Humans of Purpose is the modern salon - conversations with the leaders, thinkers, and builders shaping what comes next. We're living through a period of genuine reckoning: with how business operates, what leadership demands, and what it actually costs to build something that matters. The people navigating that with honesty and intelligence are not always the loudest voices in the room. This podcast finds them. Each episode is a real conversation - unhurried, substantive, and honest about…
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What if the answer to loneliness, burnout, and community collapse is as simple as building a village? Mona Mahamed reveals how a handful of homemade acts of care grew into a life-changing social enterprise that now feeds, clothes, supports, and employs people across Bankstown and beyond. From a Facebook group and a ute full of donated goods to a registered charity, a community supermarket,…
Matt Formston lost 95 percent of his sight to macular dystrophy at age five, growing up on Sydney's Northern Beaches. He didn't slow down. He's now a Paralympian, a four time world surfing champion, and the first blind surfer to ride Nazaré - a wave that has broken sighted professionals at the height of their careers. In this conversation, Matt breaks down the framework he's built trust on his…
Some stories change the shape of a life. This one changed the shape of a movement. As we release this episode, four women and girls were killed in four days in Australia. Thirty-seven women and seventeen children have been killed since January 1st this year. That number is likely higher. Undercounting is part of the story Sherele Moody has spent a decade trying to fix. And whenever you are…
South Sudanese Australian founder and cultural intelligence consultant Adongwot Manyoul shares how her childhood experiences of racism and exclusion shaped her mission to transform education, workplaces, and communities. In this conversation, she breaks down why DEI often fails as a checkbox exercise, how cultural intelligence creates real change, and what it takes to move from awareness to…
AI isn't just another tool. It's intelligence becoming cheap, instant, and impossible to switch off from, and neurofuturist Joel Pearson thinks most of us haven't reckoned with what that actually means. In this episode, Mel sits down with Joel to unpack what happens to our brains, our work, and our relationships when thinking hard stops being necessary. They talk about the tension between…
My guest this week is Henry Shukman — poet, novelist, authorised Zen master in the Sanbo Zen lineage, and co-founder of The Way meditation app. His work has moved through boardrooms, retreat centres, and living rooms across the world, helping people find what lies on the other side of their suffering. Henry's path here was anything but direct. A spontaneous awakening experience at nineteen, years…
In this episode, Jan Owen reflects on her journey - from setting up illegal drop-in centres in Brisbane to pioneering Australia's first lived experience advocacy organisations. She unpacks how philanthropy evolved from government funding to innovative impact investing, revealing surprising shifts in funding models that continue to influence social change. You'll discover why informal community…
To premiere Season 2 of the Humans of Purpose Podcast, Mel sits down with Josh Ross from Humanitix. Josh Ross walked away from a hedge fund partnership at 26, turned down a lucrative career, and co-founded one of Australia's most radical companies with his best friend. Humanitix is an online event ticketing platform with one extraordinary difference: 100% of profits from booking fees go directly…
My guest this week is Rachel Ball, CEO of the Reichstein Foundation, where she works at the forefront of social, economic, and environmental justice through collaborative philanthropy and systems-level change. Rachel’s path into this work was shaped early. Growing up in Sydney in a family grounded in education, and later experiencing global inequality firsthand during a Rotary exchange in Brazil,…
My guest this week is Amanda Cahill, CEO of The Next Economy, where she works with regional communities across Australia to support a rapid, responsible, and fair transition away from fossil fuels. Amanda has spent more than 15 years working at the intersection of community, climate, and economic development. Her work focuses on helping regions navigate complex change, ensuring that as industries…
