Yumi St ynes
Stynesis the host of ABC podcastLadies, We Need
To Talk, which deals with sex, bodies and other tricky
stuff ladies need to talk about. It was awarded best
lifestyle and health podcast at the Australian Podcast
Awards this year.“When my first child came along, it was a real fork in the
road. I was 25 and considered a young mum, especially
for my peer group. I didn’t have a friend who’d been in
a similar situation prior to me, so that was hard. I had to
grow up and figure stuff out immediately.
Now Anouk is older (she’s 16), I can see that she’s
taught me so much. You’re meant to teach your kids but you
don’t often understand how much they teach you. She’s
very calm and always has been; when she was a baby she
would look up at me with these big brown eyes. She was
comfortable just gazing at me, maintaining eye contact in
a way that would be a bit weird if it were an adult. It makes
you check yourself, having a baby stare into your soul like
that. It makes you wonder what they’re seeing there. She
has a real stillness in her that I just love. I hate being still
myself, I always want to be achieving something and
ticking something off, and when I’m in a flap, it’s lovely to
have her calm presence.
The biggest thing Anouk has taught me is to just be
honest. The world won’t crumble if you tell someone the
truth. Having a kid helps you to communicate in a way that
is really clear; you don’t have time to be obfuscating and
waffling on. That directness has informed so much of my
work, especially the podcast. You have to be honest.
Otherwise what’s the point of it all?”
Tracey Spicer
After the allegations against Harvey Weinstein
were made public, broadcaster and journalist Spicer
called for Aussie women to report their own #MeToo
moment. She received close to 2,000 responses,
which she is still combing through to lodge a full
report. In March, she founded NOW Australia
(now.org.au), a non-profit which will tackle
workplace abuse and assault.“Liza Jayne (LJ) Loch has been my best friend since we sat
next to each other on the first day of uni, back in 1987.
I purposely sat alone because I was terrified. I was this
bogan kid from Redcliffe in Brisbane; I wasn’t even sure
how they’d let me into uni. But LJ sat down next to me and
said, ‘Hi, can I be your friend?’ I said, ‘Yeah, okay,’ and
we’ve been best friends ever since.
LJ softens my rough edges. I came from a very rough area
and she helped me fit in. And I kind of have this habit of
crashing through life; I really like to get things done and fix
everything. I want to fix all the problems in the world right
away and LJ’s the patient, sensible one. I go from zero to 100
immediately, I’m like a firecracker. But LJ is such a lovely,
moderating influence. When the #MeToo movement
started in the US, I said to her, ‘We need to do this here, too.’
She knew that I meant, ‘Let’s do this right this very
second,’ and so she very sensibly told me that
there was no way we could do it on our own
and we needed more people. We set up
a steering committee and a board,
and LJ was the natural choice for the chair; she’s
so good at bringing people together.
We are incredibly blessed to share
a friendship that has been so deep and long-
lasting. Over the years I’ve learnt that
collaboration is the key to anything you do in
life. The greatest gift I’ve been given when it
comes to my achievements is learning how to
collaborate, and finding the best partner to do
that with. LJ is a gift.”Dress $670,MAJE,
(02) 9327 3377“IT MAKES YOU CHECK
YOURSELF, HAVING
A BABY STARE INTO
YOUR SOUL
LIKE THAT. IT MAKES
YOU WONDER
WHAT THEY’RE SEEING
THERE”Additional photography: Alana Landsberry/Bauer-Syndication.com