Go In Courage Podcast

🎙 Go In Courage Podcast Episode 55: You Are Not Broken: Autism, ADHD, Courage and Reinventing Your Life with Amie Barlow.
What happens when you stop forcing your brain, career and identity into a life that was never designed for you? In this episode, Rix Banga welcomes fitness and ADHD coach Amie Barlow for an honest, funny and deeply personal conversation about autism, ADHD, neurodivergence, anxiety, identity and reinvention.
Amie shares her journey from professional dance and performing in the West End to building a successful career in fitness, online coaching and content creation. After growing her business quickly, she realised she had built it around somebody else’s model and that it no longer worked for her brain, energy or sense of purpose.
Diagnosed with ADD at 11 and later diagnosed with ADHD and autism as an adult, Amie reflects on finally understanding herself without allowing those labels to become limitations.
Together, Rix and Amie explore emotional regulation, anxiety attacks, childhood triggers, trauma responses, relationships, dopamine, intuition, faith, entrepreneurship and what it means to build a life around how your brain genuinely works.

🎙 Go In Courage Podcast Episode 54: When Your Old Life No Longer Fits: The Courage to Transform
What happens when the identity you built your life around no longer feels like you? In this episode, Rix Banga welcomes Kat Smailis back to the Go In Courage podcast for a reflective conversation about identity, personal transformation and the courage to follow an invitation into the unknown.
Kat shares why she stepped away from being known primarily as an intimacy therapist and entered a season of profound change. She explores the uncertainty of releasing an old identity without knowing what will replace it, and how her experience in Egypt became a defining turning point.
Together, Rix and Kat unpack the hero’s journey, our resistance to uncertainty, the psychological death of an old self and what happens when your previous life no longer fits. Rix also reflects on loss, resilience and learning that courage is not always about enduring more pain. Sometimes it means treating yourself more gently while you heal.
Looking to the hero's journey, using modern day stories such as Superman, The Matrix, The Alchemist and metamorphosis, they explore what it means to live from the heart and become who you are ready to be.

🎙 Go In Courage Podcast Episode 53: Discarded, Rejected and Depressed: How Jean Turned Pain Into Purpose.
In this episode, host Rix Banga sits down with Jean Bender, a holistic practitioner based in Bali, to explore depression, rejection, childhood trauma, panic attacks, spirituality, emotional healing and what it means to rebuild your life after losing connection with yourself.
Jean shares her journey from growing up in Germany and being forced to become independent at a young age, to experiencing abandonment, family breakdown and the overwhelming responsibility of caring for her younger sister.
After years of carrying more than she could emotionally process, Jean reached a point where she completely shut down. She fell into a severe depression, slept for almost a month and discovered that depression was not simply sadness. For her, it felt like complete numbness, as though a grey veil had fallen over her entire life.
Together, Rix and Jean unpack the impact of childhood rejection, the relationship between emotional pain and physical wellbeing, destructive coping mechanisms, panic attacks and the courage required to face the parts of ourselves we would rather avoid.

🎙 Go In Courage Podcast Episode 52: My Body Forced Me to Become a Healer - Here's What I Learned, with Julia Schmidt
In this episode, host Rix Banga sits down with Julia Schmidt, a holistic therapist and practitioner based in Bali, to explore chronic illness, depression, healing, shadow work, spirituality, courage and what it means to reconnect with who you really are.
Julia shares her journey from growing up in Germany and struggling with depression from a young age, to travelling, moving to Bali, walking away from a marketing agency and dedicating her life to holistic healing.
Together, they unpack the connection between mind, body, emotions and the nervous system, and why healing often requires us to look honestly at the things we would rather avoid. Julia also opens up about living with autoimmune issues, chronic fatigue, asthma and nasal polyps, and how her own health struggles led her into studying multiple healing modalities.
This is a deep, honest and thought-provoking conversation about pain, purpose, anxiety, trust, generational patterns, community, spirituality and why we do not have to heal alone.
Julia also shares the heart behind Sacred Emotions, her retreat work, and The Holistic Safe Space, where she supports people through one-to-one sessions.

🎙 Go In Courage Podcast Episode 51: Finding Strength After Sexual Assault: I Returned the Shame That Was Never Mine to Carry (Dandelions Carry No Shame).
In this episode, host Rix Banga sits down with Sara, a pilot, public speaker and founder of Dandelions Carry No Shame, to explore courage, trauma healing, shame, self-worth and what it means to rebuild after painful life experiences.
Sara shares her journey from growing up in Sweden and struggling with labels around intelligence, to becoming a female pilot in a male-dominated industry. She opens up about overcoming a fear of flying, handling a real Boeing 737 engine failure early in her career, and the moment she finally told herself: “Sara, you are a very capable woman.”
This is a powerful, honest and deeply human conversation about sexual assault, silence, shame, therapy, self-love, laughter, grief and the difference between reckless courage and courage that comes with wisdom. Sara also shares the heart behind her movement, Dandelions Carry No Shame, created to help people return the shame that was never theirs to carry and begin to bloom again.
Please listen with care, as this episode includes discussion of sexual assault, trauma, bulimia and emotional abuse.