By Danielle Davey
A former hair salon manager-turned-community radio host provides a platform for remarkable people to share their unique stories on RPP FM’s weekly segment The Daily Mirror with Cathy. Airing its 150th episode this month, the show makes for compelling listening.
After 33 years as a hairdresser, Cathy Vescio-Dibella has heard it all. Transitioning from the salon to the radio, she uses that same empathetic ear to encourage guests to open up and share their untold stories. Cathy has traded her scissors for a microphone, but her mission remains the same: to make people feel heard.
After her retirement from the Craigieburn salon she managed for most of her life, Cathy moved to the Peninsula just as the Covid pandemic hit. It was a time of quiet solitude and soul-searching as she wondered what the future held.
Reflecting on her career, Cathy used the lockdown period to write a collection of her own experiences and stories heard from others. She describes Unbosoming, published in 2022, as a “disclosure of thoughts and secrets”. The book pulls no punches, featuring real stories about herself, her clients and young employees, shared with their permission. Chapters explore themes of mental health and addiction, sexual encounters, violence, and abuse.
Listening without judgment, responding with genuine interest and care, Cathy is the perfect confidante. A testament to their regard and affection, previous clients and team members still maintain contact with her despite the travel distance between them. Now she is building the same kind of strong connections in our community.
Invited to RPP FM as a guest to speak about her book on-air in 2023, Cathy impressed the station organisers so much they offered her a weekly show of her own. The name of the segment – her suggestion – is a nod to her past as a hairdresser where conversations occurred in front of the salon mirror, simultaneously tying to the theme of self-reflection. Every episode ends with the sign-off “So how do you feel when you look at yourself in the daily mirror?”
At nearly 150 episodes, Cathy has interviewed a wide range of locals from all walks of life. Some conversations hit hard, such as grieving parents who have lost a child, or reformed drug addicts remorseful of their past, but Cathy is a firm believer that what happened to you in the past doesn’t define you, and there is always room to grow.
Uplifting stories include the discovery of creatives and professionals in our community: musicians, artists, entrepreneurs and fledgling businesses representing unearthed talent on the path to bigger things. The show is “a place where stories are safe, hearts are open and every voice is welcome”.
The Daily Mirror with Cathy airs every Monday from 1.00-2.00pm on 98.7 FM.
The backstory of every guest can be found at thedailymirrorwithcathy.com, where episodes via podcast are also available for anyone unable to catch the Monday timeslot.
