When the ‘why’ is missing, often so is our motivation. 

Something I’ve noticed about people who bounce back from adversity, is they tend to have a strong sense of purpose – and if they don’t have one when that curveball hits, it sure prompts them to find it! 

Take Who Give a Crap founder Simon Griffiths – when his body gave out and exhaustion hit, his passion to make others’ lives better literally helped him get out of bed. 

Or Meggie Palmer – she lived through an unfair situation in her own work life, and it’s given her the motivation to help others fight for equal pay. And it’s driven her towards success in her own life. 

And Liz Broderick, whose purpose for justice was seeded when she was very young, developed her why by listening to thousands of women. That strong sense of fairness has sustained her throughout her whole career. 

When things are challenging, it’s useful to go right back to exactly why you’re doing a project or trying a new approach. 

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Curveball is a production of Deadset Studios. Leaders reveal their darkest moments and share tips on how the deal with those things you just can’t see coming. 

Keep up to date with Curveball by following @_deadsetstudios on Twitter and @deadsetstudios on instagram.  

Want more from your leadership journey? To get more wisdom and life lessons from top leaders delivered to you directly, sign up to Curveball’s LinkedIn newsletter!  

Find out more about the show or suggest a guest by visiting www.curveballshow.com   

This was episode was produced and edited by Liam Riordan. 

The executive producers are Rachel Fountain and Kellie Riordan. 

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Education can change your life in a generation.” 

When RMIT University announced its newest Chancellor would be Richmond Football Club President Peggy O’Neal, those words from her mother might just have been on Peggy’s mind. 

From the tiny coal-mining town she grew up in, Peggy became the first member of her family to graduate university. Then the first woman hired by an establishment law firm. And then the first female president of the Richmond Tigers AFL club. 

Now Peggy will take her formidable leadership skills into higher education. 

(If you’ve never heard Peggy’s full interview on Curveball – what are you waiting for? Just scroll back in your feed and press play.) 

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Curveball is a production of Deadset Studios. Leaders reveal their darkest moments and share tips on how the deal with those things you just can’t see coming. 

Keep up to date with Curveball by following @_deadsetstudios on Twitter and @deadsetstudios on instagram.  

You can also sign up to Curveball’s LinkedIn newsletter which packs a leadership punch each week! 

Know a great leader who should be on Curveball? Drop us a line www.curveballshow.com   

This was episode was edited by Liam Riordan. The executive producers are Rachel Fountain and Kellie Riordan. 

 We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“The more you fail, the easier it gets. People get scared of failing. I know this is something that anyone entrepreneurial will say, but every time you lose all your money, it becomes easier. Because you know you can pick yourself up.” 

Declan Lee never chooses the easy path. These days he’s one of four owners of the famous Messina gelato chain, but he's had to pick himself up a few times already. 

As a music promoter, Declan once felt the full thrust of losing all his money when he booked what seemed to be a no brainer – electronic act Underworld – only to find a near-empty room when he arrived for the show. 

He lost money on a TV show that was ahead of its time – a pre-cursor to Ninja Warrior that saw athletes compete in gruelling physical challenges. 

And he’s also dabbled in physiotherapy, DJing, and restaurants. So what did it take to build an ice-cream empire and what lessons has he taken with him after so many flops? 

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Curveball is a production of Deadset Studios. Leaders reveal their darkest moments and share tips on how the deal with those things you just can’t see coming. 

Keep up to date with Curveball by following @_deadsetstudios on Twitter and @deadsetstudios on instagram.  

Want more from your leadership journey? To get more wisdom and life lessons from top leaders delivered to you directly, sign up to Curveball’s LinkedIn newsletter!  

Find out more about the show or suggest a guest by visiting www.curveballshow.com   

This was episode was produced by Liam Riordan and Rachel Fountain, with sound design by Justin Roullion.  

The executive producers are Rachel Fountain and Kellie Riordan. 

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Kate Vale was appointed Google Australia’s first employee, she didn’t have an office or a mobile phone. She found herself answering her home landline to do business! 

From humble beginnings she used her HR background to quickly build a team, and grew Google Australia to record revenues and eventually to IPO. 

Ever the digital pioneer since her days managing a dot com company before the crash, Kate Vale then headed up Spotify in Australia. 

Eventually she moved to California, the epicentre of start-up and digital culture. She’s now running a venture capital fund called Aliavia that’s focussed on supporting female founders who are often overlooked for investment. 

She takes you inside the famous Google hiring process and gives her take on what it takes to thrive while leading digital companies. 

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Curveball is a production of Deadset Studios. Leaders reveal their darkest moments and share tips on how the deal with those things you just can’t see coming. 

Keep up to date with Curveball by following @_deadsetstudios on Twitter and @deadsetstudios on instagram.  

Want more from your leadership journey? To get more wisdom and life lessons from top leaders delivered to you directly, sign up to Curveball’s LinkedIn newsletter!  

Find out more about the show or suggest a guest by visiting www.curveballshow.com   

This was episode was produced and edited by Liam Riordan with sound design by Krissy Miltiadou. 

The executive producers are Rachel Fountain and Kellie Riordan. 

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Remember when Michael Fox first joined us on Curveball? He’d clawed his way back from a bruising collapse of his first start-up Shoes of Prey to build a new company.  

Fable Foods creates a meat-alternative from shiitake mushrooms and Michael and his co-founders had convinced celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal to be part of their journey.  

But Covid had hit and Michael wasn’t sure his newly-established food manufacturing plant would survive the pandemic.   

Michael Fox is the ultimate optimist and since he last joined us on season 1 of Curveball, he’s secured more investment, scaled up his company, and now expanded into several fast food chains.   

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Curveball is a production of Deadset Studios. Leaders reveal their darkest moments and share tips on how the deal with those things you just can’t see coming. 

Keep up to date with Curveball by following @_deadsetstudios on Twitter and @deadsetstudios on instagram.   

Want more from your leadership journey? To get more wisdom and life lessons from top leaders delivered to you directly, sign up to Curveball’s LinkedIn newsletter!  

Find out more about the show or suggest a guest by visiting www.curveballshow.com   

This was episode was produced Liam Riordan. Curveball’s executive producers are Rachel Fountain and Kellie Riordan. 

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Olivia Humphrey has taken her company Kanopy from her spare bedroom in Perth to San Francisco... and turned down some pretty enticing investment offers along the way.  

She stuck to her guns, keeping her values front of mind at all times, and it paid off. I mean – it really paid off! Kanopy has sold for an eye-watering price. 

In part two of this revealing interview, Olivia Humphrey walks us through the sale of Kanopy to a private equity firm. It’s the little-told part of many business stories. It also lands Olivia back in Australia where she’s already working on a range of exciting investments and philanthropic projects.  

And if you haven’t heard part one, go and download it right now! Olivia Humphrey tells Curveball how she came up with the idea to streamline the way universities could secure rights for films and documentaries for students. Her journey building Kanopy from scratch is incredible and it’s one of Australia’s greatest start-up success stories. 

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Curveball is a production of Deadset Studios. Leaders tell us how they thrive in challenging times. 

Keep up to date with Curveball by following @_deadsetstudios on Twitter and @deadsetstudios on instagram.  

To get more wisdom and life lessons from top leaders delivered directly, sign up to Curveball’s LinkedIn newsletter. 

And hey, do suggest a guest by visiting www.curveballshow.com   

This was episode was produced and edited by Grace Pashley and Liam Riordan, with sound design by Krissy Miltiadou. 

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Olivia Humphrey was having lunch in a Napa vineyard when a billionaire stepped in to help turn her genius start-up into a fully-fledged global streaming platform.  

A former Village Roadshow employee, Olivia came up with the idea to streamline the way universities could secure rights for films and documentaries for students. 

As streaming took off and Kanopy became a digital platform much like Netflix or Stan, Olivia took her Perth-based company to the US where she quickly stitched up libraries too. 

The billionaire backer gave her the confidence to scale Kanopy beyond her wildest dreams.  

But it’s what happened next that so few business owners discuss openly. Especially very successful founders. The sale. How exactly does that work? Who are the winners, what are the risks, and what should you look out for? 

Listen to both episodes to hear Olivia’s rise to start-up superstar. 

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Curveball is a production of Deadset Studios. Leaders reveal their darkest moments and share tips on how the deal with those things you just can’t see coming. 

Keep up to date with Curveball by following @_deadsetstudios on Twitter and @deadsetstudios on instagram.  

Want more from your leadership journey? To get hot tips from top leaders delivered to you directly, sign up to Curveball’s LinkedIn newsletter!  

Find out more about the show or suggest a guest by visiting www.curveballshow.com   

This was episode was produced and edited by Grace Pashley and Liam Riordan, with sound design by Krissy Miltiadou. 

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Meggie Palmer was one of Australia’s best TV journalists, when she learned she wasn’t being paid the same as her male colleagues.

She had a choice. Put up with it or speak up and risk it all. This enormous career gamble almost crushed her. Until she realised it could also be the making of her. 

Disillusioned with the power of traditional media, and galvanised by this first-hand experience with gender discrimination, Meggie turned to tech to send her message.

The founder of PepTalkHer reveals how she turned her personal fight for equality into a community, and then into a successful business. She also teaches you how to negotiate for yourself, and explains why a good negotiation should be treated like a marriage. 

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Curveball is a production of Deadset Studios. Leaders reveal their darkest moments and share tips on how the deal with those things you just can’t see coming. 

Keep up to date with Curveball by following @_deadsetstudios on Twitter and @deadsetstudios on instagram.

Want more from your leadership journey? To get more wisdom and life lessons from top leaders delivered to you directly, sign up to Curveball’s LinkedIn newsletter!

Find out more about the show or suggest a guest by visiting www.curveballshow.com 

This was episode was produced and edited by Liam Riordan with sound design by Justin Rouillon.

The executive producers are Rachel Fountain and Kellie Riordan.

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Imagine a life where the simple act of sitting sends your body into spasms of pain. 

Entrepreneur Simon Griffiths likes to optimise for success. But pushing far beyond his limits has come at a cost. And it’s a warning for so many leaders. 

The Who Gives a Crap CEO opens up for the first time about the lengths he went to cope with chronic pain and full physical collapse, including checking into a yoga hospital in India. 

His life would change with the realisation that gaining control of his mind was the first step to a fully functioning body. 

And somewhere in the middle of that mettle-testing crisis, Simon’s purpose was forged. 

He took a sharp left turn from what seemed like a predestined corporate career, into building profit-for-purpose companies. 

But he would still face plenty of trials of body, mind and endurance on the road to making toilet paper company Who Gives a Crap an outrageous success. 

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Curveball is a production of Deadset Studios. Leaders reveal their darkest moments and share tips on how the deal with those things you just can’t see coming. 

Keep up to date with Curveball by following @_deadsetstudios on Twitter and @deadsetstudios on instagram.  

Want more from your leadership journey? To get more wisdom and life lessons from top leaders delivered to you directly, sign up to Curveball’s LinkedIn newsletter!  

Find out more about the show or suggest a guest by visiting www.curveballshow.com   

This was episode was produced by Rachel Fountain and Grace Pashley, with sound design by Justin Rouillon. 

The executive producers are Rachel Fountain and Kellie Riordan. 

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A funny thing happened during a Curveball production meeting recently. Our junior producer Liam mentioned that his Mum thinks he needs a mentor. Liam explained that he had some in Rachel and Kellie, who work together to oversee the team that brings you Curveball. 

But Kellie wasn’t sure she was a mentor to Liam. Sure, he’s given feedback. Sometimes even a pep talk. But is that the same as mentoring? 

Mentors, coaches, champions. They are all people you might cultivate in your career. But what’s the difference between them, when do you need them, and how can you get one if you do!? 

We decided to let you eavesdrop on our chat about mentors and champions and which leaders on Curveball swear by them. 

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Curveball is a production of Deadset Studios. Keep up to date with Curveball by following @_deadsetstudios on Twitter and @deadsetstudios on instagram.  

Want more from your leadership journey? Sign up to Curveball’s LinkedIn newsletter - it’s like having your own personal executive coach but you don’t have to pay for it! 

Find out more about the show by visiting www.curveballshow.com   

This episode was produced by Liam Riordan. The executive producers are Rachel Fountain and Kellie Riordan. 

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the land on which this show was made. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.