Kate Fisher shares her blood donation advocacy work with Drew Barrymore & her guests at Wanderlust, True North, Brisbane.
Author Kate Fisher shares her books Milkshakes for Marleigh & her latest release, a book she has co-authored called Women Making a Difference with Drew Barry and her speakers on the Wanderlust tour.
On Saturday 3rd August, Kate Fisher (and over 3000 other guests!) joined Drew Barrymore in Brisbane at “Wanderlust True North for an intimate, candid evening filled with joy, laughter and inspiration. As America’s sweetheart and daytime TV queen, this beloved A-list Hollywood star will brought her extraordinary life to the stage, sharing heartfelt stories, entertaining anecdotes and her commitment to making the world a better place.”
Drew spoke on stage with her guests: Terri Irwin; Dannii Minogue; Baker Boy; Emma Watkins and Michael Klim. They all shared their passions for their various pursuits in life and well as how they strive to make the world a better place.
Kate Fisher, shared copies of her books Milkshakes for Marleigh and Women Making a Difference with Drew and her guests, proudly sharing the global impact of her blood donation advocacy and her mission to end persistent critical blood shortages in Australia and around the world.
Kate shares her key takeaways from each guest:
Drew Barrymore
Drew shared that she will forever be a student and that she continues to learn about the world by listening to those around her. She shared that her greatest takeaway from the evening is about the concept of permission. When to give it to others and when to give it ourselves.
“I need so sit in gratitude so that I look outside myself and learn from others. How they make their choices in small ways to to put one foot in front of the other and then in the choices we make that have a global impact. “
Dannii Minogue
As one of Australia’s most well known entertainers, Dannii shared her value in the importance of the people we surround ourselves with. She offered advice in parenting and in life that when things get hard, we shouldnt seek to make it harder, we should try to make it fun!
Her greatest advice was:
“When all else fails put on some music and dance!”
Terri Irwin
Terri is the matriarch of the Irwin wildlife conservation movement. Living just up the road from the home of Milkshakes for Marleigh, at Australia Zoo on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Terri looked just as comfotable on the stage sharing her story with Drew as we have seen her feeding a crocodile many times in the “Crocoseum” on our regular zoo visits.
Terri shared the way that she loved her late husband Steve and how she continues to honour his memory as their children grow and she has become a grandmother. Her greatest advive was that “grief is never a competition”. She spoke about the way that it changes and that like all relationships it will never be experienced the same way by two people, nor will grief feel the same for every bereavement.
Terri left the audience with a sense that there are no excuses for not taking action to make the world a better place for the world a better place for those around us.
Baker Boy
Danzel James Baker is a Yolngu rapper, dancer, artist and actor. Under his performing name “Baker Boy” he uses music and dance to communicate and create social change in Australia’s most remote communities. He is best known for his multi-lingual rapping and for being the first Indigeous artist to achieve mainsteam success rapping in Yolngu Matha language alongside English. This is the story he shared with Drew:
“My grandparents told me the stories of their travel around the world through videos they had taken of music and dancing. Through this they brought hip hop dancing to Arkham land and other remote communities. They were called the baker boys and now I am the baker boy sharing stories in my own way”
I use the piece of storytelling to taker the issue of shame in remote communities. Putting music out on YouTube was only ever for fun. I’m a a dancer not a musician!
Music is my passion and it has now become my focus to teach people indigenous languages and ensure that it is preserved.
Shame stops us from dancing and telling our stories and we need our stories are so important to our identity. Music and dancing gets me out of shame.”
Supportive friends and family are the key. You need people who will push you, they help you to take off and then you can meet your wing span. “
Emma Watkins
Emma has worn many “crowns”. From wearing the Dorothy the Dinosaur and Yellow Wiggle costumes to transitioning to a PhD candidate and creating character Emma Memma where she seeks to empower children through the joy of movement, creativity, inclusiveness and friendship, Emma seeks to foster connections. Her Auslan YouTube Channel focuses a variety of non-verbal communication styles. On stage with Drew, she shared how she has navigated the challenges she has faced and pivoted onto new and amazing things:
“I had an injury that meant the trajectory of my life changed. I thought I was on one path and when my back was injured meant my dream and direction had to change.
“In the words of a performer ‘the show must go on’ so I auditioned for other things / like and ballet dancing fairy in the Wiggles show. Then I was with the wiggles for the next 12 years.
And now I’m on another chapter in my journey.
Just try new things – if you are terrible at them – that’s fine!
I shared my story of Endometriosis by just telling the truth and that opened up the conversation for so many others when I told my story. More people come up to me in the street to talk and Endo than they do about any other work I’ve ever done”
Michael Klim
Klimmy is an iconic Australian! Alongside being an Olympic Swimming Champion and world record holder holder, he wrote his way into Australian folklore at the completion of men’s relay when after beating the USA, Klimmy showed them how they had been “played like guitars”.
In his retirement, Klimmy has faced significant health and mobility challenges and an eventual diagnosis of Chronic Inflammatory Demylinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP) which is being treated with donated human plasma in the form of Intravenous Immunoglobulin Infusion (IVIg). He is an ambassor for Lifeblood, a well loved member of the Milkshakes for Marleigh community (having featured on the podcast and having a chapter in the book) and is very promminent plasma donation advocate.
Klimmy’s first book hits shelves on 28 August and will be a cracker of a read!
He shared the following with Drew:
“As athletes we are expected to ignore the niggles in our body and push through pain. But for our health we need to listen to our body.
This made my diagnosis and health struggles so much harder to face. My intrinsic self just wanted to ignore it and not reach out for help, but it’s just not possible. This was my rock bottom in terms of emotional and spiritual wellbeing.
Being an Olympic althlete didnt help when I hit my emotional rock bottom. When I was swimming I had the support of the team and then support of Australia and now I am an advocate for plasma donation and that’s my act of service to repay all that I have been given.”
Where to find out more?
You can get a copy of The Milkshakes for Marleigh Book in all good bookstores or:
