Living Reflections is a podcast by Dr Mel Baker, co‑hosted with Sean Menere, designed to explore mental health, leadership, and lived experience through a layered, magazine‑style format. Blending personal reflection, expert insight, guest stories, and practical tools, each episode offers a different way into clarity and grounded leadership. Whether you’re seeking depth, strategy, or presence, this is a space to pause, reflect, and return to yourself. Mel and Sean bring a grounded, relational presence to each conversation, inviting listeners into depth, lightness, and quiet clarity in equal measure. Come as you are. Be witnesses. Be held. In a world that rushes past our inner lives, Living Reflections is a pause. A breath. A return.
Dr Mel Baker is an author, trauma‑informed educator, and international speaker whose work sits at the intersection of lived experience, leadership, and wellbeing. Before founding Living Your Wellbeing, Mel spent years working in high‑pressure environments — from humanitarian aid to frontline roles in policing and the military — experiences that shaped her understanding of endurance, identity, and transformation. Mel brings a steady presence that helps people feel safe, seen, and able to explore the deeper layers of their own story. Her work now focuses on helping individuals and organisations move from survival to wholeness, drawing on both her academic expertise and the wisdom carved from her own journey. Her conviction: we have the power to heal ourselves, living with trauma is not the end of the story.
Sean Menere is a registered counsellor, mental health coach, and founder of Solid Foundations Counselling in Melbourne. Prior to his work in the mental health industry, Sean spent over 16 years as an Air Traffic Controller and more than a decade of that time training controllers to sustain performance in environments where the cost of burnout wasn't just metaphorical. He also deployed to Casey Station in Antarctica over two consecutive summer seasons where, upon noticing the absence of dedicated peer support structures for men on station, he built one himself. He now brings that same thinking to his work with individuals, groups and organisations navigating burnout, uncertainty, and life transitions. His conviction: we don't need tougher people, we need better conditions and effective support.
Seasons 1-4. Across 23 voices and 27 topics, a clear message has emerged — that self-growth in an inner journey. From becoming our own blueprint, to cultivating self-love and inner leadership, to finding balance, and finally to living whole, these seasons have traced a path back to ourselves. This series revealed the deeper through-line of what Living Reflections has always been about: the power of honest conversations to bring us home.
Seasons 5-8. Starting in July 2026 is the first season on Compassionate Leadership with a line up of amazing guests from all over the world: Lisa Elia, Cindy Koehler, Chiron Yeng, Mike Elliott, Mark Worthington, and Susannah B. Further themes will explore in this series: resilient leadership, transformative leadership, and ethical leadership. Slots available for transformative or ethical leadership.
Join us for a meaningful roundtable conversation exploring one of the most important questions in modern leadership: If resilient leaders are crucial, then how are we caring for them? How are we designing systems that prevent burnout rather than glorify endurance? This webinar brings together leaders, practitioners, and thinkers who are ready to talk openly about the pressures leaders face - emotionally, physically, and organisationally - and what needs to shift.
Season 5: Compassionate Leadership
Season 6: Resilient Leadership
the strength of the series including a live webinar
Season 7: Transformative Leadership
Join us for a meaningful roundtable conversation exploring one of the most important questions in modern leadership:
If resilient leaders are crucial, then how are we caring for them? How are we designing systems that prevent burnout rather than glorify endurance?
Hosted by:
Dr Mel Baker is a trauma-informed storyteller, author, educator, and founder of Living Your Wellbeing.
Sean Menere is a counsellor, mental health coach, and founder of Solid Foundations Counselling.
Speakers:
Sally Clarke is a workplace burnout and culture expert, keynote speaker, and former corporate finance lawyer.
Jaci Rogash is a trauma transformation coach, breathwork facilitator, speaker, and writer.
Byron McCaughey is a psychologist for entrepreneurs to build sustainable businesses, founder of Sublime Studio.
Join us for our first LIVE WEBINAR
Starting in July 2026, Series 2 shifts our lens onto Leadership. Over the upcoming seasons (Seasons 5–8), we are exploring what it means to lead from the inside out. We will dive deeply into Compassionate Leadership, Resilient Leadership, Transformative Leadership, and Ethical Leadership. We are bringing together a lineup of global leaders, practitioners, and deep thinkers to discuss how we build environments where leaders can thrive without burning out.
We are thrilled to welcome an incredible cohort of international voices for our season on Compassionate Leadership. Upcoming conversations will feature insights from Lisa Elia, Cindy Koehler, Chiron Yeng, Mike Elliott, Mark Worthington, and Susannah B. Each guest brings a distinct perspective on bridging high-level strategy with deep, human-centred presence.
Our first live roundtable webinar takes place on 3 August 2026 from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM AEST. We will be tackling a critical modern question: If resilient leaders are crucial, how are we actually caring for them? You can secure your spot and receive the access link by clicking the "Collaborate" button on this page or visiting our Collaborate portal to register your interest.
If you are looking for personal development, emotional clarity, and inner mapping, we highly recommend diving into Series 1: Self Growth (Seasons 1–4). Across 27 topics and 23 unique voices, this series traces a foundational path back to yourself, covering themes like cultivating self-love, finding balance, and building your own inner blueprint. If you are focused on professional growth, systemic culture, and team dynamics, jump straight into our newest episodes in Series 2: Leadership.
Feel free to write to Mel via email or Collaborate button on the contact page. If your topic can fit into one of our themes for next year, we would love to include it.
We are always looking for authentic stories and grounded expertise that prioritise radical truth over easy answers. If you have a lived experience or a professional framework that aligns with our upcoming themes in Transformative, or Ethical leadership, please reach out via our Collaborate page or email us directly at admin@livingyourwellbeing.com.au with a brief summary of the conversation you'd love to spark along with your story and bio. We will also hold space for you in 2027.
You can engage Mel for workshops, speaking engagements, collaborations, or community programs. Visit the “Collaborate” page to share your interest and begin a conversation about what you’re hoping to create together.
