Against All Odz

Donna-Leigh Perfect sits opposite me in the studio of podcaster Drew Kruck...It's normally a space full of jokes and laughter, today, Donna's eye's well with tears "I don't even remember if I had the chance to say goodbye to her." She says of her mother dying at her feet. A victim of a stab wound inflicted by her father. As if witnessing the murder wasn't enough, Donna and her siblings were farmed out to the then, harsh welfare system of foster care. Donna has endured much. Listen in as she discovers who she is and begins on a journey that would lead her to become one of Australia's leading anti-bullying campaigners. Sit down and I reckon you might need the tissues handy.   www.dreamguards.com.au Suggest a guest or contact me via Instagram: @senseiodell @against_all_odz_podcast

My mum sits at a table across from me at her house in the picturesque beach side town of Sellicks Beach, South Australia. For a year and a half she has listened and contemplated coming on the show. I knew her smiling face and constant laugh hid much of the pain she has lived....I didn't know to the full extent. She truly is a strong and inspirational a women. Its fitting that this, episode 15 be released on International Womens Day. I couldn't ask for a better mum and I certainly couldn't bring you a better example of someone who stands for everything celebrated on this day. Listen in on a face to face conversation with someone thats searched life to find her voice, but along the way found herself. Instagram: @against_all_odz_podcast Instagram: @senseiodell www.againstallodz.com

"I was 10 years old holding tickets and giving my brothers two dollars for bookies. While other kids were listening to music radio at home....I was tuning into the race meets on 4-TAB!" Matthew Cox tells me about an upbringing that fed his growing gambling addiction. "At 16 years old while others were taking notes in science, I was writing myself lines that said 'I must not gamble'." There were four defining moments that changed Matthew's life from a man that had nothing to a man that has so much to lose. Listen to this cautionary conversation as Coxy tells me how he not only battled with the odds but played them.    www.gaaustralia.org.au www.lifeline.org.au www.againstallodz.com   Instagram: @against_all_odz_podcast                  @senseiodell    - Stay Humble   - Stay Kind   - Stay smiling  Odz.

Brent Simpson is a larger than life character. We sat at one of our favourite Gold Coast beaches to discuss his chequered past, the lessons learned from his former life, and how he is now making a positive impact in his community. The Heavy Hiterz Foundation offers support through a number of resources including the stories of those with "lived" experience. Listen in as Brent tells us of his "lived" experience and of the birth of the foundation. He believes that you are not alone and that if he can succeed against all odds.....anyone can. Stay Humble  Stay Kind  Stay Smiling Odz www.heavyhiterz.org www.againstallodz.com Instagram - @the_heavyhiterz_foundation Instagram - @senseiodell #youarenotalone  

Over six feet tall, muscled and sporting a full sleeve tattoo, people move aside as Jai strides toward me.......there's always been an energy of aggression and anger bubbling just beneath the surface. Today he looks different, eyes less piercing, I get a sense of peacefulness. His need to constantly fidget and shift has halted. We sit and talk. In this conversation we discuss his unusual upbringing, how it shaped him, his time working as a bouncer and how the industry brought his anger issues to light, his career in the military and why upon return from deployment he saw a need and a way to help other veterans, especially those suffering PTSD. Listen in as I talk to a man many consider their protector and hear how he's making a change. The once ticking time bomb, this is Jai Hoffman.   www.survivetothrivenation.com Insta: @therealjaiho www.againstallodz.com Insta: @senseiodell + @against_all_odz_podcast   Stay Humble Stay Kind Stay Smiling Odz

Mark Hobbs is a giant of a man, 6'4, 140kg. He was the youngest of my group of friends to be diagnosed with cancer. Hesitant to let anyone know he had Hodgkins Lymphoma, Mark broke the news to most via social media. Listen in as "Hobbsie" as he's affectionately known as, opens up about his diagnosis, his feelings around the news and how he handled treatment while holding down a job. Hobbsie discusses his head space pre, post and current and fills me in as to how he's battled against all odds.   Please share the show with someone Stay Humble  Stay Kind Stay Smiling Odz Facebook: Mark Hobbs Mark also co-hosts weekly Facebook live show NRL FOOTY LOUNGE LEGENDS www.againstallodz.com Insta: @senseiodell Insta: against_all_odz_podcast  

I've been apprehensive to release this, episode 10. The main topic of discussion is the fact that I've battled with anxiety for the last 9 years, being diagnosed in the last four....ironically the release of this episode has been making me slightly anxious...hence the delay. Kat Griffin asks me about my childhood, one of the many neighbourhoods I grew up in, the demise of a rugby league career and how it contributed to me having incredibly uncomfortable, random, anxiety attacks. She asks some listener questions, the reason for the show and I reflect for the first time as to the real reason I didn't achieve one of my dreams. Hopefully you find the conversation interesting, a little entertaining but ultimately helpful. Its hard to admit publicly the chinks in the armour I've spent a life time hardening.   Insta: @senseiodell Email: againstallodz@outlook.com  

"I had to lose nearly everything, before I appreciated what I had." Ryan Scott sits in his wheelchair opposite me " The choices I made put me in that passenger seat...and because of that choice I became a quadriplegic." When I first moved to South Australia Ryan lived with his brother in the house directly across the street. It was a small, picturesque coastal community now famous for the Star of Greece cafe and the beach lifestyle. Growing up Ryan became apart of the infamous Pt. Willy Crew (PWC) a self given title of a band of local youth mainly made up of surfers and pot heads. The laughs were plenty and the brotherhood was strong, they would get up to the normal mischief round town and were notorious for crashing parties by the carload, fighting, getting drunk and being the last to leave. They were proud of their reputation. Ryan was the youngest of this group. Fast, powerful cars were the preferred mode of transport for the PWC and it wasn't unusual to see them gather on the streets to do burn outs and o

"In my early 20's I got heavily into drugs and alcohol and by about the time I was 30, I was basically a homeless alcoholic living on the streets of Sydney." Laurence aka Step Steppins, as I've always known him, sits and talks with me about his past, drugs, alcohol, theft and being homeless. "Nobody sets out to become homeless..one thing leads to another. I was living in low cost accomodation in inner city Sydney. Eventually I stopped paying rent..eventually I got evicted...and eventually I grabbed a pillow and a blanket and headed out onto the street."  Another inspiring conversation with someone that has had real battles, bares the scars but found his strength and has triumphed against all odds Thank you for listening, please help the show grow by sharing and leaving a review on your podcast player. Don't forget if you have a question for me on Ep. 10 contact me via Instagram @senseiodell or @against_all_odz_podcast  - Stay Humble  - Stay Kind  - Keep Smiling www.againstallodz.com www.lifeline.org.au www.sa

Amber Glover sits across from me, inhales deeply, a silence hangs in the air, then finally she speaks. " I would like to tell the story of my best friends suicide. I think it's important to talk about it." She continues "Overcoming that grief was one of the hardest things in my life....I'd like to share it, maybe it'll help someone." Ambers recounts emotionally about losing her best friend and how its ok to grieve, how its ok to run and not stop and how you shouldn't be judged in the process. "I lost a really big piece of my heart, and I don't want anyone else to." Listen in as Amber gives first hand insight to how she avoided self destruction, prevailed against all odds and came to a place of acceptance.   www.beyondblue.org.au www.lifeline.org.au www.kidshelpline.com.au  

Steven Malcolm Young is laying in a hospital bed, he sits up swiftly as I approach, "Thanks for coming in bro, glad you could make it." I asked if Steven would be interested in recording with me when the Against All Odz show was merely an idea. He showed interest but it never eventuated...until now. Steven is a 3 time liver recipient, his first at the age of two and a half. Listen to our face to face conversation about battling against all odds to get where he is now. Kia Kaha brother. Myself and many others are cheering for you. If you want to send Steven a message of support please email: steven.m.young@hotmail.com www.donatelife.gov.au To help Steven's plight for an advanced screening of Star Wars message www.disney.com  www.metrosouth.health.qld.gov.au  www.againstallodz.com Instagram: @senseiodell + @against_all_odz_podcast Thank you for the support, please help the show grow by sharing, rating and reviewing on your podcast player. Stay Humble  Stay Kind Keep Smiling     

Drew Kruck lives and breathes the Gold Coast. His husky, unmistakable voice erupts from earphones on a weekly basis via his podcast show Gold Coast vs Drew Kruck, his tones can also be heard in live venues as he pelts out vocals for the cover band the Titanix. It wasn't always this way. In episode 5 I sat with Drew in his recording studio and asked him to relive a turning point in his life, the conversation wained to other topics but eventually he told me of his time as a top contender, sprint car driver. He spoke of the joy of driving 170km/hr round a track and the eventual havoc a terrible accident would have on him. With every bone in his face broken, Drew recalls the hell it was to have a rock the size of a house brick, smash through his visor and cave his helmet into his separated mouth.  It takes some mental toughness to get over hurdles like that and Drew has it in spades. Listen in on my face to face conversation as I search for keys that Drew Kruck used in his battle, against all odds. Thanks for the

Anthony Jacob is hurriedly eating as we meet to sit and talk about him overcoming a broken neck. I ask how he can come back to the very sport responsible for nearly severing his spinal cord. "What can I say mate." the Jason Statham look-a-like replies in between mouthfuls of his favourite Mexican food..."I love the sport. I couldn't just leave with unfinished business." Anthony "A.J" Jacob epitomises the saying "Its not the size of the dog in the fight, its the size of the fight in the dog"....championing small man syndrome and proud of it, he's a tenacious competitor. Listen as we discuss the moment a team mate snapped his neck with the force of a car accident, how he cheated death, why he's back pursing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu excellence and how it's possible for a self confessed dog man to come to own two cats. Be inspired on your commute to work, during your fitness routine, use it as your meditation. However you listen to your podcasts, I hope you take some learnings from this, episode 4, and enjoy Anthony s

Its daybreak and a lone figure is in the shallows at Burleigh Heads beach. He's throwing punch and kick combinations with vigor........ "People only see one person in the cage.....it's not though...you carry a lot of people on your shoulders as you go in there. You're representing yourself, you're representing you're sponsors, you're representing you're gym...you're family, friends and loved ones.....Coming away from that fight broke me mentally." We discuss Tristan's battle with depression, having been diagnosed 5 fights into to his professional MMA career, about his drug and alcohol fuelled attempts to counter the black dog, and how now, after some help and soul searching he fight to retain his Australian Eternal MMA title this coming week.   www.instagram.com/tristan_murphy www.lifeline.org.au www.heavyhiterz.org www.flowau.com www.subapparel.com www.lebonchoixbakery.com.au www.icelabcryotherapy.com.au www.teamcompton.com www.mtecroofing.com.au www.integratedmma.com www.futurefunding.com.au      

I met Belinda Rygier draped over a red velvet vintage lounge. She was modelling on a fashion photoshoot amongst the gumtrees of Brisbane. Between frames we got to talking and she started telling me about her journey to becoming a "love" coach. She spoke of past abusive relationships that had shaped her and now, how she helped to empower men and women across the globe.  This is an inspirational conversation about a girls expedition from being Belinda Rygier to blossoming into the beautiful Belinda Love. www.bloved.com.au Insta: @belindalove_coach

In this, the first episode of the podcast Against All Odz, we sit in on a conversation with Michael Carroll, affectionately known as 'Shark Tank' to his friends. Sharky opens up about his life with bipolar, his time in involuntary hospitalisation and how he's over come his demons to now work with the less fortunate youth of Brisbane. Listen in as Odell 'Odz' Harris draws inspiration from from everyday people as they battle their own obstacles and prevail against all odds. If you can help contact: www.youthoutreachservice.org www.givit.org.au  If you need help contact: lifeline: 131113 www.salvationarmy.org.au