Charlie Gunningham was a little uncertain about the long term future of his teaching career in the late 1990’s. But, like many changes in life, there was a sequence of events … some unplanned and generally not expected, that eventually catapulted his professional life from teaching to something totally different … the tech world of digital real estate.

This mixture of influential events included completing an MBA, connecting with an American “hedge fund” manager and entrepreneur who had found himself in Perth WA, investing in untried mapping technology … and even being on stage with his wife at a Dame Edna Everage show at the Regal Theatre in Subiaco WA.

And … all of this coming together just as the world wide tech bubble was about to burst.

Estelle Blackburn OAM, is an acclaimed journalist with a career that has included working for WA Newspapers, the ABC and as a media advisor for Carmen Lawrence, Western Australia’s first female State Premier.

However, for this Walkley Award winner, perhaps her greatest achievement has been the impact made on the lives two men, wrongly imprisoned for crimes committed by Eric Edger Cooke, WA’s last man hanged in Fremantle Prison.

A chance meeting with the brother of John Button, one of these falsely convicted men, sent Estelle on the passionate pursuit for truth and the quest to right the wrongs of these injustices. And this included giving up her full time job and selling an investment house to fund this journey.

Pat O’Donnell is a couple of years through her graduate degree at Notre Dame University in Fremantle WA. Like many new university students, she started with an initial subject choice, but also like many, that has now evolved and a double major is likely to result…there’s even talk of an Honours year and additional studies.

This current journey and the planned outcomes sound typical of any new student embarking on a tertiary education…It’s just that Pat began this journey at 83 years of age.

Brooke Jones experienced a strong career, which was most recently within the health policy and research sector in WA. With the necessary academic qualifications, she was a knowledgeable policy maker. This allowed her to be involved in the monitoring and implementation of key programs to support those in our society.

However, this career was interrupted with her becoming a mother. As can often be the case after a significant life event, she reassessed her professional outlook during pregnancy, after child birth and through the wonder mothering a new born. Brooke changed her focus and has successfully studied to become a “midwife”

We are all confident in what we believe and know that our life experiences are true to us.

Thanks again to all the regular listeners to Max’s Island for your loyal support.  

Continuing our reflection of recent special moments on Max’s Island … in this episode we’re highlighting another important Value we like follow on the island. 

In this second BONUS episode to start our 2024, we will hear stories from recent guests to the island who truly embrace the value of “Daring to be Human” … you know…being uniquely themselves.

Last year we had visits to teh island from two musicians who have uniquely different lived experiences that have dramatically influenced the way they make music today.

For this years reflection of special moments on Max’s Island we are highlighting the important Values we follow on the island.

So … to begin with this year … we’ll feature some stories from last year, where visitors to Max’s Island truly reflected one of these values.

In this BONUS episode we will hear stories that embrace the value “Believe in Everyone” … we know the world is full of individual personalities who add to the richness of our relationships and connection.

David Maddocks recently travelled to New York with many “diehards” to see the final Kiss concert at Madison Square Gardens… all dressed in their favourite black Kiss t-shirts.

This was Kiss concert number 69 for David and it delivered exactly what he expected…lot’s of pyrotechnics … lots of familiarity and as usual … and finished with “Rock’n’Roll all night”.

The Kiss army was out in force at the concert in NYC …and they were joined on-line from all around the world as a pay for view event. Kiss, always looking to make money!

AND, the show finished with a teaser for the future … it looks like Kiss will live on !!!!

Laura has 4 children who have never been to school, that is, in the formal sense of learning. But this does not mean they haven’t experienced an education process that has prepared them for life and their future endeavours.

Initially through specific circumstances and then from a deliberate desire and a belief in her eyes to give her children the best opportunities to learn, Laura has chosen to home school them all. She in fact does not call it home schooling, but refers to them as a ‘home educating family”, with the ‘holy grail’ of achievement is her children being able to read.

Laura and the children have also managed a number of neuro diverse conditions that have added to the complexity of their journey.

After suffering from a work related head trauma, Mark Ewing developed an acquired brain injury that needed to be managed as he attempted to return to work. But this was challenging when colleagues kept saying “you look fine to me” … and his manager even said “if you don’t recover, you will be dismissed”.

It took the astute recognition from his GP, of his real condition, for things to change … finally someone who took interest in his post traumatic growth recovery. And then, a considered referral to a psychologist who knew what was possibly happening to his brain, unlocked the inspiration for taking positive action.

The link to art, as a way for Mark to demonstrate his emotional position and feelings, provided the inspiration to follow a path toward recovery. Initially, this art reflected how Mark associated these emotions exclusively through colours and positioning them together.

Rutchi Kaushal was embedded in her chosen career in accounting and finance … and behind the closed door of her CBD office, she had the confidence and skill to successfully be herself and achieve peer recognition.

However, whilst always maintaining this professional outlook and persona, there was a hidden desire to something different. Something that was a true reflection of who she was … what her passions were … and something she saw as her real future.

It took a few years for Rutchi to begin to share these dreams with friends, family and then her work colleagues. But once the “idea” had been released, there was no turning back.

Cynthia Bartolomei and her husband decided it was really important for their family to experience a journey around Australia together. So taking their two boys out of school, with the blessing of the headmaster, they chose to follow the sun and head north from Perth WA in April 2021. This was just when WA was being locked down due to the pandemic … and whilst getting into WA was not possible, actually leaving Perth and eventually the state, was not a problem.

They soon discovered the two boys were actually learning so much from their experiences on teh road and most importantly, learning from things that interested them … and not just what was in a formal curriculum.

In her own words, Jay Wood got a “bop on the head” in a motor vehicle accident. But this was really serious … and resulted in a major “invisible injury” … a catastrophic traumatic brain injury.

The symptoms are so unique and specific to Jay it often makes it difficult for her to acknowledge how her behaviours are perceived by others. Nonetheless, she honestly believes she didn’t lose her essence following the accident … as she says …”her heart didn’t get damaged”. She still believes LOVE is the most important thing in the world and tries to live her life this way.

The impact of the accident, which happened in her early twenties, robbed her of many youthful experiences and doing the things she wanted to do. So, re-learning the forgotten skills of her life … those lost in the brain injury … was important. Especially re-capturing the magic of her music that now inspires her ongoing passions. It took two years for Jay to re-learn to play the guitar and understanding the essence of her songs … how the lyrics and music went together …was her greatest challenge.

Suzie Aries … actor, performer and someone with a positive outlook on life.

Her world was shattered following the removal of a “mass” from her body and the realisation she had to acknowledge the diagnosis of cancer.

Her acting career was still at the forefront of her life focus, even when the cancer treatment resulted in losing her hair and having to deal with the physical and mental challenges of fighting this horrible disease.

Recovery was long … but positive … and eventually Suzie was able to recover her health and the zest for a full life. BUT, this became a new life … different from being an actor. She discovered a passion for “sign language” and the career path toward becoming a “communications support worker” for people who are deaf and hard of hearing.

With a “glass half full” approach to life, Suzie is now forging this new career and looking forward to a future that is exciting and complete.

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.