Nordic Insights

Eps 31.

I think one of the best things about Australia is the food. My guest Kati Turkia agrees with me on this. Kati is a young, super talented chef based in Sydney. Her love for food started while learning to cook with the seasonal ingredients from her Grandmother's garden in Finland.

In spite of her young age, Kati has gained great experience in working with multicultural cuisines in Finland, Spain and, over the past 9 years, in various restaurants in Sydney.

We discuss her journey from Finnish kitchens to Australia and her experiences working in demanding restaurant kitchens of several cultures. Kati also talks about seasonal Finnish foods and the differences between Finnish and Australian cuisine.

After losing her job as a chef due to the COVID lockdowns, Kati decided to start her own catering business. We also discuss how, to Kati's surprise, she has found a niche market in Australia for her Finnish specialities.

You will learn from Kati how:

• Her perseverance has helped form her successful career
• She has learned to work with multicultural restaurant kitchen teams
• Finnish food culture is based on seasons

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Eps 30

I was delighted to learn that there is a Nordic Policy Centre in Australia. (How did I miss this?)

It is a think tank formed by the Canberra-based Australia Institute. It investigates the effective, progressive social and economic policies of the Nordic countries and how they might work in Australia.

My guest is the Inaugural Convenor of the Nordic Policy Centre, Professor Andrew Scott, who has been investigating Nordic policies (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) for over 10 years. We discuss the aims of the Centre and his new book, The Nordic Edge, which he has co-authored. The book explores Nordic policies and the possibilities they provide to overcome some of Australia's big problems.

Topics we discuss include climate and energy, work/life balance, independent foreign policy, prison reform and retraining for workforce participation. We also dig into more detail on the benefits of high Nordic taxes, gender equality and media diversity. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much I did.

You will learn from Professor Scott

• Policies that have made Nordic societies effective and successful
• The differences between Nordic and Australian thinking
• How COVID has made Australia more Nordic

The Nordic Policy Centre

The Nordic Edge

The Nordic Policy Centre on Twitter

Professor Andrew Scott

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EPS 29

My guest is multi-talented Satu Vänskä, a fellow Finn, and the Principal Violin of the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Her destiny was decided when she started playing the violin at the age of 3 while living in Japan. Her talent was recognised early on while she was studying violin in Finland and Germany. She was named 'Young Soloist of the Year' by Sinfonia Lahti in Finland in 1998 and a few years later she was a prize winner of the 'Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben' in Germany.

She studied and worked in Europe with world-leading classical music orchestras and musicians before moving to Australia. She joined the ACO in 2004, where she today has many roles, performing also as a lead violin and soloist. She is the curator, frontwoman, violinist and vocalist of ACO Underground, the ACO's experimental spin-off band.

We talk about how Satu's multicultural upbringing and experience has had a strong influence on her character. Satu tells us about her role as a performer and leader. The big milestones that have transformed her life include performing as a vocalist and violinist in Barry Humphries' Weimar Cabaret in The Barbican in London.

You will learn from Satu how

• Her multicultural upbringing and perseverance has formed her successful career
• She has developed her Leadership skills
• Her amazing career growth has been organic

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Eps 27

Sydneysiders, check out our sponsor VENLA Resell+Relove, a second-hand fashion store with a NORDIC twist, located in Mosman and Bondi Junction (opening July). VENLA rent-a-rack store is a place where you can give a new life to your quality fashion clothes and accessories and find new loves. Join the VENLA community to help reduce fashion waste. Your wallet and the Earth will thank you. Check out venla.com.au for more details.

My guest is my friend, fellow Finn and business partner of 4 years, Minna Monaghan. We discuss how COVID made us pivot from our travel aviation consultancy business to open a recycling retail fashion store in Sydney. We talk about our careers and how we both ended up moving from Finland to Australia.

Minna's career path took her from advertising to various aviation management roles with QANTAS and Virgin. My own journey started at sales and marketing in hospitality, then running my own marketing PR consultancy for over 10 years. After the GFC, I ended up in travel tech marketing for 6 years. Minna and I set up our travel-aviation consultancy in 2017, representing AIRHELP air passenger rights company in APAC.

We discuss how the idea of VENLA was born at the end of 2020. The VENLA mission is to recycle fashion and help to reduce fashion waste. We talk about the success of VENLA MOSMAN in its first 6 months, which has now enabled us to open our 2nd store, VENLA BONDI, in Sydney Eastern suburbs.

You will learn from Minna and myself

• How we have pivoted our travel consultant business to second-hand retail stores
• How our career journeys have taken us from the corporate world to becoming entrepreneurs
• Why Finland has a strong sustainability and recycling culture

VENLA Resell+Relove

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Sydneysiders, check out our Sponsor VENLA Resell + Relove, a second hand fashion store with a NORDIC twist, located in Mosman (Sydney). VENLA rent-a-rack store is a place where you can give a new life to your quality fashion clothes and accessories and find new loves. Join the VENLA team to help reduce fashion waste. Your wallet and the Earth will thank you. Check out for venla.com.au more details.

My guest Karin Adcock trained as a school teacher in Denmark. However, life took her in a very different direction. She ended up in Australia and has become a very successful award winning business leader and entrepreneur. Karin has gained in-depth knowledge of branding, marketing, distribution and franchising. This includes founding Pandora, a Danish jewellery brand designed for women, which under her leadership became a household name in Australia and New Zealand.

Karin has since transformed her career into management of a diversified portfolio of retail and property assets, including Winmark Wines in the Hunter Valley. Karin took over the estate in 2016 and have now restored the property to its former glory including winery, high-end accommodation, event venues and art gallery. We discuss Karin's journey to success, her challenges, vision and determination.

You will learn from Karin how she

• Built her career to become a multi-award winning business leader
• Built a successful team and multi-million dollar franchise business in Australia and New Zealand
• Got one of her most profound life lessons from an Indian tuk tuk driver

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Winmark Wines

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Eps 26

Diabetes has a long history in my family. It has made me curious to learn more about it and to research recent encouraging developments. I came across Dr Miina Ohman, a Singapore based Finn who has a strong desire to prevent and/or cure chronic diseases, including diabetes. We discuss her successful career in clinical healthcare and her strong track record in academic research working environments in Europe, North America and Asia.

Miina also talks about how you develop prediabetes and diabetes, including what happens in our bodies when we become insulin resistant. She also gives us guidance on how to prevent, manage and even cure diabetes in some cases. Miina promotes personal choices that support a long and healthy life. She is a believer in the power of Nature as an integral part of the holistic well-being of humans.

We discuss her challenges and strengths as a Finn in working in multicultural environments in three continents.

You will learn from Miina about

• How she has built her career from a Helsinki based GP to become a leading global researcher
• Managing cultural differences, challenges and benefits living as a Nordic in three continents
• Her resilience and passion in research to prevent and cure chronic diseases

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Miina Ohman Linkedin

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Eps 25

Singapore based Finn Sami Jääskeläinen runs Nordic Innovation House, a community platform for accelerating Nordic start-ups in the Singapore and South-East Asia region.

Sami's colourful career included being a professional chef in Helsinki and later moving into advertising as a team lead for iconic global brands such as Nokia and Finlandia Vodka. Sami now has a successful career as a Nordic start-up Community Director in Singapore. This has included running partnerships for Slush, the super successful start-up event based in Finland.

We discuss Sami's experience of cultural differences working as a Nordic in Singapore and in his collaborations with other Nordic colleagues. Nordic Innovation House is a unique collaboration platform between five Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Their aim is to connect Nordic start-ups with major innovation hubs globally including Singapore, Silicon Valley, New York, Tokyo and Hong Kong.

You will learn from Sami about

• how he has built his career from a chef to a global start-up advisor
• managing cultural differences, challenges and benefits living as a Nordic in South East Asia
• his resilience and curiosity in conquering new areas to progress in his professional life

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Nordic Innovation House

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Episode 24

It is surprising to hear that there are over 600 Danish brands in Australia. How has little Denmark, with 5.5 M people, achieved this success? There is a very special relationship between these two countries, thanks to Jorn Utzon's design of the Sydney Opera House and Tasmanian born HRH Crown Princess Mary. However, it doesn't explain why Australians have embraced Danish products so wholeheartedly.

My guest, Michael T Hansen, the former Trade Commissioner of Denmark, talks about how the 2008/9 global financial crisis offered an opportunity for Danish companies in Australia when the rest of the world was in recession. During his eight years in the job he assisted over 200 Danish companies to enter the Australian market. Michael talks about why he thinks Danish design, cuisine, food products and livability concepts are now well known and desired in Australia.

We discuss features of Danish and Nordic corporate culture which Michael has very successfully introduced to his staff as MD of iconic Danish company Nilfisk.

Michael also introduces how, against all odds, hel and his wife Parret have built a stunning, 100% off-the-grid Danish designed holiday house in Australia.

You will learn from Michael about

• How he has succeeded in making hundreds of Danish companies into household names in Australia
• The challenges and wins in promoting a country in the other side of the world
• Nordic tips for a successful career

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Nilfisk Pasific

Michael and Parret's holiday home (in Danish)

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Eps 23

Silicon Valley based entrepreneur Ari Tulla made a big jump from Finnish Nokia and the gaming industry to the healthcare industry in the USA. In 2011 he co-founded BetterDoctor, a comprehensive doctor data engine that powers the healthcare market to help people to navigate the complicated US healthcare system. He also had personal reasons as he wanted to find better healthcare for his own family. Ari ran BetterDoctor for over 10 years, after which time it was very successfully acquired by Quest Analytics and Ari became CEO in 2018. We discuss Ari's journey from a teen tech gig in Northern Finland to becoming a serious entrepreneur in San Francisco. Ari talks about his strong drive "Finnish Sisu " to help people live better lives and his connection to his Finnish roots. We also discuss the reasons for the success of the Finnish start - up world. Ari talks about his recently founded stealth mode startup which is transforming food from the cause of disease to medicine.

You will learn from Ari about

• how he has succeeded as a start-up entrepreneur
• challenges and benefits when entering a new industry as an outsider
• positive outcomes of the Nokia collapse for Finnish start-ups

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Eps 22

Nordics are well known to be some of the happiest peoples in the world. What do they do to make themselves happy? Kajsa Humphreys is a Sydney based Swedish Health and Fitness coach and a mum of 2 children. Her business, The Swedish Solution, helps women implement simple step by step lifestyle changes to increase their feeling of health and well-being - and of course happiness. Her business was born after she was feeling unhealthy and unhappy about her own life. She made some dramatic changes and decided to quit her successful corporate job and leave her marriage - at the same time. Kajsa talks about her journey as a single mum to become a very successful and happy entrepreneur.

You will learn from Kajsa about

• Her dramatic change from a successful corporate life to becoming a happy entrepreneur
• Why Swedish people are some of the happiest in the world
• Three simple steps to increase your well-being and create a happier lifestyle

TheSwedishSolution

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