Engaging Conversations | Inspiring Dialogue, Empowering Communities
Welcome to Engaging Conversations, the podcast that connects you with the pulse of our local communities.
Hosted by Leon Goltsman, Co-Founder of Ecolibrium Headquarters (EcoHQ), each episode invites you on an inspiring journey into the stories that shape and uplift our neighbourhoods.
From visionary leaders and industry experts to everyday heroes making a difference, Engaging Conversations offers an exclusive look into our society’s diverse and dynamic fabric. This podcast is your gateway to broadening your perspective, building meaningful connections, and being inspired.
Please note that the views and opinions expressed by guests on this podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the host or EcoHQ. The discussions in this podcast are for informational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered professional, financial, medical, or legal advice. Listeners are encouraged to seek independent professional advice before making any decisions based on the content of this podcast.
Tune in, join the conversation, and discover the people, places, and purpose driving positive change.
Engaging Conversations | Inspiring Dialogue, Empowering Communities
#24 - Words That Wound: How Everyday Language Shapes Gender Respect with Rachael Natoli
What we say reveals who we are—especially when we think no one's listening.
Rachael Natoli, founder of Lokahi Foundation, brings raw honesty and practical wisdom to our conversation about the language that shapes attitudes toward women and ultimately fuels violence. As a mother raising twin boys and leading a foundation supporting abuse survivors, Rachel occupies a unique position at the intersection of personal experience and professional advocacy.
We explore how casual phrases like "boys will be boys" create the foundation for disrespect that can escalate to abuse. Rachael shares a striking story about her son, who was raised in a home that was hyper-aware of language and who is still absorbed concerning attitudes from external influences. This reality check illustrates the powerful cultural forces working against families trying to raise respectful young men.
The conversation takes us through the critical spaces where change must happen—from locker rooms where men speak freely when women aren't present to workplaces where young apprentices navigate established cultures to online spaces where algorithms can rapidly lead young men toward toxic content. Rachel offers practical strategies for men to challenge disrespect without confrontation and explains why male voices are essential in this movement.
Perhaps most thought-provoking is Rachael's reframing of feminism—not as a radical position, but simply as the belief in gender equality. When even women hesitate to embrace this label, how can we build the unified approach needed to address a crisis where police respond to domestic violence every three minutes in NSW alone?
Ready to move beyond awareness to meaningful action? Listen now to discover how everyday conversations and small acts of courage can help build communities where respect isn't optional—it's expected.
Thank you for listening!
Hello and welcome back to another episode of Engaging Conversations. I'm your host, Leon Goltsman, and I want to thank you for tuning into a podcast that's all about real people, real challenges and real change. Now, before we begin, I'd like to extend my gratitude to Niaz Cannoth from Invest Intelligence. Niaz continues to be a valued supporter of this program, and his commitment to community integrity and meaningful action reflects the very heart of what we share here, and today's episode is one that speaks to all of us. Our guest is Rachael Natoli, founder and CEO of Lokahi Foundation, a grassroots organization supporting people impacted by domestic and family abuse. Rachael is not only a Westfield local hero. She's a survivor, a mother of twin boys and a strong, compassionate voice for unity, respect and change.
Leon Goltsman:We explore how language shapes attitudes, how common phrases like boys will be boys can normalise harmful behaviour, and why it's time for all of us, especially men, to step up. Rachael explains how simple conversations at home can make a difference, how male role models can shape the culture of respect and why staying silent is no longer an option. This is an episode about courage, accountability and creating a culture where respect isn't optional. It's expected. If you've ever wondered how you can be part of the solution. This conversation is a powerful place to start, so, without further ado, let's get into it.
Rachael Natoli:My name is Rachael Notoli and I'm the CEO and founder of the Lokahi Foundation. And I'm the CEO and founder of the Lokahi Foundation. I was in a long-term abusive relationship, which is what led to me starting a charity to support women and children impacted by domestic and family abuse, and I'm a mum to 12-year-old boys and one of the world's biggest Roosters fans.
Leon Goltsman:Okay, Thank you for the opportunity to sit down and talk to you, because I know you do amazing things, not just here in the Sydney's eastern suburbs, but a lot of your good work gets noticed and recognised lots of places. Rather than me sharing it, do you want to tell us a little bit about one of your most recent acknowledgements that you got one of your recognised awards?
Rachael Natoli:Well, maybe we should acknowledge that I was privileged enough to be nominated as a Westfield Local Hero in Bondi Junction last year and thank you to all those who voted. That meant that we actually I won the award of Westfield Local Hero, but for me it's more about Lokahi actually being acknowledged for all the work that my caseworkers do on a daily basis and a $20,000 check that goes towards all the hard work that we do.
Leon Goltsman:Certainly well deserved, but it's not really all about winning awards, because I know it's nice to receive awards and being recognised, but I think the real accomplishment comes with what you do for people who need your support what you do for people who need your support. So, Rachael, look, I know experts often point out inequality and everyday disrespect towards women are key drivers of violence. This suggests the language men use daily. Even casual jokes or comments can either reinforce or challenge those harmful attitudes. What do you think about that?
Rachael Natoli:I actually think that language plays a huge part in gender inequality. I think that we all need to be much more aware of the language that we're using, and it's something that even I'm still learning from. I remember being at a forum last year and somebody that I have a lot of respect for in the Aboriginal community in Lismore spoke about the fact that we say hey guys, when we're actually speaking to ladies, and why you know why are we still using very male, stereotypical language. So I think you know we have a long way to go all of us in correcting that. Just to make it non-gender specific. We're not asking everybody to be politically correct all the time, but just to take out the gender type language that we use every day.
Leon Goltsman:And you mentioned why this is important. But can I also ask you, why is it so critical for men to really pay attention to how they communicate with and about women?
Rachael Natoli:So I think it's really important that we talk about how both men and women communicate, and let's start with the fact that gender inequality is one of the biggest drivers of violence and abuse towards women.
Rachael Natoli:And I think if we acknowledge that from the start, we realise what a huge job we still have to do, but also that we are making some small steps towards progress.
Rachael Natoli:I think we really do need to acknowledge the language it's used, especially for our younger generation, older men and women, you know and I'm not talking old, I'm talking about older, our role models for our younger generations, and it's up to us to make sure that they're being raised.
Rachael Natoli:I'm talking about older, our role models for our younger generations, and it's up to us to make sure that they're being raised to respect the opposite gender, but also to respect their own gender and themselves right from the very beginning, because respect is key. And when we have journalists as we did in the last couple of weeks on mainstream radio stations, making comments about female sport and let's be honest, leon, a female sport that the World Cup a couple of years ago was one of the biggest watched events on TV making inappropriate comments about female sport and referring to your own private parts in having those jokes is just so inappropriate now and says to younger people that that's okay, that's acceptable, and we can continue to diminish women and continue to put down women in whatever roles that they've chosen, but especially in female sport, which is something we are trying to ensure has a bigger place in our world.
Leon Goltsman:Well, it's interesting you mentioned women as well. I mean one of those phrases that we often hear male, female, just about everybody phrases like boys will be boys and having these sort of phrases have been used for generations, as you mentioned, to excuse or downplay bad behavior, from rough housing to locker rooms talk as part of normal male culture, and now we know that that happens with female culture as well. Such mindsets assume that men or boys naturally talk or act a certain way and therefore shouldn't be held accountable for it. How is the boys will be boys mentally harmful when it comes to respect for women and why do we need to retire these lame excuses in order to hold men accountable for their words and actions?
Rachael Natoli:Boys will be boys is one of the worst phrases that still exists in common society and as a mother of two young preteen boys, I think I'm in a great position to be able to discuss it. There are certainly some behaviours that I believe are much more obvious, much more common in male gender children than would be in female gender children. There's no doubt that there are physical changes that occur for boys that they're not happening for girls and vice versa, and I think you know we also need to acknowledge that as boys are growing, there's lots of testosterone going around their bodies and women have lots of estrogen. You know, young girls have estrogen, so the hormones are very, very different. Does that mean that it's okay for boys to physically assault each other? Absolutely not, because when we accept that they're physically assaulting each other, we are teaching them that it's okay to physically assault somebody. Is it okay when boys walk around on the streets spitting on the floor? No, it's absolutely not acceptable. We wouldn't accept that in adult society. Why are we accepting it for young boys? You know there's lots of little things like that that we need to pick up, but this stereotypical language of oh, it's okay because they're boys is not acceptable, in the same way that we don't say, well, girls will be girls. That is not a common phrase, so why are we allowing it for men?
Rachael Natoli:As a mum of 12 year old twin boys who runs a domestic abuse charity and has always been very tough with them about respect and respecting themselves and respecting the opposite gender and how we speak about women, I think what we're seeing more and more now is the influx of social media and technology and how much that impacts our young men, and my boys have just started high school.
Rachael Natoli:One of the parents groups was talking about chess club. Now I think it's whether it's acceptable or not, it's kind of common knowledge that if you're in chess club you're a bit of a nerd. Now I think again that's bizarre and it's very stereotypical, but you know that the the common misconception about chess club. My partner said to our boys out said to one of our boys at dinner a couple of weeks ago that he should consider joining chess club because he's been playing chess with my partner over the summer holidays. His response was, and I quote hell, nah, bro. Everyone knows those in chess club ain't getting no b****es. Now this is from a young man who has been raised by a single mum for most of his life, who knows all about domestic abuse and domestic violence, who knows all about respect for women and yes, he was joking and no, he doesn't normally refer to women as b****es but that language is still coming through, even in a house where he knows it won't be tolerated.
Leon Goltsman:Yeah, well, a lot of the education happens at home and at school and the other one happens in the real world, and you want to make sure that by the time you get in the real world you're equipped. What we're talking about today, you know, not just about children, but also the impact that our leaders and our role models have on those children. And one of the things and we'll talk more about that a little bit later on but one of the most noticeable observations is that most damaging remarks about women happen when the women are not present. I mean, the so-called locker room. Talk amongst guys is the kind of spaces that the males feel safe, they feel comfortable, they're protected, and yet this private banter reflects one's true attitude and does influence behavior. So why does it matter how men speak about women when women aren't around? And how can men hold each other accountable in these moments?
Rachael Natoli:I think it's really important you know what both genders say in public and in private, because one you never know who's actually listening. And again I come back to our children being looking to us as role models. But also you don't know who you're saying it to and what they have personally experienced. And respect has to be key to all that we are saying. So we need to be showing respect for everybody around us.
Rachael Natoli:I think what can be very difficult with the locker room talk and you know what men might say privately is that not all of their friends may agree.
Rachael Natoli:Not all of the men with them at that time may hold that opinion.
Rachael Natoli:So how do men feel they can step up and speak out against that?
Rachael Natoli:And I think it can be really difficult. And when we go and speak in schools about through Lakai's education program, when I go and speak in schools, I speak to young men about being active upstanders, not bystanders, and how you can call it out with a group of friends and we have to call it out and say that's not funny, or I think one of the best ways to do is to actually put that person on the spot and say I'm sorry, I don't understand. Can you explain it to me, because then you haven't done anything other than ask them to self-reflect. And when they have to explain it to you, it's not half as funny as it seemed to them in the first place. But you know, the only way I feel like we're going to make a difference with the language that men are using is for other men to call them out, because if women are the ones that are always calling them out, they're just nags or they're feminists, which nowadays is not apparently a great thing to be.
Leon Goltsman:So, Rachael, if a teenage boy hears his dad or idol constantly speaking about women in a dismissive or derogatory way, he's likely to adopt similar language, isn't that right?
Rachael Natoli:Absolutely. I think when young men hear a male role model whether that's their father or their grandfather or an uncle, whether it's their sports coach or a teacher anyone that they view as a role model speaking disrespectfully or in a derogatory manner about women, they start to believe that that is an acceptable way to speak. It's very, very hard to undo that way of thinking when that's what they've grown up around.
Leon Goltsman:I think you've hit the nail right on the head. So, on that, what responsibility do older or more established men as fathers, mentors or community leaders have in modelling respectful communication towards women, and how can these role models actively guide younger men to set a better example in the way they talk about women?
Rachael Natoli:I think older men have a huge responsibility in setting good examples to younger men and to younger girls or women about how to respect the opposite gender.
Rachael Natoli:It's not just about young men.
Rachael Natoli:It's about young women too, about them learning some self-respect, about them putting boundaries in place, about them recognising red flags.
Rachael Natoli:As much as it is for young men about learning to respect the opposite gender and treat women in the way that they would want their mum, their sister, themselves to be treated.
Rachael Natoli:The older men need to be showing not only how to behave, not only how to speak, not only that women play a huge role in our lives and how much women do on a daily basis in the household, as well as trying to work and as well as trying to do everything else, but also, I think, in sharing the load at home and teaching these young men and women that they are equal with their partners. So you know they are expected to treat their girlfriends or their wives with respect, but they are also expected to take part. They're also expected to step up as fathers. They're also expected to step up in household chores. You know it doesn't have to all fall on the women, and even more so these older men, whether they are the dads, whether they are the teachers, call out when they see young boys being disrespectful. And if they get called out straight away from their older role models, they are much less likely to repeat offend.
Leon Goltsman:And that's all good to say that when the role models are around, but with today's technology, I mean, it's pretty ubiquitous. Social media, online gaming, influencer culture we're all exposed now more and more to misogynistic messages of toxic role models, at a click of a button, from viral videos that disparage women to online forums that normalise aggression. I mean, the digital world can shape how young men speak and think about women, sometimes in very troubling ways. So how can we reach young men who are growing up immersed in this online culture and empower them to communicate respectfully about women?
Rachael Natoli:I'm not an expert in online culture, but what I do know is that people like Andrew Tate have become very popular amongst younger men because of their money, their power, their attractiveness, their you know attractiveness to the opposite sex, and I think it can be very, very damaging to young men. I recently heard, in a lecture that I went to about now, that AI is so huge. If you are on social media and you're a young man who clicks on one thing, it can lead you down a very dark rabbit hole and, before they know it, they are being very much exposed to a lot of misogynist information, and that that can be really harmful. So what can we do to help our young ones to, um, to make sure that they aren't exposed to that, or at least make sure they have, you know, a much more balanced view? I think we have to keep those those uh doors of communication open. As hard as it is with young teens or preteens, we have to just keep talking to them.
Rachael Natoli:I think that the move towards limiting social media or banning social media under a certain age is a great one, because it only serves to protect our children for a little bit longer and allow them to be kids. It's about also making sure that there's education in schools For me, I believe that should be from kindergarten onwards about respectful relationships, about toxic masculinity. So if we can educate our children year on year, they have a much better chance of understanding when they are exposed to that kind of stuff stuff that it's actually not something that they want to look into.
Leon Goltsman:So my understanding of what you're saying is empowering young children, more or less, to be able to make decisions for themselves.
Rachael Natoli:Yeah, absolutely. It's all about empowering our young ones to make the right decisions themselves. We know that as they're going through their teens, they're much less likely to listen to their parents, so we need to empower them to make those sensible decisions themselves.
Leon Goltsman:Starting children early, and then eventually, young men will enter the workforce, and when they do, some of them may end up in male dominated or traditional blokey industries. So, Rachael, what advice would you give to young men in the workplace, from apprentices and new grads to team leaders and veterans, about challenging disrespectful talk or attitudes toward women on the job?
Rachael Natoli:For young men coming into new workplaces, especially for apprentices and new grads. I think it's very, very difficult for them to challenge attitudes and behaviour where they're going in as the new kid and they're trying to establish themselves and that's their main focus. I think what they need to remember is that you start as you mean to go on and if they accept those attitudes, disrespectful comments or sexist jokes from the beginning, they're actually going to have to accept them for the long run, whereas, you know, I think there are ways that they can do it without making themselves unpopular. You know, when we look at male dominated sporting codes, we've come a long way in in the last few years but we still have a long way to go. Being an NRL fan myself, I found it very, very difficult that we have introduced as a code less tolerance on violence against and disrespect towards women and yet we've had players still allowed to play after they've been convicted whether it's been in a criminal court, whether it's been overseas or whether it's been accused and not actually got to a final hearing. And I think you know it makes it very, very difficult for women to feel safe in those environments. I think for the young men they really need to be thinking about whether they're willing to accept that behaviour long term. And if they're not speaking to somebody that they can trust to say that they don't feel comfortable in that environment or calling it out and, as we said before, asking the person to explain it, it's the best way to do it without coming across as being rude or confrontational, just asking them to explain their joke.
Rachael Natoli:We've already spoken about the importance of role models, so I think if you have a platform that you can use in a positive way, if you are a successful sports player, if you are a successful movie star, television star, whatever it might be you should be using that for good, and many do so, you know.
Rachael Natoli:Let's actually celebrate those that are using it for good, but you know there are some that aren't using it in the way that they could go totally the other way. And when that's accepted by those around them and their codes allow them to keep playing or they keep being allowed to film movies, no matter how they behave, we end up with huge issues, and I think you know, we all know about the Me Too movement, we all know about Harvey Weinstein and you know how he treated women over the course of his career. So when we look at those things, we know if that had been called out by people sooner, he would have had to stop. We have to, as a community, work together to make sure that everybody is on the same page and that this disrespect that leads to violence, that leads to abuse, that leads to so much gender inequality is not tolerated by anybody.
Leon Goltsman:And that's really important to call things out, especially when people are in a position of power and they're entrusted, they're responsible for other people's safety, for, whether it's an organisation, whether it's a community, whether it's their peers, their friends, their friends, they should not turn a blind eye to these sort of things, do you agree?
Rachael Natoli:Turning a blind eye is one of the worst things that you can do, because by turning a blind eye, what you are telling the person who has made those inappropriate comments who is quite likely a perpetrator themselves is that nobody's going to call them out and that their behaviour is acceptable, and that you's going to call them out and that their behaviour is acceptable and that you're going to let it continue. So we have to call out those poor behaviours when we see them, so that those people know that they're on notice and you know, we don't want them to have no fear of repercussions. We want them to know that they are being watched, they have been noticed and we're going to continue looking at what they're doing and how they're behaving.
Leon Goltsman:And that does take a lot of courage and it's important. I mean, one of the things about our podcast, our program and having these conversations is to let people know that they're not alone. If they see something, they should call it out. So how can we ensure that the message of respectful communication and zero tolerance for abusers reaches men in all communities? What can community leaders do to make sure that men in the local area understand that disrespecting women is never okay and inspire them to be part of the solution?
Rachael Natoli:is never okay and inspire them to be part of the solution. I think that this message of respectful communication and zero tolerance for abuse is really important and there's still a huge stigma around domestic and family violence. I think we don't like to talk about it, we don't like to acknowledge it and I think that's very obvious from the fact that more women were murdered in Australia last year than any other year previously. And if you look at high profile politicians our premier in New South Wales, our prime minister, the ministers for domestic violence, you will not see them comment on those statistics. And yet when two sailors unfortunately and very, very tragically passed away in the Sydney to Hobart, our Prime Minister was happy to put a post up straight away. That was two men really, really tragic, very sad for their families and you know huge condolences for them. But what about the 70 women that were murdered as a direct result of domestic and family violence last year? It falls on deaf ears and until we come together as a community and until our community leaders step up and lead that call, we are going to continue to see women being murdered in our country due to domestic and family violence. And it's not just about those that are murdered. It's about all of those women and children that are impacted every single day. There's so much domestic and family violence in New South Wales, specifically now and I speak about that because I was with the police, commissioner last week police now attend a domestic violence incident in New South Wales every three minutes. Every three minutes they're getting a call about domestic and family violence and that comes from this culture of disrespect, this culture of keeping it behind closed doors, this culture of not calling it out when we see it. So you know, we have organisations like Our Watch that are doing lots of research and create some great initiatives to support.
Rachael Natoli:But ultimately, we have to involve the whole community. So if you're a community leader and you really want to make a difference, you need to go and speak to your local domestic violence services, find out what they're seeing. You need to involve victim survivors of domestic and family abuse because they've lived it. They know what's going on behind closed doors and they often have great ideas of how we can combat the awful situation that this country is living through with domestic violence. So, involving as many people as you can. But we have to stop calling this a women's problem. It is everybody's problem. Yes, it's mainly men perpetrating violence against women. That's what the stats tell us. But it is not only men perpetrating against women. There are women that perpetrate against men. There are same-sex relationships where rates are very, very high. We have to tackle it as a whole community and we have to bring good men, respectful men, powerful men, into this conversation, into these community calls, if we really want to make a difference.
Leon Goltsman:So there are a lot of worthy causes out there who are doing great things and trying to. How effective are such organisations in actually shifting men's attitude and behaviours? And how can men who are listening today move beyond just wearing, say, a white ribbon or signing a pledge? What does it look like to live out the commitments in everyday life and truly be a role model in today's community?
Rachael Natoli:I think if you truly want to be a role model in today's community, when you come to gender inequality, domestic and family abuse, come to gender inequality, domestic and family abuse, we have to take it back. We have to step back, and one of the biggest issues that I have at the moment is even women don't want to call themselves a feminist. Now, I've had friends of mine that say that they won't call themselves feminists because there's this old fashioned view of what a feminist is. If you Google feminism, feminism is a movement that advocates for the equality of men and women in all aspects of life. Now, when you break it down to a definition, how many people do you know that do not want men and women to have equity and equality?
Rachael Natoli:There's many of us that disagree that men and women have different skills in some areas and that not as many women are going to be as strong as men. Physically strong. There are certainly women that are stronger than many men, but generally men have different hormones and they are designed differently, so they are going to have different skills and expertise than women. That's not what we're talking about. We are talking about them being treated in the same way to achieve gender equity.
Rachael Natoli:Now, if women won't call themselves feminists, how can we expect men to call themselves feminists? And I know quite a few feminist men or men that would call themselves feminists, but not necessarily openly. Now imagine if we could get more men to acknowledge feminism for what it actually is. That would then mean that they were more willing to step up and take action towards gender equity. If we have better gender equity, if we achieve that, we're less likely to have domestic and family violence, because with gender equity means we have more respect for each other. We have to take it back to those basics so that we can try and achieve what we want to, and those male role models need to go and look up feminism, be able to call themselves feminists and say that they actually want to have gender equity.
Leon Goltsman:So there's a lot of valuable information covered here. As a final takeaway, what is the one practical change of action you would urge every man listening to adopt, in how he talks or behaves, to set a better example and help create a safer, more respectful culture for women and girls? What's a realistic starting point for men who want to make a positive impact right now?
Rachael Natoli:For men that are wanting to make a positive impact right now. I think there's a whole list of things that I can suggest, but if we're talking about being a male role model, then start calling out toxic behaviour, start calling out toxic masculinity, start calling out disrespectful comments. Go home and speak to your children tonight your son and your daughter, or either or about what respect is how they should be treating others, what they should be willing to accept themselves, and let's start by making those small differences at home. And you know, if you want to do more than that, there is so much more that you can do in terms of supporting local domestic and family violence charities. But you know, it all starts at home and it starts with the way that we speak ourselves and the way that our children or our nieces and nephews or other children nearby, hear us speak. If we can get that right and we can call out the other toxic behaviours that we see, we have a chance of actually changing the narrative.
Leon Goltsman:Rachael, thank you so much. So if people wanted to help out, get involved, how might they go about doing that?
Rachael Natoli:If people want to get involved with Lokahi specifically, then they can email us. They can contact us on social media. Our website is Lokahi and we are on Facebook, linkedin and Instagram if people want to look us up. But I also suggest that you look up your local domestic violence charities. This isn't about Lokahi specifically, but about supporting women and children that are impacted by domestic and family abuse. So, no matter where you are, go and find a local charity that you can support. It doesn't have to be financial support. You might have skills that you can offer. You might be happy to fundraise for them. You might be able to volunteer for them in some way. There is so much that we can do, and I'm sure they would love to bring women and men into their organisations in some way. To you know, show that we can all work together to try and solve this issue.
Leon Goltsman:Very good advice. So there's a lot of great organisations around Australia, and what you said to me a while back is that it's great doing good things for your community, that when more people come together, you cooperate together and because of that, you're able to have a much louder voice.
Rachael Natoli:Absolutely, you know, the more of us that can work together, the bigger impact we're able to have a much louder voice. Absolutely, you know, the more of us that can work together, the bigger impact we're going to have. Likahi means unity and harmony, because what I saw when I was leaving domestic violence was that there wasn't enough unity between services, and so if we take this holistic approach and we bring everybody into this conversation and we work with other services, other agencies, and build really strong relationships, then we can help more people, but we can also have much better results, much faster, for those women and children that have been impacted.
Leon Goltsman:Well, Rachael, thank you so much for your time. Thank you for everything that you do. Really appreciate you coming on the show and I'm sure a lot of people will appreciate that as well thank you for having me, leon, I appreciate it and that brings us to the end of another meaningful episode of engaging conversations.
Leon Goltsman:a heartfelt thank you to Rachael natale, not only for sharing her personal journey, but the incredible work she's doing through the Lokahi Foundation to help build safer, more respectful communities. If there's one thing that we can all take away from today, it's that language matters. The words we use, whether at home or at work, or with our mates, shape how we think, how we treat others and the kind of culture we create. Respect starts with us, and it's something that's revealed through our actions, not just words. I'd also like to take the opportunity to express my gratitude for the incredible response to our last episode with Theo from Hillview Op Shop. After hearing how they gave back over $1 million to the community in just one year alone, one listener told us after hearing that podcast, I want to visit that place and get involved as well, and that's exactly what this show is about sharing stories that inspire action.
Leon Goltsman:Now, if you've made it this far, can I ask you for a quick favour, very quick one. Think of one person, just one, who would benefit from hearing today's conversation, and I would really appreciate it if you could please share it with them. That simple act alone might open up a door, spark a reflection or even change a perspective. And something I'm really excited to share with you is that, as of next week, we're taking engaging conversations beyond the studio. We're taking engaging conversations beyond the studio, connecting with voices from every corner of the country, from local legends to community leaders, professionals and people in positions of influence. We're sharing stories that matter, whether it's from our own neighborhoods or far reaching towns. We're giving people a platform and empowering them to use it. There's so much more to come. A huge thank you, as always, to Niaz Cannoth from Invest Intelligence for his support. Thank you.
