Paul Hansen is a confident, well educated and strong professional, who has built a successful career for herself in organisational development and leadership. This has been both as a senior manager in major mining companies and as an independent consultant in the sector.

So it came as a shock, when once a ‘new’ manager of her team adopted an adversarial approach that featured a high level of personal bullying and unsupportive team behavour. The explicit negative actions and the implied undermining of individuals in the team … including Paul … saw a number of them leave within a 3 month period. Paul was the second to leave the team, and this was at a time that coincided with the start of the infamous GFC in October 2008.

Tara Ulrich went on a years travel following high school. This gave her a chance to reflect on the career expectations she had to be an Auslan interpreter … and those encouraged by close friends and family. Whilst this expected career direction was something she new well, was emotionally close to and was something she could easily do … she had doubts. Did she really want to do this.

On her return to Perth, an opportunity to enter the corporate world appeared … she took a leap of faith, and ultimately has found a place to professionally thrive.

This was quite different to her previously “expected” career.

Stefan West is a solo artist from Melbourne Australia. Pulling from his own life experiences he uses music as a canvas to paint the experiences of his own life. His previous project, The Velvet Addiction, saw many successes with the likes of national airplay on Triple M, Rebel Fm and MTV.

During his visit to Max’s Island, Stefan continues to openly share his past experiences with drug addition, mental health and friends lost to suicide. He uses this opportunity to weave a story of how his realisation of the past and the personal reconciliation of his actions can be shared through his music.

Stefan has just left the studio finishing his debut album “Cambridge”, with the first single “Take what you need” to be released on September 1st, 2023.

Shaun Williams was well entrenched and purposefully building on the foundations he had already laid in his corporate life.

Then, following a chat with a friend at a party, he became aware of a “nature quest on Noongar Boodja”, run by Claire Vanderplank from Partnering with Nature. He researched, prepared and finally made the decision to do it.

So, not long after the suggestion was made to him, Shaun found himself travelling to country Western Australia early one morning - after attending a “bucks night” - to test himself over 8 days - 4 of them in solitude - and experience some something that was approaching spiritual enlightenment.

James Hoare was born with a brain injury called hydrocephalus and had 4 brain surgeries before he was 7 years old. However, that didn’t hold back his inherent competitive nature to try challenging and exciting past times during his life.

He started mountain climbing in 2011 with Mt Kosciusko then Mt Kilimanjaro in 2013. After Mt Kosciusko he created the goal of being the first person with hydrocephalus to ever climb the 7 summits - the tallest mountain on every continent.

Clare Allen has been a successful C-Suite executive for many years. Her intensity to performing at the highest CEO level comes from self-confessed personality traits … but also has been complimented by strong philosophies toward life and work balance.

The heavy spiritual influence in her life was highly influential when she chose to re-assess her approach to work following a series of serious, related health challenges.

This experience steered her toward writing books on how to balance the human spiritual and belief system with the physical demands of leadership and being a CEO.

Dylan Lamb had a recent experience that he finds difficult to explain.

This mentally challenging episode may have been influenced by drugs … it may have been influenced by his state of mind at the time … or it might have been influenced by deep mental health characteristics. No-one really knows.

This event lasted for just over a week, but it saw him become paranoid around his business and social network, take a swim with sharks in a Brisbane river and even discard valuable possessions as a way to protect his identity.

He was supported by family and friends to recover and reset, but a mystery remains around the entire occurrence, as Dylan continues to really understand what happened.

Sally Grandy and her family’s relocation to Perth Western Australia came from a promise of a job, a new opportunity and the thought that “their stars were aligning”. But, it didn’t happen the way it was meant to.

Literally 1 week before leaving the UK … the job offer was withdrawn.

Nonetheless, they still qualified for a visa to travel, so they decided to take the risk and within 3 days of landing in WA … employment was found.

So for a second time it seemed life was actually working out … But yet again, things didn’t pan out the way Sally thought.

Shane Landers is an educator … a leader in his community. He is passionate about leading young people to become educated and to use this to become meaningful contributors in society.

So, when he had the opportunity to be a relief Principal at a remote community in northern Western Australia, he jumped at it. This was the chance for him to push himself, contribute to his education network and most of all, experience the challenge of supporting those who need it the most.

By authentically engaging with this community, Shane was able to add value as an educator, be a friend to many and feel like he was making a difference.

Michala McMahon came to Australia from Manchester on a working holiday …and has stayed. Whilst Manchester is a big cosmopolitan city, it cannot compete with the weather and unique lifestyle of Australia.

On her initial arrival in Bundaberg QLD, a chance exchange in the street with an engaging couple captivated her attention and was the start of a new life … down-under.

Bec Bowman is someone who is always on an adventure and looking for new challenges. This has seen her travel the world and follow dreams that have created memorable, life enriching experiences.

But for the past few years she has been deeply ensconced in Perth WA, and has become totally immersed in the creative arts scene. By working casual “night shifts” as a nurse - her initial working profession - she can fund this lifestyle and begin to make real social impact in the sector.

These pursuits include being a radio presenter, an organiser, an emcee, a panel facilitator and a writer.

As a 24 year old, Ryan Miller took the opportunity to follow his dream of becoming a TV broadcaster and journalist at Sky News in Sydney.

He immediately hit the ground running and was soon thrust into a management role looking after a news team. As a traditional journalist, he was passionate about reporting the truth but it didn’t take long before editorial direction began to occur from above. This coincided with the ‘on air’ arrival of polarising people like Andrew Bolt and Peta Credlin…things now began to change. When these on air presenters began espousing the conservative views of the network’s “owner” and these views were morally different to Ryan’s, he knew it was time to move.

The dilemma of leaving a position after only 10 months, the potential career consequences of this and the requirement to pay back some relocation costs, made for a difficult time. But a chance referral from a mate to a role in football at the Greater Western Sydney Giants, a sport that had been a large part of his life in WA, was the ideal way to relieve this tension.

Chris Singleton has extensive experience in starting and operating many businesses. This long and successful career has been built on a real inclusive approach, with the adoption of some clear, effective principles.

This is a great episode for budding entrepreneurs and business owners to learn how these principles can be adopted for success … even in challenging times … similar to those faced by Chris after a serious car accident.

Eve continues to tell the story of caring for Rickie’s great aunt, Tatiana, and the challenges that this has posed in their lives.

Recently, as Tatiana approaches 99 years of age, a traumatic visit to an emergency department at a London hospital has again influenced the plans and aspirations of Eve and Rickie. Their dreams of moving to France to live and begin a new stage in their professional careers has again been impacted by their concerns for Tatiana’s health.

So, now they are relocating to Bristol … to be close to the new high care facility Tatiana has moved in to.

Their journey continues.

7 years ago, Eve Lameks and her husband Rickie, moved across the world on an adventure that was to see them based in London, growing their professional careers in the hustle and bustle of the construction industry and enjoying the convenience of taking frequent holiday jaunts to continental Europe. They were really planning to “live the life”.

Soon after their arrival in London they were excited to visit Rickie’s great Aunt … someone who they didn’t know but were keen to meet. Tatiana at the time was 91 years old.

Stuart Thomason left uni and jumped straight into being a social entrepreneur in the music business. The first few years were very successful, with the Sheffield based (UK) business employing a growing team and engaging with a wide range of contractors.

But cashflow pressures and, in his words, the inevitable, desperate measures of throwing good money after bad forced him to close the business.

The manic activity and personal pressures of that final year in business, trying to keep things afloat, released a psychosis that saw Stuart move into a mental facility for recovery.

After a year of reflection, personal recovery and a focus to clear all outstanding personal financial debt, Stuart emerged to begin a new a career in the Not For Profit sector, coaching and mentoring upcoming social entrepreneurs.

Clare Goodridge spent two years locked-down in Perth WA during the pandemic whilst still coaching, teaching and consulting with individuals and corporations all around the world. This lonely life in the most isolated city in the southern hemisphere, generally meant all night work and sleeping during the day. There was little social life and she went weeks on end without "‘touching’ another human.

Once the restrictions were lifted, she jumped at the opportunity to re-engage both professionally and personally with those people she had been working with in the virtual world. Using a network of Airbnb co-working facilities in major cities in the world, Clare has continued to build her digital business in some of these most exotic and fascinating cities. And this includes a period of time in Marrakesh.

This episode is titled, “For a short time” – and we reflect on two stories from 2022 where a person entered the lives of each of our guests for just a short period yet made a momentous impact.

Every year on Max’s Island, we like to begin the year by reflecting on some of our interesting guests from 2022 and combine their stories into a mixed episode that has added meaning. These extended episodes are a great way for you to allow yourself the time to refresh your energy for the new year and be inspired by the experiences of others.

In this first episode of two in the 2023 Starter Series, you’ll hear the stories from 3 strong women of our world … all who have had significant moments that have shaped the rest of their lives. They all had common desires to seek a meaningful life and career … and interestingly each of them have a story that has some closely related themes and experiences.

in economics. It has taken him to the policy and financial capitals of the world … including Canberra, London, New York and Sydney.

In Canberra, he had a front row seat to the significant developments of the Australian financial markets in the 1980’s … especially during his time working with the then Australian Govt Treasurer, Paul Keating.

He eventually left the safe confines of the Canberra bubble to begin a long career in the competitive field of bonds and funds management in Sydney and then overseas.

His career was not without its challenges but Stephen always managed to stay loyal to his employer, clients and most importantly his work colleagues … especially when times were tough.

This is a story of resilience and trust … with a dose of good humour and common sense.