Leave A Light On Podcast
Welcome to "Leave A Light On Podcast," the podcast that brings you inspiring stories of ordinary people overcoming extraordinary challenges in their lives. Join us as we delve into the lives of individuals from all walks of life, exploring the adversities they face and the resilience they demonstrate in overcoming them.
In each episode, we'll introduce you to a new guest—a parent, a teacher, a healthcare worker, a student, a veteran, or perhaps your neighbor next door. Through heartfelt interviews and candid conversations, we'll uncover the personal battles they've fought, whether it's overcoming illness, navigating through loss, breaking free from addiction, or facing societal barriers.
From tales of triumph over adversity to stories of perseverance in the face of hardship, "Leave a Light On Podcast" celebrates the human spirit and the strength found within each of us. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and most importantly, you'll be inspired by the resilience and determination of these everyday people who refuse to be defined by their struggles.
So, tune in and join us on this journey of hope, empowerment, and the celebration of the human spirit. Because in the end, it's the stories of everyday people that remind us all that we are capable of overcoming anything life throws our way.
Leave A Light On Podcast
S2 Ep9 - Transforming Trauma: How Melissa Histon Created "Got Your Back Sister"
When Melissa Histon was diagnosed with breast cancer at 35, she made a promise to herself while lying on her bedroom floor during treatment: if she survived, her life would be different. That pivotal moment sparked a journey of transformation that would impact countless women's lives.
After recovery, Melissa's newfound perspective led her to Nepal where she photographed women rescued from sex trafficking. Confronted with such profound suffering, she returned to Australia with a burning question: How could she know about such pain and continue her comfortable life unchanged?
This restlessness birthed "Got Your Back Sister", an organisation that began literally from Melissa's living room, providing donated furniture to women fleeing violent homes. Nine years later, it's grown into a comprehensive support system helping women rebuild their lives after abuse.
The statistics are sobering—one woman killed every 11 days through domestic violence in Australia—but through practical support, healing programs, and education about relationship red flags, Melissa's organisation creates pathways to safety and independence.
What makes this story particularly powerful is how Melissa's personal health crisis transformed into purpose. From an anxious child who would vomit before swimming lessons to a confident advocate breaking cycles of violence, her journey demonstrates how our darkest moments can become catalysts for meaningful change.
Whether you're interested in domestic violence prevention, personal transformation, or how grassroots initiatives can address complex social issues, this conversation offers insight into how one woman's decision to "do something" created ripples that continue to save lives. Have you ever wondered how you might transform your own challenges into purpose?
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Hello and welcome to Leave a Light On Podcast, a show that looks to tackle the everyday struggles in our everyday lives. It's time to shed some light on it. Leave a light on podcasts not a licensed mental health service. It shouldn't be substituted for professional advice or treatment. Things discussed in this podcast are general in nature and may be of a sensitive nature. If you're struggling, please seek professional help or contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Speaker 3:Here's your hosts Yo yo yo, Hello. Good day, welcome, Sabona, bonjour, hola. Welcome to Leave a Learner on Podcast. I'm one half of the team, shane, with me today, the one and only Mick Boyd, aka Boydy. Hello, listeners, Told you I'd get the air on for you. Thank you, welcome, dude. How's it going?
Speaker 1:Yeah, good mate, how are you going? We've had a big week, haven't we really?
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, it's been a big week. I feel like every week's a big week it is a big week.
Speaker 1:We've got lots of things done. Bud for the podcast.
Speaker 3:Productivity is huge at the moment it is. Yeah, my wife loves ticking boxes. She's like, she's big into like achievements, so gotta get things done yeah, stop petting the desk, bloody hell. Anyway, welcome. If you haven't joined us before, leave a line on podcast. Thank you for joining us. We're really stoked having you. Yeah, today's a real good one. I mean, we said like I said every time, every time.
Speaker 1:We never did a new intro?
Speaker 3:yeah, we do, we knew Every time. Every time we need a new intro yeah, we do, we need. But let's get into today's one. It's quite a doozy actually. So we have today's guest. Well, let's look at a few stats. So in Australia today, one in five people have experienced partner violence or abuse. 27% of women and 12% of men will have experienced violence by a partner or family, with one woman being killed every 11 days Not acceptable.
Speaker 1:Unacceptable.
Speaker 3:I can't believe that that's really even a.
Speaker 1:Thing.
Speaker 3:Yes, I can't believe that's a thing either. It's pretty astounding actually. So today's guest do you know who it is? I do, yeah.
Speaker 1:I organized it. It actually is a follow on from one of our previous podcasts. Yes, kat, if you've been following episode to episode.
Speaker 3:Kat Dagan Great episode.
Speaker 1:Great episode.
Speaker 3:We've had some great feedback as well, so this is, yeah, like you say, a follow-on from that. So, without further ado, today's guest is the one and only Melissa Histon Brown Ning Ning Browning, but it just goes by Melissa Histon. She's the founder of Got your Back, sister, a wonderful organization, which is an organization dedicated to helping women through the trauma of domestic violence and then helping them start a new journey of healing and happiness.
Speaker 1:And based in Newcastle.
Speaker 3:They are based in Newcastle, which is amazing. And, yeah, her story, today's story, well, basically, how we do today, is we actually talk about her and her journey, of how she started this organization. What was the inspiration? Which was not what I expected to be honest, absolutely not.
Speaker 1:It wasn't, was it?
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's bizarre, it's bizarre. So it's bizarre, how bizarre. So, yeah, really incredible story. Firstly, of just resilience on her part and for those of you listening, you might be making assumptions it's not what you think actually. Yeah, no, it's not. Yeah, so it's just an incredible story of resilience and just perseverance as well, but just also just the fact that she just had such a heart for other people and helping.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 3:Such a beautiful story. So today she'll share a story of how she started the Got your Back organization and where she's come from and what she's story.
Speaker 1:So today she'll share a story of how she started the Got your Back organization and where she's come from and what she's gone through to actually have the fortitude to actually create this opportunity for others yeah.
Speaker 3:So, without further ado, I give you the one and only.
Speaker 2:Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, your lipstick stains On the front lobe of my left side brains.
Speaker 3:I knew I wouldn't forget you, and so I went and let you blow my mind, mel. Thank you so much for joining us today on the podcast. So good to have you thank you for having me. Yeah, I'm very excited we have a, we have a thing when we do welcome someone, and generally it starts with a little bit of a. Just a clap, some guy gets, gets rid of it and takes it.
Speaker 1:It's all the people watching you. Welcome Mel, welcome Mel, thank you.
Speaker 3:It's better then. So, yeah, go with the clap rather. Thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today. It's so good to have you. Thank you, and yeah, what an incredible, obviously, chat we've had before this.
Speaker 3:I wish sometimes I sit there because we have a pre-chat every time before we start with, I guess and there's many, many times that I go, man, I wish we just had the microphones on during this, because we had a really, really good conversation Just about not only just about what we were talking about today, but just about life and society.
Speaker 1:So it society yeah.
Speaker 3:So it was pretty incredible. So thank you so much for joining us on that and where you are so good to have you. You have a really incredible story just in terms of what you do now and how you got to doing that. But first of all, for anyone who doesn't know you, let's start off with who you are. Who is Mel Histon? Mel Histon Mel Histon Browning.
Speaker 4:Oh, sorry, we have to add that, just in case with Mel Histon, my husband likes me to add hyphen Browning.
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, he married you, let's be honest.
Speaker 4:So I'm sure he wants a little bit of a Absolutely, but restaurant reservations I book solely Melissa Browning, oh that's cool, just so no one knows who you are. Yeah. It makes him feel good when we romp up, Melissa Browning.
Speaker 3:So if I ever know Melissa Browning, I'm like, oh that's.
Speaker 4:Mel Houston.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's Mel Houston. Who is Mel Houston? Tell us who you are.
Speaker 4:Oh, my goodness. Well, that's a deep-seated question, philosophical question, isn't it?
Speaker 1:Who are we? Who are we, who are you, and what are you here for today?
Speaker 4:Yes, well, I'm so excited to be here today to talk about my journey to starting Got your Back, sister, I believe, and some of the lessons that I've learnt along the way, and also giving some information and advice for anybody who may be listening.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, Tell us a little bit about what you obviously you were talking about. You've got this organisation called Got your Back Sister.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I started that nine years ago. We've just turned nine, which is crazy. I actually didn't really think we would last this long. But it's actually. The organization keeps growing and going from strength to strength, which is both a good and not a great thing, because you know you want an organisation to be doing good work and to be sustainable. But then also I say, wouldn't it be great if we didn't need to exist?
Speaker 1:Yes, very true. Yeah, if the domestic violence just stopped and it was all good and you could close the door.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and I think most people that work in the community services space would say a similar thing. Wouldn't it be great if we didn't need to exist? Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:I mean, I like that we exist, this podcast.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm sure that we're here.
Speaker 3:But I hear you. I mean I would love to be talking a lot more of a general topic in life. I sometimes feel like the podcast when I listen to, for instance, I'm going to throw out one that has absolutely nothing to do with mental health, but Hamish and Andy.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:You listen to those guys. It is just the most feel-good episode.
Speaker 1:Fun and exciting. It's just fun.
Speaker 3:I wish sometimes I could just be like let's just have a ball, let's just talk about absolute nonsense and not have to worry about the important stuff sometimes.
Speaker 1:We might do that.
Speaker 3:We might One day who knows, I'll get in on that. Yeah, you can come and you can join us, absolutely Okay. Let's go back into, obviously, the Mel Histon. That was a young girl. What did that look like? What did growing up look like for Mel?
Speaker 4:So, interestingly, I was a highly anxious child. Oh, highly anxious.
Speaker 3:I would never have thought that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I would dot down on meeting you today.
Speaker 3:It's so funny.
Speaker 4:Yeah, but that's the journey of life. Right is learning and growing and expanding yourself, stretching yourself and actually overcoming those mental blocks or nervousness, anxiety, obstacles, that sort of thing. But as a child I was quite a nervous child and my go-to with nerves was actually to vomit.
Speaker 1:Oh, really yeah.
Speaker 4:I'd be, so nervous to the point of vomiting.
Speaker 3:Okay, yeah, was that just that? What kind of what times would you find that this would kind of play out in the most popular times for you?
Speaker 4:Do you know what it was when like before swimming lessons because I didn't know what was going to happen and the fear would be so strong when I was doing the becoming a brownie and doing the initiation ceremony vomiting before that because I was so nervous I would say the wrong thing. It's really interesting that whole and I go. It's funny because I'm so not like that now, but it's actually been a lot of work along the way and a lot of inner work to actually overcome.
Speaker 3:Can I ask you a question? What did your parents do for work at the like when you were growing up?
Speaker 4:My dad was worked for the Australian Taxation Office. He ended up becoming a the Assistant Commissioner of Taxation.
Speaker 1:Oh, wow, yes, he was nearly the one that signed the letter.
Speaker 4:Well, it's interesting because back in the late 90s he got sent over to England and Europe I think a country in Europe, I can't remember which one, but to study their tax system in preparation for the GST, so he could bring the learnings back to Australia and then they implemented the GST.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 4:Yeah, but interesting, he was a very high achiever.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 4:And it's funny because myself and my siblings, we all laugh at each other because we inadvertently have all grown into high achievers.
Speaker 3:Interesting, yeah, okay, yeah, wow.
Speaker 4:And so, coming back to the nerves, my parents, especially my dad. Even though he was a real high achiever, he was a very lovely, funny and kind supportive man.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 4:But we all, I guess, felt that expectation of achieving that's become a theme through myself. I've got two brothers and a sister, two sisters and a brother, and we're all high achievers like that.
Speaker 3:All high achievers, what did your mom do?
Speaker 4:Mom was a stay-at-home mom actually.
Speaker 3:Wow, okay, high achievers like that, what did your mom do? Mom was a stay at home mom. Actually, that's very interesting. Yeah, the only reason I asked that is because sometimes, like you say, is, it plays a part in getting to know who you are and how you got to that. Yeah, and hearing that your dad was obviously a high achiever, and then, like you're saying that you had this expectation that you also had to achieve these incredible results all the time, almost like you had to fulfill this image of perfection, because if you didn't, you felt like you failed, and then there was a disappointment, and so that's where the nerves and everything like that come from. Yeah, yeah, absolutely yeah.
Speaker 4:So no, it's interesting, isn't it? The experiences that we have when we're younger and how they really do mold and shape us. But you know, I was diagnosed with breast cancer when. I was 35 and that was a total shift in the life journey for me. And my husband would say to me now he goes oh, you know, before you had the breast cancer you were such an anxious person who worried a lot, but the but, the breast cancer set me on this whole other journey a whole shift shift of going.
Speaker 4:I don't want to live my life like that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, go for it. Yeah, sorry, I just let you with it. No, that's okay.
Speaker 4:So I remember thinking I had 12 months of treatment. I had a partial mastectomy, 12 months of chemotherapy and radiation treatment for five weeks. And I remember thinking, especially when I was really sick from the chemotherapy. I remember saying to myself when I get through this, I want my life to be different.
Speaker 4:I was very conscious about that and I remember lying on my bedroom floor because I was feeling really unwell and I don't know why the floor was any better than a bed, but I did. I remember lying there staring at the ceiling and thinking what do I really want?
Speaker 4:I really want to have good relationships with my children, my stepchildren, and I really want to enjoy life more and I want to stop worrying, and it's interesting that I remember at that time there was one week and three different people had told me about a kinesiologist that they knew Her name was Katia and suggested why don't you go and see the kinesiologist to learn? You know, if nothing else, some meditation, relaxation. And that set me on this whole journey of inner work. Inner work, so managing your mind, managing your emotions, and really shifting how I viewed the world, my perception of the world myself, and also to learn to manage those negative emotions.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 4:And I say it's a never-ending journey.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it absolutely is. I mean, we say that all the time when it comes to your mind. There is never a stage where I think you can even go okay, I'm done learning, or I'm done like working on myself, Like it's self-growth and self-development is a consistent thing that I think we need to go through.
Speaker 4:Do you know what? And it's funny, I say to our women at Got you Back, sisters. So the women who would come to us for help and support, I say to them all the time it is a never-ending journey. I was in Sydney yesterday having a breathwork session with this wonderful facilitator down there, and it's changed my life Again, doing these breathwork sessions and I just go. It's a never-ending journey, you know. So just when we go, hey, I think I'm good. Now I'm like you know what, you'll get tested, something will come your way, not actually yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4:And so I just go, I say go with it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, run with it. It's such a beautiful concept, like you say, when you get to that point where you like, for instance, uh, you had this life-altering kind of experience now where you've not been diagnosed with breast cancer, um, and you kind of just retake you, you almost take a step back and say, what if I had to only have x amount of time left, what would you want to do what? What would I change about my life? What would I different? And it's funny how we have to wait until we get to that point and then go.
Speaker 3:Why do I have to wait till something wrong goes happen and now go, let's make that decision or something massive?
Speaker 1:Yeah, we could have done that beforehand.
Speaker 3:Could have done it way beforehand.
Speaker 1:Do you think Got your Back? Sisters came to life when you were experiencing your breast cancer journey.
Speaker 4:So not at that point in time, but the breast cancer journey was a catalyst for a series of events that led to starting Got your Back, sister. So it was probably four years from the breast cancer but, and certainly you know, it was a life changer for me. And so before I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I had decided I wanted to be a photographer, have a total career change as we do.
Speaker 4:I'd gone and done all these courses and I did very well at them. So I was like, oh, I'm going to start a photography business. And I had been doing that for 12 months when I was diagnosed with the breast cancer.
Speaker 4:So, after going through all the treatment, I decided, okay, I need to restart this photography business again, and I went to do a workshop course with a friend of mine, aj Alexandra Joy, and with some other people who were, you know, launching small businesses, and so it was there that I, we were doing vision boarding visioning.
Speaker 4:If you could do anything, what would you do? And you map it out, and so I remember putting down on my vision board that day that I wanted to go to a third world country and do a photography project for a non-profit.
Speaker 3:Why and I?
Speaker 4:was really specific.
Speaker 3:Why I mean that's a really, like you say, really specific thing to say.
Speaker 4:Because I would read National Geographic magazines all the time and look at the photography and I'd see or if you see a documentary, you'd see this team of photographers that go out and in that instance they're taking photos of wildlife. But I used to think what an adventure to go and travel.
Speaker 1:Travel to be able to travel, yeah and do what you love.
Speaker 4:So there was the sense of um adventure as doing something in the world and with in terms of the non-profit, it was doing something good in the world of course so for me, I was like I'd love to do a photography project which is involving some sense of travel adventure, but also for a good for good in the world, yeah, and so a couple of years after that.
Speaker 4:So, okay, vision boards totally work, but they don't necessarily work tomorrow next week it was a couple of years after that that I had this opportunity to go to Nepal with um Three Angels Nepal and to do this dual photography for a documentary they were making about the sex trafficking of Nepali women and children.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 4:It was a life-changing a life-changer for me, because we travelled around rural and remote Nepal to different villages and there was an interviewer and videographer who were interviewing girls who had been rescued, who'd been trafficked and rescued and were being cared for by Three Angels Nepal, and to hear their stories and to hear the horrendous abuse and trauma that they'd had experienced was such a game changer for me, because I had never really experienced that.
Speaker 4:I'd never. You know, when I think back to high school, I always went on the dance squad. I was not interested in social justice, I was going to parties. Yeah, you were having fun, I was having fun, and I guess I had just never really paid attention to To what's happening out in the world.
Speaker 1:Yeah, suffering in the world.
Speaker 4:I really, and you know what? How lucky are we. We live in this amazing country.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 4:We're in a wonderful city, we're very, very fortunate, and so you know, coming back from Nepal, having experienced and lived with the breast cancer, and then going, to. Nepal and hearing about all this suffering that really put me into action.
Speaker 1:Yeah, put a bee in your bonnet. Yeah, needed to make change.
Speaker 4:Well, I had this sense. I felt really, really guilty. How is it that I know that there's this suffering?
Speaker 2:going on over there?
Speaker 4:And how is it that I get to come back to a nice life in this great city, in this wonderful country? And, you know, seeing people in Nepal and other countries where they don't even have a social welfare system. So if you're poor, you're poor.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and there's a massive disparity between those who are poor and those that are wealthy.
Speaker 4:Absolutely. I was just in Nepal last year volunteering for Habitat for Humanity and spending time in a village with the ultra-poor, ultra-low caste. And those people aren't even recognised by the government. They don't have any legal documentation that they're even alive.
Speaker 1:Yeah, wow, that's nuts. So it makes them that they can't even leave. Even if they wanted to leave, they can't leave.
Speaker 4:How can you go to a government, get government support or anything, if you're not?
Speaker 1:really even on a system somewhere. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah Well, I mean, like you say, that's why those particular individuals are sex trafficked so easily because there's no documentation that they're even there. No one even knows they're there, yeah, so if they go missing, there's just people are like, oh well, they've gone missing. Yeah, no one even knew they were there in the first place, kind of thing.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it's horrendous yeah.
Speaker 3:I remember I went to India as well and I spent a month in India and the disparity between the classes there is just astronomical.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and it is.
Speaker 3:It's hard to see, but I will say this the culture is so beautiful, they are the most welcoming, most beautiful people and it's often the people that have nothing that will literally give you everything.
Speaker 3:I still remember walking in the streets the one day, and there was three of us, so I went to a group of 12 that did something very similar to Habitat of Humanity, and there's a group of 12 of us that went and we split up and we were just walking around and this family, this young family, there's a husband and wife, and then they had two small kids, invited us in for dinner and I'm not joking to you, their place literally, I would say three by three, like it was tiny, they had a bed in the corner, a little stove, top cooker in the corner with a sink, and then, like that was literally what they had in this house and they invited us in and literally shared their food with us.
Speaker 3:They fed us with what they were having for dinner that night. It was just the most, like you said, life life-changing experience to be around people that were literally. They just want that companionship. Like you say, they just want people to recognize them and be like I am a person that just wants what you have and that's just to be recognized.
Speaker 4:Yeah, because do you know what People want to be seen, heard, listened to?
Speaker 2:and loved. Yeah, that's what people want.
Speaker 4:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:And it doesn't matter who you are or where you're from In the most simplest way.
Speaker 4:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Not complicated, just what you said is very simple, isn't it?
Speaker 3:Absolutely so. This kind of spurred you on to now come back to Australia and be like I need to do something.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and I felt quite helpless because I had no idea about social justice, I had no idea what to do. So I had just started. I started doing meditation from the breast cancer, after the breast cancer treatment, and so I started meditating on it, to be honest, going what can I do? What can I do? And one day it kind of came to me it's like well, you can write from my marketing PR background, you can take photos, you can start a blog.
Speaker 4:So, I started kind of just doing some writing about some good things in the world. And then I was like, do you know what? You know how to hold an event. So I held an event and raise some funds for Jenny's Place and then held another event and raised some funds for Samaritans and then somebody suggested to me, oh, why don't you start your own charity? And I hadn't thought of that, but I started exploring that you know what it takes to start a charity, which is very complicated. It's a process.
Speaker 4:It's a very big process, but then also going well. What are the gaps? So I went and spoke to the local services and said, if I did start a charity, what could I do to be of service? And so the response was back then well, when a woman leaves an abusive home, she often leaves with nothing but her children and the clothes on her back. So the thought of having to restart her life again with nothing can be a real barrier to leaving because it's so overwhelming. So I held an event, raised $15,000, went through the process of registering as a charity with the tax office and the ACNC and ASIC and put it out to the local services and said if you have a woman who is leaving a violent home or your refuge and she needs help with furniture and household items, let me know. And so I kind of started getting some referrals and.
Speaker 4:I was doing this from home and organising to either get donated furniture or purchase furniture or gift cards and get that to that woman so that she can Wow.
Speaker 1:So this literally started in your backyard or like in your garage?
Speaker 4:Yes, it literally started from home.
Speaker 1:Yeah, wow.
Speaker 4:In that first year and then in the second year and this is, you know what things happen step by step. You know Rome wasn't built in a day. The second year, my husband said can we have a house back please?
Speaker 1:And you were like no not yet.
Speaker 3:I've heard that before from my wife actually. Yeah, sure, yeah, can I have my house back? Yeah, can I have my house back.
Speaker 4:And so I went and got a storage space over at Wickham and was able to get a serviced office on Hunter Street and I started storing secondhand furniture in that storage space and running the charity from a serviced office. And then by the end of the second year, you know, we were running workshops and things and I was having to hire different spaces. It was, you know, a lot of navigating different services to use their boardrooms and things and so we ended up getting a building at Tice Hill and then over the years our service offering has grown, our team has grown and it's always been around. What is it that women need and how can we be of service and are there any gaps that aren't being filled? So now we I say we offer an end-to-end service.
Speaker 4:So we get women that will contact us who are either still in an abusive relationship or may have just left, or it may be a family member or a friend going. My sister's in an abusive relationship. I have no idea what to do, because you can imagine it's so daunting for that woman who has been abused. It's so daunting to get out from the control, get away from the abuser, to actually have to find a new place to live, especially if you have children, to get access to legal support, household furniture items, financial crisis payments, emotional support. The guilt and shame around that is such a complex issue for that woman. So you know we have caseworkers that do that and then we run healing and recovery programs to help the women. We want them to live a happy and independent life.
Speaker 1:Of course yeah.
Speaker 4:And not living in poverty.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so does that? When you say that the healing side of things we want them to live a happy and independent life and not living in poverty. So does that? When you say that the healing side of things, does that mean that you do everything from like counselling them through the situation in terms of to say how can we move on from the trauma of this, and then as well as to say, let's look at now establishing getting you a job so that you can start to facilitate paying for your own things, budgeting all these kind of things where you can start to live a healthy life.
Speaker 4:Yes, so we do that. Our caseworkers provide emotional support and then we run different workshops to help those women rebuild their confidence and self-esteem. We do refer to counsellors if they need more intensive support For further assistance.
Speaker 4:We do education around. It's actually we run a program called Shark Cage which educates women who've been in an abusive relationship about, if they go into another abusive sorry, if they go into another relationship, what they need to look out for how they can live, how they can have a happy and healthy relationship and identify those areas of there might be a problem here with it.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and many of those women go oh my God, I can totally see that happened in my last relationship. And then we have an education program that includes work experience to help those women get employment as well. That's awesome.
Speaker 3:Here's a question I want to ask you because I think there's two terms that I really I feel society throws around very loosely nowadays, and those two terms are number one, toxic, and number two the term red flag. Yeah, I feel like cause they are very, let me, they are very vital terminologies that you would use in very obviously extreme situations, but I feel like we have nullified the terminology of these. So a person would say, oh, because my partner didn't agree with what I'm saying or disagreed with me, therefore now he's toxic.
Speaker 4:It does get thrown around a lot.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 4:And not even just in romantic relationships, even with friendships or work colleagues. It's thrown around a lot, yeah, and not even just in romantic relationships, even with friendships or work colleagues. It's thrown around a lot.
Speaker 3:Now that term toxic, toxic and I feel like what it does is. It then diminishes the value of what a toxic relationship actually is?
Speaker 4:Yeah, I see your point of view. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:So, for instance, like when you say, kill someone, when you kill someone, when you kill someone, there's no real gray area of killing someone. Like they're dead or they're not dead, we wouldn't necessarily go and nullify that experience by then saying, oh well, he almost maybe did something. I think the point I'm trying to say here is that I feel like we need to be really clear and definitive when it comes to these terms in our relationships, because what it does is then it categorizes exactly how vital the response is for those situations.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and it's interesting because I think the red flags that we talk about help people identify if the relationship is unhealthy or toxic. You know we say there's a difference between having an argument and abuse and abuse is around that pattern of behavior. You know we can all have an argument but, actually abuse is that pattern of behavior.
Speaker 4:And it's interesting with the red flags because I know when we run the Love Bites education program in schools for students and Shark Cage we look at red flags because it's so. When I first learnt about the red flags and what they were, I found it fascinating because they aren't what you think they are. So you know, one of the red flags is love bombing. So, if you start dating somebody and they are telling you that they love you really quickly.
Speaker 1:Straight away, straight away.
Speaker 4:They go, that's a red flag. If they're texting you constantly, that's a red flag. And if they're checking in with you all the time, what are you doing? Where are you? Who are you with?
Speaker 1:Red flag Red flag.
Speaker 4:Because that person, there's some level of deep-seated insecurity there and when they are, you know, acting out those behaviours. I didn't say that very well, did I Acting out those behaviours? That sounds very clinical, but you know what I?
Speaker 2:mean.
Speaker 4:But if they start love-bombing, texting the research shows. But if they start love bombing, texting, the research shows that that will escalate and into jealousy, the insecurity which can lead to abusive behavior, either coercive control, emotional abuse and or physical abuse. So that's why they say, look, that is a red flag and it's interesting. You know, I've spoken to groups of teenage girls and you talk to them about the love bombing and the texting and you know the world that they're living in.
Speaker 1:They think it's normal. They think that's normal oh but he really loves me.
Speaker 4:Oh, he's just checking up on me. He just wants to know where I am. Oh, it's so cute. He's jealous of who I'm with and then we go, no, that's not actually okay, this is not cool yeah.
Speaker 4:Because there's an anxious attachment there which, if it's really strong, that becomes a toxic anxious attachment. It's interesting because I, as an example, I look at my husband and yeah, I'm going to, you know, give him a big pat on the back right now. But I look at him and I go. He has such a secure attachment with me and that he's just so cruisy. It doesn't matter. He doesn't get bothered by who I'm with or what I'm doing. There's this real sense of freedom. He doesn't need to. We check in with each other, but we do that out of respect.
Speaker 1:Of course.
Speaker 4:And it's different because I've been in a relationship previously which isn't like that. Yeah, in a relationship previously, which isn't like that. Yeah, I understand, and it's awful. You feel it in your gut, you feel it in your body.
Speaker 1:But there's something not quite right.
Speaker 4:There's something not quite right there, but what we often do is we squash that down.
Speaker 1:Squash it down.
Speaker 4:We don't want to believe it. Oh no, it's okay. And then people around you go oh no, it's just because he really likes you I, oh, it's just because he really likes you.
Speaker 1:I want to say the whole. I love how we have to make a name for it, like I appreciate that you've got love bombing, but I'm like no one would have knew what love bombing was 50 years ago. No not at all. All of a sudden we've got this love bombing and that under love bombing it's you know he's texting, someone's texting too much or always checking in on you.
Speaker 4:And it's just I find that crazy that we're in this world now where that happens, and I think that's around actually trying to communicate it with people.
Speaker 1:Yes, of course, absolutely. I know why you're doing it for and I think it works.
Speaker 3:This is the age-old discussion. If you go back 20 years ago, before cell phones were invented, the way you communicated with your partner was completely different to what you're doing now. So if you wanted to speak to them let's just say you weren't living together you either organized a date you would go to their house or you would use the home phone.
Speaker 1:The home phone.
Speaker 3:The home phone. For those of you who don't know, that was the thing that was on the wall, yeah, on the wall.
Speaker 1:Actually, my grandmother had one on her bed and it had a special handle that lifted up and you and you had to use your finger.
Speaker 3:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, those are great. I do remember that. But, like so, communication was very different. It was intentional, number one. But yeah, you weren't just willy-nilly going. I'm going to go, and you know. Text call so seeing these kind of signs were a lot different, you know Whereas today, obviously with the cell phone, like you can send a text message every five minutes if you want to.
Speaker 3:In fact, every way they're going. Nowadays, you literally can pre-plan your text message and say send this on this time and make sure it says x, y and z. Yeah, so we live in a very different generation, where it was 20 years ago.
Speaker 3:So these terms that you're saying, or just the way that people do relationships, have been completely different yeah um, and and I think that's why I say what I was saying earlier about people need to be very careful of labeling these terms according to their own situation because, for instance, I hear someone say he doesn't pick up his washing.
Speaker 2:That's a red flag no that's not a red flag, that's just lazy, yeah that's not a red flag.
Speaker 3:That's just just lazy. That's not a red flag, that's just lazy, and that's something that he needs to work on, and maybe he had a mom that did it for him and he never learned how to do that, for instance, you know, or hey, um, he has really bad BO. That's not a red flag. There could be, there could be a, and maybe he is not aware of it.
Speaker 4:Yeah, that's not a red flag for an abusive relationship. Exactly, that's like maybe a personal hygiene issue.
Speaker 3:That's why I say, like people need to be really careful of what they label as toxic and red flags, because it's just very easy to throw these terms around. Yeah.
Speaker 4:Well, and do you know what? Because we can go down the whole rabbit hole of social media and the messaging that's coming out in social media.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 4:And that's wrong. Okay, I'm just. I realise I'm about to divert the conversation, but I saw something this morning which was the ultimate fake news. It was a reel on Instagram, Like I was lying there for the morning and I was scrolling on Instagram and reeling as you do, we all do it.
Speaker 3:It's okay? No, no, we don't Don't all. We, as you do, we all do it. It's okay? No, no, we don't Don't all we all don't, yeah?
Speaker 4:So anyway, the Real was about Gene Hackman, because you know he died recently with his wife.
Speaker 3:Yeah him as well.
Speaker 4:And so you know. They've come out now and they've said that his wife had some sort of virus and that she had died in the bathroom and that he had lived for another week or so. He had really bad dementia.
Speaker 4:Dementia yes, yes, and that he had died a week later and there was a dog that was in a crate that couldn't get out, so it died from starvation, essentially, and the other two dogs were okay. So on this reel this morning it said that Gene Hackman died, that he had a heart attack and that his wife tried to revive him and that she went and she died. In the bathroom there were pills all around her and so it looked like she might have tried to kill herself, and that one dog was locked in the cupboard.
Speaker 4:And I was like that's totally wrong.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like it's actually.
Speaker 4:This is not how it this is actually and I was like you know what? That's why people get all these crazy fake messaging, because people are putting information out there that's just wrong. So you talk about oh, what's toxic. You know, like all these, there's so many different messages that people kind of jump on those bandwagon. Oh, that must be toxic, because I saw it on social media without actually really being educated from a good source around what that is.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think that's the thing is because we've created a society that has allowed varying opinions and everyone has their say. It's now gone to a point when people are taking these opinions as factual yes, and that's not true. No, that's right.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Back in the day it used to be like unless you got it from Encyclopedia Britannica, like that was gospel.
Speaker 4:That was correct. Okay, I'm going to sound really old, but when I was growing up, dad used to take me and my siblings to Charlestown Library and we used to go to do our homework, to go look up the encyclopedias, because we couldn't afford a set ourselves.
Speaker 1:So we'd have to just really go. My mum and dad had bought a whole set. I don't think we were rich.
Speaker 3:Do you remember you used to get those CD sets that were encyclopedia Britannica that came out where you could, a digital version?
Speaker 3:It was a digital version and everyone would go like when they had their. I still remember doing this. I am a victim or I am a culprit, should I say, of this is when it came to we had to do like an essay on the Egyptians or whatever. I would just go and type Egyptians on my little cycle pen and I would come up with the whole thing and I would just copy paste it and just change because the teachers weren't up to date with it at that stage.
Speaker 3:But it was so funny, but that's what I'm saying. Like, back in the day, information was a lot more like centralized yeah, so it wasn't like varied to people's opinions, like that was left to maybe the newspapers, yeah, or academics, or academics yes, very true. Whereas now everyone has their say and everyone has opinion, and TikTok and Instagram, and everyone is like well, if your partner does this, then it's a red flag, or if your partner does this, you're in a toxic relationship. No, that's your opinion, that's not fact, and I was actually saying this to someone the other day. They asked a question and I said to them they said, oh, why did you do X? And I said well, because that's your truth.
Speaker 3:It doesn't make it the truth and that's what I think people need to understand is just because something maybe feels true to you doesn't mean that that is the truth, that every because there's always going to be two, three, four sides to something.
Speaker 4:Absolutely.
Speaker 3:And if you're not gathering all your facts and putting all the relevant information down and you're just saying it from your perspective. That's not the truth. That's your truth.
Speaker 3:And I think that's what people need to understand when it comes to these kind of terminologies or these kind of circumstances, is be careful to take someone's opinion and then go well, that must be fact, Unless you say it's come from an accredited source, academic source, where you can go and say there's been this much research, this much study, this much effort has been put into it. I feel like you need to be very people need to be very careful and mindful of that.
Speaker 4:Absolutely.
Speaker 3:You know. And so, just coming back, maybe, to the organization itself, how do we, how does someone who is going through this get involved? Or come to Got your Back System and say, hey, I know someone or I've got someone. What would their steps in order to seek assistance be?
Speaker 4:They literally just need to make a phone call. Yeah, well okay, just make a phone call and wonderful Susan on our front desk will answer the call and then connect them to a caseworker.
Speaker 3:Wonderful Susan. Yeah, she's Susan. Yep, she's amazing yeah.
Speaker 4:So it's you know what? It's so easy Just give us a call.
Speaker 1:But I think you've got to be able to take that first step as well.
Speaker 4:Absolutely. And do you know what? It's a big thing. It's a big thing for many a woman to actually make that phone call.
Speaker 1:And do you find you mentioned before, you find you mentioned before that a?
Speaker 4:friend or a family member might call. Do you find that that happens quite a lot? Absolutely, absolutely, because for friends and family colleagues that are seeing it, they feel so helpless and it's sadly, you know, really there's not much. No, this sounds terrible. They can't force that woman to leave.
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 4:They can provide support. And we say to people you cannot force her to leave, you cannot push her out the door. You can offer support and let her know that you're there for her and call us for advice. Absolutely, come and have a chat with one of our caseworkers, that's totally fine, but we say that a woman is an expert in her own life and so she needs to leave when she's ready and she feels safe for her to do that, because one of the most dangerous times for a woman is when she's leaving one two, and if she's pregnant, interestingly.
Speaker 3:It's probably the most vulnerable they'll ever be.
Speaker 4:Yeah, did you ever watch the Pammy documentary on Netflix? Pamela Randerson documentary.
Speaker 3:No.
Speaker 4:Okay, that is a really interesting documentary she talks about. That's when Tommy Lee got abusive with her. That's when she was pregnant with the first baby, because he was so incredibly jealous. All of a sudden, her intention wasn't on him, on him. It was on this baby, and that's when the abuse started for her.
Speaker 3:I've actually just finished watching the Gabby Petito documentary. Oh, I haven't seen that. Yeah, it was really interesting. But just hearing you say that now that was one of the key things that he would say to her is when she would hang out with someone else and he would be like, oh, when are you coming home? You know, every time she took her focus off to do something else, he would try and draw it back to him.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And eventually it wasn't working, and so he started to then get abusive and Because he can't control the situation.
Speaker 4:He's deeply insecure and he can't control it, so yeah, yeah, that Gabby Petito documentary was mind-blowing, honestly. Okay, I need to watch it now.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it was amazing Because we all heard the story when it was breaking here. But you actually hear from they have eyewitness accounts there. They have friends that grew up because they knew each other. They were at school together.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 3:The two of them, and apparently he was a bit of a weird cat at school and he was older than her.
Speaker 1:So, anyway, that's a whole nother thing.
Speaker 3:But yeah, just hearing you say that made me tick on that. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Do you think that with education and you mentioned, I think you said you do it sometimes, but I think it needs to start from a young, from like early on, like the high school training that you were talking about. I think that's so important, I think. One for boys to identify god, am I doing this or am I thinking about doing that? And also for girls to know there is a problem here and I shouldn't let this continue on, because I think too many people or too many females and males will just leave it, go and think, oh, it's sort of okay.
Speaker 4:Do not, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 4:Absolutely, and you think about teenagers, you know there's a lot of emotions going on when you're going through that phase of life and they're still figuring out the world, what's right, what's wrong, what relationships look like. So I agree, and so the Love Bites program is a program that's run in schools. People can get trained up in that. We have a number of staff that are trained in Love Bites and there's other people in our local community and, you know, throughout Australia that are trained in that, that go and deliver that in high schools For students that are around year 9 and 10 or 11.
Speaker 4:And the great thing about Love Bites is that it actually talks about all those red flags things for them to look out for what's acceptable and actually what's not acceptable for them, and it quite often also relates to relationships with friends.
Speaker 4:So, we say you know what, if you're with a partner and they are demanding to know your passwords and your logins for your social media or your phone, we go no, you do not have to give that, you know, do not feel pressured to do that. And that can happen within friendship circles as well, not just in a romantic relationship. And so you know, we have conversations with students around that, going it's okay for you to not do that, and actually a person shouldn't insist that they have access to every part of your life you know, so it's really valuable and it's interesting Probably.
Speaker 4:I know I went and gave a course, talked to year seven and eight students and they probably weren't quite at the age. It was a little bit like herding cattle as opposed to like crowd control you know what I mean, but just weren't mature enough to be having those conversations as yet, and I know in primary schools there are a number of programs around teaching about what friendship looks like.
Speaker 1:What's a?
Speaker 4:good friend. So you know that's a really great start yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I definitely think it needs to be more hyper-focused in that sort of year nine, year ten area where people are developing and working out what a relationship really is and where should we be going from here and what's right and what's wrong. Yeah, and you know, sex is a big thing.
Speaker 4:You know getting pressured to have sex. Are you ready to have sex? Yes, consent, that's another really big issue that more and more that the facilitators and lovebites are talking about and schools have actually reached out to Got your Back, sister and other organisations to go. We need you to come and have a talk about consent because we're confused, the kids are confused and there's been some pretty awful situations where there's been confusion around consent and then a boy has been blamed, targeted and he's going what I thought she gave consent.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean. It wasn't clear.
Speaker 4:It wasn't clear and he thought he was doing the right thing. She's going. No, he wasn't. You know, it's difficult.
Speaker 1:It's just a minefield, really, isn't it? It really is Really a minefield.
Speaker 4:Yeah, but it's really important, the education around that's really important.
Speaker 3:I mean, the major issue here is just you know, kids are getting into relationships way before, way too early. They're not emotionally mature enough, they're not educated enough. Um and second. And then also the no 13 or 14 year old kid is ever going to go. This is the person I'm going to marry. What is the point in being in a relationship at that age? Yeah, that's right, you know, like 13 and 14, enjoy your life, like play sport, enjoy your time with friends, go watch movies, like why is it that you would go and just do something so silly? And I feel like society has created this almost like you're not fully secure or cool or a whole person, unless you're in a relationship with someone.
Speaker 4:But you know what? We see it on TV, right?
Speaker 1:You see Home and Away and all that. And they're all young. Everyone's got a boyfriend and girlfriend.
Speaker 1:It's cool, but I think that's also very similar, shane, to when you get a little bit older and you want to have two children, a dog and the picket white fence out the front. It's the same. There's lots of older people that want to do the same thing, but it's not necessarily going to be the case, or it's where the Instagram photo where everyone's got a photo of their toes overlooking amazing pool. That's not real life, is it? It's not real life.
Speaker 3:I mean, that's what social media does. It creates a false image of what things are. You look at these pictures of these couples that are all loved up and you don't actually see the background behind that. You don't see that that's one moment in maybe 27 moments, absolutely. You know, we always think that you know the so-and-so like, for instance when I so I've gone off social media, my wife and I just out of just so that I can clarify the story is we've been off social media now for eight weeks eight nine weeks now and it's it just it.
Speaker 3:The comparison thing that you're always comparing like so-and-so, is always happy or not, that we were not happy. It's just that you know, you go through a moment and no couple is perfect where maybe you disagree, you disagree on something, and you go on social media and you see these, these couples that are happy, and you go well, yeah, look, they're happy. Yeah, and it creates a false image. And it creates a false image. But the reason I say this is because there's a particular Instagram page that we both used to follow and they were called the McGee family and they were known as the Bucket List family and they're an incredible family of a husband and wife and I think they've got three kids. All they do is travel the world, go to the most amazing places and stay and do like little clips about their trips and things like that. I mean kudos to them. What a beautiful life. No other couple in the world is going to be doing that.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:But it creates this false image of it. And they're always happy, you know, and you never see what's behind the scenes. They go to these like beautiful places and they have all these amazing experiences and they might be so happy, but they're not perfect and no one is perfect and those are the kind of things that you always like. I don't think I've ever seen them post a social post.
Speaker 1:That has been a negative post, no they would never, because that's not part of their business.
Speaker 3:But no one's going to pay them for that?
Speaker 1:No, that's right, that's not part of the business.
Speaker 4:And do you know what? It's interesting? I'm guilty of that because a few years ago, I think, I did a post. I was like having a rough day or something, and I did a post like going oh yeah, something about having a rough day or whatever. Oh my God, the number of people that reached out that were like are you okay? And I was like, yeah, it's okay, I just had a bad day, because that's not the normal meal that they know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4:And then I remember there was another um, another day I posted I was like oh, so I said something about you know, maybe going on a diet, trying to lose weight or doing keto or something. The number of messages I got from people going oh I do isogenics, do you want to buy some isogenics from me? I'm like, no, I don't want to buy Unbelievable, I don't want to buy. Isagenix.
Speaker 3:Unbelievable.
Speaker 4:So I must admit I'm guilty of the censoring because I'm like I can't stand the bingo button.
Speaker 1:So when I was doing some research on Got your Back, sister, you guys have done a short film as well. That was filmed in Newcastle.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh, my goodness, that was a crazy ride. So back in I guess it was about 2020, I saw that the city of Newcastle had a grant round for arts and culture grants of $15,000. And I was like hells, yeah, we should totally do that. We'll do a short film. Anyway, we were successful. And so when we got the call to say that we'd been successful, I was like, oh, dear Lord, now we've got to do a short film and that was a whole thing because I didn't even know where to start, right.
Speaker 4:But I ended up reaching out to a friend of mine, annette Hubber, who used to be the CEO of Screen Hunter, and she said to me, you need to write, write the draft. And I'm like, really, and she's like you need to write it. And she goes I'm going to connect you with a director, ian Hamilton of Limelight Productions. So I wrote the script, I went and met with Ian and gave him the script and he said you've written a feature film. Oh really, not a short film, but anyway, you had to pull it back from him. Yeah, pull it back, pull it back.
Speaker 1:But we Pull it back from there. Yeah, pull it back, pull it back. We've only got 11 minutes, mel. Only 11 minutes, not two hours. Yeah.
Speaker 4:But anyway, it was a really interesting experience to create a short film and, you know, do casting get people to be actors in there? Work with Ian, who's an amazing director, and his producer, the cinematographer Carl Brandstater, and even though they command a lot more than $15,000, a lot, lot, lot, lot, lot more they were so kind to me and to us and they really helped us do it on a shoestring, yeah, but we created this wonderful short film that we launched at the Civic Theatre.
Speaker 4:Yes, oh, wow yeah back after the COVID's finished, I think at the end of 20, at the beginning of 2022. But you know what it's funny? I don't think about it a lot because I'm always like what's the next thing, but just talking about it now, I was actually really proud of that because it was such a project.
Speaker 1:Yeah, wow, you should be be, yeah, absolutely very proud.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it's amazing. Um, what's next for got your back, sister? Oh my goodness. So we're always working on our next community campaign, uh, which for us will be I run for her in october. If anybody's interested, contact us, reach out. It's such a wonderful event. It gets people on the streets. On one day wearing their, wearing our I say no to domestic violence shirts, we do a big community barbecue. We get thousands of people that take part in that. So that's coming up. And do you know what we are? You know, looking to further grow our team because we are getting more and more women reaching out to us needing help.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it's. Unfortunately, you know, domestic violence is still an issue and the more that we educate community which is really important to do it also means that you know we say to women reach out to us and ask for help and we'll be there for you.
Speaker 1:So yeah, it's something that we just keep on doing keep on, keeping on, and it's also Domestic Violence Month in May. In May, absolutely, actually, you know it's really exciting.
Speaker 4:So did you what doestic Violence Month in May, in May, absolutely, Actually, you know what's really exciting, what do you have on in May Wow? Did you see on the Australian Open last year when Anna Sabalenka won?
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 4:And did you see how she signed the towel and gave it to Jelena Dokic? Yes, we've got that towel.
Speaker 1:Stop it, oh, get out.
Speaker 4:Got your back, sister. I've got that towel. Stop it, I'll get out Got your back, sister, I've got that towel Yelena gave it to us.
Speaker 1:What? Yes, so we're raffling it. Oh, raffle.
Speaker 4:We're going to do a nationwide raffle for that towel. We're going to auction it. And then we thought, no, do you know what? We'll do a raffle because we're going to have the raffle tickets for $20 each. It's more accessible for people, more of an opportunity to do that.
Speaker 3:I love that, because an auction is for the elite, only the people who have enough money are going to win that, whereas a raffle, anyone can win it. Anybody can win it. I love that. That is amazing.
Speaker 4:So we're launching that towards the end of April and we are drawing the winning raffle ticket on the 31st of May.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, so only a small amount of people entries.
Speaker 4:Well.
Speaker 1:Well, there's no heaps of entries, but a small amount of time, yeah.
Speaker 4:So it'll be about six weeks for people to get there.
Speaker 1:Talk into your microphone, please, gotcha.
Speaker 4:For people to get their tickets.
Speaker 1:We'll definitely put our links. Send me those links when they come and we'll put those links on our website Actually we're going to do a screening on the 1st of May of Yelena's documentary over at Event Cinema.
Speaker 4:So yeah, I'll let you know about it.
Speaker 3:We'd love people to come. Yeah, yeah, I thought you wanted actors. I was like I mean, yeah, it's just your South African voice. I'm like I'm there, love it. No, mel. Thank you so much, obviously, for your time today. Organization is just incredible. It's something we're very passionate about here. Say no to domestic violence. We're all for it for sure.
Speaker 4:Thank you so much.
Speaker 3:It's been a joy, so thank you Thank you for sharing it and if there's anything obviously in the future that we can partner with you, please, we would love to.
Speaker 4:Famous last words.
Speaker 1:We love a good run here at our Light On podcast. We've run a good run.
Speaker 3:Love Light on podcast. We've run a good line, love it. We love signing checks that are asses-concerned. No, thank you so much, obviously, for being here and for appreciating for your time, boydie thank you as well.
Speaker 1:Thank you, Shane.
Speaker 3:Very good, always a pleasure. And last words, mel, leave us with some key advice that you would love someone to hear.
Speaker 4:Do you know what Our purpose in life? Everybody talks about purpose, but actually our purpose in life is to live our best, most joyful life, and if you're not living that way and if you're experiencing abuse, you know there's people there that can help and support you, including Got your Back, Sister.
Speaker 2:Just make the call.
Speaker 4:Come and meet with us, because we are there to help you and to navigate that whole system and we want you to be living a joyful life.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's it, reach out Love it. Reach out and touch up. That is beautiful advice. Yes, thanks, mel. Fulfilling life yes absolutely Anyone who needs any information when it comes to Got your Back. We'll have it on our website under the resources tab. Go have a look. Reach out, find someone. Go get some help. Reach out, find someone go get some help.
Speaker 4:Thank you, mel again. Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 3:Thank you, leave a lot on podcast.
Speaker 2:Hey, thanks for listening. We hope you've managed to gain some insight from today's episode. Jump onto our socials and reach out, and until next time, wherever you are, let's leave a light on.