Marieke Hardy is a screenwriter, playwright, producer, artist, immersive theatre maker, media presenter and recipient of the Sidney Myer Fellowship. We were thrilled to have her involved with Hey Lemonade as our first editor, writer and head of the first writer room. Marieke has enormous talent and experience when it comes to words and also exudes compassion and kindness.

Read on for a quick Q&A with Marieke about her involvement with Hey Lemonade.

What Hey Lemonade pep did you write? 

When you need to be kinder to your body

Why was this topic important to you?

Our amazing bodies are with us every second of every day, helping us grow and heal and survive, and sometimes our conversations with them are very unkind. I made forever friends with my body some years ago (of course I still have occasional tense days) and have found it very liberating. Whenever I sense a little wobble I go straight into a body gratitude meditation and try to broker peace. There’s no way I’m going to punish this awesome skin suit when we’ve been through so much together. Thank you body!

How was this talk personal to you, or when was a time when you needed this pep?

I grew up in a house of disordered eating with a parental figure consistently at war with their body. It was fairly embedded in me as a kid and young adult. I had to work hard to disentangle myself from that negative narrative – it would have been amazing to have accessed a warmer way of considering my body sooner.

What helps you feel optimistic (it can be big or small)?

Knowing that everything passes. It helps me be more in the moment.

What are you looking forward to today?

I’m going to meet one of my dearest friends in the world at one of my favourite restaurants in the world and I get to catch the train into the city and read one of my favourite books on the train. Total heaven! Yes I have already looked at the menu twice today and got excited about what we’ll eat.

Benjamin Gerrard is part of Hey Lemonade’s in-house psychology team who oversee and advise the content and writing of our pep talks. Benjamin is a published researcher in psychology, specialising in the benefits of solution-focused coaching, a theory that is used as the basis of our pep talks to help reframe perspective and mindset before or during a stressful moment. Benjamin has completed a Masters of Research in psychology and is currently undertaking the course work to complete a Masters of Forensic Psychology. 

Read below for a Q& A with Benjamin including an explanation of solution-focused therapy. Hey Lemonade are extremely honoured to have Benjamin in team Hey Lemonade.

What is your area of expertise?

I have conducted and published research on the benefits of solution-focused coaching and also on issues involving gender and status. Currently, however, I am training as an intern psychologist – working with offenders within forensic placements.

Can you tell us a little bit about Solution Focussed Therapy?

The chief premise of being ‘solution-focused’ is that, while it is tempting to ruminate and dwell on problems, the key to positive change is more about redirecting our attention to where we actually want to go. Solution-focused therapy invites clients to get ‘specific’ about goals and to identify the realistic baby steps required to get there. A focus on barriers and obstacles is actively avoided in favour of acknowledging strengths and resources. A proactive approach to ’empowerment’ or ‘up-skilling’ is also encouraged where required.

Why is Solution Focussed Therapy good for in the moment stress intervention?

Research has shown that focussing on solutions has a significant positive impact on mood. People feel happier (even when they are prone to dysfunctional attitudes) if they actively redirect their attention from obstacles and problems toward their strengths, resources and plans toward meaningful goals.

What appealed to you about becoming involved with Hey Lemonade?

This app has been developed with attention to evidence and with great care to be inclusive and accessible.

What surprised you about working on Hey Lemonade?

It made me appreciate the power of humour to inspire and uplift.

Why do you think in-the-moment stress interventions such as Hey Lemonade are useful?

In a fast-paced modern world – it’s not always possible for people to feel like they have access to little bursts of self-care throughout their day. The great positive of modern technology is that apps give us the power to gift ourselves mental health breaks even on the run.

Why do you think the Hey Lemonade pep talks are effective?

Hey Lemonade pep talks are like a friend in your pocket. They tap into universally shared concerns and anxieties. They inspire and remind us we are not alone.

What helps you re-set or pull it together in times of stress?

Haha trick question? HEY LEMONADE!

What are you looking forward to today and what are you worried about?

I have a two show day [side note: Ben also is a film and theatre actor ], a research proposal due and gym so I will definitely be squeezing in some meditation to stay calm, confident and grateful throughout!

You have spent time working with and studying a broad section of the community including children and families, the LGBTQI community, the arts community, and clients of the court system, what is a theme you have learnt about people during your journey as a researcher, coach and provisional psychologist?

That everyone is more similar than they are different. We are all on a journey and that everyone is striving in their own way to grow.

Move over bitcoin, peppervescents are here!

Welcome to the Hey Lemonade Pepiverse; where you have multiple best friends in your pocket 24/7, where the lemonade is scientifically proven to make you feel better and where our local currency is called ‘peppervescents’ (sometimes we call them P¢s for short because we know you’re busy.)

Peppervescents stands for ‘pep’ talks, filling you with ‘effervescence’ and all the time earning you ‘cents’! (We love a triple entendre.)

How do you earn them?

You can earn loads of peppervescents easy peasy lemon squeezy! When you become a paid subscriber to the app you start earning peppervescents. Suggest a pep or give us feedback? Have 100 peppervescents! Listen to a pep? Boom! Have 200 peppervescents! You’re welcome!

What can you do with them?

First up, you can use your peppervescents to share the HL love and gift pep talks to your friends, loved ones or the person crying in the toilet (even if they don’t have the app).  Your regular subscription includes 5 free peps to gift per month, however, the more peppervescents you earn the more generous a pep giver you can be! Gifting peps is a lovely way to tell someone you’re thinking about them while reducing their stress levels, upping their motivation and being the cheerleader your loved ones need, wherever they are in the world. To gift a pep it costs only 400 P¢s. 

We have our fashionista zesties covered too! Our luxe t-shirts can be redeemed using – yep – you guessed it – peppervescents! You can be pepped literally and figuratively with our “You’ve got this” tee. (Take a look at our shop to get a squiz of how cute they are)

Finally, for a limited time you will ALSO be able to redeem your peppervescents for a personlised pep from our founders! There will be a limited number of these on offer so keep your lemons peeled for when this special trade in goes live!

Help us help you!

We at HL HQ aren’t done yet! We are constantly coming up with new ways you can redeem your peppervescent bounty to get even more pep in your step, so watch this space…

And if you have any suggestions or requests, shoot us an email/message in a lemonade bottle – we’d love to hear from you! (and you’ll earn – correct – more peppervescents! Win win!) 

Benjamin Law is a journalist, playwright, author and broadcaster. He was also recently seen in the jungle on the TV show Survivor and his newest series Wellmania has just aired on Netflix and is ranked #7 globally. Hey Lemonade are so thrilled to have Benjamin on board as both a writer of peps and a voice companion. 

Read the below Q&A with Benjamin for the lemonade-flavoured-inside-scoop on which pep he loves and how mistakes make us human.

What appealed to you about being a voice for Hey Lemonade? 

Sometimes, the thing that’s gotten me out of a bad funk or a rough spot has been a good pep talk from someone whose opinion I valued and trusted. Being part of a community of writers and voices able to provide guidance – on the listener’s own terms – felt like an opportunity too good to pass up.

Name one talk that was a favourite and why? 

There’s a great pep talk by my mate Amy Thunig called “Big Meeting Gee Up” – it’s a great pep talk if you’re about to head into a professional meeting and feeling jittery and/or bowel-meltingly nervous. It’s one of my favourites because it’s not only well-written, but I know it helps: one of my friends recently DM’ed me to say she listened to this before a high-stakes job interview and totally crushed it.

What is one Hey Lemonade Pep talk you wrote? 

One of the peps I’ve written is “So You’ve Made a Mistake.” In a culture that rewards certainty, confidence and a complete lack of contrition, owning up to making a mistake is hard. It comes encumbered with so much confidence-sapping shame and remorse. As a result, it seems there are so few opportunities to wrestle with what you should do next.

How was this topic personal or important to you?

In so many ways, I wanted to articulate all the things I’ve ever needed to hear, for all the inevitable times I’ve screwed up. And it braids together the pep talks I’ve given myself and the pep talks I’ve gotten from others when I’ve needed it most.

When was a time when you needed your “So you’ve made a mistake” pep? 

Are you kidding? I make mistakes and let people down on the regular! Maybe it means I’m just worst than most people, but it’s also very possible it also just means I’m human.

Best-selling author for adults and children, columnist and co-host, Jamila Rizvi is a trusted and pragmatic voice in Australia on fairness and equality. Jamila has overcome an enormous amount in her short life and continues to work hard, with kindness and compassion at heart. We love having Jamila as part of Team Hey Lemonade.

Read on for a quick Q&A with Jamila about her involvement with Hey Lemonade

What appealed to you about being a voice for Hey Lemonade?

Too often conversations about mental health only start happening when someone is experiencing mental illness. But just like physical health, our mental health and wellness is also something to be nurtured, cared for and invested in. We should be aware of it, be capable of checking in with ourselves and be armed with tools to help keep us well. Mental health shouldn’t only be on our radar when we have challenges that have become urgent or serious. Hey Lemonade is a smart, evidence-based support apparatus for mental health and I was genuinely thrilled to play a very small part in bringing it to life.

What helps you feel optimistic?

I’m a woman who likes to have a plan. Making a plan is a way of taking positive action and having made a plan helps us feel more in control. I find that my brain is at its happiest when focused on outcomes, and devising a path to achieve those outcomes. That sounds super naff and like I am writing a management textbook but the optimism of a plan applies in all sorts of situations. Why else do we have New Year’s resolutions and buy fancy stationery when we start a new job? Those acts of planning are optimism in action. 

What helps you reset or pull together in times of stress? 

Just this week my son and I were talking about naming our emotions and trying to understand why we’re feeling angry or sad or helpless. It was a useful exercise but I also wanted him to know that emotions don’t always have to be unpicked and unpacked, forensically examined or diagnosed. Sometimes you just feel how you feel and what’s actually required is having a go-to list of what helps you to relax or reset. For me it’s dancing in the living room with my son, taking the dog for a walk in the bush, baking for someone I care about, and if I am really honest, filling up my online shopping cart with things I probably shouldn’t buy.

What are you looking forward to today? 

Right now I am not feeling particularly well. I live with disabilities and chronic illness so that’s a pretty standard part of my existence. Instead of getting angry at it, I have managed – well sometimes I manage – to reframe the ups and downs of illness as something to look forward to emerging from. So today I am firmly looking ahead to the middle of next week when I hope to be travelling interstate for work, sneaking in a visit to my parents and generally feeling energised again.

What’s a life lesson you’ve learned in the last five years? 

There is a book called The Round House by Louise Endrich that has a quote which has stayed with me through what has been a pretty harrowing five years. I will butcher it if I try and remember the exact words so I will describe the thrust of it instead… And that is:

Once you know fear… real, pulsating, all consuming fear. Fear that breaks through every distraction and lingers deep inside your chest… you also know that fear is not permanent. That your body and brain are not capable of living in that state of heightened awareness forever. That no matter how powerful the fear is, eventually it will loosen it’s grip on you and it will pass.

Meet Chief Brabon. Former Australian Infantry Soldier and internationally ranked ultra-endurance runner, Chief knows a thing or two about discipline, determination, and sacrifice. He believes that with the right tools and mindset each of us is capable of achieving great things.

Read the below Q&A with Chief Brabon to find out how the ultimate motivator pulls it together in times of stress.

What are one of the pep talks you voice on Hey Lemonade?  

“Help! I Accidentally screwed up someone’s pronouns”

What appealed to you about being a voice for Hey Lemonade?

I’ve been a coach for over 30 years, and I learned very early on the importance of providing people with not only inspiration, education, and discipline, but to also offer empathy, understanding, and hope. 

Name one talk that was a favourite and why?

I guess it’s no surprise that “Body Positivity” was one talk that I really connected to. Though I have spent more than 30 years helping people achieve their health & fitness goal, my focus has always been on helping people feel strong, and confident in the body they were blessed with.

All the Hey Lemonade talks are anchored in psychology and solution focussed theory – did you learn or find any of these tools/tips interesting or surprising?

Personally, I learned that it’s okay to make mistakes. In the ever changing landscape that is learning how to correctly use pronouns, we do not have to feel bad about making mistakes, it’s more important to apologise and to learn from the experience.

What helps you feel  optimistic ( it can be big or small)?

Seeing the positive effects my wife Emilie and I have on our clients lives.

What helps you to re-set or pull it together in times of stress?

Lacing up my running shoes, leaving my phone at home, and going for a long run through the coastal national park near our home. It’s a fantastic way to clear my head.

What are you looking forward to today? you to re-set or pull it together in times of stress?

I’m looking forward to taking my amazing wife Emilie, and our service dog Ezekiel, out on a dinner date.

What is something you are worried about?

With high interest rates and an overall higher cost of living right now, I worry about people cutting back on expenses and how that might effect our business.

What is a life lesson you have learnt in the last 5 years?

During the COVID lockdowns I learned the importance of being able to pivot quickly, and decisively, in order keep moving forward.