On his journey to the 2012 London Olympics, Lockie Cooke’s life took a sudden pivot. Suddenly forced out of the sport he loved due to injury, he went from training twice a day, 6 days a week to no longer having structure or a goal work towards. Rather than let this beat him, Lockie took the opportunity to connect deeper with his community; through engagement with his local Surf Life Saving Club, and an NFP Start Up that he launched, ICEA.  Lockie truly believes that vulnerability improves resilience; communication builds engagement & connection to community gives purpose.

Talk to us about how iyarn and how your journey lead to creating this app. 

I was inspired to create iyarn after being culturally adopted by the Ejai family who are the traditional owners of Jackson Island off the remote Aboriginal community in One Arm Point which is in the North West of Western Australia, 4 hours down a dirt road from Broome. Part of my cultural adoption was learning about Liyarn, which is about one’s body, emotion, mind and spirit. If anyone were to ask you in the community about Liyarn this automatically meant that it was a safe space to be open, honest, and vulnerable to share what is really going on. I liked this idea as a white fella as my mates did not really do this with each other during our upbringing. This is how I created the word iyarn which is about creating this safe space for people to be vulnerable and share what is really going on with life. The iyarn app helps facilitate these conversations to happen in a simple and intuitive way.

It goes without saying that we are currently living in a very uncertain time; which has unfortunately seen an increase in the fragility of people’s mental health… talk to us about how you feel technology can benefit those in need right now & into the future.

Iyarn is a tool that assists people to check in with themselves and reflect, so they can identify what is serving them well and what isn’t. This process of reflection builds resilience, which is something I feel that we need more of in our society; particularly given the current challenges being thrown at us with COVID-19. Technologies such as this; along with Zoom, facetime etc are crucial tools enabling us to connect during anxious periods of isolation – I think we can all agree that we have never been so reliant on WIFI.

2020 has been a year ridiculed with uncertainty. This has reinforced that the importance of connection and community is an extremely important pillar to one’s overall well-being. With new measures such as increased working from home, lockdowns & social distancing people are naturally finding this increasingly difficult; what would be your top three things that you could suggest right now to help us remain connected even when apart. 

• Check in with yourself regularly, stop, breath and take a walk and write down what is going on for you.
• Be strong enough to be vulnerable with others. Being vulnerable with those you trust, ultimately builds a deeper connection. This can be done over the phone or zoom; particularly in these uncertain times, you don’t have to be there in person to connect.
• Exercise daily & eat well (most of the time – moderation is key!). If you don’t keep on top of your health everything else around you will fall, and you won’t be truly present and available to those you love.

 

 I have found that when working from home, the way to boost motivation and kickstart my productivity is to stick to my regular morning routine as much as possible; for me this includes getting dressed & styled into my workday outfit.  How would you describe your personal style; does this change for you depending on your mood and how you are feeling?

Yes, my style does change depending on who I am connecting with during the day to be honest, the communities I work with vary from remote communities in the Kimberley to meetings in Chifley tower where my office is. My go to most of the time is a simple classic black or white slim fit Tee paired with chino’s and styled back with a deconstructed jacket that shields me for the varying Sydney weather; this way I’m ready for anywhere the day takes me.

Name the most essential pieces that you could not live without in your wardrobe?

These days when I’m working from home, you’ll typically find me in my sweats. But as for wardrobe essentials I can’t go past a slim fit white shirt, a neatly tailored blazer, perfectly fitted pair of jeans & a clean white sneaker.

A few for the road

• I’m reading… Be Brilliant by Janine Garner
• I’m watching… The 100 – Netflix
• I’m listening to… Gorilla Man – Condry Ziquba