Powering Your Career

In this episode of Powering Your Career, David Smith is joined by Mitch Wallis, founder of Heart On My Sleeve and one of Australia’s leading voices on mental health, psychology, and human performance.

This episode takes a different lens on leadership, focusing on the capability that will define the future of work, connection.

As the energy sector faces unprecedented pressure and transformation, the ability to lead people, not just projects, has never been more critical.

Mitch shares his personal journey from Microsoft to a global mental health movement, and the moment that changed everything. 

In this conversation, we cover:

• The difference between mental health and mental illness
 • Why regulation, not happiness, is the real goal
 • The two core skills every human needs, resilience and connection
 • Why most leaders get communication wrong
 • The biggest mistakes people make in difficult conversations
 • How to build genuine connection in teams, not surface-level check-ins
 • Why technical experts often struggle when stepping into leadership
 • The future of leadership in an AI-driven world
 • The power of saying “I’m not okay”

This is a must-listen for leaders, managers, and professionals across energy, infrastructure, and high-performance environments.

If you want to build stronger teams, have better conversations, and lead with impact, this episode will challenge how you think about leadership.

Episode 018 | Rakhesh Martyn | Founder & CEO of Hachiko

In this episode of Powering Your Career, Dave sits down with Rakhesh Martyn, engineer, startup founder and former stand up comedian turned energy tech CEO.

Born in Sri Lanka and trained in the UK, Rakhesh shares his journey from chemical engineering into Australia’s energy sector, and the leap into building a venture backed startup from scratch.

This is a candid conversation about risk, rejection, reinvention and the mindset required to lead in the energy transition.

They cover:

⚡ The sliding door moment that changed his life at university
⚡ Moving from engineering into renewables and energy software
⚡ Spotting a market gap and founding Hachiko
⚡ Surviving more than 90 investor rejections before raising capital
⚡ Why most people should not start a business
⚡ What stand up comedy taught him about pitching and leadership
⚡ The fragmentation in Australia’s energy market
⚡ Burnout, therapy and building real self awareness as a founder

Honest, sharp and practical.

If you are navigating the energy industry or thinking about building something of your own, this episode is worth your time.

🎙️ Episode 017 – Guy Chalkley Returns

In this special returning guest episode of Powering Your Career, David Smith sits down again with Guy Chalkley, outgoing CEO of Endeavour Energy, for an honest conversation about leadership, timing, succession and what comes next.

After six years leading one of Australia’s largest electricity distribution networks, Guy shares why now was the right time to step away from the CEO role and what a good handover really looks like.

This conversation goes far beyond career milestones. It explores:

⚡ The difference between being a boss and being a leader
 ⚡ Why attitude often beats aptitude
 ⚡ Knowing when it’s time to move on
 ⚡ Building culture people genuinely feel, not just talk about
 ⚡ The reality of board roles and governance
 ⚡ What the Australian energy sector must get right in the years ahead

One of the most powerful reflections from the episode:

“Attitude has taken me further than aptitude. Listening more than talking. Humility and honesty over big ego.”

For leaders, aspiring executives, board directors, and anyone navigating the energy transition, this is a conversation grounded in real experience.

If you’re thinking about succession, career longevity, executive leadership or the future of Australia’s energy ecosystem, this one is worth your time.

🎧 Episode 017 is live now.

Episode 016 | Werther Esposito, CEO of Potentia Energy

In this episode of Powering Your Career, host David Smith sits down with Werther Esposito, CEO of Potentia Energy, to explore a career shaped by global experience, bold decisions, and building energy businesses from the ground up.

From growing up in a small town in Italy to working with the United Nations, leading energy developments across Africa, Europe, and Australia, Werther shares the defining moments that shaped his leadership journey. We talk about saying yes to opportunity, navigating different cultures, and why energy sits at the centre of geopolitics, economic growth, and the global transition to net zero.

In this conversation, we cover:

⚡ From international relations and diplomacy to leading major energy platforms
⚡ Building and scaling energy businesses across three continents
⚡ What it takes to launch and grow teams in new markets
⚡ Leadership lessons learned from sport, culture, and global experience
⚡ The realities of Australia’s energy transition and where it is heading
⚡ Why storage, transmission, and social licence will define the next decade
⚡ Mental health, balance, and performing in high-pressure leadership roles

A thoughtful, global perspective on leadership, resilience, and the role energy leaders will play in shaping the future.

🎙️ Powering Your Career is the Enertia Talent podcast spotlighting the people driving Australia’s energy transition.

Episode 016 out now!

In Part 2, Dave continues the conversation with David Griffin, CEO of 5B, diving deeper into leadership, resilience, and the future of the energy transition.

David shares how he builds high-performing teams in complex, high-pressure environments, the role of intelligence and psychometric testing, and what it takes to lead highly technical teams with clarity and trust.

We cover:

⚡ What makes a high-performing team in energy and infrastructure
 ⚡ Using psychometric testing to build diversity of thought
 ⚡ Leading technical experts without being the technical expert
 ⚡ Managing pressure, resilience, and mental wellbeing as a CEO
 ⚡ Why ex-military talent transitions so well into corporate careers
 ⚡ The policy, network, and innovation challenges shaping the next phase of the energy transition

🎧 Episode – Part 2 out now!

Episode 015 - Part 1 - David Griffin, CEO of 5B | Powering Your Career

In Part 1 of this two-part conversation, David Smith sits down with David Griffin, CEO of 5B, to explore the foundations of an extraordinary and deeply non-linear career in the energy sector.

David shares his early life and formative years in the Australian Army, reflecting on how military leadership, resilience, mateship, and exposure to complex systems shaped his confidence to take risks and build businesses beyond traditional career paths. He opens up about the decision to leave the Army after 13 years, and the mindset shift required to step into the commercial world with no clear roadmap.

The conversation traces David’s early move into carbon trading and Japanese investment markets, a challenging first foray into clean energy that required persistence, relationship-building, and personal financial risk. From there, David recounts the pivot into wind farm development, including the hands-on realities of Australia’s early renewable projects and how dramatically planning, approvals, and costs have changed over time.

David walks through the development of some of Australia’s earliest wind and solar projects, offering candid insights into the evolution of the renewable energy market, the growing complexity of network connections, and the increasing impact of policy and bureaucracy on development timelines. He contrasts the speed and simplicity of early approvals with today’s environment, highlighting why these challenges now represent one of the biggest constraints on the energy transition.

The episode culminates in the origin story of Sun Cable, including the moment the idea crystallised, the scale of ambition behind exporting renewable electricity from Australia to Singapore, and the immense technical, economic, and political complexity involved. David explains how the project became a vast optimisation challenge, requiring world-class expertise across engineering, economics, finance, and government engagement.

This episode offers a rare, behind-the-scenes look at how large-scale energy ideas are born, the courage required to pursue them, and the mindset needed to operate at the frontier of global energy transformation.

EP014: Petrea Bradford, Group Executive Operations, APA Group

Petrea Bradford joins David Smith to discuss her three decade career across energy and aviation, the leadership lessons she gained guiding Qantas through COVID, and what drew her back to the energy sector. Petrea shares insights on leading a national workforce, building a strong safety culture, taking calculated career risks, and the skills needed for the future energy transition. A grounded, practical conversation on leadership, balance, and purpose in a fast changing industry.

In this episode, Dave chats with Anna Collyer — Executive Chair of the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) and one of Australia’s most respected voices on regulation, leadership, and the energy transition.

Anna shares her journey from corporate law to shaping the rules that guide Australia’s evolving energy market. We cover:

⚡ The moment a chance project during Victoria’s privatisation sparked a lifelong passion for energy
 ⚡ Breaking barriers as a young female partner and driving early diversity and inclusion reform
 ⚡ What the AEMC really does — and how its work shapes Australia’s energy future
 ⚡ The pace, complexity and opportunity of the transition to net zero
 ⚡ Why social licence, equity and innovation are vital to progress
 ⚡ Leadership lessons, family balance, and finding joy through sport and music

🎧 Episode 013 – out now!

In this episode, Dave chat with Andy McCarthy — author of Here Comes the Sun, founder and former CEO of Gippsland Solar, and a straight-talking advocate for purpose, people, and the energy transition.

Andy shares a candid journey from leaving school at 15 to building a nationally recognised solar brand in coal country, selling to RACV, and rebuilding after burnout. We cover:

⚡ The moment a single solar panel sparked a 25-year mission
⚡ Starting up in the Latrobe Valley and winning trust as “Andy from Gippsland Solar”
⚡ Scaling fast, selling to RACV, and the cost of carrying it all
⚡ Mental health, vulnerability, and building your “wolf pack”
⚡ Why jobs, skills and community buy-in matter more than slogans
⚡ Networking as a superpower for non-linear careers

⚡⚡ Episode 011 – Jack Curtis ⚡⚡

In this episode, David chats with Jack Curtis, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Neara, about navigating high-stakes career moves, building a global energy tech business, and the power of backing yourself. Jack shares his path from law to investment banking, scaling one of the world’s largest solar companies, and now leading an Australian tech startup that solves critical infrastructure challenges.

In this episode: