We recently caught up with Kathryn Thomas to chat about her work with helping to raise funds for children in need, her summer holiday plans, and how she’s working on grounding herself after almost reaching burnout.
Here’s what she had to say:
You were recently announced as this year’s ambassador for the Barnardo’s Big Toddle. Why is it so important to get young kids involved in initiatives like this?
As the mom of young children, I loved the concept of the fundraiser being created for children by children. This money is raised by toddlers, by preschoolers, by children in crèche; it’s like having the toddlers all over Ireland as the superheroes, raising money for kids their own age. So that was the reason why I wanted to get involved. I feel very fortunate that we are privileged to have enough to have a very comfortable life. Unfortunately, that’s not the same for so many families and so many kids. Barnardos has done amazing work for children, right across the board.
I was on the radio last week and we were having the conversation that there’s 100,000 children living below the poverty line. That is huge; it’s children and families who don’t have the basic essentials, like food, clothing, warmth, a home. These are things that people need to live and that’s what people are without. There’s such a divide in Ireland at the moment. I think that’s why it’s so important that this is highlighted; this is very young children, and very young families, that are struggling so much. I think now more than ever, we need to come together.
Are your children taking part in the campaign with you?
Yes, my four-year-old Grace is doing it, she did it with her creche last year – they toddled up the War Memorial Gardens – so she’s definitely doing it again. She hasn’t said what superhero she’s going to be this year, but nothing will surprise me!
Do you have any big plans for the summer with your girls? What does travel look like for you these days?
With No Frontiers, that’s where I cut my cloth with travel and travel holidays; I travelled from the age of 21 to 31. But it’s in my blood, I love going away and I love taking the girls away. We went to Lapland just before Christmas, that was a big trip, and we’ve been to Portugal. So that’s the run of the summer holidays this year. But my dream, when they’re old enough, is to take them on Safari. They are animal obsessed and Ellie’s (8) also really interested in conservation and climate change. I would love to take them to Africa at some point. Right now, travel is pretty local… there’ll be a lot of staycationing this summer.
Do you have a personal favourite place to switch off from modern life?
We have a little place in Wexford that my grandfather built when my dad was five years old. We share it with my siblings and my 13 cousins and their kids. It is a four-bedroom house, which is always very, very busy! There are kids sleeping on floors and there’s people pitching tents – it’s free spirited. Some days I’d go down there after work on a Thursday on my own, I’d go for swim, sit and read my book, just for two hours, and come back up again. I always feel very calm and grounded when I’m on the drive back up from there. That’s my happy place I would say. Then, when it comes to travel, Greece is the country that I just always end up going back to. I love the Greek islands, I love the culture, I love the food, I love the islands, I love the sea, I love exploring there.
Speaking of modern life, your recent documentaries on the anti-ageing industry and “skinny jabs” were fascinating. Are there any more in the works?
I have a couple of – what I think – are really good ideas, that are quite timely in the health and wellness space. This is an area of TV that I love now because you can get really in depth, into meaty subjects and meet people from all walks of life. The world of linear television is changing all the time. You look at how much has gone digital; it wasn’t about how the documentaries rated on live TV, it was on how they did it on the RTE player and that’s where we’re all going. I like to come at these documentaries with no judgement and learn about people’s beliefs and meet them where are they’re at. So yes, I’ve lots of ideas and I’m in lots of conversations at RTE, it’s just about finding the time and balancing it all out. I’ve got the Rose of Tralee coming up in August and I’m on the radio five days a week on Q102, so it is all go.
What prompted you to want to investigate the above topics?
The GLP1 thing, first and foremost, was definitely on the back of Operation Transformation. For the last year or two on Operation Transformation, I was reading so much about the GLP1s that were coming down the track; when they were going to get FDA approved, how they were really making a difference with people not just with diabetes but people living with obesity. I couldn’t not explore that area, having been somebody who worked on a health and wellness and weight loss show for that long. I thought if this is the next generation of what’s happening, people need to know about it, I need to inform myself about it. So, I went to RTE and said I am the right person to do this, I’ve been front and centre of Operation Transformation for so long and what’s coming down the track is brilliant, but it’s equally terrifying – if it’s not used in the right way.
Then the ageing documentary, after Kris Jenner’s face lift broke the internet, it’s asking the question, are women allowed to age at all? Have we created a society now that doesn’t allow women to age? We need to try and break down where we are societally and what does it mean for women, how ageist we are in society when it comes to work? But also then, to look at the techniques and the treatments that are available to people now that weren’t available 20 year ago, the improvements in medication. I wanted to meet women who’ve had a facelift, how it made them feel, what drove them to do it.
What would you say were the main takeaways you personally got from your research?
I would say when it comes to the ageing one, the very basics of eating a good clean diet and exercising and strength training, not smoking, managing alcohol and socialisation is a big thing. Loneliness is also a big factor in people ageing quicker than they normally would, but also socio economic demographics play a part. The research is there and the numbers say that if you are born in a lower socioeconomic area, your longevity is less than somebody who’s born in a much more affluent area. They’re the areas in society that I think we need to be focused on. I think the longevity space and the biohacking can be a very individualised, I want to live longer. What can I do to live that bit longer?
It was interesting to hear that you learned you were “cruising to burnout mode” during your researching. What do you do to help prevent this as an ongoing effort?
I make sure I have enough help in my life. I’ve got great childcare. and that is absolutely crucial. Being able to switch off as well, I have four different full time jobs in a way, I’m a mom, and I’ve got the radio, I’m podcasting, I do my corporate work, I’ve got pure results. I’m always thinking or trying to troubleshoot in one area. When I did the documentary and they did my cortisol levels and it was like I was in this constant state of fight or flight, I never switched off. It was going back to meditation, going back to taking supplements that seemed to work for me, like drinking chamomile tea and doing Yoga nidra. My switching off was going out for dinner with friends and going on a night out, go to the gym, I realised actually, it might feel like switch off to me, but it doesn’t feel like switch off to my physical body. So I’ve been trying to incorporate moments of calm which I’m not very good at because I thrive in an ‘on’ situation.
