Today we are going to the gym. My guest Pia Therese is a small business owner in Melbourne, Australia who risked it all and opened a fitness studio called MFW Fitness. Under what is now likely the world’s longest and most severe lockdown, small businesses like MFW have been smashed. And this is despite plenty of evidence that small businesses are not only willing but are capable of opening up in a COVID-Safe way.

Take for example gyms, where we are now learning that they were never a source of COVID transmission, and in fact are better equipped than the government to conduct deep contact tracing because of their detailed and close relationship with their members. This is to say nothing of the fact that COVID-19 is a disease of immunity, like all coronaviruses are, and yet we have seen no messaging from authorities on living a healthy life that encourages a robust immune system.

But It’s not just our bodies we are told to hide inside from this virus, daily messaging from our Premier downplays the incredible and growing mental health harms that result from lockdown rules that increasingly appear arbitrary and not based in science.

I’m hoping this conversation with Pia will give us an insight into what’s really happening with small businesses in Melbourne, and open up a broader conversation on what we all struggle with but don’t admit to anyone – mental health, social media, and the evolving definition of community.