Sometimes superwomen don’t wear capes. Kathy Kelly lost both of her 18-year-old sons – one to alcohol-fuelled violence and the other to suicide – She became a keynote speaker and was often mobbed by everyday people wondering where she gets all of her strength from, but she didn’t know what to tell them – she was just a mother, a wife and a friend. Kathy shows people that the small stuff we all have inside us that we think is no big deal IS enough.

After not sleeping for seven days straight, going from drug den to drug den, injecting some of the strongest drugs available, and considering taking his own life, Daniel Kolarik picked up the phone, rang his mum and said: “Mum, I can’t do this anymore..I need help”. He was sent to a rehab clinic where he was broken down and built back up again into a new man – he hasn’t touched drugs or alcohol since October 2021, he runs his own business, has rebuilt relationships with his family and friends and takes great pride in telling his story of overcoming drug addiction to people who have no hope just like he did for such a long time.

Airlie Dodds is an aspiring actress giving life the best crack she can. She auditioned for a role to support Cate Blanchett, has tried stand-up comedy, and has starred in a short film. She is uncertain about her place in the world and about whether her contribution is enough, but until she finds the answers, she’s going to keep giving life the best crack she can.

When the opportunity came knocking for Ahmed Kelly, he rolled out the red carpet, put it in the comfy chair and got a glass of champagne! Ahmed could easily have wallowed in self-pity after being born with severe limb deficiencies in his arms and legs and lived in an orphanage in Baghdad until the age of seven, but Ahmed was adopted and brought to Australia by Moira Kelly, became a Paralympic athlete and won a silver medal in the swimming at the Paralympic games in Tokyo in 2021. Ahmed shows that sometimes good things DO happen to good people.

You can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl – Sarah Jones grew up as a ridiculously passionate sports fan in the Victorian country town of Echuca – she has gone on to live every sports fan’s dream as a commentator, host and presenter on Fox Sports Australia where her gigs have included the AFL Grand Final, the Melbourne Cup, the Australian Open, The Ashes and The Presidents Cup. Despite being something of a media celebrity, Sarah is just a “country girl, done good” at heart.

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Andrew J Kelly is a modern leader – he is the CEO of the Antarctic Science Foundation, was the head of fundraising for the Children’s Medical Research Institute at Westmead Hospital, and started his career with 8 years in the banking industry while also competing in road cycling. He puts his impressive career success though down to the people around him–excellent role models like his old cycling coach who taught him the most important lesson he would come to learn – “Keep turning up” – if wisdom were a strawberry – Andrew J Kelly would be eating a lot of smoothies.

Some people in the world try and LOOK happy and successful to create an aura they think people like, but then other people are just fair dinkum happy people – Scott Gibbons is one of those. “Mr sold” is an auctioneer, an MC, a podcast and on-screen host, but more importantly, Scott is a loving husband, brother and friend and just a flat-out good bloke. If the word “authentic” needed a poster child, it would be Scott Gibbons – he doesn’t pretend to be different things for different people. He is who he is, sticks to his guns and happiness seems to find him.

Eugene Cheong is a person with a disability helping other PWDs find self-employment – Eugene founded Chemism after completing an industrial design degree at university. After his stroke, Eugene searched for a job but was offered very manual data entry and shelf stacking positions. Feeling he had more value to offer the world, he started Chemism – an online platform that partners people with disability with professional Australian business people or organisations who will help guide PWD to self-employment

Ken Marslew is not a “victim” – he has always had options. When Ken’s son Michael was gunned down during a robbery at Pizza Hut in 1994, he used that tragedy to try and make the world a better place – He started an antiviolence movement called “Enough is Enough”, he has been criticised for trying to help criminals rehabilitate (including offering his sons killer a job), but he’s just a real human being trying to offer people a chance to realise that we all have options, so we shouldn’t be too quick to call ourselves “victims.”

Brandon Jack is a tough, no-nonsense Australian man. He faced incredible odds as a young man, but stood up to them, conquered his fears and became the man HE wanted to be, not the man people THOUGHT he should be. Brandon played 28 games of AFL for the Sydney Swans, but stepped away from the sport to pursue his artistic passions – writing, music and journalism. Brandon’s bravery comes in not doing what was expected of him but doing what he loved – this is a story of modern bravery.

The wisdom that was passed down to Juliette Obrien from her parents, Gail and Chris, helped her move forward after Chris’s death from a brain tumour, then write a book about her mother, Gail and how she helped open and run a cancer hospital opened in Chris’s honour – the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse. Juliette is a wise old head on a young lady’s shoulders.