Pete A Turner is The Spymaster, The Tactical Podcast Consultant, and an advocate of the Ground Truth.
I'm a fan of the James Bond movies, but I have a feeling spies don't always work that way. In this episode, we're going to talk about espionage.
Focusing on gathering intelligence on the field. The field being specific contexts where you may face potential threats. This is a specific and interesting field that I do want to get to, and I want that rosy image of a spy being broken down. Who better to talk about this with than Mr. Pete a Turner.
Pete is the host of the Break It Down Show, doing long-form episodes with individuals from a variety of backgrounds and walks of life. That's 5 episodes a week, with over 650 episodes and counting!Before this, he was a former spymaster in the US army focusing on counterintelligence: building trust, presence, a network in different cultural contexts whilst deployed in Afghanistan, Iraq, and many more tours. I wanted to reach out to him to deep dive into his experiences as a former spy transitioning into normal civilian life and launching the Break it Down show.
In this episode, we talked about:

• His role as a spymaster, gathering intelligence that can affect decisions made by commanders in that field.
• How he survived a close encounter with the Taliban and lived.
• Transitioning back into civilian life from such a high intensity environment: Pete's vulnerabilities, struggles with PTSD and persevering through them
• The birth of the Break It Down show and how his Spymaster skills propelled him to 650+ episodes

Enjoy!
Timestamps

• 4:29 Pete never wanted to be a spy
• 5:54 What is spying? The different ways to gather intelligence, and Pete's specialty
• 8:05 Spywork: how Pete builds presence in different cultural contexts with genuine honesty
• 10:23 The different facets of intelligence operations and schedules
• 12:08 The information Pete is interested in as a spymaster
• 15:39 "We were the biggest problem for our own success."
• 16:53 Moving between military and local space, and translating realities for the army
• 19:00 The difference between a spy and a spymaster
• 20:29 This is how Pete can tell if a spy works at professional level: ego
• 22:13 "Have you had more conversations or fired more bullets in combat?
• 23:30 The advantage of having someone outside of the box looking in: Are you really getting results?
• 26:53 How Pete survived a meeting with the Taliban
• 29:02 When he realized he was working at professional grade
• 31:17 Why transitioning into society was hard for Pete, former spymaster
• 33:44 The importance of veteran communities
• 35:31 How the Break it Down Show started
• 37:05 "Production over perfection is a big lesson for me"
• 38:19 Video and volume, how Pete differentiates from the podcasting crowd
• 41:10 "My niche is not a niche. I do five shows a week. I'm a spy."
• 44:20 The skills that overlap between a spymaster and a podcaster
• 48:05 Podcast hosts need to do this to up their interviewing game
• 50:08 How would you deal with a high profile guest eg. Elon Musk?
• 53:45 Save The Brave, and Pete's charity charter
• 56:54 Pete's memento
• 58:08 Pete's walkaway wisdom: Default to Grace

Links

• Break it Down Show
• Break it Down Show YouTube
• Pete A Turner's Website

Stephanie Scheller is the sales expert, the business disruptor, fighting through the tempests. She is the AntiFool.
How do you close a sale at 6 figures? 7 figures? How do you reach that scale for your business? In this episode I want to talk about sales, closing in revenue for your business.
To achieve that level of scalability, we'll need to learn how to separate ourselves from our business as we grow. How do you do that? Who better to learn about this from than Stephanie Scheller.
Stephanie is the founder of Grow Disrupt, a sales training practice based in Texas. It grew in less than 18 months to become the largest, most active sales training practice in the area. As a TEDx speaker, host of the Black Belt Selling Podcast, and a two-time best-selling author, Stephanie's mission is to disrupt the way the world does business.
In this episode, we talked about:

• How she went from taking care of horses to starting up her sales training business
• Why business owners fail to scale from 5 figures to 6
• The five points you need to get disruptive growth
• The change in roles and why you have to step back to scale

Enjoy!
Timestamps

• 4:38 From horses to marketing consultancy: Stephanie's origin story
• 8:00 A salesperson with no commissions check: Stephanie's decision to move
• 11:13 Was it hard to transition to working for yourself?
• 12:19 "A lot of entrepreneurs are their own worst boss"
• 14:26 Stephanie found balance in achieving through non-negotiable standards
• 18:15 Planning the night before + project management tools
• 20:23 Coaching entrepreneurs to scale from 100k to 6 figures: The patterns
• 22:46 "Don't take on work outside of your energy advantage"
• 25:52 What kind of problems are businesses going through to achieve 6-figure sales? Here are the 5 key points needed
• 34:02 Is it hard for salespersons to transition from sales to management?
• 37:30 "A lot of small business owners deal with an identity crisis" Divorcing yourself from your business
• 39:30 What Stephanie struggled with growing her business
• 40:39 Stephanie shares how she visualizes herself separating from the business to scale
• 41:51 These are the skills you need to step back and scale your business to 6 figures
• 43:52 Walt Disney and the shift in Disney's business model
• 45:51 Stephanie's mementos: Her art
• 48:16 Stephanie Scheller's Walkaway Wisdom: E.F.F.O.R.T

Links

• Grow Disrupt
• Stephanie’s Facebook
• Stephanie’s Twitter
• Stephanie’s YouTube
• Stephanie’s LinkedIn
• Stephanie’s personal website
• Black Belt Selling Podcast
• Emperor’s New Groove
• Profit First by Mike Michalowicz

Like the show?

• Subscribe here to stay up to date!

In this episode, we talk about investing in general, specifically value investing.
It's scary. You, noticing your wealth at its current stage, want to grow it in many different ways to preserve it for the future. But investing is intimidating: under its umbrella, there are many kinds from property to retail and much more. How do we as laymen learn more about investing? That is where the founders of Kaya Plus come in.
Joo Parn and Choon Beng are the founders of mykayaplus.com, a Malaysian value investing education website spreading financial literacy to the public. They're here to prove two things: one, anyone can invest successfully without having a financial degree, and two, investing can be fun. If done right, it not only becomes a very self-fulfilling journey for learning, but it can also grow your wealth.
We talked about:

• The origin stories of Kaya Plus: how Choon Beng reached out to Joo Parn about investing, knowing not a single thing about its concepts
• Barriers to understand investing: why it's so hard to learn it
• How value investing principles can boost your wealth and protect your assets
• Malaysia's investing gurus and their roles, according to Joo Parn and Choon Beng

We get wide in the number of topics covered here. So if you are ready for something a little bit technical but simplified at the same time, enjoy!
Timestamps

• 4:49 How KayaPlus was born
• 7:40 The KayaPlus angle: Simplifying value investing
• 10:47 "When they go into investing, they cannot differentiate between investing and speculation" Choon Beng explains
• 13:26 What is hard about teaching investing? More from Joo Parn
• 15:39 Where did the name Kaya Plus come from?
• 17:34 Joo Parn's definition of value investing
• 20:10 "Consider your options" Joo Parn on exploring other markets
• 21:51 The fears we have when we start to invest
• 24:42 The index and what it means
• 27:08 The best skill to learn? Observation, according to Joo Parn
• 29:18 Investing helps with running your business, according to Choon Beng
• 31:24 Investing gurus in Malaysia: are they honest or shady?
• 33:53 Combating the mentality of opportunist Malaysians
• 35:20 Malaysian financial exposure isn't that high
• 38:25 An academy and more for Kaya Plus' future plans
• 41:56 Joo Parn's memento
• 43:11 Choon Beng's memento
• 46:05 Joo Parn's walkaway wisdom by Warren Buffett
• 47:30 Choon Beng's walkaway wisdom

Links

• Joo Parn's LinkedIn
• Choon Beng's LinkedIn
• Kaya Plus Website
• Kaya Plus Facebook

Delvinder Singh is the Maverick, the Audio Engineer, and the designer of sounds. He is the AntiFool.
Let's talk about audio. Living through society, we can't help but listen to a wide variety of sounds from the subtle creaking of doors to explosions from film. There is a profession that focuses on creating a narrative using these very sounds: audio engineers. Who better to find out more about this field than Delvinder Singh!
Del is the resident audio engineer at Maveriq studios with a wide variety of experiences under his belt. He assisted in the recording of different projects and films from Transformers: The Last Knight, Folklore by HBO, to The Ghost Bride on Netflix.
Music-wise he's experienced as well, assisting in the recording of Ed Sheeran's No. 6 collaborations project during his tour in KL. I was interested in Del's story because I wanted to know more about the principles of audio engineering, especially as someone who is doing podcasts right now.
We talked about:

• How he got his start diving into audio engineering, by listening to local bands
• Using audio as a narrative, his favorite sounds, and the principles of audio engineering
• Differences between audio production for commercials, films, movies and more
• Sounds we take for granted, and training our ears to understand the environment around us
• Getting into a call with Michael Bay for Transformers The Last Knight

Enjoy!
Timestamps

• 04:06 How local bands encouraged him to dive into the audio world
• 05:46 A 20-page book compelled Delvinder to start learning audio engineering
• 08:04 Delvinder's favourite sounds, and why Sci-fi is the best sound to work with
• 09:14 Creating vehicle sounds for Prometheus
• 10:29 What does an audio engineer actually do? The 3 aspects
• 11:21 "I want to record an album. What's the process?"
• 12:56 "The less people you have the better it is" Delvinder on developing a relationship with the artist as a producer
• 14:32 How first-time artists can get overwhelmed by the production process
• 16:18 Making a Macho burger 'macho': Delvinder's process in producing audio for the new McDonald's Ad
• 17:49 The roars, screams and big impacts for making a burger manly
• 19:42 Sounds we take for granted: door creaking and more used in film
• 22:02 Transformers The Last Knight, and recording Gemma Chan of Crazy Rich Asians
• 24:21 Chatting with Michael Bay
• 26:31 Choosing the right takes for voiceover, and Kylo Ren
• 27:53 Anomaly, a horror game with sounds produced by Delvinder Singh
• 29:52 Delvinder deep dives into how he produces audio for the game
• 31:43 "The hardest sound to make was the one where I had to record my own reverb."
• 34:38 To work on games as a dream project, and Playstation in Malaysia
• 36:33 The advantages of audio engineering in podcasts
• 38:19 Improvement in technology leads to more appreciation for high quality sound design
• 40:53 How to train your ear to listen for professional sound design
• 43:14 Delvinder's Memento: The 10-Year Microphone
• 45:15 Walkaway Wisdom, mastery of the craft and to show up in person
• 48:15 Audio epitaph: The sound effect that represents Delvinder's life

Links

• Delvinder's Instagram
• Maveriq Studios
• Anomaly The Game
• Bunkface

Austin Bollinger is the High Achiever, the Goal Crusher focused on becoming better every day. He is the AntiFool.
What goals do you have? Do you have many? Do you have one focused goal or do you not even have one to begin with?
In the world of goal setting, we come across obstacles and problems that may stop us from achieving said goals, and who better to tackle this problem with than Austin Bollinger.
Austin is a writer, podcaster, and founder of Daily New Years, and his mission is to help you ditch your new year's resolutions and instead help you crush your goals every single day and all year long.
Tired of postponing his self-improvement, he began writing his goals down, started consuming personal development content, and was building a daily routine around achieving his goals.
Three years into writing blog posts onto starting a podcast, and he launched his recent book, Crush Your Goals: Trade in your old time resolutions for an exciting goal setting strategy that gets results.
Ditching the standard SMART goals for the FOCUS framework. Tons of interesting thoughts centering around the purpose of goals in our lives. Myself and Austin had an amazing chat about this.
We talked about:

• Austin's origin story and his obsession with goal setting
• Why people fail to achieve their new year's resolutions
• The FOCUSED Framework, the concept of it, and what it means to him
• How to create or redefine goals for ourselves

We get pretty vulnerable in this conversation actually, a lot of fears, a lot of personal stories from both myself and Austin. It was an amazing talk. Enjoy!
Timestamps

• 04:05 "I didn't have clarity or focus on where I wanted my life to go" Austin's origin story
• 05:40 What if everyday we had the same passion and energy that we do on January 1st?
• 07:15 Why do we wait until New Years? Fears, wants and more according to Austin
• 09:02 "How will my life change if I actually succeed?" The fear of success
• 10:16 Austin's biggest fear on this journey: Imposter Syndrome
• 12:55 Launch the blog already, it can never be perfect: Austin's obstacles in starting Daily New Years
• 16:05 Austin's biggest win: Writing his book Crush Your Goals
• 17:18 Goal competition: How it stops you from achieving anything
• 20:43 SMART goals don't work because they lack emotion, use the FOCUSED Framework instead
• 21:53 Breaking down the FOCUSED Framework
• 26:07 Writing a book vs writing blog posts
• 28:45 "A lot of people don't have goals because they don't know what goals should be." How Austin guides those to create goals for themselves
• 30:00 Go back to childhood: What excited you when you were young?
• 31:11 Your progress should be your focus
• 32:43 The power of your circle
• 36:45 Austin isn't bulletproof to these worries, and The Gap and the Gain
• 37:59 The next FOCUSED goal: Building an online course
• 39:31 The challenges in making an online course, and perfectionism
• 42:58 Different learning styles and catering for all aspiring goal-setters
• 44:00 Underestimating deadlines, and reiterating goals as we go along
• 45:56 "The gym is my church" Austin's memento
• 47:09 Walkaway wisdom: "Don't listen to the voice inside your head that says you can't do something. If you want to badly enough, you can"
• 47:46 Special question for Austin: What he hopes future Austin would say to him

Links

• Crush Your Goals! Book

Gary Chong is the filmmaker, the lecturer, and the enabler of content creators. He is the AntiFool.
In this episode, we'll be diving into film!
Gary is an award-winning filmmaker and founder of Gary Chong Studios, a production house that has produced over 560+ videos in the last decade for many different brands. Eg. Digi, Axiata, Sunway, Maybank, Allianz Bank, Kraken, Mindshare, and many more. He is a lecturer in the School of Liberal Arts of Taylor's University here in Malaysia, in the area of Film and Communications for 8 years, and that is how he is giving back to the community.
His newest venture is Micro Film Academy, a disruptive education program that aims to revolutionize and empower content creation in the hands of an upcoming generation through SMEs, businesses, and children.
We talked about:

• Gary's origin story, from becoming an award-winning filmmaker to teaching students about film
• Micro Film Academy's mission: future-proofing businesses and children to create using the devices in their pockets
• Preparing for IR4.0 through content creation and adapting to the digital age

Enjoy!
Timestamp

• 03:22 How Gary went from questioning film to winning 18 awards for short films
• 08:41 Thinking outside the box at film school
• 10:34 Solutions-based thinking and French new wave
• 12:04 The methodology Gary uses to serve clients for six figures
• 16:45 The barriers in teaching students how to connect the dots
• 20:28 Future proofing children and SMEs: Micro Film Academy's mission
• 30:13 How Micro Film tackles business-specific pain points
• 36:06 How children will grow from learning about micro film, and benefits for parents
• 42:23 Preparing for Industrial Revolution 4.0 and the digital age
• 44:53 "The first thing we need to do is break our mindsets" How Gary views this opportunity
• 47:15 Gary's memento
• 48:10 Walkaway wisdom: Everybody's a filmmaker.

Links
Gary Chong Studios

• Gary Chong Studios
• Facebook Page
• Instagram

Reach out to Gary:

• Email
• LinkedIn
• YouTube Channel

Micro Film Academy

• Main Website
• Facebook Page

Julian Hayes II is a specialist in human performance and an optimizer of health. He is the AntiFool.
Julian is a human performance and health optimization advisor as well as an author. He helps high performing entrepreneurs and executives to create more energy and maximize their longevity and human performance without the guesswork so they can become superhuman in life and business. This is done through leveraging epigenetics, technology, and systems-based thinking. This trilogy of amazing aspects is what makes Julian stand out from the crowd. That really got to me, this triad of interesting aspects of what he's doing. So I reached out to him and here we are.
In this episode, we talked about:

• His origin story, how he went to medical school and dropped out one year after to become a writer.
• How he made it his mission to pursue the grand ambition of becoming a writer in an environment where risk adversity is a lot higher than usual.
• Health optimization: we talked about epigenetics, what it means and how your health is your most valuable currency.

Enjoy the chat!
Timestamps

• 03:50 The Origins of Julian Hayes 'the Second' and the power of names
• 07:51 "Age is irrelevant" The aha moments Julian had growing up and moving to New York
• 10:39 Realizations, entrepreneurship and becoming a writer
• 14:16 The contrast: Being entrepreneurial vs. having security
• 17:48 Becoming a superhuman and craving that extra 2% edge in life
• 20:40 The weight behind history, and acting with intentionality
• 22:27 What is epigenetics and why should I know about it?
• 24:34 Performing alchemy with your body, processing information on a cellular level
• 26:10 Designing your epigenetic environment right now
• 28:02 Our genome was mapped out only 10 years ago, and possibilities for becoming optimized
• 29:19 The power of being N of One
• 30:48 The new paradigm of health using systems thinking, prevention instead of reaction
• 35:12 ARISE: Julian's specialized coaching program for optimized health
• 37:25 Use cases of ARISE
• 40:54 The common pattern in ambitious people: the dark side of success
• 43:50 How loneliness can affect your heart and throw off your systems
• 48:32 Julian's memento cured his loneliness
• 52:51 Walkaway Wisdom: Slow down to speed up, intention not attention
• 55:24 "I've never seen anyone depressed on the dance floor": Julian's favourite salsa dancing move

Links

• The Art of Fitness and Life
• Optimal Health for Busy Entrepreneurs
• Julian's LinkedIn
• Julian's Twitter

Full transcript can be found here

The issue of environmental impact is a difficult one to tackle, but our guest today will be doing that in a unique manner.Cece Heart is the Community Catalyzer for [[SEEDS Conscious Currency]], a conscious decentralised cryptocurrency on a mission to regenerate the planet. By creating a financial system, Cece and the SEEDS team has created a currency to incentivises users to purchase all kinds of things, amenities and more while saving the planet. As you use more of the currency, you can tap into various projects that help with environmental regeneration.
We talked about:

• Her origin story, from a safe Canadian household to hosting educational retreats in the Latin American jungle
• How to use the currency to make a positive impact on the environment
• Her thoughts on inspiration, as the Inspiration Sorceress, and her wisdom on it.

Cece Heart is the Inspiration Sorceress, The Connector, on a mission to regenerate the planet. She is the AntiFool.Let's play the fool and learn from the wise by diving into my chat with Cece!
Timestamp

• 03:46 From a safe home to living the jungle: How Cece cultivated her eco-minded character
• 07:29 "A princess went to the jungle" Being terrified of spiders, howler monkeys, and more
• 09:35 Why the retreat failed, and clashing with the local necessity mindset
• 11:48 "Existing community has that element of safety" The biggest lesson Cece learned about herself during this time
• 13:39 How the idea of SEEDS came about through the power of cacao
• 17:56 Experimenting with cryptocurrency, reading from libraries across New Zealand and the first version of the SEEDS ecosystem
• 22:04 How do I join and take part in SEEDS?
• 24:04 What can I get with SEEDS coins: projects, voting and more
• 28:09 Becoming part of the SEEDS alliance: who can join? What are the worries?
• 34:17 What's the first step to making the environment around us greener?
• 36:45 What about people who don't care about the environment?
• 40:23 Cece's personal memento, and her connection with her mother
• 42:13 Walkaway wisdom: A piece of wisdom that represents Cece Heart43
• 43:49 "Inspiration is magic" The Inspiration Sorceress' definition of it

Reach out to Cece at:

• [email protected]
• Cece Heart's Website

More on SEEDS

• Promo video 3mins
• SEEDS Website
• Facebook Page
• SEEDS Medium Publication

Mentioned

• The Hive Bulk Foods

In this episode, we get into a discussion between myself and a good friend of mine, Kelvin Tay of Renegade Radio.
Renegade Radio is the premier podcasting network based in Malaysia, creating narratives, building on creative show ideas and much more. As a fellow builder of the Asian podcasting space, I respect him for doing all he can through this company.
Both of us have the same goal: to build the podcasting space around us. I focus on Asia-wide, while Kelvin focuses more on Malaysia. But, we tackle this problem in two different ways: as a solopreneur, and as an entire company.
In this episode, we talked about:

• How Renegade Radio and one of my brands, Podlovers Asia, runs in a growing podcasting space
• Defining engagement, attracting talent, and gatekeepers in an infant-level podcasting space
• Connecting with and getting mentored by Robert Smith, one of the co-founders of Planet Money
• The future of work: remote work, asynchronous communication and mindsets

Kelvin Tay is the Renegade, The Hustler, The Foundation of Malaysian podcasting. He is the AntiFool. Enjoy!
Timestamp

• 3:25 How Renegade Radio is the first independent podcasting network in Malaysia
• 7:24 The red tapes of being part of a company vs. a solopreneur
• 8:32 How you run a podcasting business: case studies, hiring, and more
• 13:52 Scratching your own itch through a business
• 15:19 Communicating with fans, vanity metrics, and engagement being no. 1
• 18:24 Reaching out to Robert Smith, Co-host of Planet Money
• 20:24 Meeting your personal idol
• 22:24 Is there money in a Malaysian podcasting business?
• 26:35 Why it's hard to tell Malaysians what a podcast is
• 31:03 How changes in the workplace affect Renegade Radio
• 37:51 Asynchronous communication and podcasting
• 42:13 Challenging the micro-management mindset, and the anti work-driven
• 44:34 My personal freelancer hiring process, and addressing the gig economy

Links

• Two Book Nerds Talking
• Epic Arcades
• Cultivating the Masses
• Podchaser
• Robert Smith
• Planet Money
• Memory Palace

In this episode, we had a chat with Suraya Zainuddin, Founder of the Malaysian personal finance blog Ringgit Oh Ringgit. She's created a sustainable career for herself as an independent freelancer, consultant and thought leader in Malaysian personal finance! Really inspiring.
We talked about:

• How she started this journey (she said it was an accident) to becoming a freelancer,
• Sharing her techstack and writing flow, and more
• The pressure of comparison, by looking at the gripes of someone with a 9-to-5, and a negative boss
• Mental health of a solopreneur
• The future of remote work according to Suraya

Suraya Zainuddin is the freelance writer, the independent, and a thought leader on Malaysian personal finance. She is the AntiFool. Let's get right into it!
Timestamps

• 2:51 Answering the question "What do you do?"
• 4:08 Suraya's niche career "was an accident"
• 7:29 The skills someone need to freelance right now
• 10:20 What Suraya learned about herself taking this leap
• 11:47 Why she feels guilty about being independent
• 15:16 Suraya's techstack and writing flow
• 20:13 "Remote work will rise" Suraya shares her thoughts

Suraya's Social Media

• RinggitOhRinggit Website
• RinggitOhRinggit Facebook
• Suraya's Twitter
• Suraya's Instagram

Tools

• Google Docs as the main writing tool
• Wordpress as a Content Management System
• Grammarly for editing
• Socialbee: Social Media scheduling tool
• Flipboard for curation