GARY MEHIGAN Life after MasterChef
Turia Pitt on pregnancy, love and overcoming adversity
Turia Pitt is known for facing hardships with a fighting spirit. Now the published author and mother-of-one who runs School of Champions, an online mindset coaching program, is about to have her hands full with a second baby on the way. Speaking to WHO, the inspiring Australian opens up about the early stages of her pregnancy, her 1-yearold son Hakavai’s reaction to becoming a big brother, and how the support of her husband Michael Hoskin has made all the difference since becoming parents.
Congratulations on the pregnancy! How are you feeling?
Thank you! Michael and I are both so excited. I’m feeling great! I’m a little tired, which is probably to be expected. But generally, I’m feeling really well.
What are you doing to keep active?
I’m still active every day. Michael and I love taking Hakavai camping and bushwalking and exploring on the weekends. I’ve been trying to keep surfing but I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be able to do that. So, in the meantime I’m doing Pilates two to three times a week, do yoga whenever I can and try to walk or swim every day. How has your relationship with your husband changed since having a baby?
I love seeing Michael as a dad. He’s awesome with Hakavai. Michael has always reminded me of the bigger picture, through my recovery and now as parents, too. While I’m always about challenging myself and encouraging others to do the same, I think the most important thing in life is your relationships with the people around you.
How has being a mum changed you?
Before I had Hakavai, I thought all I’d want for my kids is for them to be happy. I think all parents want that for their kids. We don’t want them to get picked on, we don’t want anything bad to happen to them, we don’t want their hearts to be broken, we don’t want to see them upset and we don’t want them to hurt themselves. But all of that stuff is inevitable. There’s just no way we can guarantee that our kids will be happy 100 per cent of the time. We all face challenges in our life. Part of living is accepting that we’re going to face times that are stressful and hard, and very often, those things will be completely outside our control. So the main thing I want to teach my kids is resilience – the belief that they not only will go through hard times, but that they can. I’m really passionate about that. In fact, that’s why I share so many strategies for getting through bad days and dealing with failure and hard times.
Who do you look to for parenting inspiration? My mum. She’s a phenomenal woman. When I was about 10, I was doing remedial maths. I found it so difficult. Every night, I’d sit down with my homework and look at the numbers in front of me and feel so overwhelmed with how hard it all was. One night in particular, I was sitting in the kitchen and I had this overwhelming feeling that I just couldn’t do it. I burst into tears and said to Mum, “I’m so stupid, I don’t get this, I can’t do it.” And my mum, my beautiful mum said, “No, Turia. You can’t do it yet.” Just by adding that little word ‘yet’, I was reminded that just because I couldn’t do something at the time, it didn’t mean I wouldn’t be able to find a way to make it happen in the future. And that gave me hope. So, now I tell people: Whatever you’re working towards – even if you can’t see results right now and even if you might not be where you want to be – it doesn’t mean you’re not making progress. Use ‘yet’. You will get there.