SHIT HAPPY with Toni Powell
The Art Of Stirring Shit Shows Into Gold. AKA Shitstirring
Real stories of pain, grief and the full catastrophe of being human and how our guests turned their shitshow into something useful.
Shit Happy™️ – a new word meaning 'stirring shitshows into gold.' And a podcast that proves it's possible.
Each week guests share true stories along with the hard-won wisdom that got them through it.
Topics include mental health, grief, fear, relationships, addiction, creativity, spirituality, identity, forgiveness and finding purpose when life falls apart.
Hosted by Toni Powell — author, speaker and recovering misery addict turned happiness hacker whose storytelling and science-backed tools have helped millions shift their mindset and find joy, even in disaster.
Episodes drop Tuesdays.
If you want a wellbeing podcast that's down-to-earth, honest and full of real-life resilience (with a few laughs), this is it.
Episodes
116 episodes
The People Pleasing Trap: Why Being 'Good' Is Making You Miserable | Declan Edwards | Ep 112
Declan Edwards was trapped in the people pleasing cycle, bending out of shape to get external approval until a breaking point. Today, as a happiness researcher, happiness is framed not as forced smiles or toxic positivity but as radical ownersh...
The Doctor Said 'Life In A Wheelchair.' I Chose Gold Instead | Carol Cooke | Ep 111 (Vault)
Carol Cooke was told she didn't have the body to be a gymnast. Then, at the peak of her life, she was told her body was effectively shutting down due to Multiple Sclerosis. Most people would accept the diagnosis and the wheelchair. Carol decide...
Homeless, Ready To End It All When A Family Took Me In with Matt Runnalls ep 110
Matt Runnalls was bouncing from gutter to gutter, isolated and convinced he was a burden. At 26, diagnosed with bipolar disorder and living on the streets, he was 10 minutes away from ending it all. Then, a stranger offered him a garage....
18 Months With A Dying Stranger Taught Me How To Truly Live | Paul Mcdermott | Ep 109 (Vault)
Paul McDermott joins the Sh!t Happy Podcast to share his journey from a high-pressure career to providing hospice care. After a near-death experience left him rethinking everything, he met Val, a woman given only four weeks to live. Their eight...
The 24-Hour Experiment That Changed Thousands of Lives - Including Mine | Kristi Street | Ep 108
In this episode, we dive into the chaotic, brilliant origins of 'The Shootout,' a 24-hour film festival that turned amateur storytellers into filmmakers overnight. Founder Kristi Street joins us to share how a simple, high-pressure constraint p...
My Impossible Bass Strait Swim: 30 Dolphins & A Cancer Battle | Tammy Van Wisse | Ep 107 (vault)
Marathon swimmer Tammy Van Wisse took on the Bass Strait, a treacherous 96-kilometer stretch of ocean. She faced hypothermia, severe weather, and jellyfish stings, but it was an unexpected encounter with a pod of dolphins that changed everythin...
I Photographed Their Last Moment Of Innocence | Victor Simone | Ep 106
Victor Simone left for work on an ordinary Friday morning. His wife Liz took their two daughters to school, met friends for coffee, and never came home. A freak car accident changed everything in seconds....
She needed a Village So She Built One | Stephanie Trethewey | Ep 105
The transition from city life to the isolated reality of the land can feel like being stripped of your village overnight. This is the raw, unflinching look at what happens when the support network you took for granted simply vanishes, leaving y...
Shot In The Face, Survived. Then Everything Got Worse | Cameron McKay | Ep 104
Cam was a special ops officer in the middle of the Ferguson protests when a bullet tore through his face. Most people would call it over, but for Cam, the fight was just getting started. This isn't just about the shooting; it's abou...
He Pulled A Truck With His Bare Hands | Vanessa Gorman | Ep 103
Vanessa Gorman has spent decades producing some of the most intimate, life-changing television ever made. She's sat across from a towering former police officer who hauled semi-trailers and carried a secret that nearly ended him. She's watched ...
They Said "You Need A Psych Ward" I Laughed. | Julie Goodwin | Ep 102
Winning MasterChef was meant to be the start of a dream life, but instead, it became the precursor to a quiet, devastating undoing. Julie Goodwin, the show’s first-ever winner, takes us behind the curtain of reality TV fame to share the raw, un...
The Trip She Took With Her Dead Daughter | Becky Livingston | Ep 101
Becky Livingston didn't just survive the loss of her daughter Rachel, she took her on one last trip. For 26 months, Becky traveled the globe with Rachel’s ashes in her suitcase, scattering them in the places Rachel had always dreame...
They Both Died. I Cannot Believe This Is Now My Life | Becky Livingston | Ep 100
Becky Livingston's world imploded twice. First, her partner Bob was diagnosed with aggressive brain cancer and died six months later. Then, 18 months after that, her daughter Rachel's brain tumour returned. Most people would have stayed on the ...
RERUN: Guests Share Their Favourite Books
#ShitHappyPodcast, #InspiringPodcast, #PodcastInterview Shownotes: Guests Share Their Favourite Books - rerun of ep 62 Books can shape lives, shift perspectives, and sometimes even spark laughter in the bedroom. I...
RERUN: Guests Share About Romance
#ShitHappyPodcast, #InspiringPodcast, #PodcastInterview Shownotes: Guests Share About Romance - rerun of ep 66 From handwritten Italian love notes to a surprise donkey with a red bow, this holiday special brim...
RERUN: Guests Share Childhood Dreams & Also Kindness
#ShitHappyPodcast, #InspiringPodcast, #PodcastInterview *note this rerun episode has two smaller episodes together. One on Childhood dreams and one on Kindness. Sep shownotes for both below: Shownotes: Guests S...
RERUN: Guests Share Real Life Miracles
#ShitHappyPodcast, #InspiringPodcast, #PodcastInterview Shownotes: Guests Share Real Life Miracles - Rerun of Ep 65 Need some holiday magic? This special Sh!t Happy episode gathers extraordinary true “miracle”...
RERUN: Guest Share Their Love Stories
#ShitHappyPodcast, #InspiringPodcast, #PodcastInterview Shownotes: Guests Share How They First Met Their Love - Holiday Special ep 63Love at first sight, illegal visas, meditation dreams, and a tango that tur...
From Lord's Daughter to Life On The Streets with Angela Williams ep 99
#ShitHappyPodcast, #InspiringPodcast, #PodcastInterviewShownotes:What happens when the struggle you inherit is privilege, not poverty? In this powerful episode, Angela Williams shares how wealth, social barriers, addiction in marr...
My Person Died. What Now? with Marie Alessi ep 98
#ShitHappyPodcast, #InspiringPodcast, #PodcastInterviewShownotes:What if grief did not have to mean a life built around pain? In this deeply moving episode, Marie Alessi shares how the sudden death of her husband changed everythin...
Firing Up After The Fire with Gabrielle Powell ep 97
#ShitHappyPodcast, #InspiringPodcast, #PodcastInterviewShownotes: When the devastating 2019–2020 Australian bushfires tore through the small town of Cobargo, potter Gaye Powell and her partner Dan faced a terrifying fi...
A Near Death Experience (Or Two) with Dr Margot McKinnon ep 96
#ShitHappyPodcast, #InspiringPodcast, #PodcastInterviewSHOWNOTESDescription In this powerful continuation with Dr Margot McKinnon, we explore near death experiences, unconditional love, and how reconnecting with ...
Your Blueprint: Remembering Who You Are with Dr Margo McKinnon ep 95
#ShitHappyPodcast, #InspiringPodcast, #PodcastInterviewShownotes:Description Dr Margot McKinnon shares how an acrimonious divorce and “pit of despair” became the turning point that pulled her back to herself. We ...
How My Mother's Suicide Changed My Life Forever with Alice Hanna ep 94
#ShitHappyPodcast, #InspiringPodcast, #PodcastInterviewShownotes Grief doesn’t always arrive as tears. Sometimes it shows up as “do mode”, shock, and a nervous system that never quite believes life is safe again. Alice Hanna ...
5 Minutes To Improve Your LIfe in 16 Ways with Toni Powell ep 93
#ShitHappyPodcast, #InspiringPodcast, #PodcastInterviewSHOWNOTES: 5 Minutes To Improve Your LIfe in 16 Ways with Toni Powell ep 93This episode introduces a simple, science-backed practice that takes just minutes a day ...
