Mere Mortals Conversations

Michael is the Co-Founder and CEO of Fable Food Co, a company that develops and produces delicious meat alternatives based on mushrooms. He is also a mentor and investor in Startmate. Prior to Fable, Michael co-founded online retail businesses Shoes of Prey and Sneaking Duck and was a founding board member of the National Online Retail Association in Australia. He has also worked for Google and originally graduated with a degree in Law.
In this conversation, Juan had the pleasure to take a journey through Michael's highs and lows in business as well as all the learnings that have landed him to where he is today. We also delved into the way's Michael manages his day, the importance of prioritisation and pursuing what you are passionate about.
As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!
Timeline:(0:00) - Introduction(1:40) - Where does Michael's passion come from(5:00) - Why the use of mushrooms?(8:45) - From Law to Google to Entrepreneurship(11:25) - How that transition took place(13:20) - Learnings from founding businesses(21:20) - Developing the product(27:00) - The mission(30:00) - What's the internal relations between plant based companies(33:45) - Daily Swims by the beach(34:00) - Prioritising(41:30) - The future of Fable
Connect with Michael & Fable:https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelfox1/https://twitter.com/mmmichaelfoxhttps://www.instagram.com/fablefoodco/
Connect with Mere Mortals:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/Support the show

What happened to the guy who went without sleep for 11 days? In this episode on 'Sleeping' Juan and I discuss: the anatomy of the brain and why sleep is crucial for neural plasticity, the actual reasons that animals sleep, the detrimental effects of too much and too little sleep, the amount of sleep that science recommends, the Uberman sleep schedule of only taking 20 minute naps during the day, stories of consultants and their insane work hours, some fun hypotheticals and our optimal night of sleep.
As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!
Timeline:(0:00) - Wake up Mere Mortals!(1:12) - Definition(3:15) - The science of the brain(8:54) - Why do we sleep?(15:15) - What happens if we don't sleep?(22:12) - How much sleep do we actually need?(28:41) - The Uberman Sleep Schedule and napping(35:41) - Working hard in investment banking(42:29) - Hypotheticals(47:13) - Mere Mortal Moment(49:16) - The optimal sleep preparation

About Mere Mortals:Deep conversations with a light-hearted touch. Daily uploads @ 5pm AEST. 4M's, Book Reviews, Musings, Bonus, Themed Podcast, Conversations & Meanderings.
Connect with Mere Mortals:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/Support the show

Can meditation actually be great training for increasing your fortitude? In this episode of 'Musings' Juan and I discuss: not becoming discouraged and being able to start over again, vibrational science and how yelling at jars can make mould grow (apparently), using language correctly and judging people based on how they speak, signs that someone's ideas aren't worth listening to, Jiddu Krishnamurti and the Theosophical Society, figures from history that the Mere Mortals venerate and our gradual climb up the google rankings.
As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!
Timeline:(0:00) - Mere Mortal Folk: Molks(0:29) - Three Steps To Awakening(1:15) - Do not get discouraged; begin again(10:05) - Bullshit psuedo-science(15:52) - Vibrations that aren't bullshit(18:18) - Vague words producing vague outcomes(21:14) - Sorting out conflicting viewpoints(27:20) - The yacht club party boat(31:06) - Jiddu Krishnamurti(34:42) - People who we venerate(42:50) - We're rising up the Google Rankings

About Mere Mortals:Deep conversations with a light-hearted touch. Daily uploads @ 5pm AEST. 4M's, Book Reviews, Musings, Bonus, Themed Podcast, Conversations & Meanderings.
Connect with Mere Mortals:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/Support the show

Can the individual win against the big banks in the battle of Gamestop stonks in the new meme economy? In this episode of 'Meanderings' Juan and I discuss: how one should behave when called out for getting something wrong, the hilarious situation of a reddit group fighting against the financial system, why the banks will probably end up winning the fight, understanding a book by only hearing its reviews, what heavy squatting actually feels like and a fun hypothetical of taking psychedelics with Sam Harris and smoking weed with Mike Tyson.
As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!
Timeline:(0:00) - Horseshit not bullshit(0:26) - Mere Mortal Moments(1:14) - Sesame Street debacle(3:14) - Getting things wrong(10:12) - Gamestop & Wall St(20:00) - The banks always win; they set the rules(23:13) - Greed is the wanting of fast money(24:46) - Can you understand a book without reading it(27:12) - What a 200 kg squat feels like(28:59) - Taking drugs with a famous person(32:21) - Losing your head with Mere Mortals

About Mere Mortals:Deep conversations with a light-hearted touch. Daily uploads @ 5pm AEST. 4M's, Book Reviews, Musings, Bonus, Themed Podcast, Conversations & Meanderings.
Connect with Mere Mortals:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/Support the show

Ian is a signal fire for the next generations of entrepreneurs and modern business development. After kick-starting his career in assets management, Ian merged his financial prowess and cultivated his creative ambition, founding multiple successful ventures. He launched his first technology company in 2017, which handled corporate compliance and risk management around background screening for ASX listed companies.
Disrupting the disruptors is Ian's approach - inspiring him to co-found FIN-PAY in 2019, a tech-based solution that strives to provide simple, frictionless, and effortless payment methods with an agile global payment infrastructure. In late 2019 leveraging of his experience in verification, Ian joined forces with Sam Smith to build NXT a real-time verification and application management system to assist property managers to automate their workflow.
In the conversation with the Mere Mortal team, Ian was able to share both his business acumen alongside his personal traits that have led him to the success of today. From his origin story through to running multiple businesses, Ian takes us through a rich journey and we top it off with his daily practices, go to learning tools and a final pragmatic takeaway for everyone out there.
As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!
Timeline:(0:00) - Introduction(1:28) - Jordan Belfort Entrepreneur Course.(3:30) - Beginning a business, failing gracefully(7:40) - Diversified Assets(10:50) - The moment that forced a change(19:20) - The incoming payment changes(24:40) - Learning how to hire(30:50) - Think about 5 years from now(35:10) - A founding CEO and when to step away(39:30) - Lifestyle and fitting in learnings(45:55) - How to Contact Ian

Connect with Ian:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianparke/
About Mere Mortals:Deep conversations with a light-hearted touch. Daily uploads @ 5pm AEST. 4M's, Book Reviews, Musings, Bonus, Themed Podcast, Conversations & Meanderings.
Connect with Mere Mortals:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/Support the show

How do you push through the boredom and pain to be able to just keep on running? In this themed episode Juan and I discuss the topic of 'Running'. Running can be considered to be moving the legs at many paces, but there are some things it is not. It is not powerwalking, racewalking, skipping or hopping. The ridiculous thing is that there are world records for doing marathons for these other methods that will easily best our finest marathon time (once we actually do it).
In the rest of the episode we talk about: why Juan's comparing of times to other people isn't detrimental to his mental state, some of the science behind the energy release in the body, ways in which it is similar to doing meditation and the mindset and thoughts that go on within our heads. We end the podcast on a lighter note, discussing some of the most outrageous outfits that people have worn whilst completing a marathon and how good was their time.
As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!
Timeline:(0:00) - Overview(1:13) - Definition: to move swiftly(2:34) - What running isn't: powerwalking, racewalking, skipping & hopping(4:34) - Comparing yourself to other runners(10:11) - The science of running(13:52) - You run the race ..... and that's it(16:12) - Running even if you hate it(19:36) - Meditation vs Running(22:54) - What goes through your head whilst on a run(29:36) - Long time/distance without stopping(31:07) - World record marathon times(33:01) - Mere Mortal Moments(34:22) - Running out of podcast content? We got you covered!

About Mere Mortals:Deep conversations with a light-hearted touch. Daily uploads @ 5pm AEST. 4M's, Book Reviews, Musings, Bonus, Themed Podcast, Conversations & Meanderings.
Connect with Mere Mortals:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/Support the show

Do you set yourself monthly goals and if so, how many do you set? Juan and I on the first Thursday of every month go over our progress from the previous month and where we are heading for the next. Emphasis as always is on the shortcomings; what we didn't achieve in the previous month's goals and how we will fix that for the month that comes. We hope you get some value from this series, showcasing our own methodology. What do you do differently and why? Let us know in the comments, Mere Mortals out!
Timeline:(0:00)​ - Introduction(0:38)​ - Juan's January recap(2:04)​ - Kyrin's January recap(5:55)​ - February goals(25:04)​ - 2021 Fitness challenge(28:17) - Search on YT, it's a better search engine

About Mere Mortals:Deep conversations with a light-hearted touch. Daily uploads @ 5pm AEST. 4M's, Book Reviews, Musings, Bonus, Themed Podcast, Conversations & Meanderings.
Connect with Mere Mortals:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/Support the show

Are podcasts bad because they produce too much misinformation? In this episode of 'Musings' Juan and I discuss: why Juan enjoyed the latest JRE podcast with Lex Fridman, how I am starting to receive lots of benefits by taking a day off from tech with screens, will David Goggins be healthy in the long run, would Juan be able to resist technology for 24 hours, whether podcasts are unhelpful due to getting too many things wrong, why misinformation is neutral and that lying is the real problem, being in a foreign country without speaking the language and why you should watch Mere Mortals on repeat for a whole day!
As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!
Timeline:0:00 - Introduction0:24 - Joe Rogan & Lex Fridman3:45 - Benefits of a day without screens6:51 - David Goggins and long-term health9:04 - Enhanced forced creativity15:41 - Could Juan go a day without technology18:56 - Misinformation25:03 - Intentional misinformation and lying26:38 - Mere Mortal Moments27:57 - On your own in a country where you don't speak the language30:00 - Stuff a day of no tech, how about a day of just Mere Mortals

About Mere Mortals:Deep conversations with a light-hearted touch. Daily uploads @ 5pm AEST. 4M's, Book Reviews, Musings, Bonus, Themed Podcast, Conversations & Meanderings.
Connect with Mere Mortals:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/Support the show

How often do we find ourselves shying away from the prickly things in life, in being uncomfortable. Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable can be a real super power.
As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!
About Mere Mortals:Striving for excellence through life's lessons. Daily uploads @ 5pm AEST. 4M's, Book Reviews, Musings, Bonus, Themed Podcast, Conversations & Meanderings.
Connect with Mere Mortals:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/Support the show

What is the essence of having a profound conversation but simultaneously not taking yourself too seriously? In this episode of 'Meanderings' Juan and I discuss: our slight re-branding for the Mere Mortals brand, starting a new project for a bad reason and then transitioning out of it, how you could use your body issues as a catalyst for change, kids nowadays who have their entire childhood recorded, why extreme ownership might not be for everyone and how stressful it is to be anti-conformity on every issue.
As always, we hope you enjoy, Mere Mortals out!
Timeline:0:00 - Deep conversations with a light-hearted touch2:11 - Mere Mortal Moments2:32 - Starting something for the wrong reasons6:12 - Using fat-shaming for a good purpose10:19 - Kyrin's oldest memory11:23 - Would there be any value in recording everything14:33 - Extreme ownership, extreme responsibility17:20 - The benefits of conformity19:25 - Kyrin makes a mistake

About Mere Mortals:Deep conversations with a light-hearted touch. Daily uploads @ 5pm AEST. 4M's, Book Reviews, Musings, Bonus, Themed Podcast, Conversations & Meanderings.
Connect with Mere Mortals:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meremortalspodcast/Support the show