CQUni stories inspire with new How to Change a Life podcast
This article is at least a year old
A new in-house podcast from CQUniversity Australia is helping guide listeners in transforming lives, as people with big dreams share their stories of taking a life-changing plunge.
How to Change a Life launched earlier this month, and CQUniversity creators say the project aims to inspire people left uncertain about life and careers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The podcast hears from global industry leaders, and passionate locals transforming lives around them, with stories centred in Cairns, Rockhampton, Bundaberg, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, and internationally.
In the latest emotional episode, Cairns 21-year-old Caitlin Peacock explains how a car crash, and subsequent time in prison, prompted her career dream of helping people as a paramedic.
This month the passionate student began her Bachelor of Paramedic Science at CQUniversity Cairns.
“As soon as I crashed my car, I realised ‘this isn’t the life I want’, and I think from that instant was when I wanted to change myself,” she explains.
The episode also hears from local Queensland Ambulance Service paramedic Jo Selby, who attended the catastrophic 2018 crash, and CQUniversity STEPS Access Coordinator Virginia Kruger, who supported Caitlin to complete a bridging course into her degree.
“Starting uni and doing my STEPS course has made me realise, I can do it, I can change my life,” Caitlin says.
Four CQUniversity’s Alumni of the Year recipients also share their stories, including Cairns startup founder Jodie Mlikota.
Now the CEO of national catering platform Gathar, Jodie explains how a CQUniversity assignment, and encouragement from her lecturer, inspired her to put her idea into action.
And Jodie says the decision to launch from Cairns was a game-changer.
“A lot of early opportunities came because we were in a regional area and not in spite of it, you can be a big fish in a smaller pond and sometimes that has its advantages,” she says.
“Then there’s things like it’s not as expensive to live in Cairns! Being in a regional area has definitely contributed to the success of Gathar.”
The series also hears from global leaders at Deloitte and GHD, researchers exploring ways to improve our mental and physical health, and high-profile Australians making a national impact.
CQUniversity Director of Strategic Engagement Chris Veraa said he’s proud to see the in-house podcast share inspiring stories from across CQUniversity.
“We know at CQUniversity our accessible and inclusive education and research help change lives every day,” he says.
“It’s really compelling to hear about some of those life-changing decisions, first-hand from the people who made them, and then to explore the career and life journeys that follow.”
How to Change a Life is hosted by CQUniversity Communications team member Mary Bolling, and features CQUniversity experts on the science of changing lives, with hacks to bring brains, bodies, and communities along for the ride.
The podcast’s moving soundtrack is created by CQUni alumnus and Cairns creative Tristan Barton.
This is a press release which we link to from Podnews, our daily newsletter about podcasting and on-demand. We may make small edits for editorial reasons.