Forrest Chat

Interview - Nicole Watson - parkrun Challenges

Nicole talks about parkrun challenges, what it takes, what it means and how you do it.
My favourite quote of the episode is "It's like a family, with so many different people that, yeah, and they're all, they're all happy to support you and I just love going and seeing all my friends that I'll probably have never met if I hadn't not gone to parkrun. That's incredible, you show up at parkrun, and can you. Pretty much you got 300 different friends then. Yeah, that's it. Conversation And then you see them down the street and you stop and have a conversation with them. And it's like, how do you know them? Oh, from parkrun?  Don't know anything about them,  like history wise or whatever, they work wise, but I know they're parkrun and we can have a full on conversation because we know each other. It's, you know, they're just your other friends, so you only see them once a week, but, they're your friends."

Interview - Gabby Holt - Imperfect Painter

Gabby talks about being the Imperfect Painter, what it takes, what it means and how you do it.
My favourite quote of the episode is "Lots, lots of everything. A lot of persistence. That's I think, the most important thing actually. As I'm sure any artist or any small business owner knows, it's not always  steady.  It goes up and down, and the downs can be very down and the ups can be very high, but  you need to just keep going. So there has been many times in my Imperfect Painter life where I have wanted to give up and I've come very close to giving up.  The most important thing was just to keep going.  Someone told me a few years ago to push yourself just past the point that you think you can take. When you, you get to the point where you think it's unbearable, just push yourself that little bit further, and that's been a very valuable life lesson."
https://www.imperfectpainter.com/

Interview - Lynette Milne - Set-up a parkrun

Lynette talks about setting up Black Swan Lake parkrun, what it takes, what it means and how you do it.
My favourite quote of the episode is "I'm gonna do it this week. I'm like, oh yeah, okay, you can run.  Okay. And this is the first time I'd run it officially,  with like the people, the community. I'm like, oh yeah. Okay. And I remember starting up onto the path and just as I'm going round the concrete bend and all these crowds of people in front of me and I just, I remember looking going,  I did that. I did this and I remember going, don't cry. Don't cry, Lynette. Don't cry. 'cause if you start crying and you're not gonna be able to breathe properly and it's gonna be a struggle, and you go  and I'm like, oh, I did this, I did this. And it's just,  it, even though it's really hard. It is hard work. You've gotta be willing to,  they've said no to me. No, no, no. I'm, I'm ignoring you. You don't tell me I can't do it. I'm gonna do it."
https://www.parkrun.com.au/blackswanlake/

Interview - Natalie Mullen - Underwater Photography

Natalie talks about being an underwater photographer, what it takes, what it means and how you do it.
My favourite quote of the episode is "So I think the biggest thing, or what brings me meaning is, what we do on the surface actually has impact to the ocean and, and has serious impact. And if we don't have a Blue World, is how I would call it, a good, healthy ocean, we actually lose the green part of our land. And so the two are connected. And so things like recycling and choosing, you know, reusable items actually does matter, because of what I see under the ocean. and I wanna protect that. I wanna protect that so much because. They're so vulnerable. they can't choose a different world for themselves."
https://www.instagram.com/its_a_salt_life

Interview - Helen Iles - Publisher

Helen talks about being a publisher, what it takes, what it means and how you do it.
My favourite quote of the episode is "I think encouraging the author. Book launches, I love to go to book launches and see the elation on the author's face when the sales start happening. They're out there, their book is out there. I just as much enjoy them having that first book in their hands as as they are."
https://www.facebook.com/p/Linellen-Press-100063623125099/

Interview - Kelsey Gerdei - Canteen Manager

Kelsey talks about being Canteen Manager, what it takes, what it means and how you do it.
My favourite quote of the episode is "Yeah. I mean we have so much fun in the canteen. It's not, not too serious or anything like that, you know. We're all stepping over each other 'cause it is quite a smaller canteen. But, yeah, you know, Mum and I'll come back from a race and, you know, we'll be gloating about it, and then  my partner's daughter would jump in as well and going, I beat you two, and that sort of stuff. So it's good comradery in the canteen and it's really good just to check out people's times, and I find it really good. Also, because I'm in the canteen as well as racing, I can still talk to people about the racing without having to go out and about in the pit. So it's good."
South West Touring Car Club https://swtcc.com.au

Interview - Daniel Stevens - Bayswater Community Men's Shed

Daniel talks about being a Bayswater Men's Shed member, what it takes, what it means and how you do it.
My favourite quote of the episode is "We have a rule, uh, in our men's shed that, from 10 to 10 30, all machinery and all work stops. So you go into the meeting room and sit down and, yeah, have a, have a coffee, a cake or whatever you, and yeah. So it's, that's, that's very important cause that's the main thrust behind it, you know."
Bayswater Community Men's Shed https://baysieshed.org.au

Interview - Gaye McBride - Hypnotist

Gaye talks about being a hypnotist, what it takes, what it means and how you do it.
My favourite quote of the episode is "So it's like having a head brain and a tummy brain. Basically what happens is you use your tummy brain for a wee while in hypnosis to override and release and, and just get yourself back on track basically, to better health and confidence and, better wellbeing."
Hypnosynergy Hypnosis, Reiki and Hypnotherapy https://hypnosynergy.co
The Charmed Series (2 book series) by Gaye McBride (Author) https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0FH7N4YKR

Interview - Paul van der Mey - Forrest.Chat New Year 2026

Paul talks about Forrest.Chat audio podcast and plans for 2026.
My favourite quote of the episode is "And you always feel good after you've listened to one of your podcasts because people are doing the things they love. And it's great to be able to share that with other people. And you don't know who you inspire by telling your story. And so I just like to say if you've got something that you do that you would like to share with Paul and the Forrest.Chat listeners. Reach out to Paul and talk to him about doing it because you don't know who else you'll inspire in that way to achieve something they never thought they could achieve."

Interview - aka Duncan - Santa Claus

Santa Claus (aka Duncan) talks about being Santa Claus, what it takes, what it means and how you do it. It's a tongue-in-cheek look at Santa in society.
My favourite quote of the episode is "Well, it's just that magic of Christmas time. It, uh, it can be a very tough time for people out there, of course. And, uh, the joy of Christmas is very, very important to bring that joy of Christmas time to the world where we can forget about all the ugly stuff that's happening. And, uh, and yeah, just bring that, uh, that joy and love and spread that  out amongst all of us."
The Shed Wireless (podcast) https://www.podbean.com/pw/pbblog-ne8vj-a839ea