
Turning Setbacks into Success: Holly’s Path from Student to Rural OT Leader
The Passion Occupational Therapy PodcastShow Notes
In this conversation, Parish interviews Holly, an occupational therapist (OT), about her journey in the field. They discuss Holly's first interaction with an OT when she broke her spine, her decision to become an OT, her experiences at university, and her passion for rural health. Holly shares her experience working in a rural outreach programme and the challenges she faced as a new grad OT. Overall, the conversation highlights the importance of support, self-reflection, and finding fulfilment in one's career. Holly shares her journey from nearly quitting university to running a successful OT business. She emphasises the importance of self-care, setting boundaries, and surrounding yourself with supportive people. Holly also discusses the challenges and rewards of starting and running her own business, as well as the value of authenticity in podcasting and social media. She offers supervision services and encourages others to pursue their passions and be true to themselves.
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Listen to Holly the OT Podcast here.
More from The Passion Occupational Therapy Podcast
In this episode of the Passion Occupational Therapy Podcast, Parish sits down with Chris Antartis from Rebel Recruitment, a specialist in allied health recruitment across Australia.
When Storm Menzies broke her dominant hand, she quickly discovered just how inaccessible the beauty world can be. That moment sparked an idea and eventually, ByStorm, a brand reimagining beauty tools through an inclusive and adaptive lens. In this episode, we dive into Storm’s inspiring journey from a background in health sciences to becoming a founder and innovator. She opens up about the challenges of designing adaptive beauty tools, the stigma surrounding assistive products, and her mission to make inclusivity the norm, not the niche. We also explore how occupational therapists can play a powerful role in shaping accessibility, not just in clinical settings, but in industries like beauty, design, and product development.
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For over two years, I’ve been living through a journey I never expected, one that has tested me mentally, emotionally, and physically, and transformed my life in ways I’m still processing.
🧠 Episode Summary: In this episode, Parish is joined by Justin from WheelieWorx as they bust common myths about wheelchairs, from the idea that “all wheelchairs are basically the same” to whether power assist makes users “lazy.” Together, they explore the clinical, functional, and human elements of wheelchair prescription, and how important it is for OTs to develop genuine confidence and clarity in their clinical reasoning. You’ll hear real talk from two OTs with different perspectives and lived experience in the wheelchair space, and why it’s so important we move away from the “tick-a-box” approach to scripting.