EPISODE 16

Life is tough. But so are you!

How do you cope when everything comes crashing down? 

In this episode, I’m chatting with the remarkable Briony Benjamin. Briony is a keynote speaker, author, and global storyteller. She has a remarkable passion for creating content that resonates with people and her videos have gone on to touch more than 200 million people.

Briony was working as an executive producer at Australia’s largest media outlet for women, MamaMia. After 18 months of working, she found out she had Stage 4 Lymphoma. Briony turned the camera around on herself to document her whole journey with cancer in the video ‘You Only Get One Life’. Her raw video went viral and has connected with millions going through similar situations. 

She then launched her first book ‘Life Is Tough (But So Are You)’ to combine her guidance, experiences, wisdom, and advice to help people get through the difficult and darkest times in their lives. 

Briony is an inspiration to everyone and I’m so grateful to have her on the show today to share her story.

Topics discussed:

[2:33]: Briony shares her early life before writing her book. She was passionate about creating impact and change through creating stories. 

[3:27]: She completed a film degree after her commerce degree. 

[4:45]: Briony was very passionate about creating a story that people will share because it resonates with them. 

[5:31]: Her first job was working for a production company for purpose-led groups. 

[5:50]: Briony came up with the idea of a documentary of young women in domestic violence hosted by a comedian. She then went on to work with Mamamia. 

[7:18]: 6 weeks into working with Mamamia, she helped make a video that went viral on Facebook with 20 million views in 2 days. 

[8:38]: Briony had been working at Mamamia for 18 months and felt awful. Finally, she was diagnosed with Stage 4 Lymphoma. 

[10:06]: Briony started documenting the journey. Video journaling helped her to get her feelings out. Her colleague at Mamamia edited the video and it went up on the Mamamia platform and went viral. 

[14:12]: A publisher saw her video and reached out to see if Briony wanted to turn the video into a book - Life Is Tough (But So Are You). 

[15:26]: Journaling through chemotherapy unlocked her love of writing again. Briony talks about the process of writing her book. 

[17:55]: The book launched 6 months ago. Briony discusses launching her book mid Covid. 

[19:45]: Hearing from people who’ve loved and been touched by the book is the biggest honour of Briony’s life. 

[21:25]: Where to find ‘Life Is Tough (But So Are You)’. 

[22:16]: Where to find Briony.

Links & Resources.

Connect with Briony: 

• Instagram: @briony_benjamin

•  Website: https://www.brionybenjamin.com/ 

•  Book: Life Is Tough (But So Are You), How to rise to the challenge when things go pear-shaped by Briony Benjamin

   

Connect with Rebecca: 

• Instagram: @therebeccasaunders
• Video Accelerator Program: The Video Accelerator | Rebecca Saunders

Thank you for listening!

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