The StrongHER Side Project
The StrongHER Side Podcast, created and hosted by Hannah Gair, is a heart-led, truth-telling space for mothers navigating the extraordinary journey of raising children with disabilities or additional needs. As a mother of three—one with complex special needs—Hannah knows the unspoken realities, the quiet strength, and the daily courage it takes to keep going. This podcast is your sanctuary for support, strategy, and solidarity. Each week, Hannah brings you raw, real conversations—featuring expert insights, powerful mother-to-mother interviews, and empowering solo episodes. Topics include navigating the NDIS, understanding your child’s diagnosis, managing burnout, reclaiming your identity, and advocating fearlessly—all while finding moments of joy in the everyday chaos. Whether you’re overwhelmed, hopeful, heartbroken, or simply exhausted—Hannah sees you. She will walk beside you. And here, you’re not alone. Welcome to The StrongHER Side—where motherhood meets courage.
Episodes
Jessica Patay is the founder and CEO of We Are Brave Together, a nonprofit serving over 4,200 caregiving mothers across 50 states and 30 countries. She's a caregiving mum to her 22-year-old son Ryan who lives with Prader-Willi syndrome and Autism, and she's spent over two decades navigating extreme caregiving.
In this conversation, Jessica gets brutally honest about the isolation, the burnout, the control we desperately grasp for w...
In this heartfelt episode, Hannah welcomes Alison Archbold, an esteemed Associate Professor, Genetic Counsellor and Researcher to explore how genetic testing and counseling are revolutionizing healthcare and empowering individuals with life-changing information.
Alison discusses the critical gaps she has identified in access to genetic testing in Australia, especially around reproductive genetics and screening for conditions like c...
Sophie Cobden is a life coach from London who shares her personal journey with candor and warmth. With a strong background in overcoming personal challenges such as severe bullying during her school years, Sophie transitioned into a career of guiding others through life's complexities. She is also a twin, mother to neurodivergent children, and the co-host of the podcast "We're Not Your Typical." Her open sharing about raising child...
If you've ever felt like traditional mindset advice doesn't quite fit your reality as a mum raising a child with disabilities, this episode is for you.
Hannah dives into why the typical mindset conversations happening across social media and personal development books often leave disability mums feeling like they're failing, because the truth is most of that advice is built around the assumption that people have flexibility, that y...
Hey mama, welcome to a very special episode where we're looking back at the last 6 months since launching this podcast to an audience of two, Hannah and myself, and now to you lovely humans who've found us along the way.
One theme kept coming up in every conversation we had with our guests, The One Thing, the single activity that when you do it everything else in your life becomes more manageable, not your number 10 thing but your ...
Kate Ivey is the founder of Kate Ivey Fitness a thriving online fitness platform operating across New Zealand and Australia. She runs a rural farm in the South Island of New Zealand with her husband and three teenagers, including her 15 year old daughter Olivia who has autism.
Behind the successful business is a journey most people never see.
Kate has navigated the heartbreak of watching her daughter struggle in mainstream school,...
We're celebrating Vanessa turning 40 by doing something a little different — getting brutally honest about our biggest failures as parents, business owners, and friends.
Vanessa's just back from her weekend away in New Zealand kicking up her heels with her sisters (and yes, there's a hilarious photo of Andrew delivering her a Valentine's Day gin and tonic in sunglasses as we started recording - that you need to see).
To celebrate, ...
You know what's wild? I woke up one day with what I thought was a spider bite on my face. Turns out it was shingles.
When the doctor asked if I'd been stressed lately, I laughed. My son was scheduled for his quarterly post-cancer scan, he'd been feeling unwell with the same symptoms that led to his diagnosis two years ago, and my cortisol was through the roof. The doctor's advice? "You're going to have to learn to not worry about ...
In this episode, Collett Smart, Host of Raising Teens, psychologist, qualified teacher, speaker, and internationally published author, brings her deep expertise in healthy relationships to a powerful conversation with Hannah Gair.
Hannah shares her journey of raising her son with Fragile X syndrome, offering an honest and deeply human insight into motherhood, resilience, identity, and strength shaped through unexpected circumstance...
What happens when two women strip back the polished version and share the raw truth? Vanessa opens up about falling pregnant at 18, facing judgment, and raising her daughter solo while building an incredible life. Hannah shares her journey through childhood sexual abuse, foster caring before becoming a mum, and finding her calling in empowering women. This isn't your typical getting-to-know-you chat—it's two best m...
There's a reason certain women are always described as strong. We're the ones who don't fall apart. We keep going when things get hard. We don't make our needs visible. And over time, that behavior gets rewarded—people rely on us, trust us, lean on us.
But here's what almost no one talks about: When strength becomes the thing people expect from you, your nervous system never gets the message that it's safe to stand down.
I'm Hannah...
Mama, we see you. We know your calendar is filled with therapy appointments, medical visits, and school meetings—not exactly the glossy goal-setting life Instagram shows us, right?
Traditional goal-setting wasn't designed for us. It assumes control we don't have, focuses on achievement when we're in survival mode, and completely ignores the invisible work we do every single day.
That's why we're doing things differently.
In this ep...
What a whirlwind 2025 has been for us! As we sit down to reflect on the past months, we want to share the challenges, triumphs, and the heart behind our mission to empower mothers—especially those of you navigating the complexities of raising children with disabilities. Join us as we unpack our journey and look ahead to what's coming next.
In this episode, Hannah sits down with Alex, a personal trainer and advocate living with autism, to explore the complexities and nuances of his journey. Alex shares his personal experiences growing up with autism, elaborating on the unique challenges and insights that have shaped his life. He emphasises the importance of understanding communication styles and the critical role of empathy and patience in engaging with neurodivergen...
Welcome back, Mama. We're so glad you're here. Today's conversation is big and sobering—we're shining light on the financial crisis disability mums face when raising children with additional needs. This isn't about fear or guilt, it's about truth. Because when we name what's happening, we create space to change it.
Join Hannah Gair as she converses with Graeme Cowan, a key figure behind Australia's R U OK? movement. Graeme shares his personal journey through depression and his insights on mental health, emphasizing the importance of community and self-care. With practical advice for carers, especially moms raising children with disabilities, Graeme offers strategies for maintaining mental well-being, such as ident...
The diagnosis changes everything. In this raw and honest episode, Hannah opens up about the grief that no one warns you about—the kind that comes when your child is diagnosed with a disability or additional needs.
She shares her own story of receiving her son Sunny's intellectual disability report, the waves of chronic sorrow that resurface at every milestone, and the sacred journey of rebuilding yourself around loss.
We're walkin...
This episode is one I've been sitting with for a while, and I knew it was time to have this conversation with you.
We're talking about self-worth – but not in a superficial way.
I'm talking about the deep, often confronting truth that so many of us as mothers, particularly those of us raising children with disa...
In this episode, Hannah flies solo and challenges the myth that Mama’s who suffer from burnout are seen to be weak.
Up to 77% of parents of children with complex care needs experience parental burnout - a level of chronic exhaustion, emotional distance and overwhelm far higher than in the general parenting population.
(Journal of Child and Family Studies, 2004)
Hannah unpacks the topic of burnout and the emotional and phys...
When you know something isn’t right, trust that inner voice.
In this powerful episode of The StrongHER Side Podcast, host Hannah Gair sits down with Tennessee mum Moriah Zwick to share the remarkable story of her son Noah, diagnosed with MEF2C haploinsufficiency syndrome, a rare genetic disorder affecting fewer than 400 people worldwide.
Through honest, tear-filled conversation, Moriah opens up about the earliest signs she noticed—...
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