Rien MacDonald - Podcast Details

Shows

The Hope Initiative #194 - A Run Around Australia with Sean Bell“Running has become a genuine life force for me… This is me, this is my calling. It’s what I was going to do.” Episode #194 of The Hope Initiative with Sean Bell A great chat with my mate Sean Bell. This legend came on the pod 5 years ago when we first met having just completed 50 marathons in 50 days and in the past 5 years has been building toward this moment. No, not coming on the pod again, running around (yes around) Australia, aiming for an average of 80km per day fore 170 days to break the reco...

2024-03-311h 15

The Hope Initiative #193 - Full Time Savage: Part 2 - Steady, Quiet, Breath with Andres Cubides“Steady, quiet, breathe. When I’m going fast, steady, quiet, breathe… I am aware of my environment and aware of my steps and I’m listening [to] how I am stepping… I remember there were a few guys complaining about the wind [during the Melbourne marathon]. I was just like ‘man, shut up and enjoy, go through it and don’t complain about the wind. The more you complain the more you’re going to get in your head.’ And I can talk like that because I’ve done the work.” Episode #193 of The Hope Initiative wi...

2024-03-031h 45

The Hope Initiative #192 - Stranger in the Streets - ChristineStranger in the Streets: V. 020 Guest: Christine Location: Bank of The Yarra River, Melbourne, Victoria. Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on; Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hopeinitiativepod/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@thehopeinitiative Music by Jess Fairlie - jessfairlie.com

2024-02-1309 min

The Hope Initiative #191 - Intricacy to Consistency with Toby Simmons“There's so many people that are sat in their houses right now working with some amazing idea that they’ll never put it to work because they're so scared of what the results may be. I count my blessings that I just sort of went, ‘I'm gonna spend all my money on this for a little bit’, because now coming into my future projects, I'm going with exactly the same approach, and I'll favor that over the one of buying a house or all the standard 1, 2, 3 things that you would be expected to do in society. I wanna pu...

2024-02-041h 27

The Hope Initiative #190 - 5 Years a PodcasterRiff with Rien; This week: 5 years in the game. A few thoughts on the last 5 years. The struggle currently. The next 5 years. Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on; Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hopeinitiativepod/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@thehopeinitiative Music by Jess Fairlie - jessfairlie.com

2024-02-0310 min

The Hope Initiative #189 - The Art of Storytelling with Matt Allyn“I think we get so far away from trusting ourselves. And, you know, when you do a breathwork session, or you go for a run, or you're in the shower, you have a download, and you're like, yeah, that's the fucking thing! And then an hour goes by, and then you convince yourself out of that thing, and you do a lesser thing… “I'm gonna reach out to Lewis Howes and get him on my podcast. Like that's too audacious. I'm going to go 20 people below him.” It's like, no fucking do the thing. You know, trust yourself...

2024-01-251h 35

The Hope Initiative #188 - Stranger in the Streets - BonnieStranger in the Streets: V. 019 Guest: Bonnie https://www.instagram.com/sydneyworkingholidaygirls Location: Circular Key, Sydney, Australia. Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on; Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hopeinitiativepod/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@thehopeinitiative Music by Jess Fairlie - jessfairlie.com Made by RUKKUS - instagram.com/makearukkus

2023-12-0511 min

The Hope Initiative #187 - The Rule of 1,000Riff with Rien; This week: The Rule of 1,000. Whether it be 1,000 true fans, or 1,000 days, the rule of 1,000 seems to apply in many areas. Kevin Kelly on 1,000 True Fans - https://kk.org/thetechnium/1000-true-fans/ Andy Frisella on 1,000 days - https://open.spotify.com/episode/16ltB2sJU7OBavDiNKMkY1?si=e57eb1d851bf4e30 Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on; Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hopeinitiativepod/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@thehopeinitiative Music by Jess Fairlie - jessfairlie.com

2023-12-0304 min

The Hope Initiative #186 - If Not You, Who with Matthew Thomas“I've just got this belief that if I can keep going at the rate that I'm going every single day and I keep working at the capacity that I'm working every single day, it has to work. “If not you, who?” Which is a really interesting quote that someone told me. It's like, if not you, who? Okay, I'm just prefacing this, I don't really care to win any awards. I just want to be the best in my industry. And this is just a metaphor, but if it's not you standing up there getting an award for so...

2023-11-301h 24

The Hope Initiative #185 - Stranger in the Streets - DavidStranger in the Streets: V. 018 Guest: David Location: Circular Key, Sydney, Australia. Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on; Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hopeinitiativepod/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@thehopeinitiative Music by Jess Fairlie - jessfairlie.com Made by RUKKUS - instagram.com/makearukkus

2023-11-2811 min

The Hope Initiative #184 - Calm Amongst Chaos - Part 2 Riff with Rien; This week: More chaos requires more calm. Forever waging the war. Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on; Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hopeinitiativepod/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@thehopeinitiative Music by Jess Fairlie - jessfairlie.com Made by RUKKUS - instagram.com/makearukkus

2023-11-2604 min

The Hope Initiative #183 - Stranger in the Streets - MelStranger in the Streets: V. 017 Guest: Mel Location: Circular Key, Sydney, Australia. Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on; Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hopeinitiativepod/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@thehopeinitiative Music by Jess Fairlie - jessfairlie.com Made by RUKKUS - instagram.com/makearukkus

2023-11-2324 min

The Hope Initiative #182 - Stranger in the Streets - TomStranger in the Streets: V. 016 Guest: Tom Location: Circular Key, Sydney, Australia. Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on; Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hopeinitiativepod/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@thehopeinitiative Music by Jess Fairlie - jessfairlie.com Made by RUKKUS - instagram.com/makearukkus

2023-11-2111 min

The Hope Initiative #181 - Do it in the MomentRiff with Rien; This week: Not delaying. Doing things now. Stop delaying. Cease the moment. Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on; Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hopeinitiativepod/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@thehopeinitiative Music by Jess Fairlie - jessfairlie.com Made by RUKKUS - instagram.com/makearukkus

2023-11-1904 min

The Hope Initiative #180 - Stranger in the Streets - CTStranger in the Streets: V. 015 Guest: CT Location: Circular Key, Sydney, Australia. Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on; Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hopeinitiativepod/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@thehopeinitiative Music by Jess Fairlie - jessfairlie.com Made by RUKKUS - instagram.com/makearukkus

2023-11-1609 min

The Hope Initiative #179 - Stranger in the Streets - DimitriStranger in the Streets: V. 014 Guest: Dimitri Location: Circular Key, Sydney, Australia. Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on; Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hopeinitiativepod/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@thehopeinitiative Music by Jess Fairlie - jessfairlie.com Made by RUKKUS - instagram.com/makearukkus

2023-11-1408 min

The Hope Initiative #178 - RepsRiff with Rien; This week: Reps How many reps does it take to see a return? Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on; Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hopeinitiativepod/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@thehopeinitiative Music by Jess Fairlie - jessfairlie.com Made by RUKKUS - instagram.com/makearukkus

2023-11-1205 min

The Hope Initiative #177 - Give 'Em Hell with Dylan Johnstone“Give them hell. Give them hell. Really rip into it. Push that little bit harder when I was younger, but give them hell. Because you're destined for it.” Episode #177 of The Hope Initiative with Dylan Johnstone Stoked to welcome back Dylan Johnstone to the podcast. After meeting Dylan in 2018, I had him on for episode 29 of the podcast in late 2019. 1,455 days later, he joined me for the second time to chat about all that has happened since! We discuss a wide range of topics from Taking Action, Raising the Standards, Non Nego...

2023-11-091h 41

The Hope Initiative #176 - Stranger in the Streets - EloraStranger in the Streets: V. 013 Guest: Elora Location: Circular Key, Sydney, New South Wales. Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on; Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hopeinitiativepod/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@thehopeinitiative Music by Jess Fairlie - jessfairlie.com Made by RUKKUS - instagram.com/makearukkus

2023-11-0710 min

The Hope Initiative #175 - CompromiseRiff with Rien; This week: Compromise Compromise with others, but never yourself. Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on; Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hopeinitiativepod/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@thehopeinitiative Music by Jess Fairlie - jessfairlie.com Made by RUKKUS - instagram.com/makearukkus

2023-11-0503 min

The Hope Initiative #174 - God’s Cathedral with Stewart Heggie“Another lady got on, a lovely lady, born again Christian lady. And she was abusing me for not going to church every Sunday. And I wasn't going to have an argument with her. And then she got on one day and she started again and I said, “You go to church every Sunday?” She said yes. I said, “Well that's really good, I'm glad and I'm happy for you to go, but I don't need to go to a church.” She said, “What do you mean?” I said, “A church is made by man. Look at all around you. This is God's Ca...

2023-11-021h 13

The Hope Initiative #173 - Stranger in the Streets - AngelaStranger in the Streets: V. 012 Guest: Angela Location: Circular Key, Sydney, New South Wales. Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on; Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hopeinitiativepod/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@thehopeinitiative Music by Jess Fairlie - jessfairlie.com Made by RUKKUS - instagram.com/makearukkus

2023-10-3105 min

The Hope Initiative #172 - PivotRiff with Rien; This week: Pivot How a simple pivot can keep you on course with the Vision, as opposed to changing everything all at once. Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on; Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hopeinitiativepod/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@thehopeinitiative Music by Jess Fairlie - jessfairlie.com Made by RUKKUS - instagram.com/makearukkus

2023-10-2906 min

The Hope Initiative #171 - Stranger in the Streets - IanStranger in the Streets: V. 011 Guest: Ian Location: Fitzroy Gardens, East Melbourne, Victoria. Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on; Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hopeinitiativepod/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@thehopeinitiative Music by Jess Fairlie - jessfairlie.com Made by RUKKUS - instagram.com/makearukkus

2023-10-2619 min

The Hope Initiative #170 - Stranger in the Streets - SumeetStranger in the Streets: V. 010 Guest: Sumeet Location: Little Bourke Street, Melbourne, Victoria. Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on; Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hopeinitiativepod/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@thehopeinitiative Music by Jess Fairlie - jessfairlie.com Made by RUKKUS - instagram.com/makearukkus

2023-10-2404 min

The Hope Initiative #169 - Tangibles and IntangiblesRiff with Rien; This week: Tangibles and Intangibles Challenging things are easier when there’s a tangible finish line. The game of life is intangible, so perhaps it’s about getting comfortable with the unknown. Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on; Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hopeinitiativepod/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@thehopeinitiative Music by Jess Fairlie - jessfairlie.com Made by RUKKUS - instagram.com/makearukkus

2023-10-2305 min

The Hope Initiative #168 - Energy Transfer with Chad Cohen“I think energy transfer is a massive thing. If you can embody and listen really deeply, be curious, be attentive, reflect, and then speak, but transfer in a way in which you know it will be received, rather than just like, this is the energy I have, take it. There's this dynamic of like, it's more welcoming, it's more interesting, you connect on a deeper layer, and it was fascinating, like, yeah, I'm still in shock that you brought it up, it's epic.” Episode #168 of The Hope Initiative with Chad Cohen Chad is a founder, curi...

2023-10-191h 36

The Hope Initiative #167 - Stranger in the Streets - MillaStranger in the Streets: V. 009 Guest: Milla Location: Fitzroy Gardens, East Melbourne, Victoria. Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on; Instagram YouTube Music by Jess Fairlie Made by RUKKUS

2023-10-1712 min

The Hope Initiative #166 - Back YourselfRiff with Rien; This week: Back Yourself. How following your curiosity with no shame is where the gold is. Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on Instagram Music by Jess Fairlie Made by RUKKUS

2023-10-1504 min

The Hope Initiative #165 - The Finite Nature of Life with Caleb Plumridge“This notion that life is finite is incredibly powerful. If life wasn't finite, then we wouldn’t be able to attribute value to it. But once you start to understand the finite nature of life, and not be afraid of the finite nature of life, and the fact that it will end, we can start to see each day as an opportunity to have a new experience.” Episode 165 of The Hope Initiative with Caleb Plumridge Caleb Plumridge is a creative filmmaker and ripper human. Having met Caleb in 2022 at Feel Good Dips in Melbou...

2023-10-121h 39

The Hope Initiative #164 - Stranger in the Streets - ThibaultStranger in the Streets: V. 008 Guest: Thibault Location: Fitzroy Gardens, East Melbourne, Victoria. Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on Instagram Music by Jess Fairlie Made by RUKKUS

2023-10-1010 min

The Hope Initiative #163 - Birthday ReflectionsRiff with Rien; This week: Birthday Reflections. It’s been a challenging year. It’s been a great year. Let’s go again. Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on Instagram Music by Jess Fairlie Made by RUKKUS

2023-10-0906 min

The Hope Initiative #162 - Just Keep Going with Rachael Dols“Just keep going that way.” Episode 162 of The Hope Initiative with Rachael Dols I met Rachael running the St. Kilda 2XU Olympic distance in January 2023. As a child she grew up in the pool almost every day, and grew to play basketball, before her adventurous nature led her to the Northern Territory where she worked as a tour guide. Upon returning, Rachael marked the calendar with a 70.3 Ironman, which she completed in Geelong in February 2020. Since then, it’s been a love / hate relationship, battling injuries whilst making the journey across many finish lines...

2023-10-051h 44

The Hope Initiative #161 - Stranger in the Streets - JudeStranger in the Streets: V. 007 Guest: Jude Location: Fitzroy Gardens, Melbourne, Victoria. Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on Instagram Music by Jess Fairlie Made by RUKKUS

2023-10-0307 min

The Hope Initiative #160 - Do Less, MoreRiff with Rien; This week; moving house. It sucks. It occurs to me that I need to live a life more in the direction of minimalism. So here’s to that and doing less, more. Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on Instagram Music by Jess Fairlie Made by RUKKUS

2023-10-0106 min

The Hope Initiative #159 - Duty to Serve with Darsh Lad“I just wanted it to be where people could come, show up for themselves, and really challenge themselves. Even though in the back of my head, I was like, yes, I'm not making any money with this, but look how this is changing their lives. And I genuinely feel as humans, we have this duty to serve… I wasn't doing anything for other people. And now it's the complete opposite. I was making barely any money, just to survive, but that ability to run those ab sessions, those breathwork sessions, those community events and realising that people outs...

2023-09-281h 25

The Hope Initiative #158 - Stranger in the Streets - BridgetStranger in the Streets: V. 006 Guest: Bridget Location: Corner of Spring and Bourke Street, Melbourne, Victoria. Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on Instagram Music by Jess Fairlie Made by RUKKUS

2023-09-2611 min

The Hope Initiative #157 - Calm Amongst the ChaosAnother Riff with Rien on the week; When life doesn’t quite go to plan, stay calm. Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on Instagram Music by Jess Fairlie Made by RUKKUS

2023-09-2504 min

The Hope Initiative #156 - A Lucky, Loved & Good Boy with Ras-Samuel Welda’abzgi“My grandmother just looked at me in the eyes. She's like, ‘You should be happy that I'm alive. What are you crying for?’ And then I was just like, I know, I know… But you know, it's like tears of joy. Maybe there was a different feeling of ‘Why did you abandon me or why did you leave me?’ Maybe there was that sort of anger as well. But you know, it was more of, ‘I don't give a shit about that. You're here now…’ The majority of my life, I just wanted my mom and my grandmother, I jus...

2023-09-212h 21

The Hope Initiative #155 - Stranger in the Streets - AlbertoStranger in the Streets: V. 005 Guest: Alberto Location: Parliament Gardens, East Melbourne, Victoria. Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on Instagram Music by Jess Fairlie Made by RUKKUS

2023-09-1907 min

The Hope Initiative #154 - RWR: Life and DeathLate ep, but it's out nonetheless. Had some chats and thoughts around life, death, and leaving something behind once we're gone. Along the lines of the previous two episodes this week too. Hope you enjoy!

2023-09-1804 min

The Hope Initiative #153 - Familial Importance with Chloe Watkins“People should be more aware of their families. Because really, when all is said and done, when you get old, all you've got is your family and your memories. Really, nothing else matters. Because that's the main thing. And that's anybody and everybody. As you get older, you realise that your family is really your best friends.” Episode #153 of The Hope Initiative with Chloe Watkins. Granny was brave enough on the eve of her 80th birthday to join me for a conversation - after a few years of prompting. It was fun and wide ranging, one...

2023-09-141h 23

The Hope Initiative #152 - Stranger in the Streets - George and JoanStranger in the Streets: V. 004 Guests: George and Joan Location: Edinburgh Gardens, Fitzroy North, Victoria. Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on Instagram Music by Jess Fairlie Made by RUKKUS

2023-09-1206 min

The Hope Initiative #151 - Tri Training MentalityAnother Sunday night Riff/Recall with Rien. Today I completed my 2nd 70.3 Ironman. It was an epic day. So grateful to have raced and had all the support along the way. These are a few of my thoughts and ideas around this week and moving forward. Apologies for the poor audio quality. I recorded visuals on my phone and forgot to hit record on my mic set up, so ended up using audio from the phone recording in the end - lucky! Lol to...

2023-09-1006 min

The Hope Initiative #150 - Developing The Work with Mark Avellino“I don't think there was ever a chance I was, wouldn't do anything else. I've done a lot of trying not to do photography, but it shows you how sometimes it finds you. There was a period where I wasn't doing a lot of photography and I remember getting my hair cut, I was talking to my hairdresser and it's always like therapy going to a good hairdresser. And Liz had said to me, we were just talking about things in general and I was trying to work out what I was doing and everything. And she sa...

2023-09-071h 26

The Hope Initiative #149 - Stranger in the Streets - SteveStranger in the Streets: V. 003 Guest: Steve Location: Edinburgh Gardens, Fitzroy North, Victoria. Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on Instagram Music by Jess Fairlie Made by RUKKUS

2023-09-0506 min

The Hope Initiative #148 - Infinite GamesThe 2nd sunday show. Riffs with Rien? Recall with Rien…? A short episode from yours truly, discussing the week, what I've learnt and a question or challenge for you to take into yours. This week; Infinite Games Is the game you’re playing worth it? I'm curious to know. Reply on Instagram. Shoot me an email. Or reply directly if you're listening on Spotify (coming soon). Thanks for listening! Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on Instagram Music by Je...

2023-09-0306 min

The Hope Initiative #147 - Healing from Rock Bottoms Basement with Simi Gosling“It's insane. That noise in us, sometimes the world is so dark and we get so stuck in our pity, but it really just taught me that little flame is in there somewhere and it's just waiting to be ignited and for us to put aside our conditioning and lean into that flame. I think that actually making that conscious decision, like how deeply I meant that and just poured gasoline on it. And it was like today. Now. Not tomorrow. This is your life. It literally was like I was gonna die if I didn't do th...

2023-08-311h 35

The Hope Initiative #146 - Stranger in the Streets - Megan Stranger in the Streets: V. 002 Guest: [Megan](https://instagram.com/blackbettytattoos) Location: Edinburgh Gardens, Fitzroy North, Victoria. Follow and connect with The Hope Initiative on [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/hopeinitiativepod/) Music by [Jess Fairlie](https://www.jessfairlie.com/) Made by [RUKKUS](https://www.rukkus.com.au/)

2023-08-2906 min

The Hope Initiative #145 - Build It and They Will ComeA Sunday show! A short episode from yours truly, discussing the week, what I've learnt and a question or challenge for you to take into yours. This week; Build It and They Will Come. What is something you've been putting off doing? Have you been thinking about it for a few weeks, months? Perhaps even years, god forbid! But you're not alone. I put off the creation of this podcast for years before starting in 2019, and only now after 140 odd episodes, am I raising the bar to bring 3 episodes a week to the world. What does your version of this...

2023-08-2708 min

The Hope Initiative #144 - Life is a Daring Adventure with Benji Brundin“And I remember having no food, no preparation, just a pair of bloody runners and some board shorts on. Just no idea what I was doing. And it was in the middle of the night it rained and I thought about turning back a thousand times and it was just like this - I talk about it in my book, the conflicting voices in your head. So that one voice that's derogatory and brings you down and it's self-deprecating and it's belittling. And we have all got that voice that holds us back from doing those things. I remember that ni...

2023-08-242h 04

The Hope Initiative #143 - Stranger in the Streets - DamianA new kind of episode, dropping Tuesdays. Strangers in the Streets. This week: Damian. Location: Edinburgh Gardens, Fitzroy North, Victoria.

2023-08-2211 min

The Hope Initiative Update: Raising the BarIn 4.5 years, 145 podcast episodes totalling over 180 hours, it's time to raise the bar. Let's get creating.

2023-08-2201 min

The Hope Initiative #142 - Don't Think, Do with Grant Filsell“I got to 25 and I was like, shit, if I don't do this now, I'm never gonna do it… Why not do it now? You got nothing holding you back. There's no hand break, so just go send it. See what you can come up with. At the end of the day, if I come home after a year of traveling and all I've got is a bunch of good stories, that's better than not having them. You get out of life what you put in and I want to get as much out of it as I can.” Episode #142 of The...

2023-08-171h 32

Peak Earth Rien MacDonaldRien MacDonald is a podcaster and tech startup founder running a digital agency in Australia. He invited me onto my first podcast (our first jam on the Hope Initiative is here) and have since grown to love the art and craft of creating podcasts. Rien has a powerful passion for podcasting along with a curious and kind personality that I appreciate. I enjoyed this making this episode and I hope you enjoy listening. Connect with Rien: Instagram: @rienesmac Twitter: @RienMacDonald Spotify: The Hope Initiative Apple: The Hope I...

2023-08-101h 05

The Hope Initiative #141 - The Prodigy: Part 5 - Maccas & Manifesting“I have a journal where I just like write anything and everything that's on my mind and I find that it's a really good mindfulness hack, mindfulness practice to do, it really helps. It's really good for your mental health. And you don't worry about punctuation or anything, or if it makes sense, you just write. You just write. And it also really helps when it comes to art as well, or like writing a story or something, 'cause it's just brainstorming and you just write anything that you're thinking of.” Episode #141 of The Hope Initiative with Amelia MacDonald.

2023-08-101h 07

The Hope Initiative #140 - Happiness or Harmony with Charbel Simon“There’s endless books on happiness and being happy. And I just believe on a very simple, practical level, happiness is fleeting. If you think about it, if I've got an ice cream cone, I just got handed an ice cream cone at the ice cream shop, and I've got it and I'm happy and I'm enjoying it, great, I'm happy. I've got an ice cream cone. And if it falls and hits the ground, I'm not happy anymore. I'm actually pretty upset, or I'm sad. You see this, you know the classic theme of a kid drops the ice crea...

2023-08-031h 59

The Hope Initiative #139 - Get Out of Your Own Way with George Vergakis“I remember I walked into that jiujitsu place, and the guy was some Brazilian guy. With his accent, he was like, ‘Come tomorrow, I'll look after you’. I was like, fuck, I can't let this guy down now. So I went the next day and then that whole month I went, I was working out or doing jujitsu every day of the week. And that month just changed my life completely. I came back; license, job, found a partner (who's not around anymore, we've spoken about this before), but like everything was just going for me. And I realised like, life i...

2023-07-271h 29

The Hope Initiative #138 - The Right Thing To Do with Jared Raney“It's hard to say where that voice came from that night on the beach that was telling me it was the right thing to do. I sat out there until 4:00am. I had a thousand reasons to stay in training, but I don't know, I knew I had to do the right thing. I knew what the right thing was. That's what I went with. I just trusted it and I promised myself I would never, never hold it against Luke. I would never resent him in any way for that decision. That was, you know, that was my decision an...

2023-07-201h 23

The Hope Initiative #137 - Innate Knowing with Rosemary Stanway“So from that moment, I really developed a sense of believing and trusting in my knowing, which is really the only compass I've got to work from. It's not out there, it's inside. One time I was working on this artwork, and I had my beautiful classical music on and a glass of wine, and I was right into the zone and my dad spoke to me. So again, not words, just a felt experience, but the thought and the knowing that he was saying this and he was going, “that's your joy.” And I had a cry. So tapping into m...

2023-07-131h 45

The Hope Initiative #136 - Changing the Defaults with Alex Barrera“I feel like I've changed some of those defaults, and so now it strikes me more when I have an upset moment. I'm like, oh man, what's going on? Why am I frustrated by this? Whereas it used to be the other way. It was like, okay, now how do I find gratitude at this moment? How do I be joyful? How do I be present? I had to kind of force it, but I feel like now that's the default. That just is, and now the rule versus the exception right now, those are, that's the rule and the ex...

2023-07-061h 27

The Hope Initiative #135 - Doable Change with Jim Brown“It's about getting started. It's not about working on perfect, because I think that's what gets in so many people's way. It's like they're gonna put something off until things are… it's taking the step and it's getting better as you go along. And one of the things I like is that doable changes, right? So what you can do today is completely different than what you can do six months from now. But just getting started in that process can kind of unlock what's possible for you. And it's like, especially with the kind of food and the movement piec...

2023-06-291h 16

The Hope Initiative #134 - Finding Yourself with Katie Horton“I'm so passionate about telling people, you are not your trauma. You are not this identity that you've chosen to believe. For me, my social anxiety. These labels that you think that you are, or these personality traits, unless you choose to believe that you are. Which is why I'm like, you can truly change your beliefs and you can change the persona that you are portraying to the world. You can change anything about yourself if you simply have the awareness over what it is that you wanna be.” Episode #134 of The Hope Initiative with Katie Horton.

2023-06-221h 54

The Hope Initiative #133 - Culture of Creativity with Andrew Duong“My perception was that Australian people, like if you are born in Australia and like your parents are from Australia, you were slightly richer. And I felt like I could recognise that we didn't have certain things like money wise, but I didn't feel like we were necessarily poor, but I felt like we were definitely a bit under that… Cause just little like small things, you see people celebrating Christmas or birthdays, they have these parties and they get presents and all these things that we didn't really have. It's partly cultural cause Cambodians don't really celebrate birthdays. But when...

2023-06-151h 17

The Hope Initiative #132 - Thrive on Life with CJ Finley“When you talk about like Hope, ‘Hope Initiative’, right? He gave me hope that being interested in thousands of things is a worthwhile pursuit. I think if I just dialled it to down to that, growing up, we're put in this bucket of go to school, pick the one sport, pick the degree that gives you the highest probability of reaching success. But most of the time we haven't tried enough to pick the right thing that we could truly fall in love with. And if we fall in love with something, we tend to get really good at it…” Episode #1...

2023-06-081h 21

The Hope Initiative #131 - Paint, Prayers & Paradoxes with Kirsten Jackson“I think that the art came out when it was meant to come out. I feel like the timing with most things, well everything is perfect. Basically what happened with the artwork is I just started painting and I'd sell, when the kids were little, I didn't sell straight away… Also, that's another story. I mean, the power of not giving up is another thing. It's a bit paradoxical, isn't it? It's like saying, ‘trust the universe’ but ‘don't give up’. And I really struggle with that because I'm thinking, okay, so, I'm gonna trust the universe, but I'm not gonna give u...

2023-06-011h 24

The Hope Initiative #130 - Live Your Brand with Sameet Singh“You almost have to be on and really live those values every day… But I don't know. I guess the thing is whatever you're gonna do in life, it's not gonna be fucking easy. Like if you wanna make some money or you want to, whatever you want to do, nothing's easy. So that goes back to just trying to do as many hard things as possible and yeah, just trying to live your brand and trying to set enough time to do what you need to do. It's not easy, but fuck man. If you keep going, you never know...

2023-05-251h 10

The Hope Initiative #129 - The Power of Vision with Darcy Forrester“The power of vision, right? It became so clear to me over this two year journey that I've gone through where I've actually seen change occur. I spoke about that before, mental masturbation and then actually applying, two different things and I think to get any change in your life, yes, you need to do the reading, then you need to visualise it, and then you need to apply it. It's the Be, Do, Have. You need to reverse engineer it, which is the having. So to be able to put that onto a calendar and then work backwards by sa...

2023-05-051h 43

The Hope Initiative #128 - Write Your Own Script with Zac Stevenson“I just want to create unique style YouTube videos that kind of reflect that. I haven't really told anyone this, and I don't know if I wanna say it on the podcast, but I'm going to anyway. But I think this idea, ‘my life is a movie’ has kind of stuck with me and one of my basketball coaches, Brian Rolfe actually to told me this, that you can write your own script with your life. You don't have to take it from someone else, but you actually have the power to write it and follow through with it and do wha...

2023-05-021h 14

The Hope Initiative #127 - All In On Yourself with Brandon Littrell“I don't think I would've been inspired to leave and to go all in if I didn't have this thing looming over me that I had to take care of, that I had to pay off, which was that student loan debt and when I decided to quit and to go in all in on myself to partner with my dad, that was just one option. The other option was faking my death and moving to South America… It was definitely a joke, but I spent some late nights thinking about that. I thought about joining the Navy - my dad...

2023-04-211h 26

The Hope Initiative #126 - Space to Create with Sean Santoro“In order to create, you need a space. So what happens I think is if you don't have space to create, you are in that grind. There is a period of your life where people wanna skip to the creative part but I think we evolved into that. I think initially it was just hard work, grinding, trying to make money, trying to get space… For some people, they might create space to enjoy their sport or they might create space to whatever, some people do it to watch tv… For us, I think there was this initial hustle and work e...

2023-04-131h 53

The Hope Initiative #125 - Keys to Longevity with Matthew Tam“It's a very easy lever for people to pull on. It's taking care of their bodies and health because it is the gift that given us, not just life, but the actual vessel that we get to manoeuvre and shape in this life. And once you establish a state of optimum health and balance, you're just much, much more receptive to not just the mystical elements, but to what you really want to get out of life and you develop this intuition and this purpose to get to those goals of yours.” Episode #125 of The Hope Initiative with...

2023-04-071h 28

The Hope Initiative #124 - Shoot from the Hip“When I quit heroin on my own for 60 days and started drinking a lot. That's when I learned the lesson of; energy cannot be created nor destroyed. And if you have an addiction or anything, and you get rid of it, that energy is gonna go somewhere. And if you don't place it somewhere positive, it is just gonna bring you down.” Episode #124 of The Hope Initiative with Alex Cherry.

2023-03-311h 42

The Hope Initiative #116 - Find Your Flow with Ryder Langley“Some people need that soft inner voice, like ‘you can do it, you got this’, small victories… Some people just like to wake up and be like, ‘Don't be a bitch today. Let's go to the gym. Let's get shit done!’ We function different and I like reading David Goggin's books. I've never gone into the military, I don't have any family in the military. But I'm always drawn to that like harsh military type of discipline. Let's do this, let's get it done. I'm from the same exact parents as my sister. My sister cannot function with a harsh...

2023-01-271h 29

The Hope Initiative #115 - Willingness to Work“I would read those articles about the lives of those players and what route that they took to get to their famous lives. I could just see myself, you know, when I would read them, I would read those stories and I would place myself into those stories. Some of the information I took in, it was talking about nutrition and keeping your body clean and staying away from drugs and alcohol and also the willingness to work and get better every day. Those messages were coming through to me from various different sources, whether it was Look magazine or wh...

2023-01-201h 14

The Hope Initiative #112 - 2022 in Review“It’s ok to communicate. People want to communicate!” Episode #112 of The Hope Initiative Podcast: 2022 in Review A compilation episode recapping the year that was! The best year yet for the podcast. And we’re only just getting starting! Thanks to all of the guests this year and previously that have made the podcast what it is. And thank you to everyone who has listened wherever you been around the world! It means a lot. Wishing you a creative and consistent 2023. Go make it yours...

2022-12-291h 41

The Hope Initiative #111 - Progress Or Perfection“I think the inspiration is kind of what I was just explaining before, that feeling of creating something that causes a reaction in me, an emotional response. It's chasing that feeling. And yeah, that's like what I think for any people who really love music, they'll have favourite bands and favourite songs and favourite albums, like of course you love the songs cuz they're catchy and because the lyrics are cool and it's a sweet guitar solo, whatever. But it's really about how it makes you feel and what it makes you remember when you hear it, like you hear a...

2022-12-2248 min

The Hope Initiative #83 - The Prodigy: Part 4 - Halfway to Thirty“Everyone thinks that you have to have your life sorted by the time you're in your twenties. But you don't. That's still really young, you have your whole life ahead of you. But actually, Grandma, the other day, she was asking me what I wanted to do when I'm older, and I was like, “I don't know.” And she was like, “Well you better figure it out soon.” And I was like, “Okay, Grandma!” And mom was like, “Don't listen to her. Just do whatever you want to do. No stress.” Episode #83 of The Hope Initiative with Amelia MacDonald.

2022-07-071h 02

Pod Buffet Digest 6 Nov with PejO and Rien MacDonaldSmorgasbord or Brunch – it’s your Saturday, so you choose! Digest of the week with episodes 40 and 41Episode 40 - BadassFabulous Podcast with Pej Onile-Erehttps://podbuffet.com/published/badassfabulous-podcast-with-pej-onile-ereEpisode 41 - The Hope initiative by Rien MacDonald https://podbuffet.com/published/the-hope-initiative-by-rien-macdonaldPod BuffetAn eclectic mix of new podcasts from fresh new podcasters around the world.Short but sweet, each episode will give you a short taster that will entice you to listen more – just follow the links in the show notes. Not sure what to listen t...

2021-11-0607 min

Pod Buffet The Hope initiative by Rien MacDonaldThe Hope InitiativeStories with everyday people. A podcast learning about humans on planet earth. The success and struggle in their life, to help inspire hope in yours. Host - Rien MacDonaldPod BuffetAn eclectic mix of new podcasts from fresh new podcasters around the world.Short but sweet, each episode will give you a short taster that will entice you to listen more – just follow the links in the show notes. Not sure what to listen to next? – Pod Buffet will help you choose!Drop a line to team@podb...

2021-11-0404 min

The Collective Wisdom Podcast with Cat Preston Rien MacDonald: We are all imposters. Have some self-compassion and jump into the arenaHey there, my wise friends and welcome to Episode 37 of The Collective Wisdom Podcast, which is all about hope in the face of challenge. My guest today is Rien Macdonald and, it's true to say he's been facing a few challenges of his own lately, having lost his job and living in Melbourne where lockdown continues and the obvious challenges that presents. In fact, we wanted to make this episode precisely because we recognise just how many people are facing really tough times at the moment. We also talk about mentors, and it is a great chance to reflect...

2021-10-0553 min

Podtalk Vulnerability with Rien MacDonaldHow does creating a podcast foster meaningful connections and personal growth for both the host and the guests? A shared journey through vulnerability reveals how podcasting fosters authentic human interaction. "It’s so important to share, and I wouldn’t assert that it’s what you have to do in order to receive— but it almost is, right? You have to give in order to receive." ~ Rien MacDonald (7:14) The conversation revolves around the transformative power of podcasting as a medium for deepening communication and fostering authentic connections. Rien reflects on how podcasting has sharpene...

2021-09-0123 min

The Hope Initiative #44 - Above & Beyond"You don't necessarily have to go off and be a screaming expert or something before you actually try and do it. Just do it. Make mistakes, learn from it and move forward." Episode #44 with Andrew Nott Andrew is the father of three of my best mates, wife to my godmother and like a father to me! He's also a housemate on a semi-casual basis, working in Melbourne but living in Cooma, New South Wales. In this off the cuff conversation recorded in our living one Saturday morning, I ask Andrew - a man of many talents as well as the...

2020-05-1442 min

The Hope Initiative #43 - Give a Crap with Sinead Coulter"I hope that I still give a crap when I'm 40 about these issues and everything, and that if I have kids by the time I'm 40 I hope I'm enforcing that notion on them to give a crap. Giving a crap is cool." Episode #43 of The Hope Initiative with Sinead Coulter I have known Sinead for almost 20 years now since playing soccer with her eldest brother and one of my best mates, Liam. I'm lucky enough to call the whole Coulter family very close friends and in this conversation with Sinead I got to sit down...

2020-05-0744 min

The Hope Initiative #41 - Never Eat Yellow Snow with Daniel MacDonald"Do you want to know what I was doing the last two Valentines days in a row? I drank a full bottle of red, ate spaghetti and passed out on the couch, both years. In seperate houses in Leeds. It was great." Episode #41 of The Hope Initiative with my brother, Daniel MacDonald Excited to finally be able to share this episode. In it Dan and I discuss; Love What he wanted to do when he grew up Discipline As well as learning to deal with depressed moments when living overseas with friends who...

2020-04-2356 min

The Hope Initiative #39 - Part Time Footballers with Paul Wade"I was nervous, but I wasn't afraid of getting beat because I'd done everything I could starting with watching those two games to prepare for it. I stood there and went, 'Wow! I cannot believe I am standing next to arguably the greatest player ever to play the game'. And I grew up in the South Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne... It's quite, when you look at it like that, it's like, wow... Do you know what I mean?" Episode #39 of The Hope Initiative with Paul Wade Paul Wade is a decorated Australian Footballer (soccer player...

2019-12-231h 10

The Hope Initiative #37 - Little Things with Mia Henry-Jerrett"Life doesn't come easy for anyone... A lot of kids probably have the view that life's a walk in the park. Growing up, things would just be easy... You'll go to school and then you'll go have a job and you'll make money and have a house and whatever... But I suppose I always thought there are going to be obstacles. And that's probably the attitude I've had with everything, is that there are going to be obstacles, but they can be overcome." Episode #37 of The Hope Initiative with Mia Henry-Jerrett In todays episode I...

2019-12-0945 min

The Hope Initiative #36 - The White Thai Guy"You've got one life. Born, bred, raised up in Melbourne. It's like, man, how boring would it be just to just stay in Melbourne your whole life? It's like you could live in any country you want for a a year, two years, five... How many years you've got on this planet? And so I definitely want to live in Thailand. And obviously I was saying before, I was planning to sort of go over there and maybe not come back and just see what happened. And that was so exciting for me and I never really did that. So...

2019-12-051h 21

The Hope Initiative #33 - A True Legend with Marty Heppell"I reckon, we all experience moments of when we have self doubt. I think it's really important to know that if you are experiencing self doubt, you're not alone. That you're normal, but there are also things that you can do but one of the best things you can do is just be true to yourself. Not everyone's going to like you, but be true to yourself because a lot of people will and the ones that do like you, they're the ones that will bring you happiness. They're the ones that will save your ass when...

2019-11-251h 04

The Hope Initiative #30 - Seek Discomfort with Alex Dao"When I was like 12, we'd be travelling around on the buses or the trains and I'd be looking but I'm not really paying attention to everything and taking it all in... Now I'm a bit older and i just really wanted to see it on my own and see how it would all pan out." Episode #30 of The Hope Initiative with Alex Dao Alex is a former team mate from Whitehorse United, the soccer club I've been at since I was 9, and I played with Alex until we were about 12/13, easily half our life ago... ...

2019-11-1456 min

The Hope Initiative #29 - The Artificial Environment with Dylan Johnstone"Motivation is fake. It doesn't last. It's a fail-safe. That's where discipline comes in, because the day that motivation doesn't rock up, disciplines there to get you up. So when you're waking up in the morning you're not pumped to go get this day. You're like 'Fuck, is it really 4:00am already?' and that's for me as well... Motivation is great, don't get me wrong, but motivation is fake. It's not actually what creates high performance people. Discipline is." Episode #29 of The Hope Initiative with Dylan Johnstone. Dylan made me a cocktail...

2019-11-111h 08

The Hope Initiative #27 - Constant Contradictions with Nick Anderson"I have been told as recently as last night that I have a slightly upsetting view on life that probably doesn't instil hope so just to make sure I'm still suitable to be a guest?" Episode #27 of The Hope Initiative with Nick Anderson. Nick Anderson is the guest in episode 27 of The Hope Initiative, and if it's not clear from that quote, this episode is going to be one of the more unconventional episodes thus far. I've known Nick for about 5 years now and whilst we have had some interesting and deep conversations...

2019-11-041h 16

The Hope Initiative #10 - Generational ChangeWelcome to episode 10. For those of you listening who have heard this podcast before, it will come as no surprise to you the general flow of each episode. I generally ask an open ended question to begin and see where it takes me. The problem with interviewing a guest that isn't famous and has no wikipedia page or anything like that, is that you can't do a great deal of preparation for the interview. In todays episode, I speak with my Nan, Pat MacDonald. I know bits and pieces of my Nans life from spending time with her over the...

2019-04-1140 min

The Hope Initiative #9 - Lady Luck"It was just about me saying that anyone can achieve whatever they want to if they put their mind to it and I think people don't realise that. I think people think it just falls into your lap and it definitely doesn't. We created that, you know, so-called 'luck' for ourselves." Episode 9 - Lady Luck This week on The Hope Initiative, I speak to Amanda Nedza. Amanda is a business owner, mother to a young child with her husband, Paul, and manages to keep her marbles seemingly all in tact. In this episode we talk about how she dropped out...

2019-04-0455 min

The Hope Initiative #6 - The One with Ben Nott, Alex Maloney and Sam Nott"Write down exactly who I want to be in a relationship with, the ideal person, and then flip that around and go ‘who is the kind of person they would want to be in a relationship with? If this is my ideal girl, what would their their list would look like, and then make myself into that person." Episode #6 of The Hope Initiative with Ben Nott, Alex Maloney and Sam Nott In todays episode, I'm in a car hurtling down a highway looking out for kangaroos, brumbies - YES BRUMBIES - and bulk other wildlife wh...

2019-03-1444 min

The Hope Initiative #5 - Decide 'You're Good Enough'*"I remember walking off the field and I said to one of the other boys, 'Have a look around. It might be the last time we're out here.' It's just a stupid mentality. I didn't realise I was right there, it was all there before me..."* **DECIDE 'YOU'RE GOOD ENOUGH'** Episode 5 This week I get to share a brilliant chat with my first male guest, and it's only fitting it's someone who has helped raise me to be the person I am today. My Dad; Robert MacDonald! In this episode, we discuss his early days as a local footballer...

2019-03-0748 min

The Hope Initiative #4 - Choose Happy with Helen MacDonald"I did like my boobs. I had a great set of boobs, but then they tried to kill me. So I like them less..." Episode #4 of The Hope Initiative with Helen MacDonald. In this weeks episode, I speak to the other mother in my life, my step mum, Helen. We discuss the challenges of being a step parent, what it's like to live with multiple life threatening illnesses and how as a mother of 6, she manages to stay strong in some of the most trying times of her life. Follow and...

2019-02-2838 min

The Hope Initiative #2 - The ProdigyWhen I was 15 years old and the eldest of 6 kids, my reaction to learning about the news of a baby sister from my Dad came as a shock. Little did I know at the time that this girl would grow to be cooler than even I am. Hard to imagine, right? In this second episode of The Hope Initiative, I speak to my 11 year old sister, Amelia. We discuss her life, why it takes her 3 hours to get ready in the morning and what she expects kids to be doing when she's 80! I had a load of fun so I...

2019-02-1437 min

The Hope Initiative #1 - Life Didn't Begin When You Were BornThe birth of The Hope Initiative is here. Episode 1 where I speak with my beautiful mother, Yvonne. I thought it was fitting that I start with her, as without her, I wouldn't be knocking around the streets of Melbourne causing mischief. I begin with a statement she has made to me at various junctures throughout my life; "Life didn't begin when you were born, you know..? I had a life before you existed." My question based on that statement was simply, "Tell me about your life before I was born." It was a heartfelt conversation and one I am proud...

2019-02-0731 min