Episode 9

When Your 30s Don’t Look the Way You Planned — Danica Ainsworth on Depression, Eating Disorders & Backing Yourself Anyway

Published on: 30th December, 2025

In this powerful episode of Her Kind of Brave, Chloe Davidson and Kellie Johnson sit down with Danica Ainsworth, founder of Asmi Active, to talk candidly about mental health, eating disorders, and navigating your 30s when life doesn’t look the way you imagined.

Danica shares her lived experience with depression, bulimia, self-harm, and the stigma around antidepressants — including the moment she realised medication saved her life. She reflects on how control, shame, and silence kept her stuck, and how asking for help slowly changed everything.

The conversation also explores ambition, imposter syndrome, starting a business after burnout, and the pressure women feel around timelines for success, relationships, and motherhood. It’s raw, grounded, and deeply validating for women who feel like they’re “behind” — or quietly struggling.

Brand: @asmi.active

Register interest: www.asmiactive.com

Personal: @danica.ainsworth

Support the brands that keep these brave conversations (and your co-hosts) going:

GENEA FERTILITY – genea.com.au · @geneafertility · 1300 361 795

CENTRE FOR REPRODUCTIVE MEDICINE & SURGERY - (Dr Kee Ong) – Call 07 5519 1602 · @drkeeong

KOSI – kosi.au · @kosi_au

MR CONSISTENT – mrconsistent.com.au · @mrconsistent_

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About the Podcast

Her Kind of Brave

Messy. Real. Braver than she thinks.

Her Kind of Brave is a podcast for women who know that the hardest parts of life rarely make it to the highlight reel — and that bravery often lives in the quiet, unseen moments.

Hosted by Chloe Davidson and Kellie Johnson, this show goes behind the glossy endings and into the real stories. The backstories. The messy middles. The chapters we live through before things make sense.

Each episode features raw, thoughtful conversations with women who have faced loss, illness, identity shifts, motherhood, ambition, grief, rebuilding, and becoming — and kept going anyway. These are stories of building businesses while breaking inside, navigating bodies that don’t cooperate, grieving what was hoped for, and creating meaningful lives alongside uncertainty.

Chloe and Kellie don’t show up as experts with all the answers. They show up as women in it — walking their own hard roads while holding space for others to tell the truth about theirs. Together, they create a warm, honest space where nothing needs to be wrapped in a bow and listeners are invited to simply be human.

This is a podcast for anyone who has ever wondered if they’re the only one struggling behind the scenes. For anyone navigating the space between who they were and who they’re becoming. For anyone who wants to feel less alone in the hard stuff — and more connected to the strength it takes to keep showing up.

Her Kind of Brave isn’t about perfect endings.
It’s about courage in real time.
And the power of sharing the story while you’re still living it.

If you’re craving honesty, depth, and conversations that feel like a hand on your back saying me too — this is your place.

About your host

Chloe & Kellie

Chloe Davidson and Kellie Johnson are the voices behind Her Kind of Brave — a podcast built on honesty, depth, and the courage to tell the stories that usually stay hidden.

Chloe is a writer, podcaster, and business owner, and the co-owner of Mr Consistent. She is also the curator of the anthology In Her Own Words: IVF, Loss & Miracles. Through her work, Chloe explores womanhood, identity, grief, fertility, ambition, and the emotional load women carry — especially in the spaces between who they were and who they’re becoming.

Kellie is a mum, entrepreneur, and the founder of Kosi, a 360° wearable heat pack created from her lived experience with stage four endometriosis. A passionate advocate for women’s health, Kellie brings strength, warmth, and lived credibility shaped by miscarriage, birth trauma, chronic pain, and rebuilding life alongside illness.

Together, Chloe and Kellie create a space where women feel seen, understood, and less alone. Her Kind of Brave is rooted in real conversations — honouring the hard seasons, celebrating resilience, and reminding women that bravery doesn’t require a polished ending, only the courage to keep showing up.