The thin timber floorboards and sticky carpet were a thin shield from the noise at the pub downstairs. But a 17-year-old Dee Madigan was trying to drown it all out as she studied for her final high school exams. 

The room above a bar hardly qualified as optimum living quarters but moving back to the city on her own to get a good education was Dee’s best shot at getting into university. After years of ups and downs in her parents’ businesses, things had taken a turn for the worse, and Dee was determined not to let that get in her way. 

Little did she know how much worse things could get before they got better. Dee would live the equivalent of several lives before she became a regular on national TV, offering her opinions on her twin loves – advertising and politics.  

Now a political campaigner, author, advertising guru and Creative Director at Campaign Edge, in this episode of Curveball hear the moments in Dee Madigan’s life that really shaped this expert persuader. 

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Curveball is the show that leans into life’s messy moments! It’s a production of Deadset Studios.  

Keep up to date with Curveball by following @_deadsetstudios on Twitter and @deadsetstudios on instagram.  

Want to know more about how people thrive in challenging times? Sign up to Curveball’s LinkedIn newsletter! And suggest a Curveball guest by visiting www.curveballshow.com   

This episode was produced by Grace Pashley. Executive producers are Rachel Fountain and Kellie Riordan. 

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One day you can be striding into work in a suit worth thousands of dollars, and the next you can be at home in your pyjamas struggling to connect your laptop to the wifi in time for a job interview well below your pay grade.  

Tragedy, failure, loss – they’re all part of life’s ups and downs. Life happens to all of us, no matter how much success you’ve achieved, how fancy your job title is, or how much money you earn. 

But when the dust settles, it's these moments that make you. What you do when it’s all falling apart is how you show what you’re really made of.  

It’s the lessons Dee Madigan learned from a turbulent childhood, completing her studies living above a pub that propelled her into the engine room of federal politics. 

Or how Trent Dalton turned the most difficult moments of his dark childhood into a best-selling novel and Netflix series.  

Season 4 of Curveball is full of leaders who’ve learned valuable lessons at unexpected moments. 

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Curveball is the show that leans into life’s messy moments! It’s a production of Deadset Studios.  

Keep up to date with Curveball by following @_deadsetstudios on Twitter and @deadsetstudios on instagram.  

Want to know more about how people thrive in challenging times? Sign up to Curveball’s LinkedIn newsletter! And suggest a Curveball guest by visiting www.curveballshow.com   

This episode was produced by Grace Pashley. Executive producers are Rachel Fountain and Kellie Riordan. 

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made.  

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ever wondered how much you could grow your business, if only you could amplify your message? 

Now that 40% of Australians regularly listen to podcasts, it’s a great way to communicate to your clients and customers. 

Let Deadset Studios help you make a show! We’re a full-service production company and our team’s made many of the country’s most popular podcasts like: 

Australia’s most downloaded podcast Conversations Winner of New York Festivals bronze award Journo Webby award-winning Ladies we need to talk Silver winner at the Australian Podcast Awards Hooked, Hitched & Hung Up Silver winner at the Australian Podcast Awards Restitution 

And many more! Get in touch so we can help you with your podcast: Deadset Studios.  

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We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“She helped me completely dismantle a media personality I constructed and wasn’t happy with. It was a media personality I constructed to be a television presenter. To be sort of charming, maybe trying to be funny, trying to be a smartass here and there. But it was a struggle because it wasn’t who I really am.” 

Richard Fidler’s had more careers than most. He’s best-known as a host of the ABC’s most popular radio show and podcast Conversations.  

But he came to radio via a career as a TV presenter, a stint in the irreverent comedy trio The Doug Anthony Allstars, and now he’s an author of several best-selling history books. 

One day back in 2005 he was sitting in the ABC office when his producer came to him with an idea to turn his popular radio show into a podcast. There was a catch: No one had heard of a podcast. And the iPhone hadn’t been invented yet. But his producer insisted the podcast would one day be a juggernaut. That producer was Curveball host Kellie Riordan. 

Richard joins Kellie for a rare and wide-ranging discussion on why he once thought a nuclear holocaust would end his life, the moment he literally caught on fire, and how fatherhood changed his once snarky outlook on life. 

Richard’s new book is The Book of Roads and Kingdoms. 

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Curveball is the show where extraordinary people share the twists and turns of their rise, those curveball moments that have made them. It’s a production of Deadset Studios.  

Keep up to date with Curveball by following @_deadsetstudios on Twitter and @deadsetstudios on instagram.  

Want to know more about how people thrive in challenging times? Sign up to Curveball’s LinkedIn newsletter! And suggest a Curveball guest by visiting www.curveballshow.com   

This episode was produced by Liam Riordan. Executive producers are Rachel Fountain and Kellie Riordan. 

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Legacy can be a bit of a loaded term when it comes to family businesses. If you’re taking over at the helm, how do you honour the legacy of those who came before you? Do you keep things as they were, or should you shake things up? 

Buckaroo Belts owner Tanya Van Der Water asked herself exactly these questions when her father fell ill in 2013. Unexpectedly, she was thrust into the CEO role in his place.  

Once upon a time, she wasn’t even interested in joining his leather-working company, let alone running it. She was a forthright woman of colour. How could she operate at construction sites and convince tradies she knew about toolbelts? 

Would a radical transformation of the business work? Could she really save the business while she had three kids under three, and the burden of alcoholism in the family? 

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Curveball is the show that leans into life’s messy moments! It’s a production of Deadset Studios.  

Keep up to date with every episode by following @_deadsetstudios on Twitter and @deadsetstudios on instagram.  

Want to know more about how people thrive in challenging times? Sign up to Curveball’s LinkedIn newsletter! And suggest a Curveball guest by visiting www.curveballshow.com   

This episode was produced by Liam Riordan. Executive producers are Rachel Fountain and Kellie Riordan. 

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s sweat flying everywhere at the Alice Springs YMCA as a young instructor cheers the class through their workout. Michelle Bridges is learning how to bring the heat, honing her craft as the motivator-in-chief for people looking to turn their lives around.  

Michelle had been teaching fitness classes and entering bodybuilding competitions while she was living in the desert with her then boyfriend. 

She was building a small yet loyal following - but she was a big fish in a small pond, the city was calling. 

By the time Michelle drove over the Sydney Harbour Bridge at the age of 26, she was on the path to becoming a trainer on TV’s The Biggest Loser, a best-selling author, and a pioneer of online fitness programs. 

But with the rise, also came the fall. Michelle opens up about her horror 2020, how it made her embrace her softer side and changed her life for the better. 

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 Curveball is the show that leans into life’s messy moments! It’s a production of Deadset Studios.  

Keep up to date with Curveball by following @_deadsetstudios on Twitter and @deadsetstudios on instagram.  

Want to know more about how people thrive in challenging times? Sign up to Curveball’s LinkedIn newsletter! And suggest a Curveball guest by visiting www.curveballshow.com   

This episode was produced by Grace Pashley and edited by Travis Vetier. Executive producers are Rachel Fountain and Kellie Riordan. 

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The sun’s setting in the Sydney suburbs, but a young Brandon Jack’s still running his science experiment. Or rather, he’s still pretending to run his science experiment. In reality, he’s just kicking an Aussie Rules football around. But when you’re the son of an NRL legend, you have to come up with a good cover story to even go near other football codes. 

Brandon’s talent for side-stepping the truth about football continued into adulthood. Rather than speaking openly about his fears and doubts as a professional athlete, he told his superiors he intended to run a law firm before retiring from the game, hoping they’d decide on his behalf that he wasn’t committed to the team. 

Now, Brandon’s writing his own story, and in doing so, he’s casting light on the darker side of professional sport and the deeply masculine culture that surrounds it in Australia. 

He also opens up about his fractured relationship with his parents and why he’s just started to mend some bridges with them after years of estrangement. 

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Curveball is a production of Deadset Studios. Sometimes, life throws up moments that are unexpected. Things you could never plan for. Challenges you couldn’t have seen coming. The human experience is all about adapting. On Curveball you get the lowdown on how people grow in extraordinary times. 

Keep up to date with Curveball by following @_deadsetstudios on Twitter and @deadsetstudios on Instagram. And get more wisdom and life lessons delivered to you directly with Curveball’s LinkedIn newsletter! 

Find out more about the show by visiting www.curveballshow.com

This was episode was produced by Liam Riordan with editing by Travis Vetier. 

The executive producers are Rachel Fountain and Kellie Riordan. 

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The sun’s setting in the Sydney suburbs, but a young Brandon Jack’s still running his science experiment. Or rather, he’s still pretending to run his science experiment. In reality, he’s just kicking an Aussie Rules football around. But when you’re the son of an NRL legend, you have to come up with a good cover story to even go near other football codes. 

Brandon’s talent for side-stepping the truth about football continued into adulthood. Rather than speaking openly about his fears and doubts as a professional athlete, he told his superiors he intended to run a law firm before retiring from the game, hoping they’d decide on his behalf that he wasn’t committed to the team. 

Now, Brandon’s writing his own story, and in doing so, he’s casting light on the darker side of professional sport and the deeply masculine culture that surrounds it in Australia. 

He also opens up about his fractured relationship with his parents and why he’s just started to mend some bridges with them after years of estrangement. 

Grab a copy of Brandon's book, 28

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Curveball is a production of Deadset Studios. Sometimes, life throws up moments that are unexpected. Things you could never plan for. Challenges you couldn’t have seen coming. The human experience is all about adapting. On Curveball you get the lowdown on how people grow in extraordinary times. 

Keep up to date with Curveball by following @_deadsetstudios on Twitter and @deadsetstudios on Instagram. And get more wisdom and life lessons delivered to you directly with Curveball’s LinkedIn newsletter! 

Find out more about the show by visiting www.curveballshow.com

This was episode was produced by Liam Riordan with editing by Travis Vetier. 

The executive producers are Rachel Fountain and Kellie Riordan. 

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We get it! It’s scary being your real self out there. Being vulnerable. Laying it all on the line when you’re feeling uncertain, not quite sure if you’ve got it right. 

We’ve noticed so many Curveball guests have had a moment where they could choose to be the all-knowing tough guy/gal, but instead decide to let their guard down. 

It might be emotionally risky, but how can you make vulnerability work for you in relationships, on a project, or even in the workplace? 

Oh, and Kellie and Curveball producer Grace Pashley get a little bit raw and share a few stories about the times they’ve worn a heart on their sleeve. 

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Curveball is the show that leans into life’s messy moments! It’s a production of Deadset Studios.  

Know someone who’d make a stellar guest on Curveball? Please tell us more! Visit www.curveballshow.com and suggest a guest. 

You can stay up to date with Curveball by following @_deadsetstudios on Twitter and @deadsetstudios on instagram. And make sure you’re subscribed to Curveball’s LinkedIn newsletter! Packed full of those little life lessons that help you keep going when things get tricky! 

This episode was produced by Grace Pashley and Liam Riordan. Executive producers are Rachel Fountain and Kellie Riordan. 

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Once upon a time, a young Kirstin Ferguson wanted to be Australia’s first female Prime Minister. And she figured the free university education and rigorous leadership training of the military would make a good first step.  

But – surprise! - the Royal Australian Air Force Academy of the 1990s wasn’t the most welcoming environment for an ambitious young woman. Kirstin had to adjust her behaviour in ways that would affect everything she did for the next few decades.  

After a stint in a law firm, and multiple roles on prestigious boards, Kirstin’s now focused on developing the next crop of leaders. Her new book is called Head & Heart: The Art of Modern Leadership. 

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Curveball is a production of Deadset Studios.  

It's the show that leans into life’s messy moments! Host Kellie Riordan takes you inside the someone’s curveball moment. They’ve been thrown a challenge, dealt a tough hand, the stakes are high. A decision could change the course of their life.  

Keep up to date with Curveball by following @_deadsetstudios on Twitter and @deadsetstudios on instagram.  

Do also sign up to Curveball’s LinkedIn newsletter! And do you know someone extraordinary who’s faced a challenging time? Suggest a Curveball guest by visiting www.curveballshow.com   

This was episode was produced and edited by Liam Riordan. Executive producers are Rachel Fountain and Kellie Riordan. 

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.