# Justin Won an Award, But His Biggest Achievement Happened at Home

An episode of [Dr Justin Coulson's Happy Families](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1082244480), 22 Oct 2026, 16 min.

Audio: https://mgln.ai/e/187/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/fa326977-3de5-4283-9b8b-af3500c58607/b69b2795-5503-4de1-ac91-af460017906e/e6be034e-3618-4e8b-bd3b-b4e2018a0107/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=a05f1702-0c0e-4b0f-8014-af460017907c

What matters most when you walk through your front door? Justin Coulson has spent years helping families build happier lives, and his work has now earned him a University of Queensland Vice-Chancellor's Alumni Excellence Award. But the moment that mattered most wasn't the trophy. It was the reminder that strong families change lives, and the most important work we do often happens at home. Justin and Kylie share the story behind the award, the sacrifices that shaped his career, a hilarious university confession, and the acceptance speech that left a room full of people in tears. KEY POINTS • Why strong family relationships shape happier, healthier lives • The unexpected path from struggling dad to parenting expert • The people and sacrifices behind Justin's achievement • What research tells us about the lifelong impact of loving caregivers • Why the most important work often happens at home QUOTE OF THE EPISODE “The most important work many of us will ever do is not in the office. It's waiting for us when we walk back through our own front door.” RESOURCES MENTIONED • University of Queensland Vice-Chancellor's Alumni Excellence Awards • Happy Families books and resources at happyfamilies.com.au ACTION STEPS FOR PARENTS • Make time for connection with your children, even on busy days. • Think about the example you're setting through your relationships. • Recognise the small, everyday things that help your family feel safe, loved and supported. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:05] Speaker 1: It's our Friday edition of the Happy Families podcast, which
[0:07] Speaker 1: means it's I'll Do Better Tomorrow, the podcast where we
[0:10] Speaker 1: reflect on the week that was and talk about how
[0:11] Speaker 1: we can do things better as a family. Today, it's
[0:15] Speaker 1: a podcast, though, with a little bit of a difference.
[0:17] Speaker 1: I'm not quite sure how to approach this. Kylie has
[0:20] Speaker 1: decided to take the reins. Give us a hook, what's
[0:23] Speaker 1: in store. Tease us, Mrs. Happy Families.
[0:26] Speaker 2: Well, it's not very often we get you squirming your seat.
[0:29] Speaker 2: And I don't even think your birthday interview did that really.
[0:32] Speaker 1: No, that was fun.
[0:33] Speaker 2: You really enjoyed that.
[0:34] Speaker 1: I love talking about me from that, like, sharing stories.
[0:37] Speaker 1: Insights and ideas, yes.
[0:38] Speaker 2: But today is definitely one that has you feeling a
[0:41] Speaker 2: little bit on edge.
[0:43] Speaker 1: I literally don't know how to talk about this. And
[0:44] Speaker 1: you said, if I say the wrong thing, you're going
[0:46] Speaker 1: to walk out of the podcast studio. So I'm nervous
[0:49] Speaker 1: about how to approach this. And I already didn't know
[0:51] Speaker 1: how to approach it.
[0:52] Speaker 2: Let's find out after the break.
[0:57] Speaker 1: It's the Happy Families podcast, real parenting solutions every single day.
[0:59] Speaker 1: It's Australia's most downloaded parenting podcast. We are Justin and
[1:02] Speaker 1: Kylie Coulson. Parents of six daughters. I'm the author of
[1:06] Speaker 1: 11 books, host of a TV show on Channel 9,
[1:08] Speaker 1: Parental Guidance. And we are doing something a little bit
[1:12] Speaker 1: different with I'll Do Better Tomorrow today. As you know,
[1:16] Speaker 1: we often use this Friday session not just to reflect
[1:18] Speaker 1: on our family life and how we can help you
[1:20] Speaker 1: to make family life better because of the mistakes that
[1:22] Speaker 1: we're making or the learnings and insights we're having. But
[1:25] Speaker 1: every now and again, it's a little bit of show
[1:26] Speaker 1: and tell. It's a bit of news. And today, it's
[1:29] Speaker 1: more of a news day.
[1:31] Speaker 2: But as Mrs.
[1:31] Speaker 1: Happy Family said, It's one that's got me, I don't know,
[1:35] Speaker 1: a little bit tongue-tied, a little bit unsure of where
[1:38] Speaker 1: to go and how to make it happen. So I'm
[1:41] Speaker 1: letting go of the reins. It's over to you, Mrs.
[1:44] Speaker 1: Happy Families.
[1:45] Speaker 2: If you've been listening over the last couple of weeks,
[1:47] Speaker 2: we've had some big things happening in our lives, and
[1:50] Speaker 2: this week is no different.
[1:51] Speaker 1: Yeah, we had a daughter leave home. We did a
[1:54] Speaker 1: 50-kilometre walk that almost put us in hospital.
[1:56] Speaker 2: Yeah. And last Thursday, we attended an awards ceremony in
[2:01] Speaker 2: with the University of Queensland. You did your undergraduate there.
[2:06] Speaker 1: Yeah, I started my university career at UQ, St. Lucia,
[2:09] Speaker 1: Bachelor of Psychological Science, four years, first class honours. Look
[2:14] Speaker 1: at me go.
[2:15] Speaker 2: And every year, the university selects a handful, a very
[2:22] Speaker 2: small handful of alumni to celebrate their achievements in their
[2:27] Speaker 2: various fields. This year, there were 18 recipients receiving a
[2:32] Speaker 2: variety of awards. And you were on that list, Dr. Justin.
[2:37] Speaker 1: This one's a weird one for me. I don't want
[2:39] Speaker 1: you to walk out of the studio. So I'm going
[2:40] Speaker 1: to try to... It's a privilege. It's just so bizarre
[2:45] Speaker 1: to me that I'm just some guy who writes about
[2:48] Speaker 1: parenting and tries to help families to be happier. So
[2:51] Speaker 1: To end up, because they can select from 370,000 graduates.
[2:58] Speaker 2: 370,000.
[2:59] Speaker 1: And for whatever reason, which I still, again, I struggle
[3:02] Speaker 1: to compute, but for some reason they've decided that I
[3:06] Speaker 1: was somebody that they wanted to recognize as a, what
[3:10] Speaker 1: is it, an esteemed alumni, as a recipient of an
[3:13] Speaker 1: alumni award.
[3:15] Speaker 2: Like I said, there's a variety of different awards that
[3:17] Speaker 2: are offered. The top of The rank, I guess, if
[3:20] Speaker 2: you wanted to kind of rank, is the alumni of
[3:24] Speaker 2: the year. And they're celebrated for enormous efforts in their field.
[3:29] Speaker 2: But underneath that is the Vice-Chancellor's Alumni Excellence Award. And
[3:36] Speaker 2: there were five recipients last Thursday. You were one of them.
[3:40] Speaker 2: And each recipient is recognized for the significant contributions they've
[3:45] Speaker 2: made in their local communities and beyond. And as we
[3:50] Speaker 2: sat around a table with your parents and a couple
[3:55] Speaker 2: of other UQ staff members, I was actually really in
[4:00] Speaker 2: awe of the caliber of people in the room.
[4:05] Speaker 1: Am I allowed to say once more, what was I
[4:06] Speaker 1: doing there? Like, I know you don't want me to
[4:08] Speaker 1: say that, but one of the recipients, she was the
[4:12] Speaker 1: executive director. president or the executive leader, I can't remember
[4:15] Speaker 1: the exact title, of the English Premier League.
[4:18] Speaker 2: Yeah. Right?
[4:18] Speaker 1: I mean.
[4:19] Speaker 2: And I was standing next to her in the toilet room,
[4:22] Speaker 2: like going to the bathroom. I had no idea who
[4:26] Speaker 2: she was. And then afterwards she came up to me
[4:28] Speaker 2: and I was like, oh my gosh, I'm so embarrassed. Yeah.
[4:30] Speaker 1: These incredible people who are so warm, so friendly. And
[4:33] Speaker 1: then you discover that they are global leaders.
[4:36] Speaker 2: Even Ranger Stacey from Totally Wild got an award.
[4:40] Speaker 1: She did get an award.
[4:41] Speaker 2: That's true. It was amazing. So... The reason that we wanted,
[4:44] Speaker 2: or I specifically wanted to talk about this.
[4:47] Speaker 1: Is- Because I want to be clear, I didn't want
[4:50] Speaker 1: to talk about this. I just, I don't know what
[4:52] Speaker 1: to say.
[4:54] Speaker 2: There is something that is just so profound when somebody
[5:00] Speaker 2: pushes beyond their own limits and achieves things that they feel,
[5:06] Speaker 2: and you've already acknowledged, You're just some bloke who got
[5:11] Speaker 2: up one day and realized that he wanted to be
[5:13] Speaker 2: a better dad. That's literally how this whole thing started.
[5:18] Speaker 2: And you took yourself off to school and you spent
[5:22] Speaker 2: many nights sleeping at the university library as you studied
[5:26] Speaker 2: your way through four years and then five years and
[5:29] Speaker 2: then six and seven and eight to come out the
[5:33] Speaker 2: other end with a wealth of knowledge, but That's not
[5:38] Speaker 2: where the story actually ends. The story continues because after that,
[5:43] Speaker 2: you had this capacity to take what you learned and
[5:47] Speaker 2: to help everyday parents who don't have a psychology degree,
[5:51] Speaker 2: who don't have a PhD, to understand, number one, the
[5:56] Speaker 2: literature and the research, and then to be able to
[6:00] Speaker 2: put it into a way that, again, the everyday parent
[6:04] Speaker 2: can actually utilize and used to bless the lives of
[6:09] Speaker 2: their children and their families in such a way that,
[6:12] Speaker 2: last Thursday, you were recognized for those efforts. And as
[6:15] Speaker 2: your wife, I couldn't be more proud, not because I
[6:20] Speaker 2: think that you're better than anyone else, but the recognition
[6:24] Speaker 2: that all of those years of, in the beginning, sacrifice
[6:28] Speaker 2: as you educated yourself, and then sacrifice as you go
[6:33] Speaker 2: off and share your skills and expertise with families around
[6:38] Speaker 2: the country. And we stay at home and we just
[6:42] Speaker 2: keep going and doing our thing here without you. It's
[6:48] Speaker 2: not about the award. It's not about the status or
[6:51] Speaker 2: anything like that. It's just this beautiful acknowledgement that what
[6:55] Speaker 2: you are doing is making a difference. And that's what
[6:59] Speaker 2: I loved. It wasn't showy. It wasn't or Nate or
[7:03] Speaker 2: anything like that. It was just this beautiful, honest acknowledgement
[7:08] Speaker 2: that each person in that room was doing something with
[7:13] Speaker 2: the God-given gifts and talents they have to make a
[7:16] Speaker 2: difference in their sphere.
[7:18] Speaker 1: Okay, so the UQ Vice-Chancellor's Alumni Excellence Awards, that's what
[7:23] Speaker 1: it was. The line of the day actually doesn't belong
[7:26] Speaker 1: to me or to you. It belongs to Emily, our 12-year-old.
[7:30] Speaker 1: And after the break, we're going to tell you what
[7:32] Speaker 1: she said and why it cracked us up. Plus, Kylie's
[7:36] Speaker 1: asked that I read my very brief acceptance speech because
[7:40] Speaker 1: apparently it went okay. Okay, we're back. It's the Happy
[7:51] Speaker 1: Families podcast. Our daughter, Emily, age 12, found out that
[7:55] Speaker 1: I was getting this award. We were going to the
[7:57] Speaker 1: ceremony and she said, Daddy, you're getting a trophy. To
[7:59] Speaker 1: which I replied, I don't think so. I'd imagine that
[8:03] Speaker 1: it's probably just a nice dinner and then they'll give
[8:04] Speaker 1: me a piece of paper. It might be framed. and
[8:07] Speaker 1: I'll put it on the shelf laying down with all
[8:09] Speaker 1: of my other pieces of paper that say that I've
[8:12] Speaker 1: done stuff. I'm not really into putting that stuff on
[8:14] Speaker 1: the wall or anything like that. I just like to
[8:16] Speaker 1: go about my business. Anyway, the outcome at the end
[8:20] Speaker 1: of the night was as follows.
[8:21] Speaker 2: You got a beautiful trophy. It was actually a really
[8:24] Speaker 2: beautiful trophy.
[8:26] Speaker 1: And the next morning, Friday morning last week, when Emily
[8:30] Speaker 1: walked into the kitchen and saw the trophy on the bench.
[8:33] Speaker 2: This is sick. She thought it was awesome.
[8:36] Speaker 1: She thought it was awesome.
[8:37] Speaker 2: I have to do a special mention to Robin and Melinda.
[8:41] Speaker 1: Robin and Belinda.
[8:42] Speaker 2: Oh, Belinda. I'm so sorry.
[8:43] Speaker 1: It was Robin and Belinda. They came up to us
[8:45] Speaker 1: and said, we love the podcast. And I say this
[8:46] Speaker 1: all the time on the pod. People appreciate me, but
[8:49] Speaker 1: they love you. They're appreciative that I make a difference
[8:52] Speaker 1: and I help them, but everyone just loves you. And
[8:55] Speaker 1: what happened, Mrs. Happy Families? They came over and they said,
[8:59] Speaker 1: love your work and we listen and we've got your books.
[9:01] Speaker 1: And they were wonderful. Robin was talking about how Her husband, Mick,
[9:04] Speaker 1: I'm the only parenting expert that he'll listen to, but
[9:08] Speaker 1: he listens and he reads the books, which was really lovely.
[9:11] Speaker 1: And while I was chatting with them, you walked over.
[9:15] Speaker 1: And I said, let me introduce you to my wife, Kylie.
[9:18] Speaker 1: And their eyes went as big as saucers. They just
[9:20] Speaker 1: about lost the plot. And they were like.
[9:24] Speaker 2: We love you.
[9:24] Speaker 1: We need a photo. They were about to get a
[9:27] Speaker 1: selfie with me. And they were like, we don't want
[9:29] Speaker 1: a selfie with you anymore. We want a selfie with Mrs.
[9:31] Speaker 1: Happy Families. This is what I live with.
[9:33] Speaker 2: Well, they were very, very kind. And it was a lovely,
[9:36] Speaker 2: lovely meeting with them.
[9:37] Speaker 1: I was holding my trophy and they wanted a photo
[9:39] Speaker 1: with you.
[9:39] Speaker 2: There you go. But the standout of the night, outside
[9:45] Speaker 2: of the fact that there were amazing people to celebrate,
[9:50] Speaker 2: was actually your acceptance speech. And it's probably unfair to
[9:55] Speaker 2: put you alongside anybody else who does.
[9:58] Speaker 1: Not do this as a live I am a professional speaker.
[10:03] Speaker 2: It was very obvious that you were a professional speaker.
[10:06] Speaker 2: But what I loved about what you did, and it
[10:09] Speaker 2: won't be any surprise to anybody who's been listening to
[10:12] Speaker 2: us for a very long time, that Justin was given
[10:15] Speaker 2: a two-minute time limit for his acceptance speech, along with
[10:20] Speaker 2: everybody else. And I recorded it.
[10:23] Speaker 1: How long was it?
[10:27] Speaker 2: It was four minutes and 32 seconds.
[10:30] Speaker 1: Well, you know what? I decided to go off script
[10:33] Speaker 1: because my talk was two minutes. My acceptance speech was
[10:36] Speaker 1: two minutes.
[10:36] Speaker 2: Well, no, it wasn't because you rang me that day.
[10:37] Speaker 1: Okay, it was two minutes and 20 seconds, but they
[10:39] Speaker 1: gave me permission. But everyone else, no one else had
[10:42] Speaker 1: really prepared any remarks, and most people spoke for between
[10:44] Speaker 1: four and seven minutes. So once I saw everyone else
[10:47] Speaker 1: just doing their thing, I was like, No, I'm fine.
[10:49] Speaker 1: I'm fine with this.
[10:50] Speaker 2: I'm fine. But I would say that this is the
[10:53] Speaker 2: shortest speech I have ever heard you give. Yep. And
[10:56] Speaker 2: you absolutely nailed it. And you did so for two reasons.
[11:01] Speaker 2: Number one, I think you did such a beautiful job
[11:04] Speaker 2: of acknowledging your parents and the impact that they have
[11:08] Speaker 2: had on your life in general, but in the support
[11:11] Speaker 2: specifically that they gave you through this process. and the
[11:17] Speaker 2: way in which you were actually able to share your
[11:19] Speaker 2: life's work in such brevity and yet leave a room
[11:25] Speaker 2: full of academics and people who are amazing in their
[11:29] Speaker 2: own right all in tears. So without further ado, we
[11:34] Speaker 2: would love for you to share.
[11:35] Speaker 1: Okay. Well, nobody really likes speeches, so I'll try and
[11:38] Speaker 1: keep this under four minutes, but here we go. I
[11:40] Speaker 1: started by saying it's humbling to be recognized by the
[11:43] Speaker 1: university that shaped how I think and who I've become.
[11:45] Speaker 1: In my late 20s, struggling as a father and husband,
[11:48] Speaker 1: I began a psychology degree at UQ in the hope
[11:50] Speaker 1: that I might improve my relationships and family. At the
[11:53] Speaker 1: University of Queensland, I learned to ask hard questions and
[11:56] Speaker 1: to analyze evidence rigorously. And I learned again and again
[12:00] Speaker 1: through study after study that for a life well lived,
[12:03] Speaker 1: the family home is central to well-being. In 1942, Robert
[12:07] Speaker 1: Menzies said the home's health determines the health of society
[12:11] Speaker 1: as a whole. 44 years later, standing in Perth, Pope
[12:14] Speaker 1: John Paul II put it even more plainly, as the
[12:17] Speaker 1: family goes, so goes the nation, and so goes the
[12:19] Speaker 1: whole world in which we live. The religious leader Gordon B.
[12:22] Speaker 1: Hinckley taught, the strength of any nation lies in the
[12:25] Speaker 1: strength of its families, and the research evidence supports what
[12:28] Speaker 1: the church and government have said. But the link between
[12:32] Speaker 1: family life and flourishing doesn't only run up to the
[12:35] Speaker 1: level of society, it runs down to the individual. Children
[12:38] Speaker 1: raised in warm, connected homes have 72% lower odds of
[12:42] Speaker 1: depression as adults. Strong family relationships protect against almost every
[12:46] Speaker 1: health risk measured from emotional distress to drug use to violence.
[12:50] Speaker 1: Amy Werner, who followed every child born on Hawaiian island
[12:53] Speaker 1: of Kauai in 1955 for four decades, found that the
[12:56] Speaker 1: highest risk children grew into competent, confident, caring adults because
[13:01] Speaker 1: of a close bond with at least one stable, loving caregiver.
[13:05] Speaker 1: Strong families build strong individuals and strong societies. So Tonight,
[13:12] Speaker 1: whatever the remarkable people in this room have achieved, the
[13:15] Speaker 1: most important work many of us will ever do is
[13:17] Speaker 1: not in the office. It's waiting for us when we
[13:21] Speaker 1: walk back through our own front door. In accepting this award,
[13:25] Speaker 1: I express deep gratitude to my parents here tonight, who
[13:28] Speaker 1: recently celebrated 51 years of marriage and gave me a
[13:31] Speaker 1: powerful example of strong, stable family foundation. And Kylie, at
[13:35] Speaker 1: this point, I kind of left the speech for a moment.
[13:37] Speaker 1: I went on a tangent and talked about how My
[13:40] Speaker 1: parents have developed several businesses over the years, including a
[13:42] Speaker 1: furniture removals business. And to get through university, dad sent
[13:45] Speaker 1: one of his small furniture trucks from the New South
[13:47] Speaker 1: Wales Central Coast up to Brisbane. He gave me that
[13:50] Speaker 1: truck to work on on the weekends so that I
[13:52] Speaker 1: could do furniture removals to pay my way through university
[13:56] Speaker 1: and earn some money because we had a mortgage and
[13:58] Speaker 1: a couple of kids. And then I confessed something that
[14:00] Speaker 1: neither mum nor he knew. And that is that instead
[14:03] Speaker 1: of catching public transport or driving our car or whatever
[14:06] Speaker 1: it was to the university so that I could study,
[14:08] Speaker 1: I would get into his truck every day and drive
[14:10] Speaker 1: from Morningside to St. Lucia and then try to park
[14:12] Speaker 1: it in the dust bowl and not get fined. And
[14:16] Speaker 1: that brought the house down. It brought the house down.
[14:19] Speaker 1: Maybe you had to be there, but it was a
[14:20] Speaker 1: really good one. And to Kylie, my wife of 28 years,
[14:24] Speaker 1: who has been at my side as we've created our
[14:26] Speaker 1: own family, our six daughters and our granddaughter, who taught
[14:31] Speaker 1: me in That's what the research confirms. Happiness is love.
[14:35] Speaker 2: Full stop. Thank you. And that was my speech. Well,
[14:41] Speaker 2: I've always thought you're a pretty amazing human being, regardless
[14:46] Speaker 2: of any achievement that you may or may not have done.
[14:50] Speaker 2: But I was so proud to be a witness to
[14:58] Speaker 2: an acknowledgement of years and years of sacrifice, effort, and
[15:05] Speaker 2: a commitment to making the world a better place. So
[15:10] Speaker 2: really proud of you, hon.
[15:10] Speaker 1: Well, thank you. Couldn't have done it without you, honey.
[15:12] Speaker 1: That is our I'll Do Better Tomorrow. We're going to
[15:13] Speaker 1: have to wrap it up there for today. More on
[15:16] Speaker 1: Monday as we strive to help your family be happier.
[15:19] Speaker 1: Have a great weekend. Thanks so much for listening and
[15:21] Speaker 1: thanks for supporting us as we seek to support you
[15:24] Speaker 1: in the journey to happy, flourishing families. Sound and audio
[15:28] Speaker 1: engineering on the Happy Families podcast is taken care of
[15:31] Speaker 1: by Justin Rulon from Bridge Media. We really appreciate JR
[15:34] Speaker 1: and the work that he does. Mim Hammonds provides all
[15:36] Speaker 1: of our additional support and admin. If you'd like more
[15:38] Speaker 1: info to make your family happier, you'll find it at happyfamilies.com.au.

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