Pour a glass of your finest bubbly and join us in a heartfelt celebration of 'Bubbles and Benevolence,' as we reminisce on the captivating tales and generous spirits that have adorned our first ten episodes. Today, we're strolling down memory lane, revisiting the twists and turns of our cherished guests' lives, like Fleur's leap from radio to Thermomix chef, and chuckling at revelations such as Lorillie Cunningham's hidden accounting past. As Hanworth gears up for its 160th lap around the sun, we're sharing the evolution of our beloved podcast, from humble beginnings to establishing our very own studio—a testament to our passion for sharing and community.
This episode doesn't just mark a milestone; it's an ode to the incredible impact of collective philanthropy. We'll explore the journey from a modest fundraiser to the triumphant Labels on the Lawn event, now proudly amassing over $200,000 for Women's Legal Service Queensland. Feel the weight of choosing causes that resonate, the trust required in partnerships, and revel in success tales like the Dancing CEOs, whose dedication led to a new office in Ipswich. It's a narrative of commitment, community, and the little victories that bring massive changes.
Step inside a world where authenticity and deep connections thrive, where the spontaneous beauty of unscripted podcasting meets the profound lessons from "The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse." Today, we acknowledge the nerves and technical stumbles that come with starting a podcast, and how embracing the process has led us here. We extend a warm thank you to our past guests and wrap up with eyes sparkling for the future voices that will shape 'Bubbles and Benevolence.' So, raise your glass to the stories told, the laughter shared, and the journey ahead.
Tickets to Hedley Thomas at Hanworth House are on sale now - https://www.hanworthhouse.com.au/event-details/award-winning-journalist-hedley-thomas-in-conversation-at-hanworth-house
Have any questions for us? Send them through to podcast@hanworthhouse.com.au
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Bubbles and Benevolence, the podcast
where we pop the bubbles tosuccess and dive deep into the
benevolent hearts of those whohave achieved it.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
In this podcast, we'll sit down with successful
business leaders,philanthropists, non-profit
workers and more to discusstheir journeys, the lessons
they've learned along the wayand how they're using their
success to make a positiveimpact on the world.
So grab a glass of bubbles andjoin us as we explore the
intersection of business andbenevolence and discover what it
(00:28):
truly means to be successful.
Welcome everyone to episode 10of Bubbles and Benevolence.
We've got a bit of aninteresting episode for you
today.
You're sitting down with Marisaand Jamie and we're just going
(00:50):
to do a little bit of a recap ofhow the podcast has been going
over the last nine episodes.
So welcome, marisa again toyour own podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
I love being a guest on my own podcast and, wow, it's
a milestone, Jamie 10 episodes.
Apparently, you told merecently that most podcasts
don't get beyond three.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Yep.
So we're like the top 1% orsomething like that.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
So yeah, we did it Where's our favourite bubbles
that we should be celebratingthis milestone today.
Instead, we've got you and Iwith our glasses of water today.
Let's just make sure it'smineral water so we can actually
have our own bubbly celebrationfor 10 episodes.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Yay, absolutely.
We just want to go through someof the podcast episodes that
we've had so far and all of theamazing people that have joined
us.
We've just had some reallyincredible people that we've
actually mostly known for quitea while, as well as some people
that only recently joined us atHanworth.
But we've learned some reallyamazing things about people that
(01:50):
we didn't really know before.
Like Fleur's been one of yourbest friends for such a long
time and I always knew Fleur asthe foodie, the food lover, the
chef, always cooking thesebeautiful things, dressing up at
the Hanworth kitchen to dolittle videos and presentations.
But she was actually a radiohost prior, which I thought was
(02:14):
incredible.
I didn't know that about her,but it does explain her bubbly
personality, would be perfectfor it.
And she was one of the firstresidents at Hanworth, which is
amazing because Hanworth iscelebrating 160 years next year.
So tell us a little bit aboutwhat we've got in store for you.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Well, before I do that, I was just going to say I
remember that episode of thepodcast because it's the only
one that we've done offsite atNoosa and it was hilarious
because I can still hear thegardener with the whippersnapper
in the garden, which obviouslyhe decided to do his job at
exactly the wrong time of ourpodcast.
But you did a great jobtempering that.
But I thought that was us inthe wild, wasn't it?
(02:51):
The podcast at Noosa?
Speaker 2 (02:54):
It was, and I know there was a lot of trepidation
with that one becausetechnology's not your strong
suit.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
No, that's true.
I have you to rely on.
You and Sophia are the onesthat do all the technical stuff.
But I'm looking and reflectingat us being in our own custom
built studio now, with thebeautiful bubbles and benevolent
signs.
I feel like we've really grownup.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
We have.
It's very exciting.
If you haven't seen it yet, youcan jump onto Instagram and
we've got this beautiful signthat was made up and we're very
excited to have our own littlestudio.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
So, talking about milestones, of course, yes, 160
for Hanworth next year, and itseems like yesterday that we
opened Hanworth on the 150thbirthday.
So, if you recall, we purchasedHanworth in memory of Mother,
whose birthday it is todayactually.
So it's kind of nice to do thisreflection podcast on a very
(03:46):
special day, because we didrenovate Hanworth in her honour
in 2012, when she passed away,and 2013,.
Of course, we lost most ofHanworth in the arson fire and
we opened on the 150th birthdayin 2014.
Birthday in 2014.
(04:10):
So we're going to fast forward10 years to 2024, and we will be
definitely offering a wonderfulcelebration of Hanworth's 160th
birthday, because there's notthat many homes in Brisbane that
get to be this old, and so weshould be creating opportunities
to celebrate that.
I know that we've been schemingin the office for some
incredible events on the week ofthe 16th of July Mark it in
your diaries the week of July 16, 2024, when we will definitely
(04:32):
be celebrating in a big way atHanworth, which is a lovely and
iconic crystallization of ourachievements.
Much like this podcast has beencelebrating the people we've
met along the Hanworth journeyIn that vein yes, fleur was a
great guest people we've metalong the Hanworth journey.
In that vein.
Yes, fleur was a great guestand she was a resident of
Hanworth.
Continue my wonderfulfriendship with Fleur.
What did you learn about Fleurafter that podcast episode,
(04:56):
jamie, that perhaps you didn'tknow?
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Well, other than her previous career choices.
I also, I guess, learned orreally enjoyed the story that
she shared about how Verve wasspecial to her, just this kind
of connection that you both hadand this feeling that she needed
to be there for you.
So, without even having to ask,she up and drove to I think it
was the Gold Coast where youwere to help, be there and
support you, and I thought thatwas really, really special.
That was a lovely thing that Ididn't know about that situation
(05:25):
at all.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
And that's how the Clicquot became the Champagne of
Hanworth House.
Yeah, and I similarly learnedin the episode with Laura Lee
Cunningham about the fact thatshe was an accountant.
And for those of you that knowLaura Lee, she's more colourful
than ever and my typecast viewof an accountant is not Laura
Lee Cunningham.
Would you agree with me on that?
Speaker 2 (05:45):
note 100%, I would agree.
I think when we were thererecording that episode, when she
said that I think there was abrief moment that was edited out
where we both kind of just wenthang on, Can you say that again
?
Speaker 3 (05:58):
It's true.
It's true, but in the 2024planning mode, laura Lee and I,
after that episode, we launchedour formal partnership in
becoming contestants in theDancing CEOs 2024.
Big year also for Women's LegalService next year.
My very first charity, ofchoice in terms of it, was there
(06:20):
when I opened Hanworth and isstill there now.
And we are collectively sevenof us have teamed up and are
hoping to break all recordsabout the amount Dancing CEOs
has raised for women's legalservice in a single event, and
we're all madly going to ourdancing lessons at the moment.
We've got our fundraising hatson.
(06:41):
We've been lucky to have had acouple of great events already
that have boosted ourfundraising total, but that's
less important to me than thecollective total of everyone at
the end of the day andcelebrating 40 years of Women's
Legal Service being in existencein Queensland, the hundreds and
even thousands of people theyhave helped escape domestic
(07:02):
violence and the incredible workthey're doing now in the
Financial Abuse Prevention Unit,helping discard debts that have
been racked up in women's nameswithout them knowing.
And I think Jamie was Women'sLegal Service telling us last
week that over $3 million worthof debts have been eradicated
(07:22):
against women's names who wereescaping domestic violence with
the help of one dedicatedofficer in Queensland and I
believe they opened the Ipswichoffice just recently and that's
what we're fundraising for in2024 to get at least another two
officers that can do thisreally important work.
It's wonderful to see theimpact they have.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
It is really wonderful.
I think they only have twostaff members total for the
Financial Abuse Prevention Unit,which is crazy because it's
such a huge amount of money andhuge amount of work that goes
into trying to reverse all thatthat's gone into it.
But I also think that havingthis focus on the financial
(08:06):
abuse prevention unit is reallyimportant because it's not
something people have oftenassociated with domestic
violence.
I think the whole battered andbruised which I know.
Changing that perspective waswhat Women's Legal Service
Queensland came to youoriginally to do a photo shoot
at Hanworth.
Women's Legal ServiceQueensland came to you
originally to do a photo shootat Hanworth was to change the
(08:27):
perception that that's notalways the case.
And bringing in all thisattention to the financial
aspect of it is really importantbecause traditionally women
haven't been necessarily taughthow to do finances and
understand finances properly.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
So it's a really, really important initiative and
also, as they've explained to us, often the reason women return
back to the home because theydon't have the financial means
to be able to stay away.
So it's often the number one Ithink they're quoting reason
that returning back to a homethat you're looking to escape is
often as a result of not beingable to afford to not be there.
(09:03):
Look, we are obviously bigsupporters of Women's Eagle
Service Queensland and theycelebrate 40 years of doing the
important work they do and it's10 years since Dancing CEO.
So even more reason tocelebrate, and you have a real
relationship with them as well.
That's true.
So it's lots of decadecelebrations, lots of huge
milestone celebrations, that'strue, and one of my most
(09:24):
poignant moments in the lastweek is I was asked by James
Curtin, who sold me Hanworthfrom Place, a real estate agency
, to come and talk to theirstaff recently at Woolloongabba.
They've got a beautiful officein that lovely little
Woolloongabba precinct and Iplayed the Great South East
episode that was formed bySophie Formica when we opened in
(09:47):
2014, celebrating the 150 years, and she interviewed Natalie
Davidson, who is still atWomen's Legal Service Queensland
, and Natalie was very proud tosay that we had just had a
rummage at Hanworth a few weeksbefore this episode and was so
excited to announce that weraised nine and a half thousand
(10:09):
dollars for Women's LegalService Queensland.
And I looked at this episodethat we were playing at place
and I thought, oh my goodness, Ihadn't seen that episode for so
long.
And I said to the 25 peoplethat were assembled talking
about the Hanworth history andthe journey.
I said to them well, you'll bevery pleased to know that that
(10:29):
meek rummage that earned us ahuge $9,500 has now become
labels on the lawn and lastmonth raised Women's Legal
Service $201,000.
So I felt so proud in thatmoment that I forgot from humble
beginnings.
Big things grow and Natalie isas excited these days to
(10:54):
announce 201, as she was 10years ago announcing 9,500.
So that's a real commitment,isn't it?
And a great testament to thecommunity that supported not
only Hanworth but also thatinitiative to become so big.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
It's absolutely incredible.
The Women's Legal Service teamhave just been so engaged in
Labels on the Lawn from thebeginning and they're just so
passionate about it.
So incredibly helpful wheneverwe need a helping hand, along
with all of the volunteers thathelp us out throughout the year,
which is truly amazing.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
And people often ask you know lots of charities are
doing it tough these days.
And people often ask you can'tsupport everyone, even though
you'd like to.
How do you decide who you'regoing to support and who you
don't?
And we face that a lot in theearly days of Hanworth because
it seems to me if you have onesuccessful fundraising event,
(11:49):
everybody else wants to hold oneas well and you can't spend
your whole life fundraisingbecause we do have a day job.
We do have to run Hanworth, wehave to run the accommodation.
That's its main business and Ialways say it's cash cow.
We need a financial benchmarkagainst which to run the entire.
You know, keeping an old houserunning and not falling down it
(12:10):
takes considerable efforts andresources, as you know, jamie,
because you do all the financesat Hanworth.
So I always say to peopleobviously you have to be
passionate about what you'redoing, but I also think it's
about having a lot of trust inthe teams you're working with
and what can they contributeback to you in terms of manpower
, resources, prizes.
(12:31):
You know, bums on seats atevents, because it just can't be
a one-way street.
We don't have the resourcing.
We're a small team, we're three.
We don't have the resourcing.
We're a small team, we're three.
We don't have the resourcing tobe able to pull off a
million-dollar event tofundraise for.
But in collaboration withothers you can actually
collectively harness yourresources and create a great
(12:51):
event.
But I think a lot of the timethese days it's really important
to actually think about whatcan you bring to the table.
I say to a lot of younger peoplewho are getting into
fundraising don't be afraid toask.
You know this charity soundslike such a great thing.
You know, what do you do withthe money that we raise?
And have an outcomes measurethat you can actually raise.
(13:12):
For instance, I was so excitedto hear from Women's Eagle
Service that for the first timethey had answered every call to
their helpline, and for yearswe've been fundraising to help
that helpline not miss a call.
Well, that's ticked off.
Now they can answer every callwith the resources that Dancing
CEOs has raised.
So now it's time to turn ourattention to something else
that's not yet resourced.
(13:33):
But similarly, if we'rechoosing a charity, what are
they going to do with the money?
And I think sometimes it's evennice to have an outcome measure
.
You know, we're going to builda roof at Hummingbird House for
the children to enjoy that arethere with their families, you
know, or something like that.
I think that's a really goodquestion sometimes.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
When we went to the launch of Dancing CEOs for this
year, Nadia was mentioning thatthe Ipswich office that we'll be
opening is completely funded bydancing CEOs and fundraising
projects, so there's no grantsor anything like that that's
gone into building that, whichis incredible that they've been
able to build this community ofpeople that will help fundraise
(14:13):
to achieve such an amazing thing.
Going back a little bit tolabels, I think one of the
things I'm proudest about withlabels is the amount of people
that say to us this event is sowell organized, it runs so
smoothly, it's just nice andeasy.
I think a lot of the timepeople don't realize that the
smoother an event goes and theeasier it looks, the harder it
(14:36):
was.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
That's absolutely a very, very correct comment,
isn't it?
Speaker 2 (14:42):
And so having a team that is almost as passionate
about it as we are, that wefundraise for, to give us a
helping hand and all thevolunteers that have come
through us actually quite a lotfrom Loralee and her connections
.
They joined in with Hanworthand have been huge, huge
supporters of us over the lastcouple of years.
It really does take that, thatenergy, that passion and hours
(15:06):
and hours and months of hardwork to make one day seem
seamless almost exactly and Ithink that was a testament to
all of the teams this year, Ican honestly say.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
But I guess, like all good things, we have to
obviously always be lookingforward.
So we've had some really gooddiscussions about five years
since Labels on the Lawn, nextyear and shaking things up a
little bit.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Another milestone.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Another milestone.
How many milestones can onegirl?
Speaker 2 (15:33):
endure.
One has endured 2024, it'sgoing to be a huge year.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
So we are going to shake it up and step it up with
labels next year.
I don't know if you want todivulge any of that on the
podcast.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
I don't know how much do we want to spill today to
our dedicated listeners.
I think maybe we can give themthe name I think so.
Because we're going to have nota permanent rebrand but a
little bit of a rebrand for nextyear and, rather than labels on
the lawn, we will be hostinglabels lux, still on the lawn
still.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Yes, we'll still be on the lawn.
It could be labels on the lawnlux edition, who knows?
We thought it's a good way tobrand a milestone.
Five years a milestone.
10 years since hanworth opened,milestone 40 years since we've
had a relation.
Or, you know, 40 years sincewomen's legal service formed, 40
years since we've had arelation.
Or 40 years since Women's LegalService formed and 10 years
since Dancing CEOs I think allof those get.
(16:24):
So I think Labels Lux can justbe open to interpretation at the
moment.
Stay tuned for more detailsabout what this looks like, but
it might go for a little bitlonger in terms of you might see
some Labels Lux announcements afew weeks before.
Labels on the lawn itself and afew things.
Hopefully some more au Luxannouncements a few weeks before
.
Labels on the lawn itself and afew things.
Hopefully some more auctionsand a few more interesting
things happening around us.
So let's just keep it at that,shall we?
(16:45):
And keep the lid on all of oursecrets.
We can't divulge them all today, Otherwise there'll be nothing
to look forward to.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Oh exactly, we need to leave something for 2024.
So everyone will have to waitand see what next year's like.
But we're just as excited aboutit, and we hope that all of our
partners are as well, becausewe've got some really incredible
people on board who have beenreally, really generous with
time and with donations, whichincludes our beautiful friend
(17:11):
Kylie from Styling Station, whowe interviewed on episode three,
I think it was and it wasreally lovely to get to know a
little bit about her backgroundand her personal life rather
than just the businessrelationship we had prior.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
I think that's true, and we are very lucky that we
have so many great relationships.
Kylie was a great guest interms of how she turned her
business acumen into a businessthat services others, which so
many of our podcast guests havebeen doing as well, business
that services others, which somany of our podcast guests have
been doing as well, and I alwaysthink.
(17:46):
At this point, jamie, I wouldlike to ask you, because you
were the one who was pesteringme for a long time to do this
podcast, and I used to say, oh,yes, yeah, when we get around to
it, and you crystallized thefact that this was the year we
were going to do it.
So why were you so persistentabout us having a podcast?
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Well, I think it's funny because it's something
that I had been bugging youabout for a long time, but you
kept saying to me who's going towant to listen to me?
No one wants to listen to me.
I think it wasn't until LauraLee said no, that's a good idea,
so it's all right.
If Laura Lee says it, then weshould do it.
Over the years, we had so manyincredible people come through
(18:21):
Hanworth for various differentreasons, whether it's to stay
there as a resident we'rehosting weddings or birthdays or
fundraising events for them orthey just met you somewhere or
heard something about you andjust wanted to come and learn a
little bit more about Hamworthand what you do.
I just wanted to dig a littlebit deeper into all these people
(18:47):
and get to know them a littlebit better, because I think
every episode that we've done,we've been able to learn things
about people that we've knownfor years, that we had no clue
about, and I really just wantedto get across the point, which I
had a lot of troublearticulating in the beginning,
about what the point would be.
Then we found this book calledthe Boy, the Mole, the Fox and
(19:11):
the Horse, which, if you haven'tseen it.
It's just this beautiful littleJapanese illustrated book about
a little boy who comes acrossthese three animals and it's
just lots of little statementsthat I think really relate to
life in general.
When we'd been talking about thepodcast and I found this book
(19:33):
and the first three pages, Isaid this is it.
This is what I was trying tosay that we need to get across
to people.
One of the main things was,which you might all recognize
this question is what do youwant to be when you grow up?
And the boy says kind.
I want to be kind, and I thinkit's just important to show that
(19:54):
not everybody is focused ontheir identity.
Being what they do or what theymake and the things that bring
them happiness could really beanything in life.
Just kind of wanted to touchbase on those kind of things and
get to know everyone a littlebit better and I think it was
such a great idea when youforced upon the first episode
(20:17):
with me.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
I wanted, I really enjoyed the experience and I
wanted to do it all over again.
And what was your answer?
Speaker 2 (20:22):
No, because it was we .
Obviously we didn't go overquestions beforehand.
We never do, so I think justthat initial spontaneous
reaction to questions is a lotmore authentic, and it it was a
lot.
It was really interesting tolearn the way that you responded
(20:43):
to the questions and just howlike what your life was like
beforehand with because we neverreally spoke much about it
beforehand, which is anotherreason most people didn't know I
had a life before in fact, Idon't think I had a life
beforehand with.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
it truly was a very purposeful event that I stumbled
upon at a time when I mostneeded it, but good on you,
jamie, for getting us to episode10.
It was your initiative and Ilove it when you always ask me a
question in the podcast.
I'm going to ask you forsomeone who's wanting to start a
podcast.
What has been the challenge aspart from convincing me it was a
(21:18):
good thing to do technically oremotionally?
Where do you start if you thinkabout wanting to do a podcast
of your own?
Speaker 2 (21:29):
I think the hardest thing, especially for our team,
is because we like to do thingsreally, really well and we put a
lot of effort and energy intomaking sure that we do things as
best we can.
But this is something that wehad absolutely no knowledge of,
no skills in, and every episodewe learned something new about
(21:52):
how to use microphones and whathappens when one of them doesn't
work.
But I think the most importantthing is just to start for us to
let go of wanting it to beperfect, like the first episode
where you wanted to re-record it.
I did.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
I said, oh no, I didn't say this well enough.
Oh my goodness, no, I even saidthe wrong name or something.
And Jamie said no, it's got tobe authentic.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
I think it's just letting go of having to have it
perfect, because as soon as youstart, you will get better, you
learn things and each time youwill just continue to grow, and
I think that's what's the mostimportant thing about getting
started.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
So one of the beautiful quotes in the book
that actually sits in ourpodcast room now the one you
were just referring to the boy,the mole, the fox and the horse
was a beautiful watercolourillustration that says imagine
how we would be if we were lessafraid.
So imagine how we would be ifwe were less afraid.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
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Join us at Hunworth House onSunday, the 14th of April, as we
(23:20):
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Speaker 3 (23:36):
I also didn't realise how deep and meaningful and
easy it is to do an oral history, because doing a written
history is a lot of work.
It's probably even more workthan just talking about it.
And the other thing that struckme is that how often we don't
have a true conversation withsomebody.
We catch up with people atdifferent events, sit at tables
(24:00):
with people, and the nature ofour conversation is quite
peripheral, isn't it?
It's quite kind of on thesurface how are you, how's your
family, what's happening?
But podcasting an hour in aroom with someone, you really
get to know them a lot betterand you're able to talk about
things that you would never talkabout.
(24:21):
You'd never ask someone.
So where did you grow up andhow did you get to become a
lawyer?
Or, in the context of the lastpodcast we did with EJ, which
was probably my most difficultas the narrator of the podcast
or the interviewer, I candefinitely say it was the
hardest one to edit, for sure.
(24:46):
It took you the longest to edit,very emotional and people don't
realize how much editing goeson after this.
In terms of cut, what do youhave to do in the editing
process?
What is it you're looking for,or not looking for, that you
need to cut out.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Well, at this stage, like I said before, I'm still
not.
I'm still learning all the ropesabout editing, but, as it
stands at the moment, trying tomake everything a bit more
concise, because we do tend togo for quite a long time and I'm
very, very aware that thecontext of when people are
listening to a podcast isgenerally in their car, so we
(25:18):
try to keep it so it's to workand on the way home, so you can
kind of get a whole podcast in aday.
But I'm very mindful of keepingpeople's stories the way they
are, so I don't want to take outbig chunks of what people are
saying because it was importantto them.
So we want to make sure that wehonor that.
(25:38):
Getting rid of all the fillerwords, which can be quite
difficult and I know it's goingto be difficult on this episode
because I am atrocious forsaying um all the time.
Yeah, I think that's probablywhere I stand at the moment,
probably the most complex thingabout editing.
I've not always set up themicrophone the best, so trying
(26:00):
to compensate for that sometimescan be a little tricky, but
we'll get there, we'll get there.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
So some good tips Just start.
Perfect is not really a wordyou need to aspire to when
you're doing a podcast.
It's being authentic and getsome developing editorial skills
, because you are, after all,executive producer, director,
technician.
Everything else in relation tothe podcast is because of you,
(26:26):
Jamie.
So thank you for getting usstarted on this journey and for
the enormous amount of workthat's gone into getting it and
even coming up with the idea oflet's have a 10th episode that
just looks back on where we'vecome from in terms of I look
around this room and I think thesign makes us look so official.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
I know it's very exciting.
What about the?
Speaker 3 (26:44):
name.
What about the name?
Because I know there's a lot oftalk about what we were going
to call the podcast in the firstplace.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
Well, it was really tricky to come up with a name
because there are all likethere's a lot of podcasts out
there and getting a name thatwas unique but concisely said
what we were trying toaccomplish and I think bubbles
being your favorite thing, andbenevolence, so giving to the
(27:12):
community and sharing the love.
Really I think it conciselysaid what we wanted it to say
about the podcast.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
I think it's beautiful and also I just
suddenly thought it's B&B.
It's kind of almost what weprovide at Hanworth, I know,
minus the breakfast, minus thebreakfast, exactly, and so we've
got a few good things in store.
We had some amazing guests.
So we thank everybody who'sbeen on it this year, and how do
we plan for the next year?
I mean, I know we've got anopportunity for people to
(27:42):
nominate people that we shouldprobably interview.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
There seems to be a never-ending supply of people
that we want to interview whenwe first started we had kind of
a a list of people that were wedefinitely wanted to get on the
show who we still haven't gotprobably halfway through the
list yet.
So there's still going to bequite a lot of people to come
who have been in the Hanworthcommunity for a long time.
(28:07):
But I think the interview thatwe did with Caitlin Aslett was
probably one of my favoritesbecause even though we'd known
her for years, she was verysupportive of Women's Legal
Service Queensland and still is.
I had absolutely no idea abouther life and her previous
(28:29):
experience and everything she'ddone in the fashion industry and
costume design.
Like I was just absolutely blownaway by her story.
Caitlin reached out to usbecause she wanted to tell her
story, and some of the thingsshe said was that it's not often
you get to kind of share thosethings about yourself.
(28:53):
It feels very weird to talkabout yourself for such a long
period of time as well, but Ithink that opened up a new group
of people that we probablyhadn't thought about necessarily
interviewing.
So there's a long list ofpeople who have come into
Hanworth one way or another whowill be definitely on the
(29:15):
podcast next year, maybe theyear after so we keep going.
Speaker 3 (29:20):
And the other thing I've learned is that everyone
has a story.
Everybody has a story and mostof their story you haven't heard
yet.
Maybe a lot of their story isnot yet written, but I mean, I
think you're right.
I mean, the layers of her storywas incredible.
And similarly, when you got meto interview my brother, steve,
well, his story went on for solong we had to go into two
(29:42):
episodes because he was veryhard to manage in the podcast
because he just had a story thatled to a story that led to a
story and even me and our storyabout coming in touch with each
other.
Steve was adopted if youhaven't already heard that
episode and we came to find eachother was.
There were many other layers ofthings I didn't know about
(30:03):
Steve that I learned about atthe podcast as well.
So that was.
I just do reflect on the factthat everybody has not only one
story but many stories, and thishas been an opportunity to sit
down and try to unravel some ofthat.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
And I think when you're telling those stories as
well, when it's your story, itdoesn't seem that impressive, or
to you it's just what you'vedone.
But when you tell it out loudto somebody else that has no
clue what you've been through orwhere you started, you really
don't expect the reaction thatthey give you about how
(30:36):
interested they are, becausesometimes you're just like, oh,
who would care about my littlestory?
Speaker 3 (30:41):
so, jamie, just that's a great segue like where
did you come from?
How did you come into my life?
I'm going to just turn it intoa little.
Now that executive producerdirector gets actually
interviewed by um, I don't knowwhat I'm called on this.
I'm not the host, the host, thehost, that's a host.
I'm often a host, so even usstumbling upon each other was an
(31:03):
interesting story.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
That is very true.
So my mum was one of yourtenants.
She was renting a commercialproperty from you and I was
helping her at her work, whichwas market research.
At her work, which was marketresearch.
(31:26):
And in 2018, when I first metyou, todd and I were engaged.
So we were planning our weddingand we were trying to save
which is very difficult becauseweddings are so expensive and
you offered me some little extrawork on the side so that I
actually started filing forPhilip which is bizarre, that it
just blows my mind that therewas so much paper that even just
(31:52):
2018, that I spent a couple ofhours, a couple of days, a just
filing all the paper.
Speaker 3 (31:58):
So, just for context, not all doctors were as
laboriously intensive paper-wise.
It's just that Philip had thisnotion that, unless he could
feel it, it didn't exist.
So everything was paper right.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
We've come such a long way, almost struggling to
remember now how that turnedinto.
I think Michelle, who wasworking for you at the time, who
is such a gorgeous person,she's such a kind person, she's
with Hanworth from the beginningyeah, for five years I think
Michelle was with us and a funnystory is she actually got
married the same year.
(32:33):
So we got married a month apartand when she, I think she took
a month off for her wedding andthen honeymoon.
So you asked if I could comeand fill in for Michelle while
she was away.
Then, shortly after Michellecame back from her honeymoon,
she resigned and started topursue a new career in
(32:56):
pharmaceuticals.
You had asked me if, while Iwas still working in market
research, if I could fill inuntil we found somebody suitable
to take over the full-time job.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
That was five years ago, I'm still here, Right, and
I've morphed into so many thingsand now I mainly concentrate on
special projects.
So the 160th birthday is rightin your portfolio and finances.
Who knew?
But previously to working inthe market research area, you
(33:27):
were with David Jones.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
I was.
I was with David Jones for fouryears.
I was an assistant salesmanager in the young fashion
department at Queen's Plaza andin cosmetics.
I think retail's just been apassion of mine, so labels on
the lawn is right up my alley.
I think when we first startedsorting clothes and putting them
into the prices, I was justappalled by some of the prices
(33:53):
that people wanted to sell theclothes for.
Clothing and fashion had beensomething that I was really
passionate about.
It's what I studied at uni.
I did a double degree inmarketing, public relations and
creative industries fashion, andwhile I did that I was, I
worked in hotels, which I reallyenjoyed.
(34:14):
That's my family background.
My parents have always been inhospitality and worked in hotels
, so we moved around quite a lotand so it kind of was my first
instinct to go there.
But I just really, really lovedfashion and style and being
able to kind of present yourpersonality in a way that you
(34:38):
didn't have to say anything toanyone, and I think the absolute
epitome of that is Laura LeeCunningham.
I think she's absolutely aperson that you can see her
personality just before you evenspeak to her.
You can see it.
I think she's absolutely aperson that you can see her
personality just before you evenspeak to her.
You can see it.
Speaker 3 (34:52):
I'm going to say her personality precedes her
Absolutely.
But if anyone knows Jamie,she's the one who always wears
the heels.
Doesn't matter, I'm alwaysthinking we have an event to do
and there's Jamie in her heelsjust running around you always
have heels on right.
Speaker 2 (35:10):
I do, I do.
I love my heels, I love myshoes.
Speaker 3 (35:15):
She's always the one with the heels in the office, so
I think that fashion statementis always you and have a
wonderful way of putting thingstogether that I would never even
put together from labels on thelawn.
It just works and it's been awonderful journey those last
five years and the podcast isreally one of your major
crowning achievements in termsof developing something from
concept to fruition.
Speaker 2 (35:37):
Yeah, I'm very proud of it.
I still kind of don't reallyknow what I was thinking,
suggesting that we do this whenI had absolutely no experience
in any of it, but I think it'sturning out pretty well.
I've been really enjoyinghearing everyone's stories and
seeing what came beforehand.
What everyone wants to domoving forward.
(35:57):
I think it's been really,really interesting is seeing
where people want to be in thenext couple of years.
Hearing about what's importantto people as well has been
really endearing.
Speaker 3 (36:09):
And it's been really lovely hearing you plan about
celebrating a year of thepodcast, and so we've got some
special thoughts around what wemight do in and around maybe
International Women's Day nextyear and because I know you're
very motivated about women,supporting women and you know,
mentoring et cetera, and wethink we've got a lot.
(36:29):
There's always been womenwho've lived at Hanworth in its
history.
Of course, we have lots of boyswho live there now too, but I
think it is definitely there'slots of synergies between
celebrating the podcast,celebrating people we've come in
contact with and seeing thelearnings, focusing on the
learnings that we've come fromeach episode that we can
(36:50):
hopefully share with listeners,and maybe one or two of those
things might stick and motivatepeople to do something like
start a podcast.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
Yeah, if we can get one person to start something
that they've been thinking aboutbut didn't know where to begin,
that'd be amazing.
Speaker 3 (37:05):
If you think back on the podcast, what's one thing
you would have done differently?
Speaker 2 (37:09):
I would like to say I wish I had learned more about
using audio equipment, but Ithink that kind of defeats the
purpose of what I said earlierabout just starting.
I don't think I would doanything differently.
Speaker 3 (37:25):
And what do you want the podcast to be when it grows
up?
Speaker 2 (37:28):
I want it to be helpful.
I want people to, and I thinkthis is probably also the main
reason for starting.
One of the main reasons forstarting the podcast as well is
I wanted to be able to sharepeople's stories so that other
people listening can look up tothese people and maybe follow in
(37:50):
their footsteps or learn from,maybe, mistakes they've made or
just maybe get inspiration forwhat they do want to do with
their life and just help peoplefind their path.
Speaker 3 (38:03):
And that's really cute, because one of the pages
that I landed on in ourbeautiful book that we've been
talking about which is kind ofnice as a little wrap up, I
guess a segment is what is thebravest thing you've ever said
Ask the boy and help, said thehorse.
So that's kind of what you justsaid maybe ask for help but
(38:24):
also be helpful.
I think it's kind of the samesort of thing, but I thought you
are right.
This book is really everythingthat you aspired it to be in the
podcast, and so many of thesequotes are just perfect in terms
of summing up, and it's nicethat we have this in the podcast
room now by our side, as thelittle gem that actually puts
(38:45):
everything that you didn't knowwhat to put into words into
words it's really special, Ithink, because we had I think we
had done two episodes, maybethree, before I found the book.
Speaker 2 (38:59):
and when I found it, and I think the first three
pages were quotes that we hadsaid in the podcast, and I
thought that is so special, so Ihad to get you and myself and
Sophia, a copy of the book.
If we ever need a little bit ofa push or a reminder of what we
need and there's just so manythings in the book that I adore.
(39:23):
I think sometimes it is justthe pick me up that we need in
the office just to remind usthat it's not all about what's
right in front of you.
And one of the quotes that Ijust love the most, towards the
end of the book, is home isn'talways a place, is it, and isn't
it?
Speaker 3 (39:38):
interesting on the pavers outside Hanworth that we
installed when Hanworth opened.
It talks about all the ownersof Hanworth.
It talks about Mary Wine,george Heathworth.
It talks about Mary Winehold,george Heath, of course, you
know the first portmaster thenMary Winehold, who had a hundred
year vision that the housewould benefit women.
And then the TheosophicalSociety, and then the Anglican
(40:00):
Church and then the Vecchiofamily.
And because we weren't reallydidn't have a marketing
department we still don't, butwe didn't.
We certainly didn't have amarketing department.
We still don't, but we didn't.
We certainly didn't have amarketing department in the
beginning and under the Vecchiofamily.
It said Hanworth more than aplace to live, and I think that
quote really sums up not onlyjust the podcast, but what we
(40:24):
have created and what weenvisage Hanworth will continue
to do, which is it's more than ahouse, it is home.
But it's not a home in which youlive.
It's a home because of thecommunity that lives there, the
community that supports it, thecommunity that's so kind, that
supports all the philanthropicventures we do and our madness
sometimes in terms of, you know,engineering these events.
(40:46):
And so I think that's reallylovely that we can sit here in
the podcast and say that quoteis more about us as well as a
family.
You know, we're not just a homein terms of an office.
We have a true deep connectionand we try and spur each other
on and hopefully hold each otherup sometimes when the odds are
down.
But what a beautiful quote, Ithink, to end the podcast today
(41:09):
on and thanks, jamie, forcreating an environment in which
we can talk about some reallyinteresting things with some
really interesting people, and Ican't wait to see who we have
on next.
Speaker 2 (41:19):
Thank you, and thank you to everyone listening that's
coming on this journey with us.
Speaker 3 (41:24):
Here's to the next 90 , till we get to 100.
Cheers, cheers.
Welcome to Bubbles and Benevolence, the podcast
where we pop the bubbles tosuccess and dive deep into the
benevolent hearts of those whohave achieved it.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
In this podcast, we'll sit down with successful
business leaders,philanthropists, non-profit
workers and more to discusstheir journeys, the lessons
they've learned along the wayand how they're using their
success to make a positiveimpact on the world.
So grab a glass of bubbles andjoin us as we explore the
intersection of business andbenevolence and discover what it
(00:28):
truly means to be successful.
Welcome everyone to episode 10of Bubbles and Benevolence.
We've got a bit of aninteresting episode for you
today.
You're sitting down with Marisaand Jamie and we're just going
(00:50):
to do a little bit of a recap ofhow the podcast has been going
over the last nine episodes.
So welcome, marisa again toyour own podcast.
Speaker 3 (00:59):
I love being a guest on my own podcast and, wow, it's
a milestone, Jamie 10 episodes.
Apparently, you told merecently that most podcasts
don't get beyond three.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Yep.
So we're like the top 1% orsomething like that.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
So yeah, we did it Where's our favourite bubbles
that we should be celebratingthis milestone today.
Instead, we've got you and Iwith our glasses of water today.
Let's just make sure it'smineral water so we can actually
have our own bubbly celebrationfor 10 episodes.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Yay, absolutely.
We just want to go through someof the podcast episodes that
we've had so far and all of theamazing people that have joined
us.
We've just had some reallyincredible people that we've
actually mostly known for quitea while, as well as some people
that only recently joined us atHanworth.
But we've learned some reallyamazing things about people that
(01:50):
we didn't really know before.
Like Fleur's been one of yourbest friends for such a long
time and I always knew Fleur asthe foodie, the food lover, the
chef, always cooking thesebeautiful things, dressing up at
the Hanworth kitchen to dolittle videos and presentations.
But she was actually a radiohost prior, which I thought was
(02:14):
incredible.
I didn't know that about her,but it does explain her bubbly
personality, would be perfectfor it.
And she was one of the firstresidents at Hanworth, which is
amazing because Hanworth iscelebrating 160 years next year.
So tell us a little bit aboutwhat we've got in store for you.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
Well, before I do that, I was just going to say I
remember that episode of thepodcast because it's the only
one that we've done offsite atNoosa and it was hilarious
because I can still hear thegardener with the whippersnapper
in the garden, which obviouslyhe decided to do his job at
exactly the wrong time of ourpodcast.
But you did a great jobtempering that.
But I thought that was us inthe wild, wasn't it?
(02:51):
The podcast at Noosa?
Speaker 2 (02:54):
It was, and I know there was a lot of trepidation
with that one becausetechnology's not your strong
suit.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
No, that's true.
I have you to rely on.
You and Sophia are the onesthat do all the technical stuff.
But I'm looking and reflectingat us being in our own custom
built studio now, with thebeautiful bubbles and benevolent
signs.
I feel like we've really grownup.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
We have.
It's very exciting.
If you haven't seen it yet, youcan jump onto Instagram and
we've got this beautiful signthat was made up and we're very
excited to have our own littlestudio.
Speaker 3 (03:24):
So, talking about milestones, of course, yes, 160
for Hanworth next year, and itseems like yesterday that we
opened Hanworth on the 150thbirthday.
So, if you recall, we purchasedHanworth in memory of Mother,
whose birthday it is todayactually.
So it's kind of nice to do thisreflection podcast on a very
(03:46):
special day, because we didrenovate Hanworth in her honour
in 2012, when she passed away,and 2013,.
Of course, we lost most ofHanworth in the arson fire and
we opened on the 150th birthdayin 2014.
Birthday in 2014.
(04:10):
So we're going to fast forward10 years to 2024, and we will be
definitely offering a wonderfulcelebration of Hanworth's 160th
birthday, because there's notthat many homes in Brisbane that
get to be this old, and so weshould be creating opportunities
to celebrate that.
I know that we've been schemingin the office for some
incredible events on the week ofthe 16th of July Mark it in
your diaries the week of July 16, 2024, when we will definitely
(04:32):
be celebrating in a big way atHanworth, which is a lovely and
iconic crystallization of ourachievements.
Much like this podcast has beencelebrating the people we've
met along the Hanworth journeyIn that vein yes, fleur was a
great guest people we've metalong the Hanworth journey.
In that vein.
Yes, fleur was a great guestand she was a resident of
Hanworth.
Continue my wonderfulfriendship with Fleur.
What did you learn about Fleurafter that podcast episode,
(04:56):
jamie, that perhaps you didn'tknow?
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Well, other than her previous career choices.
I also, I guess, learned orreally enjoyed the story that
she shared about how Verve wasspecial to her, just this kind
of connection that you both hadand this feeling that she needed
to be there for you.
So, without even having to ask,she up and drove to I think it
was the Gold Coast where youwere to help, be there and
support you, and I thought thatwas really, really special.
That was a lovely thing that Ididn't know about that situation
(05:25):
at all.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
And that's how the Clicquot became the Champagne of
Hanworth House.
Yeah, and I similarly learnedin the episode with Laura Lee
Cunningham about the fact thatshe was an accountant.
And for those of you that knowLaura Lee, she's more colourful
than ever and my typecast viewof an accountant is not Laura
Lee Cunningham.
Would you agree with me on that?
Speaker 2 (05:45):
note 100%, I would agree.
I think when we were thererecording that episode, when she
said that I think there was abrief moment that was edited out
where we both kind of just wenthang on, Can you say that again
?
Speaker 3 (05:58):
It's true.
It's true, but in the 2024planning mode, laura Lee and I,
after that episode, we launchedour formal partnership in
becoming contestants in theDancing CEOs 2024.
Big year also for Women's LegalService next year.
My very first charity, ofchoice in terms of it, was there
(06:20):
when I opened Hanworth and isstill there now.
And we are collectively sevenof us have teamed up and are
hoping to break all recordsabout the amount Dancing CEOs
has raised for women's legalservice in a single event, and
we're all madly going to ourdancing lessons at the moment.
We've got our fundraising hatson.
(06:41):
We've been lucky to have had acouple of great events already
that have boosted ourfundraising total, but that's
less important to me than thecollective total of everyone at
the end of the day andcelebrating 40 years of Women's
Legal Service being in existencein Queensland, the hundreds and
even thousands of people theyhave helped escape domestic
(07:02):
violence and the incredible workthey're doing now in the
Financial Abuse Prevention Unit,helping discard debts that have
been racked up in women's nameswithout them knowing.
And I think Jamie was Women'sLegal Service telling us last
week that over $3 million worthof debts have been eradicated
(07:22):
against women's names who wereescaping domestic violence with
the help of one dedicatedofficer in Queensland and I
believe they opened the Ipswichoffice just recently and that's
what we're fundraising for in2024 to get at least another two
officers that can do thisreally important work.
It's wonderful to see theimpact they have.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
It is really wonderful.
I think they only have twostaff members total for the
Financial Abuse Prevention Unit,which is crazy because it's
such a huge amount of money andhuge amount of work that goes
into trying to reverse all thatthat's gone into it.
But I also think that havingthis focus on the financial
(08:06):
abuse prevention unit is reallyimportant because it's not
something people have oftenassociated with domestic
violence.
I think the whole battered andbruised which I know.
Changing that perspective waswhat Women's Legal Service
Queensland came to youoriginally to do a photo shoot
at Hanworth.
Women's Legal ServiceQueensland came to you
originally to do a photo shootat Hanworth was to change the
(08:27):
perception that that's notalways the case.
And bringing in all thisattention to the financial
aspect of it is really importantbecause traditionally women
haven't been necessarily taughthow to do finances and
understand finances properly.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
So it's a really, really important initiative and
also, as they've explained to us, often the reason women return
back to the home because theydon't have the financial means
to be able to stay away.
So it's often the number one Ithink they're quoting reason
that returning back to a homethat you're looking to escape is
often as a result of not beingable to afford to not be there.
(09:03):
Look, we are obviously bigsupporters of Women's Eagle
Service Queensland and theycelebrate 40 years of doing the
important work they do and it's10 years since Dancing CEO.
So even more reason tocelebrate, and you have a real
relationship with them as well.
That's true.
So it's lots of decadecelebrations, lots of huge
milestone celebrations, that'strue, and one of my most
(09:24):
poignant moments in the lastweek is I was asked by James
Curtin, who sold me Hanworthfrom Place, a real estate agency
, to come and talk to theirstaff recently at Woolloongabba.
They've got a beautiful officein that lovely little
Woolloongabba precinct and Iplayed the Great South East
episode that was formed bySophie Formica when we opened in
(09:47):
2014, celebrating the 150 years, and she interviewed Natalie
Davidson, who is still atWomen's Legal Service Queensland
, and Natalie was very proud tosay that we had just had a
rummage at Hanworth a few weeksbefore this episode and was so
excited to announce that weraised nine and a half thousand
(10:09):
dollars for Women's LegalService Queensland.
And I looked at this episodethat we were playing at place
and I thought, oh my goodness, Ihadn't seen that episode for so
long.
And I said to the 25 peoplethat were assembled talking
about the Hanworth history andthe journey.
I said to them well, you'll bevery pleased to know that that
(10:29):
meek rummage that earned us ahuge $9,500 has now become
labels on the lawn and lastmonth raised Women's Legal
Service $201,000.
So I felt so proud in thatmoment that I forgot from humble
beginnings.
Big things grow and Natalie isas excited these days to
(10:54):
announce 201, as she was 10years ago announcing 9,500.
So that's a real commitment,isn't it?
And a great testament to thecommunity that supported not
only Hanworth but also thatinitiative to become so big.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
It's absolutely incredible.
The Women's Legal Service teamhave just been so engaged in
Labels on the Lawn from thebeginning and they're just so
passionate about it.
So incredibly helpful wheneverwe need a helping hand, along
with all of the volunteers thathelp us out throughout the year,
which is truly amazing.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
And people often ask you know lots of charities are
doing it tough these days.
And people often ask you can'tsupport everyone, even though
you'd like to.
How do you decide who you'regoing to support and who you
don't?
And we face that a lot in theearly days of Hanworth because
it seems to me if you have onesuccessful fundraising event,
(11:49):
everybody else wants to hold oneas well and you can't spend
your whole life fundraisingbecause we do have a day job.
We do have to run Hanworth, wehave to run the accommodation.
That's its main business and Ialways say it's cash cow.
We need a financial benchmarkagainst which to run the entire.
You know, keeping an old houserunning and not falling down it
(12:10):
takes considerable efforts andresources, as you know, jamie,
because you do all the financesat Hanworth.
So I always say to peopleobviously you have to be
passionate about what you'redoing, but I also think it's
about having a lot of trust inthe teams you're working with
and what can they contributeback to you in terms of manpower
, resources, prizes.
(12:31):
You know, bums on seats atevents, because it just can't be
a one-way street.
We don't have the resourcing.
We're a small team, we're three.
We don't have the resourcing.
We're a small team, we're three.
We don't have the resourcing tobe able to pull off a
million-dollar event tofundraise for.
But in collaboration withothers you can actually
collectively harness yourresources and create a great
(12:51):
event.
But I think a lot of the timethese days it's really important
to actually think about whatcan you bring to the table.
I say to a lot of younger peoplewho are getting into
fundraising don't be afraid toask.
You know this charity soundslike such a great thing.
You know, what do you do withthe money that we raise?
And have an outcomes measurethat you can actually raise.
(13:12):
For instance, I was so excitedto hear from Women's Eagle
Service that for the first timethey had answered every call to
their helpline, and for yearswe've been fundraising to help
that helpline not miss a call.
Well, that's ticked off.
Now they can answer every callwith the resources that Dancing
CEOs has raised.
So now it's time to turn ourattention to something else
that's not yet resourced.
(13:33):
But similarly, if we'rechoosing a charity, what are
they going to do with the money?
And I think sometimes it's evennice to have an outcome measure
.
You know, we're going to builda roof at Hummingbird House for
the children to enjoy that arethere with their families, you
know, or something like that.
I think that's a really goodquestion sometimes.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
When we went to the launch of Dancing CEOs for this
year, Nadia was mentioning thatthe Ipswich office that we'll be
opening is completely funded bydancing CEOs and fundraising
projects, so there's no grantsor anything like that that's
gone into building that, whichis incredible that they've been
able to build this community ofpeople that will help fundraise
(14:13):
to achieve such an amazing thing.
Going back a little bit tolabels, I think one of the
things I'm proudest about withlabels is the amount of people
that say to us this event is sowell organized, it runs so
smoothly, it's just nice andeasy.
I think a lot of the timepeople don't realize that the
smoother an event goes and theeasier it looks, the harder it
(14:36):
was.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
That's absolutely a very, very correct comment,
isn't it?
Speaker 2 (14:42):
And so having a team that is almost as passionate
about it as we are, that wefundraise for, to give us a
helping hand and all thevolunteers that have come
through us actually quite a lotfrom Loralee and her connections
.
They joined in with Hanworthand have been huge, huge
supporters of us over the lastcouple of years.
It really does take that, thatenergy, that passion and hours
(15:06):
and hours and months of hardwork to make one day seem
seamless almost exactly and Ithink that was a testament to
all of the teams this year, Ican honestly say.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
But I guess, like all good things, we have to
obviously always be lookingforward.
So we've had some really gooddiscussions about five years
since Labels on the Lawn, nextyear and shaking things up a
little bit.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Another milestone.
Speaker 3 (15:30):
Another milestone.
How many milestones can onegirl?
Speaker 2 (15:33):
endure.
One has endured 2024, it'sgoing to be a huge year.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
So we are going to shake it up and step it up with
labels next year.
I don't know if you want todivulge any of that on the
podcast.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
I don't know how much do we want to spill today to
our dedicated listeners.
I think maybe we can give themthe name I think so.
Because we're going to have nota permanent rebrand but a
little bit of a rebrand for nextyear and, rather than labels on
the lawn, we will be hostinglabels lux, still on the lawn
still.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Yes, we'll still be on the lawn.
It could be labels on the lawnlux edition, who knows?
We thought it's a good way tobrand a milestone.
Five years a milestone.
10 years since hanworth opened,milestone 40 years since we've
had a relation.
Or, you know, 40 years sincewomen's legal service formed, 40
years since we've had arelation.
Or 40 years since Women's LegalService formed and 10 years
since Dancing CEOs I think allof those get.
(16:24):
So I think Labels Lux can justbe open to interpretation at the
moment.
Stay tuned for more detailsabout what this looks like, but
it might go for a little bitlonger in terms of you might see
some Labels Lux announcements afew weeks before.
Labels on the lawn itself and afew things.
Hopefully some more au Luxannouncements a few weeks before
.
Labels on the lawn itself and afew things.
Hopefully some more auctionsand a few more interesting
things happening around us.
So let's just keep it at that,shall we?
(16:45):
And keep the lid on all of oursecrets.
We can't divulge them all today, Otherwise there'll be nothing
to look forward to.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Oh exactly, we need to leave something for 2024.
So everyone will have to waitand see what next year's like.
But we're just as excited aboutit, and we hope that all of our
partners are as well, becausewe've got some really incredible
people on board who have beenreally, really generous with
time and with donations, whichincludes our beautiful friend
(17:11):
Kylie from Styling Station, whowe interviewed on episode three,
I think it was and it wasreally lovely to get to know a
little bit about her backgroundand her personal life rather
than just the businessrelationship we had prior.
Speaker 3 (17:25):
I think that's true, and we are very lucky that we
have so many great relationships.
Kylie was a great guest interms of how she turned her
business acumen into a businessthat services others, which so
many of our podcast guests havebeen doing as well, business
that services others, which somany of our podcast guests have
been doing as well, and I alwaysthink.
(17:46):
At this point, jamie, I wouldlike to ask you, because you
were the one who was pesteringme for a long time to do this
podcast, and I used to say, oh,yes, yeah, when we get around to
it, and you crystallized thefact that this was the year we
were going to do it.
So why were you so persistentabout us having a podcast?
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Well, I think it's funny because it's something
that I had been bugging youabout for a long time, but you
kept saying to me who's going towant to listen to me?
No one wants to listen to me.
I think it wasn't until LauraLee said no, that's a good idea,
so it's all right.
If Laura Lee says it, then weshould do it.
Over the years, we had so manyincredible people come through
(18:21):
Hanworth for various differentreasons, whether it's to stay
there as a resident we'rehosting weddings or birthdays or
fundraising events for them orthey just met you somewhere or
heard something about you andjust wanted to come and learn a
little bit more about Hamworthand what you do.
I just wanted to dig a littlebit deeper into all these people
(18:47):
and get to know them a littlebit better, because I think
every episode that we've done,we've been able to learn things
about people that we've knownfor years, that we had no clue
about, and I really just wantedto get across the point, which I
had a lot of troublearticulating in the beginning,
about what the point would be.
Then we found this book calledthe Boy, the Mole, the Fox and
(19:11):
the Horse, which, if you haven'tseen it.
It's just this beautiful littleJapanese illustrated book about
a little boy who comes acrossthese three animals and it's
just lots of little statementsthat I think really relate to
life in general.
When we'd been talking about thepodcast and I found this book
(19:33):
and the first three pages, Isaid this is it.
This is what I was trying tosay that we need to get across
to people.
One of the main things was,which you might all recognize
this question is what do youwant to be when you grow up?
And the boy says kind.
I want to be kind, and I thinkit's just important to show that
(19:54):
not everybody is focused ontheir identity.
Being what they do or what theymake and the things that bring
them happiness could really beanything in life.
Just kind of wanted to touchbase on those kind of things and
get to know everyone a littlebit better and I think it was
such a great idea when youforced upon the first episode
(20:17):
with me.
Speaker 3 (20:18):
I wanted, I really enjoyed the experience and I
wanted to do it all over again.
And what was your answer?
Speaker 2 (20:22):
No, because it was we .
Obviously we didn't go overquestions beforehand.
We never do, so I think justthat initial spontaneous
reaction to questions is a lotmore authentic, and it it was a
lot.
It was really interesting tolearn the way that you responded
(20:43):
to the questions and just howlike what your life was like
beforehand with because we neverreally spoke much about it
beforehand, which is anotherreason most people didn't know I
had a life before in fact, Idon't think I had a life
beforehand with.
Speaker 3 (20:56):
it truly was a very purposeful event that I stumbled
upon at a time when I mostneeded it, but good on you,
jamie, for getting us to episode10.
It was your initiative and Ilove it when you always ask me a
question in the podcast.
I'm going to ask you forsomeone who's wanting to start a
podcast.
What has been the challenge aspart from convincing me it was a
(21:18):
good thing to do technically oremotionally?
Where do you start if you thinkabout wanting to do a podcast
of your own?
Speaker 2 (21:29):
I think the hardest thing, especially for our team,
is because we like to do thingsreally, really well and we put a
lot of effort and energy intomaking sure that we do things as
best we can.
But this is something that wehad absolutely no knowledge of,
no skills in, and every episodewe learned something new about
(21:52):
how to use microphones and whathappens when one of them doesn't
work.
But I think the most importantthing is just to start for us to
let go of wanting it to beperfect, like the first episode
where you wanted to re-record it.
I did.
Speaker 3 (22:08):
I said, oh no, I didn't say this well enough.
Oh my goodness, no, I even saidthe wrong name or something.
And Jamie said no, it's got tobe authentic.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
I think it's just letting go of having to have it
perfect, because as soon as youstart, you will get better, you
learn things and each time youwill just continue to grow, and
I think that's what's the mostimportant thing about getting
started.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
So one of the beautiful quotes in the book
that actually sits in ourpodcast room now the one you
were just referring to the boy,the mole, the fox and the horse
was a beautiful watercolourillustration that says imagine
how we would be if we were lessafraid.
So imagine how we would be ifwe were less afraid.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
Hedley Thomas is coming to Hunworth House With
over 50 million people worldwidelistening in to hear the tragic
story of Lynette Sims.
The Teacher's Pet award-winningpodcast has become one of the
world's most listened to stories.
Now is your chance to get upclose and personal to have all
your burning questions answered.
Join us at Hunworth House onSunday, the 14th of April, as we
(23:20):
sit down with Hedley Thomas totalk all things teacher's pet,
night driver and Shandy's story.
Head to hanworthhousecomau orvisit the link in the episode
description to secure your spottoday.
Speaker 3 (23:36):
I also didn't realise how deep and meaningful and
easy it is to do an oral history, because doing a written
history is a lot of work.
It's probably even more workthan just talking about it.
And the other thing that struckme is that how often we don't
have a true conversation withsomebody.
We catch up with people atdifferent events, sit at tables
(24:00):
with people, and the nature ofour conversation is quite
peripheral, isn't it?
It's quite kind of on thesurface how are you, how's your
family, what's happening?
But podcasting an hour in aroom with someone, you really
get to know them a lot betterand you're able to talk about
things that you would never talkabout.
(24:21):
You'd never ask someone.
So where did you grow up andhow did you get to become a
lawyer?
Or, in the context of the lastpodcast we did with EJ, which
was probably my most difficultas the narrator of the podcast
or the interviewer, I candefinitely say it was the
hardest one to edit, for sure.
(24:46):
It took you the longest to edit,very emotional and people don't
realize how much editing goeson after this.
In terms of cut, what do youhave to do in the editing
process?
What is it you're looking for,or not looking for, that you
need to cut out.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Well, at this stage, like I said before, I'm still
not.
I'm still learning all the ropesabout editing, but, as it
stands at the moment, trying tomake everything a bit more
concise, because we do tend togo for quite a long time and I'm
very, very aware that thecontext of when people are
listening to a podcast isgenerally in their car, so we
(25:18):
try to keep it so it's to workand on the way home, so you can
kind of get a whole podcast in aday.
But I'm very mindful of keepingpeople's stories the way they
are, so I don't want to take outbig chunks of what people are
saying because it was importantto them.
So we want to make sure that wehonor that.
(25:38):
Getting rid of all the fillerwords, which can be quite
difficult and I know it's goingto be difficult on this episode
because I am atrocious forsaying um all the time.
Yeah, I think that's probablywhere I stand at the moment,
probably the most complex thingabout editing.
I've not always set up themicrophone the best, so trying
(26:00):
to compensate for that sometimescan be a little tricky, but
we'll get there, we'll get there.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
So some good tips Just start.
Perfect is not really a wordyou need to aspire to when
you're doing a podcast.
It's being authentic and getsome developing editorial skills
, because you are, after all,executive producer, director,
technician.
Everything else in relation tothe podcast is because of you,
(26:26):
Jamie.
So thank you for getting usstarted on this journey and for
the enormous amount of workthat's gone into getting it and
even coming up with the idea oflet's have a 10th episode that
just looks back on where we'vecome from in terms of I look
around this room and I think thesign makes us look so official.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
I know it's very exciting.
What about the?
Speaker 3 (26:44):
name.
What about the name?
Because I know there's a lot oftalk about what we were going
to call the podcast in the firstplace.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
Well, it was really tricky to come up with a name
because there are all likethere's a lot of podcasts out
there and getting a name thatwas unique but concisely said
what we were trying toaccomplish and I think bubbles
being your favorite thing, andbenevolence, so giving to the
(27:12):
community and sharing the love.
Really I think it conciselysaid what we wanted it to say
about the podcast.
Speaker 3 (27:21):
I think it's beautiful and also I just
suddenly thought it's B&B.
It's kind of almost what weprovide at Hanworth, I know,
minus the breakfast, minus thebreakfast, exactly, and so we've
got a few good things in store.
We had some amazing guests.
So we thank everybody who'sbeen on it this year, and how do
we plan for the next year?
I mean, I know we've got anopportunity for people to
(27:42):
nominate people that we shouldprobably interview.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
There seems to be a never-ending supply of people
that we want to interview whenwe first started we had kind of
a a list of people that were wedefinitely wanted to get on the
show who we still haven't gotprobably halfway through the
list yet.
So there's still going to bequite a lot of people to come
who have been in the Hanworthcommunity for a long time.
(28:07):
But I think the interview thatwe did with Caitlin Aslett was
probably one of my favoritesbecause even though we'd known
her for years, she was verysupportive of Women's Legal
Service Queensland and still is.
I had absolutely no idea abouther life and her previous
(28:29):
experience and everything she'ddone in the fashion industry and
costume design.
Like I was just absolutely blownaway by her story.
Caitlin reached out to usbecause she wanted to tell her
story, and some of the thingsshe said was that it's not often
you get to kind of share thosethings about yourself.
(28:53):
It feels very weird to talkabout yourself for such a long
period of time as well, but Ithink that opened up a new group
of people that we probablyhadn't thought about necessarily
interviewing.
So there's a long list ofpeople who have come into
Hanworth one way or another whowill be definitely on the
(29:15):
podcast next year, maybe theyear after so we keep going.
Speaker 3 (29:20):
And the other thing I've learned is that everyone
has a story.
Everybody has a story and mostof their story you haven't heard
yet.
Maybe a lot of their story isnot yet written, but I mean, I
think you're right.
I mean, the layers of her storywas incredible.
And similarly, when you got meto interview my brother, steve,
well, his story went on for solong we had to go into two
(29:42):
episodes because he was veryhard to manage in the podcast
because he just had a story thatled to a story that led to a
story and even me and our storyabout coming in touch with each
other.
Steve was adopted if youhaven't already heard that
episode and we came to find eachother was.
There were many other layers ofthings I didn't know about
(30:03):
Steve that I learned about atthe podcast as well.
So that was.
I just do reflect on the factthat everybody has not only one
story but many stories, and thishas been an opportunity to sit
down and try to unravel some ofthat.
Speaker 2 (30:16):
And I think when you're telling those stories as
well, when it's your story, itdoesn't seem that impressive, or
to you it's just what you'vedone.
But when you tell it out loudto somebody else that has no
clue what you've been through orwhere you started, you really
don't expect the reaction thatthey give you about how
(30:36):
interested they are, becausesometimes you're just like, oh,
who would care about my littlestory?
Speaker 3 (30:41):
so, jamie, just that's a great segue like where
did you come from?
How did you come into my life?
I'm going to just turn it intoa little.
Now that executive producerdirector gets actually
interviewed by um, I don't knowwhat I'm called on this.
I'm not the host, the host, thehost, that's a host.
I'm often a host, so even usstumbling upon each other was an
(31:03):
interesting story.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
That is very true.
So my mum was one of yourtenants.
She was renting a commercialproperty from you and I was
helping her at her work, whichwas market research.
At her work, which was marketresearch.
(31:26):
And in 2018, when I first metyou, todd and I were engaged.
So we were planning our weddingand we were trying to save
which is very difficult becauseweddings are so expensive and
you offered me some little extrawork on the side so that I
actually started filing forPhilip which is bizarre, that it
just blows my mind that therewas so much paper that even just
(31:52):
2018, that I spent a couple ofhours, a couple of days, a just
filing all the paper.
Speaker 3 (31:58):
So, just for context, not all doctors were as
laboriously intensive paper-wise.
It's just that Philip had thisnotion that, unless he could
feel it, it didn't exist.
So everything was paper right.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
We've come such a long way, almost struggling to
remember now how that turnedinto.
I think Michelle, who wasworking for you at the time, who
is such a gorgeous person,she's such a kind person, she's
with Hanworth from the beginningyeah, for five years I think
Michelle was with us and a funnystory is she actually got
married the same year.
(32:33):
So we got married a month apartand when she, I think she took
a month off for her wedding andthen honeymoon.
So you asked if I could comeand fill in for Michelle while
she was away.
Then, shortly after Michellecame back from her honeymoon,
she resigned and started topursue a new career in
(32:56):
pharmaceuticals.
You had asked me if, while Iwas still working in market
research, if I could fill inuntil we found somebody suitable
to take over the full-time job.
Speaker 3 (33:07):
That was five years ago, I'm still here, Right, and
I've morphed into so many thingsand now I mainly concentrate on
special projects.
So the 160th birthday is rightin your portfolio and finances.
Who knew?
But previously to working inthe market research area, you
(33:27):
were with David Jones.
Speaker 2 (33:28):
I was.
I was with David Jones for fouryears.
I was an assistant salesmanager in the young fashion
department at Queen's Plaza andin cosmetics.
I think retail's just been apassion of mine, so labels on
the lawn is right up my alley.
I think when we first startedsorting clothes and putting them
into the prices, I was justappalled by some of the prices
(33:53):
that people wanted to sell theclothes for.
Clothing and fashion had beensomething that I was really
passionate about.
It's what I studied at uni.
I did a double degree inmarketing, public relations and
creative industries fashion, andwhile I did that I was, I
worked in hotels, which I reallyenjoyed.
(34:14):
That's my family background.
My parents have always been inhospitality and worked in hotels
, so we moved around quite a lotand so it kind of was my first
instinct to go there.
But I just really, really lovedfashion and style and being
able to kind of present yourpersonality in a way that you
(34:38):
didn't have to say anything toanyone, and I think the absolute
epitome of that is Laura LeeCunningham.
I think she's absolutely aperson that you can see her
personality just before you evenspeak to her.
You can see it.
I think she's absolutely aperson that you can see her
personality just before you evenspeak to her.
You can see it.
Speaker 3 (34:52):
I'm going to say her personality precedes her
Absolutely.
But if anyone knows Jamie,she's the one who always wears
the heels.
Doesn't matter, I'm alwaysthinking we have an event to do
and there's Jamie in her heelsjust running around you always
have heels on right.
Speaker 2 (35:10):
I do, I do.
I love my heels, I love myshoes.
Speaker 3 (35:15):
She's always the one with the heels in the office, so
I think that fashion statementis always you and have a
wonderful way of putting thingstogether that I would never even
put together from labels on thelawn.
It just works and it's been awonderful journey those last
five years and the podcast isreally one of your major
crowning achievements in termsof developing something from
concept to fruition.
Speaker 2 (35:37):
Yeah, I'm very proud of it.
I still kind of don't reallyknow what I was thinking,
suggesting that we do this whenI had absolutely no experience
in any of it, but I think it'sturning out pretty well.
I've been really enjoyinghearing everyone's stories and
seeing what came beforehand.
What everyone wants to domoving forward.
(35:57):
I think it's been really,really interesting is seeing
where people want to be in thenext couple of years.
Hearing about what's importantto people as well has been
really endearing.
Speaker 3 (36:09):
And it's been really lovely hearing you plan about
celebrating a year of thepodcast, and so we've got some
special thoughts around what wemight do in and around maybe
International Women's Day nextyear and because I know you're
very motivated about women,supporting women and you know,
mentoring et cetera, and wethink we've got a lot.
(36:29):
There's always been womenwho've lived at Hanworth in its
history.
Of course, we have lots of boyswho live there now too, but I
think it is definitely there'slots of synergies between
celebrating the podcast,celebrating people we've come in
contact with and seeing thelearnings, focusing on the
learnings that we've come fromeach episode that we can
(36:50):
hopefully share with listeners,and maybe one or two of those
things might stick and motivatepeople to do something like
start a podcast.
Speaker 2 (36:57):
Yeah, if we can get one person to start something
that they've been thinking aboutbut didn't know where to begin,
that'd be amazing.
Speaker 3 (37:05):
If you think back on the podcast, what's one thing
you would have done differently?
Speaker 2 (37:09):
I would like to say I wish I had learned more about
using audio equipment, but Ithink that kind of defeats the
purpose of what I said earlierabout just starting.
I don't think I would doanything differently.
Speaker 3 (37:25):
And what do you want the podcast to be when it grows
up?
Speaker 2 (37:28):
I want it to be helpful.
I want people to, and I thinkthis is probably also the main
reason for starting.
One of the main reasons forstarting the podcast as well is
I wanted to be able to sharepeople's stories so that other
people listening can look up tothese people and maybe follow in
(37:50):
their footsteps or learn from,maybe, mistakes they've made or
just maybe get inspiration forwhat they do want to do with
their life and just help peoplefind their path.
Speaker 3 (38:03):
And that's really cute, because one of the pages
that I landed on in ourbeautiful book that we've been
talking about which is kind ofnice as a little wrap up, I
guess a segment is what is thebravest thing you've ever said
Ask the boy and help, said thehorse.
So that's kind of what you justsaid maybe ask for help but
(38:24):
also be helpful.
I think it's kind of the samesort of thing, but I thought you
are right.
This book is really everythingthat you aspired it to be in the
podcast, and so many of thesequotes are just perfect in terms
of summing up, and it's nicethat we have this in the podcast
room now by our side, as thelittle gem that actually puts
(38:45):
everything that you didn't knowwhat to put into words into
words it's really special, Ithink, because we had I think we
had done two episodes, maybethree, before I found the book.
Speaker 2 (38:59):
and when I found it, and I think the first three
pages were quotes that we hadsaid in the podcast, and I
thought that is so special, so Ihad to get you and myself and
Sophia, a copy of the book.
If we ever need a little bit ofa push or a reminder of what we
need and there's just so manythings in the book that I adore.
(39:23):
I think sometimes it is justthe pick me up that we need in
the office just to remind usthat it's not all about what's
right in front of you.
And one of the quotes that Ijust love the most, towards the
end of the book, is home isn'talways a place, is it, and isn't
it?
Speaker 3 (39:38):
interesting on the pavers outside Hanworth that we
installed when Hanworth opened.
It talks about all the ownersof Hanworth.
It talks about Mary Wine,george Heathworth.
It talks about Mary Winehold,george Heath, of course, you
know the first portmaster thenMary Winehold, who had a hundred
year vision that the housewould benefit women.
And then the TheosophicalSociety, and then the Anglican
(40:00):
Church and then the Vecchiofamily.
And because we weren't reallydidn't have a marketing
department we still don't, butwe didn't.
We certainly didn't have amarketing department.
We still don't, but we didn't.
We certainly didn't have amarketing department in the
beginning and under the Vecchiofamily.
It said Hanworth more than aplace to live, and I think that
quote really sums up not onlyjust the podcast, but what we
(40:24):
have created and what weenvisage Hanworth will continue
to do, which is it's more than ahouse, it is home.
But it's not a home in which youlive.
It's a home because of thecommunity that lives there, the
community that supports it, thecommunity that's so kind, that
supports all the philanthropicventures we do and our madness
sometimes in terms of, you know,engineering these events.
(40:46):
And so I think that's reallylovely that we can sit here in
the podcast and say that quoteis more about us as well as a
family.
You know, we're not just a homein terms of an office.
We have a true deep connectionand we try and spur each other
on and hopefully hold each otherup sometimes when the odds are
down.
But what a beautiful quote, Ithink, to end the podcast today
(41:09):
on and thanks, jamie, forcreating an environment in which
we can talk about some reallyinteresting things with some
really interesting people, and Ican't wait to see who we have
on next.
Speaker 2 (41:19):
Thank you, and thank you to everyone listening that's
coming on this journey with us.
Speaker 3 (41:24):
Here's to the next 90 , till we get to 100.
Cheers, cheers.
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