Kintsugi Heroes: Uncovering our Hidden Value

Kintsugi Heroes: Uncovering our Hidden Value

Kintsugi Heroes is a powerful Australian podcast sharing real-life stories of resilience, mental health, and human transformation. Each episode features raw, honest conversations with everyday people who have overcome adversity including addiction, trauma, grief, illness, financial hardship, and life-altering challenges. Inspired by the Japanese philosophy of Kintsugi — repairing what’s broken with gold — this podcast explores how life’s toughest moments can shape strength, purpose, and connection. Kintsugi Heroes exists to remind us that our struggles do not define us — they refine us.  Through deeply human storytelling, we create a safe space for lived experiences to be shared with dignity, compassion, and authenticity. Our mission is to reduce isolation, increase connection, and promote mental wellbeing through the power of story — not as clinical advice, but as real conversations that people can relate to and learn from.  🎧 Topics covered include: Mental health, addiction recovery, trauma, grief and loss, personal growth, resilience, relationships, disability, identity, life transitions, and rebuilding after failure. 🌍 Featuring voices from diverse backgrounds across cultures, communities, and lived experiences — because everyone has a story worth hearing. 🔗 Listen, Connect & Learn More Website: https://www.kintsugiheroes.com.au YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@KintsugiHeroes 💬 Why Listen to Kintsugi Heroes? If you’re navigating a tough time, rebuilding your life, or looking for real stories that inspire hope — this podcast is for you. These are not polished success stories. These are real people, real struggles, and real comebacks. ⸻ Follow the podcast on Spotify or Apple Podcasts Subscribe on YouTube for full video episodes Share this with someone who needs to hear it

Episodes

August 13, 2026 41 mins

I didn't want to die with the wrong name

At our hero's request, we've withheld their name and identifying details to protect their privacy.

⚠️ Content advisory: this episode discusses abuse & exploitation and domestic & family violence, which some listeners may find distressing.

If you need support, you're not alone — help is available:

• Blue Knot Foundatio...

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The mantra that rewired my life

⚠️ Content advisory: this episode discusses abuse & exploitation and trauma & healing, which some listeners may find distressing.

If you need support, you're not alone — help is available:

• Blue Knot Foundation (complex trauma): 1300 657 380 · blueknot.org.au

• 1800RESPECT (family, domestic & sexual violence): 1800 737 732 · 1800respect.org.au

• Lifeline (24/7 crisis support): 13 11 14 ...

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The story I had to share

⚠️ Content advisory: this episode discusses suicide, grief, which some listeners may find distressing.

If you need support, you're not alone — help is available:

• Lifeline (24/7 crisis support): 13 11 14 · lifeline.org.au

Sarah Rosse spent her career as a high-functioning professional in human services, confident in her ability to help others navigate mental health crises. In October 2023, her 16-year-ol...

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ADHD in women is one of the most missed diagnoses in adult mental health, and for three professional women, understanding why took decades.

This is Too Much, Not Enough: Late Diagnosis of ADHD in Women, a live online panel from Kintsugi Heroes' Our Stories Matter series. Three women share what it's really like to get a late ADHD diagnosis as an adult, including the relief of finally understanding your own mind and the grief of every...

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The 20-year fog

Karl grew up in apartheid South Africa in a wealthy but emotionally distant Austrian-South African family, experiencing what he now understands as complex trauma rooted in his mother's narcissism and his father's clinical detachment. For decades he dissociated, unaware he was queer until his late twenties when he met a partner and came out to indifference from his family. He moved to London at 27, then Australia, but...

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The light in the tunnel

⚠️ Content advisory: this episode discusses mental health & wellbeing, which some listeners may find distressing.

If you need support, you're not alone — help is available:

• Lifeline (24/7 crisis support): 13 11 14 · lifeline.org.au

John left school at 15 written off as a slow learner, worked manual jobs, and felt trapped. An art teacher gave him a chance on an art course despite his inability to draw...

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⚠️ Content advisory: this episode discusses addiction & recovery and trauma & healing, which some listeners may find distressing.

If you need support, you're not alone — help is available:

• SMART Recovery Australia (addiction): smartrecoveryaustralia.com.au

• ReachOut: au.reachout.com

• Blue Knot Foundation (complex trauma): 1300 657 380 · blueknot.org.au

• Lifeline (24/7 crisis support): 13 11 14 · lifeline.org.au

Holly D...

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Jason Blyth: The Gold in the Cracks, How Pain Refines and Purpose Is Built

⚠️ Content advisory: this episode discusses abuse & exploitation, addiction & recovery and trauma & healing, which some listeners may find distressing.

If you need support, you're not alone — help is available:

• Blue Knot Foundation (complex trauma): 1300 657 380 · blueknot.org.au

• 1800RESPECT (family, domestic & sexual violence): 1800 73...

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Watch
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⚠️ Content advisory: this episode discusses abuse & exploitation, which some listeners may find distressing.

If you need support, you're not alone — help is available:

• Blue Knot Foundation (complex trauma): 1300 657 380 · blueknot.org.au

• 1800RESPECT (family, domestic & sexual violence): 1800 737 732 · 1800respect.org.au

Mahir entered high school as an energetic, curious kid thriving in primary school. By year 10, whis...

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Colin Parsons spent decades people-pleasing and chasing externally imposed goals until a move to Luxembourg, the birth of his children, and therapy catalysed a complete reckoning. He took paternal leave in a country that supported it, discovered his gift for genuine human connection through a Chief Happiness Officer role, and later questioned everything: money, marriage, identity, and what it meant to show up authentically. A divor...

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Gene Moore grew up in a fundamentalist Christian household where his sexuality was framed as sin. He married, became a pastor, and spent 14 years denying who he was before a near-suicidal crisis forced him out of the closet. After losing his partner Victor to a plane crash in 1994, Gene channelled his grief into studying gay identity and eventually transforming military and police cultures by reframing homophobia not as prejudice a...

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EPISODE SUMMARY

Not every journey to purpose is a straight line. For Matt Tulle, it wound through stigma, addiction and some of the darkest corners of mental health — all while growing up queer in rural Queensland.

Matt didn't just survive that journey. He transformed it. Today he works as a peer worker in alcohol and other drugs (AOD) support, walking alongside men who are exactly where he once was. In this honest, gene...

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Donna carries memories from 18 months old, including repeated sexual abuse by her father beginning at age three. Through childhood and adolescence, she endured trafficking, gang rape, attempted abduction, and betrayal by peers. Two abortions—one illegal and traumatic, one legal—marked her teenage years. At 16, a suicide attempt by overdose nearly killed her. She married an abusive narcissist in her early twenties, escap...

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EPISODE SUMMARY

Harpreet Kalsi-Smith founded The Kindness Company after caring for her mum through end of life. Shaped by her own migration story and over 15 years working with First Nations, migrant and refugee communities, Harpreet walks alongside people approaching death — making space for grief, honouring culture, and proving that kindness is the quiet thing that changes everything when someone is saying goodbye.

TOPICS COV...

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🎙️ EPISODE SUMMARY

What happens when the thing you were told to hide becomes the very thing that shapes your purpose?

Jay Borthwick grew up on Sydney’s Northern Beaches — a life filled with ocean swims, surf lifesaving, and community. But behind that upbringing was a challenge that shaped everything: dyslexia.

In this episode, Jay shares how navigating school with a learning difficulty, being labelled early, and learning ...

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🎙️ Episode Summary

What does it take to rebuild your life after losing everything you built together?

Kevin Holloway shares his deeply personal journey through grief after losing his wife of nearly 40 years. From overwhelming loss to finding meaning again, this is a powerful conversation about courage, identity, and what it truly means to keep showing up.

Through his experience as a leader, coach, and human being navigating ...

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"I’ve come out from under, from hiding, I suppose."

In this episode, we sit down with Gene Moore, a brilliant scholar, former pastor, and cultural change specialist whose life’s work involves dismantling the very walls he was once forced to live behind. Growing up in a fundamentalist Christian home in Texas, Gene faced the agonising conflict between his identity and his faith.

After a journey that took him from the deep S...

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Hayley grew up in a privileged family where her parents worked hard and protected her from many hardships. She was a middle child who became skilled at noticing others and managing emotions.

During high school, Hayley faced difficulties processing big emotions and coped with them through an eating disorder. She did not often share her struggles and felt alone with her experiences.

After high school, Hayley tried multiple university c...

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Episode Title: From Terminal Diagnosis to the Cockpit: Cameron’s Journey of Repair and Resilience

Episode Summary Cameron faced a terminal cancer diagnosis with the same precision he uses as an airline pilot. In this episode, we explore how he reframed a "broken" prognosis into a life of deeper community connection, spiritual peace, and the successful raising of his two daughters. Cameron’s story is a living example of K...

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Troy grew up in Bendigo, Victoria and studied sports science at university. He developed curiosity and appreciation for learning through diverse life experiences and family challenges.

After university, Troy travelled extensively, living in places like Greece, Iran, and South America. He worked in remote cattle stations, ski field management at Mount Buller, and even spent six months living in a zoo.

Troy built a varied career in ban...

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