Margie’s Insights & Interviews
Welcome to Margie’s blog where she shares personal stories, interviews, tools and more for living bravely.
What Dad Taught Me About Thanksgiving
It’s Thanksgiving week, at least for all Americans, so I thought I’d pen a few thoughts on gratitude to mark this special holiday. My dad, who isn't an American but married my mum who is, taught me the most lessons I've ever learned about Thanksgiving. Over the years...
Live From Purpose
If you're reading this, chances are you're someone who wants to do well in your work and be paid well for it. But you also want more than that. You want to feel that it serves some purpose greater than a paycheck or a position. Albert Einstein said, “Ever more today...
Dealing with Emotional Vampires
Over the years I’ve been asked to do interviews on a whole range of topics but it's at Halloween that the topic of emotional vampires tends to come up. It’s a little kitsch but the media love things like that! (I’ve shared an interview from a few years ago below)....
Who’s In Your Tribe?
Think about the people in your life who you can count on to encourage you to do more and be more than you may otherwise believe. Now just imagine if you had double that amount of people cheering you on and supporting your success? As human beings, we are innately...
Overcome Negativity Bias
My daughter Maddy has often reminded me of the time I was late for her pre-school dance recital. Admittedly I should have left home sooner and I should have factored in that the car park would be full. But I didn’t. By the time I parked two blocks away, unbuckled my...
Suffering From ‘Best-Self’ Fatigue?
Greetings from Palm Springs! I’m here to speak at the Anytime Fitness Conference where I’m surrounded by 2,000+ fitness professionals. It's an interesting experience that's required me to practice my own advice and "own my enoughness" because I've been feeling...
Lower Your Mask, Let People In
Two weeks ago, my family and I landed in the humid air of Singapore to begin another chapter (my husband Andrew has taken on a leadership role here in Asia). As exciting as it is to embark on a new adventure, it’s also been challenging. Starting new chapters and...
Upgrade Your Mental Maps
Over the last three weeks, I’ve been in Europe enjoying the highlights of Italy, France and hiking up and down the Alps on a 'Tour de Mt Blanc'. I’m not sure if it was brave or foolhardy, but last week we hired a van in Rome to drive up to Tuscany. Thank God for GPS!...
Handle Criticism Better
“It is important to learn how to take criticism seriously but not personally.” ― Hillary Clinton It’s great advice. Yet if you’ve ever been criticized (and let’s face it, who hasn’t?), you’ll know that being told “not to take it personally” often does little to soften...
Conquer Impostor Syndrome
Leanne was recently promoted to head fashion buyer for an international clothing chain. When I rang to wish her congratulations, the first words out of her mouth were, “I’m just waiting for them to realize they made a mistake; that I don’t know near as much as they...
Embrace the Discomfort of Change
This morning I woke up (on a mattress on the floor) surrounded by boxes. Lots of boxes. Between now and unpacking them in Singapore in August, I’ll be living from a suitcase at “no fixed address". As you might imagine, moving home and hemisphere comes with mixed...
Let No One Play You Small
While I wish it were different, there will always be people who seek to lift themselves up by pulling others down. They aren’t necessarily bad people – more often they are operating out of a deep-seated fear of their own inadequacy. Making others feel inferior,...
Parent From Faith, Not Fear
Last weekend I was back in Washington D.C. celebrating my son Lachlan’s high school graduation. I vividly remember the day I gave him a hug at Melbourne airport as he boarded his flight to travel across the world to pursue his passion for basketball and forge his own...
Your Words Shape Your Reality
“I can’t break up with him. I just can’t,” Sue told me, “It will just kill him.” “Sue I’m not a doctor but I’m pretty sure breaking off your engagement won’t kill him. It may be very upsetting for a while, but his heart will continue to beat and so will yours,” I...
Lean Into The Curves
What does it take to make God laugh? Tell him your plans. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying. Well let’s just say that God has been having a good old chuckle at me over the last week because guess what? I’m moving to Singapore. And guess what else? This was not in my...
Failure Isn’t Final
When I sat down to interview Bill Marriott at Marriott’s international headquarters, I hadn’t reckoned on him turning the tables to interview me at the end. As you will see from our exchange, one of the things I shared with him is my belief that failure is never final...
Don’t Sweat Small Decisions
Is sweating unimportant decisions keeping you from making smarter ones? I’ve just returned to Australia after a very rewarding but not very restful 6 days in the US. As a 'frequent flyer' I’ve learnt the importance of giving myself permission to make imperfect...
Dial Up Your Courage
I've been writing in a journal off and on since I was eleven. While my entries have evolved since my 'tween' years, a common thread has woven through many of them: COURAGE. Or more precisely, the need to dial it up! Of course, courage comes in many forms and be...
Women: Be Bold For Change!
Happy International Women's Day! We are women. Hear us roar. Some days. Other days, not so much. In fact, there’s a lot of days that we spend a large majority of time second guessing our decisions, questioning our value, beating ourselves up or talking ourselves down....
When Bravery Doesn’t Pay Off
Yes, “Fortune favors the bold." But that doesn't mean every risk we take will be immediately rewarded. Sometimes when we take a deep dive out of our comfort zone into the water below, we land flat on our face. The question is, what to do when your best and bravest...
