Michael describes how leaving Africa for Australia brought him both emptiness and relief. Building a new life meant loss of networks and family upheaval, including divorce, yet the safety, law and order in Australia provided comfort.

Michael’s passion for high-risk activities like kayaking, skydiving, and micro-lighting was driven by adrenaline and the thrill of adventure, helping him stay present. These pursuits became an alternative to addiction after war.

Over decades, Michael survived multiple accidents, including a microlight crash, car collision, kayaking mishaps, and waterfall incidents. These experiences involved physical trauma but did not deter him from continuing adventurous activities.

Michael wrestled with PTSD and depression post-accident. His recovery involved therapy, medication, rehabilitation, and personal action. He returned to Africa to confront past traumas which proved therapeutic and helped resolve recurring nightmares from his earlier life.

Michael’s approach to struggle emphasises taking action and maintaining hope. He explains that changing circumstances and environments, even simple walks, can ignite improvement and it is vital to step beyond our comfort zones.

*****

We hope that you enjoyed this episode of Kintsugi Heroes.

Please take care: if you have been triggered by listening to this episode we recommend you get in contact with someone who can help keep you safe and give you the support you need. This may be Lifeline, AA, a friend, a counsellor, or some other support group.

If you’d like to share your story on Kintsugi Heroes, please get in touch by contacting us via the website here - https://www.kintsugiheroes.com.au/contact

We hope you continue enjoying the heroes stories!

Warmly,

The Kintsugi Heroes team

YouTube || Facebook || Instagram || LinkedIn || Website

Theme Song: "Broken" by Colin Lillie

Michal’s childhood was filled with outdoor adventure and freedom in Rhodesia, growing up on a hobby farm, fishing and riding, but also navigating a complex relationship with his Scottish father’s temper.

Being sent to boarding school at a young age shaped Michael’s sense of independence and self-reliance but also led to feelings of abandonment and questions about his own self-worth over many years.

He recalls a safe, respectful community where race was not a dividing factor in his friendships, but witnessed the country’s shift to war, deeply affecting everyone and bringing trauma and loss.

Taking on a leadership role at just 18 in a support unit, Michael shares both responsibility and connection with his troops, facing fear, violence, and witnessing the stark realities of guerrilla warfare.

Exposure to war atrocities led Michael to develop coping strategies and seek adrenaline activities afterwards. His faith and belief in God became a source of strength for healing and perspective.

He moved first to South Africa, navigating strict apartheid-era laws, and later emigrated to Australia.

*****

We hope that you enjoyed this episode of Kintsugi Heroes.

Please take care: if you have been triggered by listening to this episode we recommend you get in contact with someone who can help keep you safe and give you the support you need. This may be Lifeline, AA, a friend, a counsellor, or some other support group.

If you’d like to share your story on Kintsugi Heroes, please get in touch by contacting us via the website here - https://www.kintsugiheroes.com.au/contact

We hope you continue enjoying the heroes stories!

Warmly,

The Kintsugi Heroes team

YouTube || Facebook || Instagram || LinkedIn || Website

Theme Song: "Broken" by Colin Lillie

John had a tough childhood, surviving mental and physical abuse. Living on the streets at fourteen shaped his empathy, wisdom, and understanding of the challenges facing many men today.

From truck driver to mindfulness coach, John’s story includes surviving a catastrophic accident, experiencing a spiritual awakening, and transforming years of darkness into clarity. He teaches simple practices that bring peace and connection.

John’s life was changed by spiritual prompts, powerful stories, and unwavering respect. He found meaning by pausing, connecting, and letting the universe move the furniture, continually seeking clarity, peace, and authentic connection.

Years spent in mental health units and overcoming diagnoses of incurable psychosis taught John the power of lived experience. His mentorship highlights the importance of sharing stories and inspiring hope through mindfulness.

He champions transformative mentoring, deep respect, and unconditional positive regard. John believes wisdom comes from lived experience and that becoming authentic means taking off masks, letting go of damaging beliefs, and embracing self-love.

John is an Australian Mindfulness Master, Lived Experience Trauma Coach, Spiritual Life Coach and founder of: mindfullyMAD.org (mindfully Making A Difference).

John is an outspoken advocate for mental health, suicide prevention and sharing personal stories. He is passionate about his purpose which is helping a world in crisis to awaken. John has reached millions of people through live talks, documentaries, radio, podcasts, print and online. His signature saying is:

Be Mindful… Pause… Connect!

Links

https://linktr.ee/johnshearer

https://mindfulnesscoach.com.au

https://johnshearer.xyz/my-book

https://facebook.com/mindful99

https://instagram.com/johnshearer.herveybay

*****

We hope that you enjoyed this episode of Kintsugi Heroes.

Please take care: if you have been triggered by listening to this episode we recommend you get in contact with someone who can help keep you safe and give you the support you need. This may be Lifeline, AA, a friend, a counsellor, or some other support group.

If you’d like to share your story on Kintsugi Heroes, please get in touch by contacting us via the website here - https://www.kintsugiheroes.com.au/contact

We hope you continue enjoying the heroes stories!

Warmly,

The Kintsugi Heroes team

YouTube || Facebook || Instagram || LinkedIn ||

Petrina Barson grew up as the youngest of five girls in a loving family, surrounded by compassion and kindness. Her early life set the foundations for her caring nature. She attended a church school, learning about Christian principles and compassion. The experience shaped her guiding light, even though she did not fully embrace all its teachings.

Medicine was not an obvious path for Petrina. She found medical education challenging and often felt her natural compassion was unwelcome or overlooked during her training.

A mother of four Petrina faced the sudden loss of her young daughter Maya to sepsis. She learned about the importance of accepting compassion from others and the value of self- compassion in healing.

Petrina made compassion central in her work as a GP, valuing deep connections with patients and holding space for their stories, pain and healing throughout their lives.

Petrina discovered compassion cultivation training at Stanford and became a certified Compassion Cultivation Training (CCT) teacher. She founded the Centre for a Compassionate Society, a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to building community around the universal human value of compassion. She became a practitioner of the Richards Trauma Process and found new ways to support healing.

Petrina now combines clinical work, teaching and community action to foster a more compassionate society. She is also a poet and an activist for refugee rights. The thread that runs through all these domains of her life is her passion for compassion, and her deep conviction that we have more in common than divides us.

https://centreforacompassionatesociety.net

https://petrinabarson.net

*****

We hope that you enjoyed this episode of Kintsugi Heroes.

Please take care: if you have been triggered by listening to this episode we recommend you get in contact with someone who can help keep you safe and give you the support you need. This may be Lifeline, AA, a friend, a counsellor, or some other support group.

If you’d like to share your story on Kintsugi Heroes, please get in touch by contacting us via the website here - https://www.kintsugiheroes.com.au/contact

We hope you continue enjoying the heroes stories!

Warmly,

The Kintsugi Heroes team

YouTube || Facebook || Instagram || LinkedIn || Website

Theme Song: "Broken" by Colin Lillie

Daniel had a fairly normal upbringing with a supportive family, a love of nature, and a Catholic faith. He loves family, friends, community, and his dog.

Daniel says his Catholic upbringing is very important to him. He holds faith sacred, has a strong sense of values, and appreciates opportunities to reflect and understand what truly matters in life.

He loves connecting and is most comfortable when others share their stories. He found out how much good friends matter, and believes in the power of genuine, unscripted, human connection.

Daniel faced tests, transitions, and rites of passage. He shares how he moved from being focused on his identity as a brother, to discovering how to be his own person.

Daniel has gone through anxiety, depression, and a crisis of faith. He calls unconditional, nonjudgmental support from friends and his wifer Jenna crucial for helping him through tough times and giving him hope.

Daniel wants to help people genuinely connect by sharing their stories. He believes storytelling can be powerful and is excited about building connections as part of the Kintsugi Heroes team.

Over the past 17 years, he dedicated himself to supporting people with disability in the workplace after he was introduced to the incredible hidden value they possess which benefits them, their surroundings and society as a whole.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-p-dougherty

*****

We hope that you enjoyed this episode of Kintsugi Heroes.

Please take care: if you have been triggered by listening to this episode we recommend you get in contact with someone who can help keep you safe and give you the support you need. This may be Lifeline, AA, a friend, a counsellor, or some other support group.

If you’d like to share your story on Kintsugi Heroes, please get in touch by contacting us via the website here - https://www.kintsugiheroes.com.au/contact

We hope you continue enjoying the heroes stories!

Warmly,

The Kintsugi Heroes team

YouTube || Facebook || Instagram || LinkedIn || Website

Theme Song: "Broken" by Colin Lillie

Sharna is the Founder of Kindred Spirits a not-for-profit organisation with the vision to create a holistic healing sanctuary for children who've experienced trauma. As a transformation coach she helps people overcome anxiety, self-doubt, and people-pleasing through her signature Reclamation process, holistically reclaiming the mind, body, emotions and spirit. As a child, she was sexually abused by her step-grandfather, which left her depressed, anxious, lost, shy and with low self-worth. She rebuilt her life with neuroscience-backed processes, mindset shifts, intentional habits, somatic release and energy healing. Now she is on a mission to heal others heal, to speak on stages to inspire and advocate for those without a voice and turn Kindred Spirits' vision into a reality.

Contact Sharna: https://linktr.ee/sharnateresa?utm_source=linktree_profile_share

*****

We hope that you enjoyed this episode of Kintsugi Heroes.

Please take care: if you have been triggered by listening to this episode we recommend you get in contact with someone who can help keep you safe and give you the support you need. This may be Lifeline, AA, a friend, a counsellor, or some other support group.

If you’d like to share your story on Kintsugi Heroes, please get in touch by contacting us via the website here - https://www.kintsugiheroes.com.au/contact

We hope you continue enjoying the heroes stories!

Warmly,

The Kintsugi Heroes team

YouTube || Facebook || Instagram || LinkedIn || Website

Theme Song: "Broken" by Colin Lillie

Sherrie Laryse is an Emotional Intelligence Consultant with a degree in Cognitive Neuroscience and a background in human behaviour, trauma, psychosomatics, mental illness, yoga, and meditation. She has authored two books about overcoming challenges—"On Path” and “The Body Talks Back”—and is currently completing her Master’s degree in Psychological Anthropology, specialising in emotional intelligence skills. Sherrie’s aim is to empower people to feel a sense of freedom in who they are—as they are.

Website: https://www.sherrie.com.au/

*****

We hope that you enjoyed this episode of Kintsugi Heroes.

Please take care: if you have been triggered by listening to this episode we recommend you get in contact with someone who can help keep you safe and give you the support you need. This may be Lifeline, AA, a friend, a counsellor, or some other support group.

If you’d like to share your story on Kintsugi Heroes, please get in touch by contacting us via the website here - https://www.kintsugiheroes.com.au/contact

We hope you continue enjoying the heroes stories!

Warmly,

The Kintsugi Heroes team

YouTube || Facebook || Instagram || LinkedIn || Website

Theme Song: "Broken" by Colin Lillie

This episode of Kintsugi Heroes was made possible with support from the Community Broadcasting Foundation. Find out more at cbf.org.au.

Michelle grew up as an only child in Melbourne, surrounded by adults, in a quiet home shaped by grief, missed connections and a sense of being different from other children. Her early childhood was defined by few friends, no pets and a risk-averse environment, where independence grew from a lack of emotional nurturing and encouragement to play.

Michelle learned to craft a polished exterior, which hid the turmoil within. She had two identities, one of which was secret, lonely, childless, heartbroken, morose and yearning belonging.

As a teenager, Michelle found hidden family secrets, including a brother she never knew. She was left with unanswered questions and feelings of abandonment that shaped her sense of self. She discovered more about her family's Jewish roots and uncovered stories of survival, loss and silence through documents found in a suitcase in her attic.

In 2016 the death of a loved one triggered deep systemic grief leading Michelle into therapy. Narrative work helped her understand around the patterns of grief and emotional neglect that had shaped her relationships and choices.

Michelle explored the impact of generational trauma and epigenetics, learning how stories and emotions can be carried in families and influence our own sense of identity. She believes unspoken traumas and patterns can sabotage our health, work, finances and relationships if left unexamined. She guides others to resolve the past and begin healing.

Michelle is an author, TEDx speaker, coach and mentor. She has postgraduate qualifications in Career Development, Education, Personal Branding and Image Management. Her memoir HUSH was published in 2024 and tracks the journey out from isolation.

Links

https://www.michellescheibner.com/

https://www.michellescheibner.com/author

https://www.instagram.com/the_identity_activator/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellescheibner/

*****

We hope that you enjoyed this episode of Kintsugi Heroes.

Please take care: if you have been triggered by listening to this episode we recommend you get in contact with someone who can help keep you safe and give you the support you need. This may be Lifeline, AA, a friend, a counsellor, or some other support group.

If you’d like to share your story on Kintsugi Heroes, please get in touch by contacting us via the website here - https://www.kintsugiheroes.com.au/contact

We hope you continue enjoying the heroes stories!

Warmly,

The Kintsugi Heroes team

YouTube || Facebook || Instagram || LinkedIn || Website

Theme Song: "Broken" by Colin Lillie

This episode of Kintsugi Heroes was made possible with support from the Community Broadcasting Foundation. Find out more at