114: Santa Goes Way Beyond the Red Suit by Santa Rod Hyatt

Today is a unique conversation with the icon, the magical, the infamous…Santa Claus!  Creating magic for children for the past 34yrs as a “professional Santa”, he has been employed by the iconic Myer Brand in Australia for 30yrs to tote his white beard and nurturing spirit upon all children who grace his lap!

But who is the man underneath the suit?

Rod Hyatt, at age 74, has been a passionate philanthropist for more than 10 years after he finished teaching English and become the Chairman of Habit for Humanity.  He is committed to addressing the plight of people who do not sleep securely at night.

He has gone on to continue his work in a more focussed way under the banner of Hope ReBuilders and I cannot wait to hear more about the ongoing work he is doing…especially during this past Covid year.

The Goods on Santa Rod:

Professional Santa for 34 years and with the Myer Centre for 30 years, with a small stint in Japan in 1998 when I was on TV and played Santa in the Japanese production of Enid Blyton's " Naughtiest School Girl"

Now, back to the man underneath the cloth…

I have a wealth of experience & knowledge across many of fields, after 74 trips around the sun. 12 years ago it was time to give back and get involved in addressing the plight of people who do not sleep securely at night. Habitat For Humanity had been a favourite NFP Organisation since the Northridge Earthquake in Los Angeles 17 January 1994. Retirement from the Education sector allowed time to become more supportive where I became involved in starting up the Brisbane Chapter, served as Chairman of the Queensland affiliate and then stepped into a management role after the 2011 South East Queensland floods.

May 2013 - Having spent 2 years as Development Manager for Habitat For Humanity Brisbane, I spread my wings and moved into a role where I can be of service to a wider community of people needing safe secure housing. My passion has not changed. In fact it has deepened to a point where I believe the current Habitat model is not effective in fully addressing the problem. We need to get back to a more "grassroots" approach in line with Millard Fuller's original dream of partnership housing - a place where people are more important than personalities - a place where God's work is not corporatised - a place where we can be more flexible and nimble in helping the vulnerable members of our community.

Septemb

The Podcast's 7th Season
Welcome to In the Game, a podcast where we aim to touch, move and inspire you to what's possible in life. My name is Sarah Maxwell and I am a self-proclaimed relationship engineer. Ever since I was a little girl, I was curious about how people work and how they interact with one another. With a degree in biopsychology representing my country of Canada in beach volleyball. With a degree in biopsychology representing my country of Canada in beach volleyball, retiring from sport into mindset and purpose coaching, I now spend my days running Chatta-box Media, where we aim to story-tell for brands through the medium of podcasting, all while raising an eight-year-old daughter with my partner of 24 years. We are now in season seven of this podcast, featuring a special series on women called who Knew that Was Work aimed at young women who want to broaden their horizon when it comes to career choosing.

Go deeper into the pod and discover incredible stories of changemakers who manifest their dream lives. Gain tangible tools to apply to your own life by scrolling back to that initial season where we were more workbook focused. Have a laugh when we initially were coined the Nat and Sarah show, when my five-time Olympian partner, natalie Cook, and I bantered and had loads of fun interviewing and discovering our common passion individuals who rise to the occasion in life. Okay, now it's time to dive on in to this episode.

Ge...