Episode 20. Time flies! This is a personal one.

It's the 10th September, 2024. We're a couple of weeks out from launching the website and the community. It's taken so much effort and energy to get to this point. You know when something lives rent free in your mind?! Dadversity has been the thing. But I love it. I love the potential. I love the feelings people have towards the concept.

So, as a celebration of the launch, I'm sharing my own story of why Dadversity exists.

**This show includes references to suicide**

This is Scott Shillum. Dad of 2. Exceptional talent in the world of media. On the face of it everything looks pretty normal. Then you dig deeper and realise the heartache and subsequent steel this dad has acquired as he recovered from losing his twin brother, Dan, to suicide.

You know what's funny? How quickly society judges people who have lots of children.

When you tell someone you have 7 kids, their eyes widen, their breath intake becomes sharp. It's usually followed by some comment about how mad or how crazy you are - or even how inept they would be in your position.

Scott Mair - 7 boys in with his incredible wife - is changing the conversation around having kids. He's dispelling some of the age-old cliches on parenting and leading with empathy and deep thought to create an environment that fosters the most incredible relationship with his boys.

We should probably mention that they're all home-schooled at this point.

This is Scott's story. Anything other than conventional.

It's the news that no family wants to receive.

From travelling the world without a care in the world to impending personal crisis. It's a sobering story of adversity lurking around the corner.

This is the incredible story told by Jon Stanners, a young dad, and his wife, Laura, who managed to not only beat cancer, but remained totally positive throughout the process.

Meet Ben Hughes aka Yeh Yeh Ben.

An incredible musical career, inspired by learning the fundamentals from his dad, has led Ben to perform at a high-level. Suddenly everything changed. Covid decimated the industry for artists. Live performances stopped, and Ben had to get creative to find a way of generating revenue.

Ben talks about transitioning as a father, the importance of committing to something as a kid and his hope for the future!

Enjoy the show.

We were very fortunate to hear the thoughts on Angela Karanja, creator of Raising Remarkable Teenagers.

Angela talks about her three step framework to help parents inspire their teenagers with a leadership mentality: Modelling, Mentoring, Motivating.

Each step is broken down during this session, so be sure to practice some of the stuff you hear in this high energy episode. It's powerful!

Two for Joy is the incredible story of twins Alice & Tommy who defied all odds following the heartbreaking diagnosis of quadriplegic cerebral palsy.

Listen to James' recollection of how this incredible family turned despair into unrelenting positivity.

Overview

• James' childhood: The incredible opportunities it afforded him, and his well-grounded family dynamic
• Meeting the love of his life, Georgie, in week 1 of University life
• The journey of IVF, including a chance meeting with four magpies
• Managing a premature birth
• The emotions of the diagnosis which would change their family life forever

Bernie Hollywood: The Relentless Giver

Bernie was inspired by his mum and dad, who he sadly lost by the time he'd hit 23. Their memory lives on through Bernie's relentless mission to give back to the world.

Since then he's launched and supported charities to give young people opportunities, rowed across the Atlantic and support school builds in Africa.