fire, and the experiences thathave shaped them.
(01:27):
Everyone has a really uniqueperspective and when we share
those perspectives, somethingmagical happens.
We connect, we inspire eachother and we teach each other.
Books and courses can only takeus so far.
The real growth happens inaction, in conversations and in
(01:49):
those moments when someoneelse's story shifts something in
you.
And that's why I've created thispodcast.
I want to have those kinds ofconversations with you, the raw,
the real, and deeply human ones.
This podcast is about getting toknow the heart of what makes us
human.
It's about exploring the storiesof incredible people, from
(02:11):
business people and leaders toentrepreneurs to artists to
coaches and everyday humansdoing extraordinary things.
But more than that, it's aboutunderstanding their why.
What were their pivotal moments?
What lessons have they learnedand how have they used their
stories to create impact?
(02:31):
Not just in their lives but inthe lives of others.
Some episodes will featureinspiring guests while others
will just be me sharing mythoughts and my lessons on
self-leadership, on growth, onresilience and creating a life
of purpose.
My goal is to make every episodefeel like a conversation with
friends, one that leaves youinspired, empowered, and maybe
(02:54):
even a little bit more connectedto your own story.
Since this is the first episode,I thought it would only be fair
to start with my story.
And instead of overthinking it,which I have been, I've decided
to treat myself like one of myguests and answer the kinds of
questions I'd ask them, and alsoknowing that you'll get to know
(03:15):
me during the podcast.
So here goes.
I'm Giam.
I'm the co-founder of We're MyInfluencers.
It's a company focused ondeveloping self-leadership
skills for current and aspiringfemale leaders.
We help people grow personallyand professionally in both life
and work settings.
But the journey to this pointwasn't easy.
(03:37):
A few years ago, I was goingthrough one of the hardest
periods of my life, and I'lltouch on that in a moment.
I was feeling stressed, anxiousand completely overwhelmed.
I felt stuck.
At that time I was working for abig company and I started
looking at the tools theyoffered for personal development
(03:57):
and working out what to do next.
Honestly, there wasn't a lotavailable for me.
And don't get me wrong, I don'tbelieve it's a company's job to
help you find yourself or yourlife's purpose.
However, considering how muchtime of our lives we spend at
work, It's kind of impossible toseparate our personal and our
(04:18):
professional lives as bothimpact each other.
Companies invest so much intechnical training and what
requires you to do the job.
But what about the peoplethemselves?
What about helping individualsbuild confidence, understand
their strengths or navigatechallenges or how to build
(04:38):
resilience, how to communicateeffectively or how to build
rapport?
For me, that was a huge gap.
If people are the heart of thecompany, then why aren't
companies having more of a focuson the people?
When the company didn't offerwhat I was hoping it would
offer, I started to lookexternally as I wanted to grow
(04:59):
as a person.
And with my background in HR andcoaching and it also being my
passion, it's a part of what hasinspired me to create We Are
Mindfluences.
But the biggest inspiration camefrom my story.
There's this analogy I love thatlife sends you signs.
It's always communicating withyou if you're listening.
(05:21):
And so the signs can come informs of a feather, a brick or a
truck.
A feather, those lighter littlenudges to say, hey, what are you
doing there?
A brick, the sign to get thatsign that gets a little bit
louder for you and you startpaying attention.
And if you're not, well...
(05:41):
That's the truck moment, whichessentially is a complete course
correct and a shake up from theuniverse.
And I feel like most people haveexperienced this in their life.
And for me, that truck hit aboutseven years ago.
It started with a breakup.
I didn't see company.
I had my life all planned outwith my partner at the time.
(06:02):
We had the house, the career,the car, planning a wedding and
a family.
And in an instant, everythingchanged.
It was a breakup that I didn'tsee coming yet one I can now
look back on and it makesperfect sense as to why it
happened.
Going through a breakup andexperiencing heartbreak is hard.
(06:23):
You're grieving a life that youthought you were going to have
and with a person you thoughtwas your forever person.
That alone was pretty tough andemotional for me.
And to add to the mix, the sameweek my dad was hospitalised and
was there for close to twomonths.
There were several times when myfamily and I said goodbye to him
(06:46):
as we didn't think that he wasgoing to make it.
His health deteriorated prettyquickly and was later diagnosed
with dementia and has been in anaged care facility ever since.
For anyone who has a familymember who has dementia, I see
you.
Like, it's hard and...
People always say it's harderfor the families going through
(07:07):
that than the person itself.
And even now when I see him,sometimes he looks straight
through me and doesn't know whoI am.
And other times he tells methese really random stories
about his childhood or somethinglike so bizarre.
And it's really heartbreaking.
(07:30):
I'll be honest, I was strugglinga fair bit during that time and
didn't know what I needed or howto communicate it.
Thank you.
(08:04):
It's like the water buffalo.
When a storm approaches, mostanimals instinctively turn away
from it and they try and runfrom it.
They move in the same directionas the storm, which often
prolongs their exposure to itsince the storm is moving in the
same direction that they are.
The water buffalo, on the otherhand, they turn and face the
(08:26):
storm head on.
Instead of running from it, theychange direction.
directly into the storm.
And by doing so, they movethrough it faster and minimise
the time spent in the storm'schaos.
During that time, I wasdefinitely moving away from the
storm.
I needed to get away and tofigure out what my next move was
(08:46):
and who I was now that I wassingle.
At the time, I didn't realisehow much of my identity was
wrapped up in the relationship.
During that time away, Iremember I was in Vietnam and I
received a call from my mum.
I still remember the exactconversation.
She said, who are you with?
(09:09):
Where are you?
And can you talk?
And to this day, I rememberwhere I was, who I was with and
what I was doing.
As she said the words, I havecancer.
And I'm still getting emotionaljust thinking about this.
Being so far away from home andreceiving a call like that was
(09:31):
heartbreaking.
And I know it was heartbreakingfor my mum to make it as well.
My mum went through chemotreatment and unfortunately lost
her battle with cancer about 18months later.
And even thinking about it andtalking about it, obviously, it
just brings up so much emotionbecause that time was hard.
(09:54):
You are so helpless when you seesomeone you love so sick and you
just wish that you could dosomething there.
All of this happened in thespace of about two years.
And I don't know about you, butthat's a lot for anyone.
No matter how good your mindsetor how optimistic you are about
(10:16):
life, it felt like my life wascrumbling.
I remember sitting in myBrisbane apartment during
lockdown and feeling pretty numband I kept asking myself, is
this it?
Is this what life is supposed tobe?
And I realised I was justexisting and not living.
For me, that was a massivewake-up call that I needed and
(10:39):
it was up to me and only me tochange.
There is this saying that whatyou're not changing, you're
choosing.
So I decided to make a changeand start doing all the things I
said I was going to.
I climbed Everest Base Camp andI did salsa lessons and I
traveled through CentralAmerica.
You kind of get the picturethere.
(11:00):
I was starting to say yes to alot more.
One of the easiest and quickestways to change is to change your
environment.
So I packed up my life and movedto the Gold Coast.
And I know that's not too farfrom Brisbane.
However, moving somewhere whereyou don't know anyone, it gives
(11:21):
you the opportunity toessentially recreate yourself
exactly the way you want.
It makes you step outside yourcomfort zone and reestablish
life on your terms.
What's important to you?
What do you value?
And start doing the things thatyou really want to do.
(11:42):
Moving to the Gold Coast forcedme to face a lot of the big
questions.
Who am I?
What do I want?
What kind of life do I want tocreate?
And the personal developmentworld is pretty big on the coast
and I dove straight in.
It was my wood buffalo momentand I faced the things head on
and ran towards the storm.
I became a master practitionerin NLP so that I could make
(12:08):
sense of my own mind, theprograms and my belief system
and how I was unconsciouslycreating the things in my life.
I became a breathworkfacilitator to make sense of my
nervous system and how toregulate it and the importance
of listening to your body andthe clues it's giving you, both
of which I will talk more intoon the podcast because I'm
(12:29):
really passionate about thoseparticular topics.
Basically any modality I founduseful in my own transformation,
I lent in and made thecommitment to myself to master
it so I could share with otherson a similar path.
The biggest lesson I learned, ifyour internal world creates your
external reality, then the mostimportant work you can do is on
(12:53):
yourself.
It wasn't easy and to be honestit's a constant journey.
in every interaction andsituation you're always given
the opportunity to learnsomething about yourself it's
how you react how you behave andwhat makes you you you and this
is in all scenarios includinghow you show up for work and
(13:13):
business by doing this work andrediscovering myself I realized
how important it is and how muchit can change your life and And
it's a big reason why I startedthe company.
And it's why I'm here with thispodcast, to share these lessons
and have conversations thatremind you that you're not
alone.
If I could leave you with a fewmore lessons from my journey,
(13:37):
that'd be these.
Number one, life is precious.
Don't wait for some day or oneday or until you're retired.
The time is now.
So do the things you've alwayswanted to do and follow your
heart.
Two, Hard moments reveal yourstrength.
It's not about what happens toyou.
(13:57):
It's about how you respond thatcount.
Life is always happening foryou.
Every failure is a learning.
Every rejection is aredirection.
Everything is always working outexactly the way it's meant to.
Three, your mindset iseverything.
The way you think you can eitherlimit you or set you free.
(14:20):
Your mind is such a powerfultool and once you understand how
you think, your patterns, yourprograms, trust me when I say
it's an absolute game changer.
And four, change starts withyou.
No one else can do it for you.
Take the driver's seat of yourlife and decide who you want to
(14:42):
be.
I know I've only touched on someof my story and there are so
many more layers and lessons andpivotal moments that have shaped
me to be me, which I know we'lldive into further at a later
stage.
But before we wrap up, I justwanted to say thank you.
Thank you for being here, forlistening and for starting this
(15:03):
journey with me.
It actually means the world tome.
This podcast and the reason Istarted it is because as much
for me as it is for you.
So if this episode resonateswith you or future episodes
resonate with you, I'd love foryou to subscribe, leave me a
review, send me a message or acomment as I'd love to hear from
(15:25):
you.
And I'm looking forward for youto join me in the next episode
where we'll dive into anotherconversation that counts.
So until then, remember yourstory matters and it's what you
do with it that truly counts.
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