Episode 43 - Rhiannon Hetherington: If She Spoke

What if the hardest years of your life became the foundation for your boldest work? We sit down with Rhiannon, a single mum, artist and survivor who turned bipolar type 2 and C-PTSD into a creative engine, building a 1700 m² exhibition that celebrates women’s stories of struggle and strength. This is a fearless conversation about poverty, stigma, trauma and the radical power of art to connect people who feel alone.

We start at the beginning: moving homes, living in a shed and learning that time, love and presence outrank possessions. From there, the path zigs from Uni and fundraising for Kenya to then stripping to survive as mental health faltered. A sexual assault and a mother’s blunt wisdom become a pivot toward Rhiannon seeking help. Diagnosis brings context to a decade of chaos, where medication reframes fear into function viewing it as “glasses for the brain.” The highs and lows don’t vanish, but they get easier to manage. And in a rare twist, our guest learns to love how her mind works, using risk and intensity as strengths.

Art enters quietly and grows loud. First as therapy with calm hands, and steady breath, it becomes a private refuge. Then as purpose, portraits that act like mirrors for strangers. "If She Spoke, Stories from Struggle to Strength" fills a pavillion at the Brisbane Showgrounds with 30 monumental portraits and more than 180 unedited stories covering DV, grief, mental illness and survival. The scale is the point, as ordinary women rendered to museum size, their lives impossible to overlook. Built mostly solo, with a handful of sponsors, Rhiannon's show is community in action, witnessing pain, honouring resilience and reminding each visitor they’re not alone.

If you’re searching for language to name your own journey, or a place to feel seen, this one’s for you. Press play, share it with someone who needs a lift, and leave a review so more people can find these stories. Subscribe for future conversations and updates on the exhibition’s next steps, your support helps this movement grow.

Connect with Rhiannon on Instagram here 

Connect with Rhainnon on Facebook here

Chapters

• 0:01 Trigger Warning And Support Resources
• 2:01 Community Support And How To Help
• 2:58 Guest Introduction And Childhood Roots
• 5:15 Growing Up With Less And Finding Values
• 7:55 Early Adulthood, Kenya, And Stripping
• 10:45 Mental Health Decline And Assault
• 13:45 Choosing Recovery And Resilience
• 16:12 Discovering Art As Therapy
• 19:20 Parenting Through Creativity
• 21:32 The Seed Of A Big Exhibition
• 24:05 Diagnosis: Bipolar And CPTSD
• 27:05 Medication, Stigma, And Balance
• 30:35 Loving The Bipolar Brain’s Gifts
• 32:50 If She Spoke: Vision And Scale
• 36:15 Community, Witnessing, And Belonging

Transcript

Trudie Marie: 0:01

Welcome to the Everyday Warriors Podcast, the perfect space to speak my current and dive into deep conversations with others. This podcast is about celebrating everyday warriors. Great. Join me, your part, Turtle Marie. As I sit down with inspiring individuals, their own facts and about stronger, hearing all real, and authentic stories in the same site. Allowing you to explore questions and find your own path and these possibilities. Let us all embrace the warrior idea and realize that while no one is working in your group, others are on the same path, journey through life together. Please note that the following podcast may contain discussions or topics that could be triggering or distressing for some listeners. I aim to provide informative and supportive context, but understand that certain things may evoke strong emotions or memories. If you find yourself feeling overwhelmed or in need of support while listening, I encourage you to pause the podcast and take a break. Remember that it is okay to prioritize your well-being and seek assistance from trained professionals. There is no take. In fact, it is the first great step to healing. If you require immediate support, please consider reaching out to Lifeline on 13, 11, 14 for a crisis intervention service in your area. Thank you for listening. And please take care of yourself as you engage with the content of this podcast. Love the Everyday Warriors Podcast. It would mean the world to me if you were to leave a five-star review to ensure that the Everyday Warriors podcast is heard by more listeners around the world. You can also support the show for as little as $5 with a one-time donation or by becoming a monthly subscriber. Your contribution helps me to continue bringing you inspiring stories of everyday warriors who overcome challenges to find strength, resilience, and new possibilities in life. Head to the link to buy me a copy and fuel the next episode. Every counter. It is my memoir of hiking the 1,000 kilometre Bibblan track. A journey that was as much about finding my way back to myself as it was about conquering the trail through the highs and lows and everything in between. This book is taken from my journal and it's my raw and honest experience of overcoming trauma and embracing the strength within. Grab your copy now. Just head to the link in the show notes and let's take this journey together. Thank you so much for having me. Oh, it's such an honour to have you on here. Now you have such an incredible story and what you're up to these days, but I want to start by going back to where it all began for you, which I think for you is kind of your childhood.

Rhiannon: 4:10

Yeah, yeah, I think it is actually. Everything shapes us, I think. So no, it's definitely been an interesting path, that's for sure.

Trudie Marie: 4:17

So, where what was a big change for you in the very beginning? Like, I know that you were raised by a single parent, and I've been a single parent myself, and I know you're a single parent now too. And that is its own trials and tribulations.

Rhiannon: 4:31

Yeah, definitely. I I think the big thing for me growing up, especially with my mom, my mum was just so strong and incredible, and just always made everything work. So we never had like a lot growing up, and you know, we moved around a lot. Mum always made the best of what we had, but you know, there was one stage like in a high school, like for a couple of years, like you know, we just lived in a shed. There was no running water, um, no power, no plumbing, no nothing. And the school train used to drive past every day, every morning, and you know, I used to get picked on for that. And but the thing that I like I'm really grateful because some of my best years were living at the shed, simple memories, beautiful things. So I I it I think my early life taught me a lot of compassion for people that are in different scenarios and maybe don't have what we have. Materialistic things don't matter, and and I I think and it taught me a lot more about like connection and what's actually important in life. So spending quality time with people and you know doing the right thing, or just good people, materialistic things don't mean much in my eyes.

Trudie Marie: 5:38

I love that, and I think that's something that people forget quite often, especially in the world we live in where we're such a consumer-driven world, that you're right, like people think they're connecting through social media, but there's actually no real face-to-face connection. So I love that you were able to take that learning from such a young age.

Rhiannon: 5:59

Yeah, yeah, I've always been a massive supporter, and I think too, because like my mum never grew up with much in and out of foster care, and and also she had a very rough upbringing and just incredible what she's done with her life. So I've always had a lot of admiration for people that have like turned their life around or made hard things, come out of that struggle and just done so much. I mean, awe of of of women, uh really. Um my mum was definitely a massive inspiration. She's incredible.

Trudie Marie: 6:28

We are a strong bunch, and I think we do owe a lot to our mothers and grandmothers who have come before us, and then if we've got daughters now, they're our next generation.

Rhiannon: 6:37

Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Exactly.

Trudie Marie: 6:41

So obviously that part time passed on after living in the shed. How what was your then early adulthood like?

Rhiannon: 6:48

Yeah, so when I I left school, I was very studious in school. Um, I actually was never really into art uh really much in school, believe it or not. I used to use my art class, I tried to study chemistry and biology in there because I thought, where am I gonna use art? Like it's that's not a career. Yeah, so I went from high school, studied for a year down at the Gold Coast at uni, and I seen a flyer for uh volunteering in Kenya. And I'm very much someone who, if I see something and I decide I'm doing it, I'm doing it. And yeah, I door knocked sold $1.50 chocolates, two dollar fifty chocolates, and uh shoveled horse poop and sold that. I made myself get there, and um again, it was another insight into a world where like people who aren't as fortunate and all the things that they go through, you know, just seeing different stories and women in different circumstances, and yeah, it was just amazing. After that, I come back and daddy for a little bit. I ended up going and stripping for like three and a half years. Obviously, a little bit younger. Um yeah, because I my mental health started playing up when I was at uni and I was just struggling a lot and I didn't have a lot of support around me. And yeah, and end up stripping for a few years, just very lost, very lost. And that yeah, that was where my mental health started playing up. So yeah, it's probably about 10 years of just yeah, really struggling with my mental health and not understanding what was wrong, you know, because like when you're younger, if you if you're not taught, if you think like I'm really sad all the time, well, something must be wrong. Okay, well, I'm gonna try and change this or change that, and then maybe, you know. So I started making decisions in my life trying to help myself, but not realizing that I actually needed medication. So I I dropped out of uni and you know, started making decisions that while I thought they were gonna help me in the moment, probably probably not, but they're not great decisions, you know, dropping out of uni, going stripping for a few years. But in saying that, like I don't regret a single thing. Like, I've learned a lot from everything I've done. I used to help my mum with money in that. When I say that, like I worry about saying that sometimes because I don't want people to get the wrong idea. It made me very proud to help my mum. And I uh I was raped. Uh that really that well that was hard. But my mum, my mum says something to me and it's always stuck with me, and I use this all the time. And it was you've either got to choose, like, are you gonna let what's happened tear you down and ruin you and that be the end of it, or are you going to move forward and and keep charging on? You know, you can't let something destroy you. In that moment, you've got to decide, am I gonna let this bring me down or am I not? And so I use that for a lot in my life actually. I'll give myself a moment to process and then I'll be like, right, chuck it under the wing and off we go.

Trudie Marie: 9:25

And what your mum said is so poignant because so often, even as somebody like myself who has like yourself been diagnosed with complex post-traumatic stress, is that you can either stay stuck in those circumstances and in that experience, and you can let that shape how you move forward, or you can go, right, this happened to me, and yes, it wasn't good, and yes, it comes with all these emotions and all these processing that you have to do. But what lessons am I going to take for myself from that to be able to move forward and create something different and beautiful with my life? And I think even just you going back and talking about your stripping and stuff, some people will judge that and go, oh, but realistically, there are girls' lives behind that industry, there are people's lives being affected, and I'm sure that that three and a half years for you, you learnt a lot of things about yourself that you didn't know prior.

Rhiannon: 10:24

Yes, definitely. It was actually great in a lot of ways too. Like it gave me a lot of confidence. Yeah, I used to be very self-conscious, like I still am. But one thing that stripping did teach me was that everyone likes something different, and so that was lovely to learn.

Trudie Marie: 10:38

Yeah, and I think you if you're the most vulnerable, I mean, people stripping for me is no different than being on a beach in a bikini, like you're practically wearing the same items. Yes, it's a different environment for a slightly different audience, but at the end of the day, how different is it really in the big scheme of things? Yeah.

Rhiannon: 10:58

I find it important for me to talk about the fact that I have done that because there's a lot of people out there like who would listen to me saying that and be like, oh, you know, tacky, or think X, Y, and Z. But when we all grow up in different circumstances and we all make the best decisions that we can with options that we have, and I think there is absolutely no shame in that whatsoever. And you know, some people have a household where they don't have to stress about things, or like, you know, they have everything they're provided, or like you know, they go to uni and their parents pay for it. Not everyone has that. And so, what I like to do is make sure that I mention these things because just because you start here or here, it it doesn't matter, like you can still do whatever you want, and your your story is no less important no matter where you come from, where you started. Like, everyone's story is just important. So, yeah, I like to make sure I mention that because I I don't want anyone to think that they're less than for anything they've done.

Trudie Marie: 11:52

And nobody should be made to feel less than because at the end of the day, we're all human beings, we all bleed red, and we all have a story to share no matter where we start from, no matter where we finish up. Exactly. There's always that saying that you're born on this state and you pass away on this state, and it's what you do with the dash in between, and you know, you have a whole lifetime, regardless of how long that lifetime is, to create something with your own life the good, the bad, the ugly, and everything in between. Exactly, exactly. So then you said that you were very studious in the beginning and you'd never done art, you used art as your study period. How then did you actually get into art?

Rhiannon: 12:36

Yeah, so my first girlfriend, actually, it was my first love, Jazz. She is very into art, and so we'd be hanging out, and you know, she'd be doing some drawing and stuff like that. And I was like, Oh, you know, I'll just start having a little sketch and a little play around, and then honestly, I just got addicted like that. Art was a great tool. And I started in the beginning just because it's a great tool to sit down and yeah, just let it all out, really. Very meditating, very calming, very therapeutic. And yeah, and then I've just been obsessed ever since, and I just kept painting and started from doing that, and then I share a few photos on Facebook and whatnot, and then I made a page and naturally progressed, yeah. And I and I'm really stoked about where it's got to to now. Yeah, I'm very I'm self-taught, so I think I'm very proud.

Trudie Marie: 13:24

And so you should be. I think most people underestimate the power of art, they think art is almost something separate to themselves. You either are good at art or you're not good at art. And as somebody who has done art therapy for a healing process as part of the post-traumatic stress, yeah, art can play a really big role in actually, like you said, being in a meditative calming state. Yeah. Because art is so individual and so unique, it's you know, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And some people may look at art and go, I don't like it, but then look at something else and go, I absolutely love it. It's so unique and individual. But when you actually sit down to do it, now for me, I cannot do what you do, like what you do is above and beyond. But for me, it's drawing, it's hand-drawing mandolins. That that was my art therapy. And a lot of people look at those and go, Oh, I can't do that. But it's that simple act of just putting pen to paper or paint your canvas and creating something from nothing that is just part of you coming out on the canvas on paper.

Rhiannon: 14:34

Yeah, I think art very much is less about the person viewing the art and more about the person creating the art for sure. And when when someone I find when someone connects with a piece, like there's this silent communication between the moment that the artist or creator was in when they painted it, and the moment that the viewer is in in their life, and how that sort of matches up. It's just like this beautiful understanding, like you feel like something that you're feeling is seen in a certain way just through how someone else has created their piece. Like you just you feel seen in a way.

Trudie Marie: 15:06

That's such an interesting perspective. I never really thought of it like that, but you're right, it's this communication, yeah, unspoken communication between the artist and the viewer of that moment in time that they created that piece.

Rhiannon: 15:20

Yeah, yeah, I think art's a beautiful way to connect with people.

Trudie Marie: 15:24

And so, how has your art even impacted because you're a mother? Yeah. How has that impact even your relationship with your kids and how you parent and things like that?

Rhiannon: 15:35

Oh I'm laughing because uh at the moment the kids are in the studio, they like to help me. So all my pieces that I do, uh the all the early layers, I just let them go ham on the canvas and just have a ball and make a mess and have fun. So it's been great in the way for you know, they get to be creative and have a space where they can sort of zone out and make stuff and be expressive and encourage them with anything that they're making. So I think it's it's really good for parenting in the sense like you're giving your child a space to create and be themselves and you know they get to express themselves and what they make. Yeah, so I think it's lovely. Uh and also like say with art and with my kids, like I I love that they can see you can make or do whatever you want, right? And I I hope that sticks with them. And I think that in life with anything, like anyone can do anything. That's why I always find it interesting when someone's like, Oh, I can't do that, or I can't paint, or like everyone can paint, everyone can do anything. The time you put into it, obviously, is gonna change the skill level, but you know, art is for everyone, and it's a feeling you have when you make something. So I I love giving the kids a space where they can sort of just have that moment, and I think it's quite healthy, yeah.

Trudie Marie: 16:48

So cool that they actually get to help you in those early layers by just you like you said, being themselves drawing, painted a canvas, and then you get to create something magic, not over the top of, but incorporated as part of. And I just I think that's awesome. Yeah, they love it.

Rhiannon: 17:05

I won't lie, there's been a couple of times I've turned around, I'm like, not that piece. But yeah, yeah, they love it.

Trudie Marie: 17:12

So you obviously work pretty much full-time now as an artist, which brings me to how we connected, and I really want to delve into this space because I came across you, it was either Instagram or TikTok. I was doom scrolling, and there was this woman on a video saying she was doing this thing about bringing women's stories to light, and I was like, oh, that sounds interesting. I really loved that concept, and so I sent you an email giving you my story, and then was put as part of a group of ladies on a Facebook group as part of this, what was going on, and then all of a sudden my name was part of a list of being painted as a portrait, and I was blown away, just completely honoured that I was chosen out of all those groups of ladies. Like I think you've got 180 stories to be painted. So take me back to the beginning, like before I obviously saw that video. What had you come up with this concept of your exhibition?

Rhiannon: 18:23

Yeah, so this exhibition for me is deeply personal. So I never planned actually to do this exhibition. It just naturally came about. So I'd mentioned earlier that I struggle with my mental health for years. So after I became a mum, uh, it was a very lonely time. My partner didn't help much. I didn't have family around, so it was the loneliest time I've ever had in my life. Like it got to a point where I was, you know, I would sit in the driveway after I dropped my kids off, and I would just sit there and watch the trucks on the highway because we live two houses from the highway, and I'm like, I just I just want out. I just I can't do this anymore. I just you know, I just sit there for hours. So it got to the point where I was like actually starting to scare myself because I'm like, this is not healthy, this is not okay, you know, and I want a life that's better than this. So I end up going and getting help, uh, seeing a psychiatrist and and whatnot, and I got diagnosed with bipolar and bipolar type 2 and CPTSD, um, which comes out as like AHD. And so I did the hard work of going and getting diagnosed, getting medicated, going and seeing a psychologist, getting help. And so to go from a place in my life where like I was just so low, and I'd gotten so small, my voice had gotten small, I lost myself to get to a place where I'm like, wow, I did the hard work. I am feeling better, like I want to live again, I have things, and you know, and I was like, and all I could think about was like all the women, you know, my mum included, so many women out there that have gone through so many different things in their life, and to come out on the other side, to keep pushing, to keep, you know, just to keep going and to come out on the other side and how proud I was of myself, all I could think was like how in awe I was of all these other women, and then uh all these stories just go unnoticed, all this strength that just goes unnoticed. And I just got so excited, honestly, because I was so excited about my own transformation that I just wanted to celebrate other women, and that's honestly how it came about. I thought just want to celebrate women. So I wrote my story, and obviously, you can only fit so much in you know, two pages. I wrote my story and put it out there and said, you know, this is what I'm looking at doing. I want to celebrate you guys, and I want to give it a place for your voice to be heard and whatnot. And yeah, that's how the show came about. It was very organic.

Trudie Marie: 20:43

So obviously, when you're in that lowest point, and I think for all of us, we've all been there at some stage where we feel like we've had our rock bottom moment. Yeah. And then the diagnosis of the bipolar, was that kind of like an aha moment in the sense that you could then start reflecting back on your life and all the highs and lows in your life actually started to make sense.

Rhiannon: 21:08

Absolutely. Yeah, I could look back on my life and be like, right, well, now I can see why I did that or why that happened. Now I did a lot of risk taking in my life as well, which you know that is a big part of being bipolar, love, living on the edge. Yeah, just so many different things in my life had made sense. It was very like I don't know the word, but it was it was very cool to look back and understand myself and understand my path and understand why I had struggled so much. But then there was also the other side too, you know, when you get diagnosed, and I just felt like I had this massive sign on my head that was like, I'm crazy, you know, and like people would think, oh blah blah blah. You know, this is just the the emotions of going through the different different emotions when you first get diagnosed, but there's nothing wrong with it. And I heard this saying that uh medication is like glasses for the brain, and I just I love that so much. I really do. I just I just think that's very eloquent and a lovely way to put it.

Trudie Marie: 22:03

And so being medicated, has that helped you level out and balance the high and low emotions, or do you still suffer from going on relocation?

Rhiannon: 22:14

Yeah, so I still now like I will for the rest of my life go through my ups and downs. Like even now with medication, like I still go through them, it's just more manageable. Like there's some times that it's still very hard, but nowhere near as consuming and taking over as what it used to. So now like medication has just helped manage the symptoms and side effects of my bipolar. So it's like living with it, not it controlling me. Uh learning how to manage it. Yeah, it's just been amazing. And the thing is, I was so nervous, I was so scared about going and getting help because I thought, oh, I don't want to be crazy or this and that. But I think the more that you know people talk about it, when things aren't talked about, fear comes from the shadows and shame comes from the shadows. And then when things are talked about, like there's there's nothing left to hide from. Medication changed my life, and and yeah, I'll forever talk about it in case someone else out there needs to know that like there's nothing wrong with getting medication and help.

Trudie Marie: 23:09

And I agree with you that there is something to be said about the stigma that people attach to certain things, like that fear and shadow, and that the more we talk about it and the more we normalize that we are all different and our brains are wired differently, yeah, that we all need different ways to function what people consider normal. Because realistically, at the end of the day, what is normal? Is it just a societal thing that we don't normally what you used to? Yeah. No, and that's the thing that I think people get so lost in is that oh well I'm normal because I do this a certain way, but and at the end of the day, we're all so unique and individual that like there is no normal, and we function the way we function. And I think it's such an interesting perspective that you said, like you are not going to let it control you, you are going to control it, and I think that's a fabulous way of living with something that you will experience these highs and woes, but it you get the choice on how you are going to live inside those moments as opposed to just allowing that to totally pursue your life.

Rhiannon: 24:18

Yeah, and then something else I would like to add is now that I have medication and things are a lot more managed and stuff like that. I love having bipolar. Like, I'll be honest, I like I love how I'm built because now that like it's not ruling my life, there are so many aspects of like how my brain operates that it like what you said makes you unique. This show that I'm doing like massive. I went out on a massive limb, but again, from being bipolar, I love to take risks and I love to just go all in, and that is part of me and my bipolar, and that is a very unique strength and something that makes me different. And so I've gotten to a place where I love me and I accept me, and yeah, I'm proud of me.

Trudie Marie: 25:03

Such a beautiful place to be, and you should be totally proud of me. So let's talk more about this exhibition, which has been pretty much a year or so in the making.

Rhiannon: 25:13

So long, so long. I was so excited. It's four weeks out now, which is super exciting. So I wanted this show to be massive, and I wanted it to just be a big space for women to share their stories from struggle to strength. So the exhibition is called If She Spoke, Stories from Struggle to Strength. I've hired the Brisbane Showgrounds John Reed Pavilion, which is 1700 square meters, which is massive. And I've painted 30 women, these paintings are up to 1.8 by 2.4 meters. Like these paintings are massive. And I've painted them so big, in all honesty, because I want people to, when they walk into this exhibition, I want it to feel like they're stepping into a museum of like these ladies, which is these goddesses. You know, when you walk into like a really fancy museum or something like that, and there's just all these old school paintings looking at you of people that were prominent in the past. And so for me, with this show having these paintings so large scale, it's important to me because I want to highlight how amazing these women are, yourself included, and uh how amazing their stories are. So, yeah, this show is gonna be amazing. There's 30 paintings, there's over uh 180 stories that are also gonna be on display, and I'm so excited. I just I'm so excited. I'm so excited.

Trudie Marie: 26:29

What has opened up for you inside of actually doing this work? Because it's no immune feat. I mean, it's one thing to paint 30 portraits, but you're doing these huge, large-scale portraits. So obviously, they're gonna take three, four, five times the work of a of a small-scale painting, and obviously sharing these stories and listening to these stories. What has been there for you through this process?

Rhiannon: 26:55

I think the the biggest and most beautiful thing that's come out of it for me is a sense of community and a sense of connection, and it might sound corny, but a sense of love in the sense that we're all in it together. We all go through so much, and we just need to love and support each other and and to listen to each other. I heard this thing on TikTok the other day, and they were it was like we just need a witness for our grief in life. We just need a witness for our grief or our pain, and that's what we're doing and with this show, because you know, I couldn't put this show on without you know all the women sending in their stories, right? So it is a cumulative effort, and we have all done this show. Like, I know I'm in here painting that, but without all the women sending in their stories, so there wouldn't be a show. So I just love that together we have come together and we are supporting each other and just making this beautiful space to hear each other, to hear our uh each other's voices and each other's stories, and yeah.

Trudie Marie: 27:53

I think it's amazing what you're doing, like what you're creating literally from nothing, from your own story, wanting to empower and impact other women who are part of it, but then obviously all the visitors who are going to come through the exhibition and then see your final work. It's such a transformation, such a journey that you've taken everybody else on in the process. I think it's beautiful. Thank you so much. I can't wait to see, and I so wish I could be there in person. But as you know, I am flying to the States the same weekend, so my mum is going to be there with Friend Affairs to represent me and my portrait and to be part of the show. And I think even for those women, and as we were saying before, like my mum is a breast cancer survivor, her friend is a widow, and they're in their 70s, and they have their own stories from struggle to stream. And for them to actually be a part of that exhibition, to be able to see 30 portraits, read 180 stories, and be part of that event, that for them is going to empower them because they know that they're not alone. Even in their older age, as the matriarchs of our community, they are going to offer so much support. And I think that's the ripple effect we'll never fully get is how the people who see these portraits, who see read these stories, that it's going to impact the people in their lives and their communities and those around them that we never fully get to see and experience ourselves.

Rhiannon: 29:29

Exactly. And so it's you mentioned being alone. So that was another driving force with this show is that I just don't want someone to feel alone in their struggle. So if there's someone coming to the show who hasn't sent in their story, maybe who is in a different spot in their journey, I'm really hoping that they will feel less alone by seeing so many different struggles reflected in these stories because the stories cover everything from DV, rape, mental illness, losing someone, anything that's sent in. Is at the show. Like I'm not editing the stories. I'm not filtering out the stories. Like it's an honest reflection of what's been sent in. And so I hope that women can they might be able to see their own strength reflected in a different story, you know, and just feel less alone it. Yeah, just feel less alone.

Trudie Marie: 30:16

And you've obviously had some major support to put this show together because it doesn't come without some kind of sponsorship or support behind the scenes. So you've obviously had that as well along the way.

Rhiannon: 30:29

I'll be honest. Uh I do have a couple of sponsors, but I'm pretty much doing the entire show myself, I'll be honest. And so it's been a very big slog, whether like everything from the paintings to the brochures, social media, you know, everything is me. I have a couple of sponsors, Her Way Painting, Incredible Painter, SKN Cosmetics, and Creative Hearts Co. Gallery is sponsoring the show as well. So they will be coming on the day and doing like some content and stuff. But yeah, no, this show is really me down to pretty much everything. So it's it's been a big baby. That's incredible in itself. It's been my baby for a year.

Trudie Marie: 31:10

That's so powerful in the fact that you're literally putting on this large-scale exhibition in a major pavilion at a major show ground, and you're literally doing it all yourself. That's such a testament to the woman that you are and have become through your own story, such an power, like incredible testament to you. Thank you so much.

Rhiannon: 31:37

Oh, that's so nice. Thank you.

Trudie Marie: 31:40

No, but I really want you to take a moment to just acknowledge who you've had to be in order to pull this off because this is not a little event. This is not a small scale. This has taken you over 12 months to put together. It's taking you something of yourself to immerse yourself into these women's lives to be able to paint their portraits and reflect who they are in such a way that is powerful to the viewer, not just to what you're connecting with the story. And then to actually represent not just the 30 women who are being painted, not just the 180 stories that you've received, not just your own story, but for every other person who is going to be impacted by this. It is not a small feat, it is actually incredible.

Rhiannon: 32:30

Ah, thank you so much. No, I'm I'm I'm there's been a couple of different points that I've been like, am I doing this? But uh yeah, no, once I set my mind to something, yeah, that's really it. And I just I will do everything I can to follow through. And yeah, I'm very excited to just to see it all come at come together. And this show for for myself as well was you know, I felt like I I not wasted years, but I struggled for so many years. So for me coming out on the other end, I wanted to do something big and I wanted to test myself and I wanted to make something that I was proud of. It's sort of like a big celebration after all the years, if that makes sense. So the show is is everything to me, really.

Trudie Marie: 33:14

So it should be. I think it's it's absolutely incredible. And based on that, and I know that it's only four weeks away and that you're building up for that, but how does this exhibition then shape you moving forward? Like, what is what do you see for yourself after this? Because obviously putting something like this together, almost nothing is impossible for you.

Rhiannon: 33:38

I love you saying that. Thank you so much. Yeah, so I would definitely like I I feel like I've found like my calling and the thing that makes me happiest the most, and that is combining art with my purpose. And and that's I just want to lift our we women up. And so next year, uh I obviously just want to see how this show goes, how it's received and and everything like that. But it will definitely next year we'll be definitely continuing on the path of this. I I would honestly I would love to make this uh like a yearly show, like a yearly event, and just constantly yeah, have an event that that is for women and sharing women's stories and and having honest conversations. I would love that so much. I'm not getting ahead of myself yet. I'm gonna see how the show goes. Take a breath after it and then uh yeah, and then see what next year holds. But yeah, definitely if I I definitely think next year is gonna have some amazing things in it for sure. I'm on a roll now.

Trudie Marie: 34:38

Well, I agree. I think this is just the beginning of what's possible. It's the beginning of like your it's the culmination of the sort of the end of where you've come from, but the beginning of what's possible moving forward. And I can see this being bigger and better as, and not even as just you, but you bringing together empowered women to speak, to create, to bring purpose to, that this will not just be your show, it'll be your run show, but there'll be so many other women coming in. So whether it's keyno speaking or being artists themselves or showcasing something where you're empowering women over a weekend in a way that no one else has before.

Rhiannon: 35:23

Thank you. Um, thank you. Yes, yes. Yeah, I I 100% look at it. Yeah, I think this is our event. I wanted to say our, I mean all the women that have have helped this event come together by sending in their stories and just supporting. And yeah, I I have so many ideas. I won't lie, I have so many ideas on how this could be bigger and better. And so I'm just gonna calm the idea farm down and uh just focus on this show, getting it done. But yeah, next year I've I've got so many ideas that I would love to do and make it bigger and better. But this is obviously the stepping stone, and yeah, I'm just excited to see everyone's reaction.

Trudie Marie: 36:03

No, it'll be absolutely awesome. I know it will be. I want to thank you so much for being part of the podcast and sharing your story because I love sharing people's stories and especially those who do empower others. But I'm also completely honoured to be a part of this show. What I submitted as a simple entry has now turned into a beautiful portrait that I can't wait to have in my own home once all of this is said and done. So thank you so much.

Rhiannon: 36:34

No, thank you so much, girl, for being a part of this. Thank you, and thank you for having me on today as well. Thanks so much.

Trudie Marie: 36:40

You're most welcome. And I always finish the podcast episode by asking what is the one thing you are most grateful for today?

Rhiannon: 36:48

Grateful for today. Energy. I know that might sound crazy, but I woke up with energy today, and the more energy I have, the more I can just smash it and get everything done. The more energy I can have to be a mum, a single mum, do everything that I've got to do. Uh, energy and and love. Yeah.

Trudie Marie: 37:14

Thank you for tuning in to the Everyday Warriors podcast. If you have an idea for a future episode or a story you'd like to share yourself, then please reach out and message me. As I am always up for real, raw, and authentic conversations with other Everyday Warriors. Also, be sure to subscribe so that you can download all the latest episodes as they are public. And spread the word to your family and friends and colleagues. If you're sharing on social media, please be sure to tag me so that I can personally acknowledge you. I'm always open to comment about how these episodes have resonated with you, the listener. And remember, lead with love as you live is one wild and precious life.