September 2, 2025 • 7 mins
What does it mean to choose kindness—even when life breaks your back? Literally. In this powerful episode, Kath Koschel, founder of Kindness Factory and former elite athlete, shares her remarkable journey through physical trauma, grief, and unimaginable loss… and how small acts of kindness pulled her through. Her story is a testament to the human spirit, the science of kindness, and why leaders need empathy now more than ever.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
There's about 30 names on this sheet of
paper, and on my rock bottom moment, I
remember holding that piece of paper in front
of my face and saying, this is 30
reasons to keep going.
Hi. I'm director of podcast at Balancing Life's
Issues, Kai Sorensen, and welcome to This Is
Your Job Now.
What does resilience look like when the world
(00:22):
breaks you more than once and you still
choose to rise with kindness?
Today, we're bringing back the extraordinary story of
Kath Cashel,
a former elite Australian cricketer who survived multiple
life threatening injuries, the death of her partner,
and unimaginable grief, only to turn it all
into something remarkable, Kindness Factory, a global movement
dedicated to inspiring 1,000,000 acts of kindness.
(00:43):
We first spoke with Kath in October
2024,
but the urgency of her message hasn't faded.
In a world grappling with burnout, division, and
change, leaders need more than strategy. They need
heart. And Kath's story shows us exactly what
that looks like. So as you listen to
Kath's story, you'll be thinking to yourself, how
often do I respond with kindness?
Because this is your job now.
(01:06):
I had
this really,
I guess, condensed
patch of adversity after adversity after adversity. And
it was the triumph over that adversity that
has now led to a global movement called
Kindness Factory,
which I speak about on stages all around
the world about what happens in the brain
when we're in a kind state, I. E.
We've given or received
received kindness and how that can impact us
(01:28):
personally, but also the people around us, some
of the people that we we know quite
well, but also some people that we might
not have even met yet. Kath never planned
to be a motivational
speaker. Kath grew up in Findlay, a small
town in rural Australia, with dreams like any
other kid from a small town. I grew
up, you know, in the backyard playing with
my brothers,
and we very quickly bonded over the sport
(01:48):
of cricket. At a very early age, I
identified that I wanted to play cricket for
Australia. That's all I ever wanted to do.
And I got pretty close. I ended up
representing New South Wales. I was paid to
to do that professionally. I traveled the world
doing that. But just as her career was
taking off, Kath's body gave out. Not long
into my professional career, I actually broke my
back for the first time. I was paralyzed.
I was told that I'd never walk again.
(02:14):
What followed was a brutal rehab journey. Twelve
months of teaching herself to walk again. And
it was in this place, of all places,
that she found love. I ended up meeting
my partner,
Jim, who was a rugby player, and he
did his spine as well. So there we
were, very similar age, very similar mindset, very
similar challenge ultimately of teaching ourselves how to
walk again. And we quickly grew to to
(02:35):
fall in love. The most magical experience of
my life to date. Twelve months in, just
as both of their recoveries had turned a
corner, Kath was blindsided.
We we were going out for twelve months.
Our rehab journeys had both come full circle,
and we were both walking independently.
And at the twelve month mark, the day
before Jim's full time release from rehab,
(02:57):
he passed away via suicide,
which just left me as a a 22
year old
feeling completely
lost, vulnerable, afraid, and alone in the world.
I'd lost this dream that I'd I'd wanted,
(03:18):
since I was a little girl and then
lost the person that taught me that there
was so much more to life than hitting
a ball around a park.
Her career was gone, her partner was gone,
and Kath was trapped in a dark place,
unsure if happiness was ever coming back. But
then something shifted, something small. I was in
a wheelchair one day,
(03:40):
and I couldn't reach the lift button.
And the random stranger was just centimeters out
of reach, and a random stranger walked past.
He saw that struggle, and he pressed the
button for me, and it meant absolutely nothing
to his day, but everything to mine. That
moment sparked a realization.
Kindness was keeping her going.
And that list of moments of people who
showed up, she wrote them down. I genuinely
(04:00):
never thought I'd ever be happy again. That
that that was my genuine belief. And I
sat down at a coffee table, and it
was there for a shopping list. There was
a piece of paper and a pen.
And I don't know why, but for whatever
reason, I had a moment of reflection where
I thought, you know what? I've been lucky
enough to be blessed with lots of different
people who have helped me in my life
to get me from A to B and
to propel my journey forward. And I started
(04:21):
writing the names on this list of paper.
One name turned into 10, and the next
thing I knew, there's about 30 names on
this sheet of paper. And at rock bottom
moment, I remember holding that piece of paper
in front of my face and saying, this
is 30 reasons to keep going. Her next
decision was bold and beautiful.
She decided to call every person on that
list to say thank you.
That simple act, it became a philosophy
(04:42):
and eventually a movement. But her challenges weren't
over yet. I ended up actually recovering physically
well enough to be able to compete in
Ironman events.
And I was training for that one day,
and I was got hit by a drunk
driver while on my bike and broke my
back again.
And woke up from a coma two months
later to news that I was paralyzed and
told I'd never walk again for the second
(05:04):
time in my life.
So she fought again.
Rehab again.
Recovery again.
And this time, she decided to test the
limits of kindness itself
with a two month journey around Australia.
No money, no plan, just the help of
strangers. In order to survive, the rules were
(05:24):
I could only accept the help and kindness
of strangers.
And as I said, I traveled for two
months to every single state in Australia. It's
a big country, almost as big as The
US. So,
I I met a lot of amazing people
on that journey, which then led to a
speaking career, book deals, etcetera.
And I now do this all around the
world. Today, Kath leads the Kindness Factory, a
global nonprofit with more than 7,500,000
(05:45):
acts of kindness recorded.
She works with major corporations, schools, and government
leaders, sharing what science and real life both
confirm. Kindness rewires our brains and changes our
lives. The brain based research that we're doing
in the kindness space for our research institute
globally has been fantastic. It is tougher for
me now to have a bad day because
(06:06):
I'm
constantly
surrounded by kindness. So we need to choose
to be kind. We need to choose a
better life, a better path forward, and we
need to choose to, you know, to take
action, to spark action.
So that's on us. We're living in an
age of overwhelm.
Leaders are burning out. People are shutting down.
But if Kath's story teaches us anything, it's
(06:27):
that the smallest action, the tiniest spark of
care can change everything.
Not just for someone else, but for ourselves
too.
So what's your act of kindness today? Because
this,
this is your job now.
(06:50):
Thanks for listening to This Is Your Job
Now, produced by me, Kai. If this episode
made you think or made you feel, we
hope it also made you realize you don't
have to figure this out all alone. Leadership
today is about presence, not perfection. To learn
more, follow Wendy Wohner on LinkedIn, subscribe to
Balancing Life's Issues on YouTube, or stream the
podcast wherever you listen. Because if you're leading
people, this is your job now. Anything else
(07:11):
to add, Miles?
There's about 30 names on this sheet of
paper, and on my rock bottom moment, I
remember holding that piece of paper in front
of my face and saying, this is 30
reasons to keep going.
Hi. I'm director of podcast at Balancing Life's
Issues, Kai Sorensen, and welcome to This Is
Your Job Now.
What does resilience look like when the world
(00:22):
breaks you more than once and you still
choose to rise with kindness?
Today, we're bringing back the extraordinary story of
Kath Cashel,
a former elite Australian cricketer who survived multiple
life threatening injuries, the death of her partner,
and unimaginable grief, only to turn it all
into something remarkable, Kindness Factory, a global movement
dedicated to inspiring 1,000,000 acts of kindness.
(00:43):
We first spoke with Kath in October
2024,
but the urgency of her message hasn't faded.
In a world grappling with burnout, division, and
change, leaders need more than strategy. They need
heart. And Kath's story shows us exactly what
that looks like. So as you listen to
Kath's story, you'll be thinking to yourself, how
often do I respond with kindness?
Because this is your job now.
(01:06):
I had
this really,
I guess, condensed
patch of adversity after adversity after adversity. And
it was the triumph over that adversity that
has now led to a global movement called
Kindness Factory,
which I speak about on stages all around
the world about what happens in the brain
when we're in a kind state, I. E.
We've given or received
received kindness and how that can impact us
(01:28):
personally, but also the people around us, some
of the people that we we know quite
well, but also some people that we might
not have even met yet. Kath never planned
to be a motivational
speaker. Kath grew up in Findlay, a small
town in rural Australia, with dreams like any
other kid from a small town. I grew
up, you know, in the backyard playing with
my brothers,
and we very quickly bonded over the sport
(01:48):
of cricket. At a very early age, I
identified that I wanted to play cricket for
Australia. That's all I ever wanted to do.
And I got pretty close. I ended up
representing New South Wales. I was paid to
to do that professionally. I traveled the world
doing that. But just as her career was
taking off, Kath's body gave out. Not long
into my professional career, I actually broke my
back for the first time. I was paralyzed.
I was told that I'd never walk again.
(02:14):
What followed was a brutal rehab journey. Twelve
months of teaching herself to walk again. And
it was in this place, of all places,
that she found love. I ended up meeting
my partner,
Jim, who was a rugby player, and he
did his spine as well. So there we
were, very similar age, very similar mindset, very
similar challenge ultimately of teaching ourselves how to
walk again. And we quickly grew to to
(02:35):
fall in love. The most magical experience of
my life to date. Twelve months in, just
as both of their recoveries had turned a
corner, Kath was blindsided.
We we were going out for twelve months.
Our rehab journeys had both come full circle,
and we were both walking independently.
And at the twelve month mark, the day
before Jim's full time release from rehab,
(02:57):
he passed away via suicide,
which just left me as a a 22
year old
feeling completely
lost, vulnerable, afraid, and alone in the world.
I'd lost this dream that I'd I'd wanted,
(03:18):
since I was a little girl and then
lost the person that taught me that there
was so much more to life than hitting
a ball around a park.
Her career was gone, her partner was gone,
and Kath was trapped in a dark place,
unsure if happiness was ever coming back. But
then something shifted, something small. I was in
a wheelchair one day,
(03:40):
and I couldn't reach the lift button.
And the random stranger was just centimeters out
of reach, and a random stranger walked past.
He saw that struggle, and he pressed the
button for me, and it meant absolutely nothing
to his day, but everything to mine. That
moment sparked a realization.
Kindness was keeping her going.
And that list of moments of people who
showed up, she wrote them down. I genuinely
(04:00):
never thought I'd ever be happy again. That
that that was my genuine belief. And I
sat down at a coffee table, and it
was there for a shopping list. There was
a piece of paper and a pen.
And I don't know why, but for whatever
reason, I had a moment of reflection where
I thought, you know what? I've been lucky
enough to be blessed with lots of different
people who have helped me in my life
to get me from A to B and
to propel my journey forward. And I started
(04:21):
writing the names on this list of paper.
One name turned into 10, and the next
thing I knew, there's about 30 names on
this sheet of paper. And at rock bottom
moment, I remember holding that piece of paper
in front of my face and saying, this
is 30 reasons to keep going. Her next
decision was bold and beautiful.
She decided to call every person on that
list to say thank you.
That simple act, it became a philosophy
(04:42):
and eventually a movement. But her challenges weren't
over yet. I ended up actually recovering physically
well enough to be able to compete in
Ironman events.
And I was training for that one day,
and I was got hit by a drunk
driver while on my bike and broke my
back again.
And woke up from a coma two months
later to news that I was paralyzed and
told I'd never walk again for the second
(05:04):
time in my life.
So she fought again.
Rehab again.
Recovery again.
And this time, she decided to test the
limits of kindness itself
with a two month journey around Australia.
No money, no plan, just the help of
strangers. In order to survive, the rules were
(05:24):
I could only accept the help and kindness
of strangers.
And as I said, I traveled for two
months to every single state in Australia. It's
a big country, almost as big as The
US. So,
I I met a lot of amazing people
on that journey, which then led to a
speaking career, book deals, etcetera.
And I now do this all around the
world. Today, Kath leads the Kindness Factory, a
global nonprofit with more than 7,500,000
(05:45):
acts of kindness recorded.
She works with major corporations, schools, and government
leaders, sharing what science and real life both
confirm. Kindness rewires our brains and changes our
lives. The brain based research that we're doing
in the kindness space for our research institute
globally has been fantastic. It is tougher for
me now to have a bad day because
(06:06):
I'm
constantly
surrounded by kindness. So we need to choose
to be kind. We need to choose a
better life, a better path forward, and we
need to choose to, you know, to take
action, to spark action.
So that's on us. We're living in an
age of overwhelm.
Leaders are burning out. People are shutting down.
But if Kath's story teaches us anything, it's
(06:27):
that the smallest action, the tiniest spark of
care can change everything.
Not just for someone else, but for ourselves
too.
So what's your act of kindness today? Because
this,
this is your job now.
(06:50):
Thanks for listening to This Is Your Job
Now, produced by me, Kai. If this episode
made you think or made you feel, we
hope it also made you realize you don't
have to figure this out all alone. Leadership
today is about presence, not perfection. To learn
more, follow Wendy Wohner on LinkedIn, subscribe to
Balancing Life's Issues on YouTube, or stream the
podcast wherever you listen. Because if you're leading
people, this is your job now. Anything else
(07:11):
to add, Miles?
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