What if the thing you thought made you different… is the very thing that connects you to everyone else?

Anton and Ben did not set out to make a podcast. They started with a conversation. Two migrants comparing notes over a glass of wine, asking a simple question: “Why did no one tell us this before we came?” What followed became A Stranger, A Suitcase, and A Story.

Episode 19 is our Season One reflection where we look back on the stories, patterns, and moments that stayed with us, and on why this podcast exists in the first place. It’s about what we heard, what we learned, and why these conversations matter for anyone who’s ever packed a suitcase and started again.

Across the episodes of Season One, we listened to people who left for different reasons - safety, opportunity, adventure, conscience, family, but arrived carrying the same quiet questions. We heard stories of courage and hesitation, grief and rebuilding, ambition and belonging. Some guests left because things were broken. Others left because things were good, but they sensed another chapter waiting.

What emerged wasn’t a checklist for migration, but something more human. That the stranger feeling is normal. That the suitcase is heavier than it looks. That the story you bring with you does not disappear, it asks to be understood. And that belonging often arrives quietly: a neighbour, a colleague, a braai, a conversation where you finally exhale.

Season One is not about having the answers. It’s about recognising yourself in someone else’s journey and realising you’re not doing this alone.

If these stories helped even one person say: “It’s not just me”, then we have succeeded.

🎧 Listen to episode 19 of a Stranger, a Suitcase and A Story at https://3spod.com

Also on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts.

#AStrangerASuitcaseAndAStory #3SPod #SeasonOne #MigrationStories #Belonging #Identity #NewBeginnings #NotAlone #SouthernCrossings #Podcast

She didn’t wait for permission, she built a table, pulled up chairs, and told women, “Your voice belongs here.”

Anton and Ben sit down with MD (Margaret Dreyer), whose default setting is “How can I help?” and whose north star is growing women’s talent wherever she stands. From becoming South Africa’s first female audit partner to serving on Deloitte Australia’s board, her through-line is the same: spot potential, open a door, make sure it stays open for the next woman. That’s how you get to numbers that matter. From five to around 400 female partners at Deloitte Australia today, and why so many careers trace back to a quiet conversation she started, a nudge she gave, a standard she refused to lower.

But impact is not only measured in titles. For years, MD helped thousands of South Africans find their footing in Australia. Recruiting, mentoring, and connecting people until “new country” started to feel like “home.” Ask her for a number and she’ll say it straight: more than 8,000 careers touched across firms and roles. Ask how, and she’ll point you to the people, not the spreadsheets.

If you want to see who she is, meet her at a Deloitte SAFFA braai. Lane Cove National Park, families everywhere, kids chasing each other between picnic tables, the smell of boerie on the grill, koeksisters on a paper plate, and MD moving through the crowd making sure everyone’s included. That’s the mindset: generous, practical, no fuss. It’s the same mindset behind her inclusion work, fighting for human rights in the everyday, not just in policy documents.

Listen to Episode 18 at https://3spod.com Also on your fav channels: Spotify, YouTube, Apple.

#AStrangerASuitcaseAndAStory #3SPod #Episode18 #MD #MigrationStories #Generosity #HumanRights #Inclusion #WomenInLeadership #Legacy #Deloitte #SAFFA #Braai #Belonging #SouthAfricansInAustralia #Podcast

When everything familiar fell away, did he double down on bitterness or choose a frame that let him move forward?

He thought getting knocked down was the headline. It wasn’t. The story is how he keeps standing. Anton and Ben sit down with Grant Parkin, who grew up in East London, migrated to Brisbane, and learned, sometimes the hardest way, how to turn pain into perspective without pretending it didn’t hurt.

At 3, a dog attack. At 19, a car crash in which his father died while Grant was driving. Years later, a marriage that ended in betrayal. And still… a degree finished, a CA earned, a rowing club founded, multiple Ironman triathlons completed, and a memoir—Yourself or Someone Like You—written and voiced by the man who lived it.

This is not trauma for spectacle; it’s choices, responsibility, and the mindset to rebuild, one honest step at a time.

There’s a line you’ll hear between the lines: don’t bring yesterday’s baggage to tomorrow’s country, and don’t outsource your agency. Grant talks about arriving with PwC, finding his “crew,” the long tail of grief, why asking for help was a turning point, and even “Fuchsia Friday” as a small weekly nudge to get comfortable being a little uncomfortable. It’s balanced, practical, and quietly brave.

Catch Episode 17 of a Stranger, a Suitcase and a Story now at https://3spod.com
Also on your fav channels: Spotify, YouTube, Apple.

#AStrangerASuitcaseAndAStory #3SPod #Episode17 #GrantParkin #MigrationStories #Resilience #Mindset #Responsibility #Brisbane #PwC #Rowing #Ironman #YourselfOrSomeoneLikeYou #SouthernCrossings #SouthAfricansInAustralia #Podcast