RadEO

In this episode of RadEO Ross talks to Dillon Jearey from Kilowatt Audio Visual. Dillon shares his experience with starting a company on a credit card and setting yourself up with a roadmap to where you want to go. Dillon explains why he thinks strategy is needed to kickstart culture and how he works on his culture journey.

Subscribe on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/radeo/id1250841955) or Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/5FhWL8wjR13nuU1gI7dUkY)

About Dillon Jearey -

Dillon Jearey is the CEO and Founder of Kilowatt Audio Visual, a premium technical event partner, delivering technical support and

production services to more than 700 events a year in the African live events industry.

With a credit card limit of just R50k and no tertiary education, Dillon started Kilowatt AV in June 2007. It was his first serious attempt at entrepreneurship, and although making many mistakes, Dillon has grown Kilowatt to be a significant player in its space with total sales revenue combined at over R270mil for the past five years. He is passionate about personal development, culture, strategy, mindfulness, and hyper-awareness, believing that these traits along with a servant leadership mindset, are essential for the modern day CEO.

In 2012, Dillon became a member of the Global Entrepreneurs’ Organization, which now forms the fundamental foundation of his growth and personal development. Most successful of which has been his ability to completely step out of his business operationally and free up time to focus on new business opportunities, adventures, public speaking and mentoring young entrepreneurs. He is married with three daughters and loves adventure. Whether it is motor-racing or mountain biking, anything that gets the adrenaline going. Dillon has competed against a formula one racing legend in a reality TV series, cycled from London to Paris, rafted the mighty Zambezi river, completed a full Ironman triathlon and ran the London marathon, to name a few.

Dillon’s business-

http://kilowatt.co.za/

Show notes -

00:38 - Dillon’s elevator pitch

01:45 - Why Dillon is no longer a wedding DJ

04:51 - How Dillon got clients and finances to start his company

10:30 - Adding value with your tools

13:25 - How big is Kilowatt and what are you working on at the moment?

16:58 - Not being a key operator in the business any more

21:15 - What do you believe is strategy and culture?

24:09 - A day in the life of Dillon Jearey

26:30 - How do you work on your culture journey?

29:56 - Are you measuring people on their behaviours?

38:48 - Test a good idea and see where it takes you

– RadEO is a podcast for Entrepreneurs by Entrepreneurs. It is hosted by Ross Drakes and Rich Mulholland and produced by the Entrepreneurs Organisation in South Africa. Tune in every 2 weeks to hear conversations with business owners who will share their experiences and stories of what they have learnt building their business and what drives them to keep going.

If you have a business and want more information on EO, get in touch or visit our website eonetwork.org

In this episode of RadEO, Ross chats to Lesley Waterkeyn, founder of Colourworks and now Group CEO of CDWi. They talk merging businesses and staying relevant after two decades in the industry. Lesley shares her experience in integrating two companies and how they got even more clients with the merge.

Subscribe on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/radeo/id1250841955) or Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/5FhWL8wjR13nuU1gI7dUkY)

About Lesley -

Lesley built Colourworks from the ground-up and now heads up the CWDi Group. She is driven by her curiosity and her entrepreneurial mind spearheads the agency’s innovation and relevance. As Group CEO, she is responsible for the continuous growth of the business. She does this by setting the company’s vision and seeing it come to fruition in the company culture, procuring the right resources, monitoring performance and leading CSI initiatives. She won the IWEC award (International Women Entrepreneurs Challenge) in 2017 in recognition of her impact as a female business leader.

Lesley’s business -

CWDi Group - http://cwdi.co.za/

Show notes -

00:35 - Lesley’s elevator pitch

00:58 - What does a business challenge mean in your world?

01:45 - What path does one take to end up where you ended up?

03:05 - What are your favourite parts of your business, and which part do you wish you don’t have to deal with?

05:00 - Do you still support digital systems?

05:40 - How do you keep yourself engage after two decades?

06:35 - Have you kept the same staff as the business changes?

07:20 - How have you kept your skills relevant as things change?

08:33 - The Stay in Your Lane Document

09:20 - How does accountability look like your team?

10:00 - The Big Merge

12:22 - How do you navigate the minefield of a big merge?

13:55 - Negotiating the merge

14:57 - Lesley’s tips on a merge

16:28 - Matching culture and values by finding the right partner

17:00 - How did your clients respond to the merge?

19:10 - What role did BEE play in the merge?

20:05 - The 67 Logos Project

25:00 - Making the loudest noise

27:00 - How do you manage EO, merging companies and designing 67 logos?

29:40 - How do you connect back the EO experiences to your business?

31:30 - 2IC Forum

32:32 - What’s next for Lesley Waterkeyn?

33:30 - A strategy for growth through acquisition

36:26 - Are you the one running around sharing the values?

Ross listen to this podcast (implementation strategies) -

John Hagel | Moving From Pressure To Opportunity | SingularityU Greece Summit 2018 - https://youtu.be/AvfrnhQZ0SM

– RadEO is a podcast for Entrepreneurs by Entrepreneurs. It is hosted by Ross Drakes and Rich Mulholland and produced by the Entrepreneurs Organisation in South Africa. Tune in every 2 weeks to hear conversations with business owners who will share their experiences and stories of what they have learnt building their business and what drives them to keep going.

If you have a business and want more information on EO, get in touch or visit our website eonetwork.org

In this episode of RadEO, Richard and Ross talk strategies and all the extra time you have to spend in strategy meetings building the strategy. They share their thoughts and experiences on victory conditions and fictitious end terms.

Subscribe on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/radeo/id1250841955) or Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/5FhWL8wjR13nuU1gI7dUkY)

– RadEO is a podcast for Entrepreneurs by Entrepreneurs. It is hosted by Ross Drakes and Rich Mulholland and produced by the Entrepreneurs Organisation in South Africa. Tune in every 2 weeks to hear conversations with business owners who will share their experiences and stories of what they have learnt building their business and what drives them to keep going.

If you have a business and want more information on EO, get in touch or visit our website eonetwork.org

In this episode of RadEO, Ross talks to Lauren Gamsu the founder of Black Sheep Design. They talk all about sabbaticals and how to prepare your team and your clients before the sabbatical. Lauren shares her experience with committing to a 3 month sabbatical from work. She gives her tips and tricks on doing it well so that you come back with a new excitement for your next venture.

Subscribe on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/radeo/id1250841955) or Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/5FhWL8wjR13nuU1gI7dUkY)

More about Lauren -

Lauren Gamsu is the founder of Black Sheep Design, a turnkey office fit-out and building refurbishment company.

After completing her architectural degree at UCT, and working in London and Dublin, she returned to her hometown Johannesburg, to combine her creative flair and entrepreneurial spirit. She founded Black Sheep in 2011, with negligible finances and a passion to build a business.

She steadily gained a client base, helping SME’s with their office renovations. Over time, Black Sheep’s scope extended to include providing design solutions to underperforming buildings within the listed property sector. The company currently has a staff complement of 16 people, and clients that include Redefine, Arrowhead, Hertz, Growthpoint, Steinhoff and Media 24. Lauren is a past board member of Entrepreneurs Organization and a recipient of the EY Winning Women Award.

In 2018, Lauren took the plunge and committed to a 3 month sabbatical from work. She handed over the reins and went travelling around Europe, and Australia. The business flourished, and she returned with more clarity, a renewed appreciation for Johannesburg weather and excitement for the next entrepreneurial adventure.

Black Sheep - (https://www.blacksheepsa.com/)

Show notes -

00:38 - Lauren’s elevator pitch

01:30 - KTV Market day

03:30 - Why Lauren took a sabbatical

07:18 - Delegating responsibility

10:15 - How did your clients react?

15:00 - Handing over the bank, monitoring and reporting

16:50 - How would you monitor client service while on a sabbatical?

17:45 - How do you tell the whole team you’re leaving for 3 months?

25:07 - How did Lauren do her sabbatical?

30:08 - How is it being back?

32:00 - Did you find new opportunities with your new open mindset?

34:40 - Would you go on another sabbatical?

– RadEO is a podcast for Entrepreneurs by Entrepreneurs. It is hosted by Ross Drakes and Rich Mulholland and produced by the Entrepreneurs Organisation in South Africa. Tune in every 2 weeks to hear conversations with business owners who will share their experiences and stories of what they have learnt building their business and what drives them to keep going.

If you have a business and want more information on EO, get in touch or visit our website eonetwork.org

In this episode of RadEO, Ross talks to Earl Smith, the founder of Volunteer SA. They talk “Voluntourism” and getting people to volunteer in Africa and have the experience of a lifetime. Earl chats about the inspiring and frustrating side of social media and he shares his thoughts and experiences with leadership challenges.

Subscribe on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/radeo/id1250841955)

or Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/5FhWL8wjR13nuU1gI7dUkY)

More about Earl -

Having started Volunteer Southern Africa in 2008, they have had much success in growing their passion into what is one of the largest and most certainly well known and trusted volunteering business in South Africa.

Responsible for management, strategy, improvements, marketing, business development. Brand development, web site traffic growth, web site UI and advertising revenue. Developed brand strategy and statistics systems. Forming partnerships and co-operations with regional conservation facilities as well as volunteer/travel agencies across the globe.

He has a degree in electrical engineering, school at Carmel School in Pretoria, and matriculated in 1995. He has managed the Lion Park from 2008 until 2012. He saw a gap in the market and started marketing the Lion Park as a wildlife volunteer destination. From there, the business grew and it came time to put on his “big girl panties” and go with it alone.

https://www.volunteersa.com/

Show Notes -

00:42 - Earl’s elevator pitch

01:44 - How did you find your passion and end up in this industry?

02:32 - The business model of Volunteer SA

06:30 - “Voluntourism”

08:10 - What does purpose mean to Earl?

10:30 - Applying your vision to your staff

12:58 - The inspiring and frustrating side of Social Media

17:32 - How do you catch your crowd?

20:50 - When did you start Volunteer SA?

22:24 - Howard Mann’s ‘Your Business Brickyard’

25:30 - Earl’s tips for taking on a business partner

28:20 - Marketing your business

31:15 - Leadership Challenges

33:20 - What does Earl’s 2019 look like?

– RadEO is a podcast for Entrepreneurs by Entrepreneurs. It is hosted by Ross Drakes and Rich Mulholland and produced by the Entrepreneurs Organisation in South Africa. Tune in every 2 weeks to hear conversations with business owners who will share their experiences and stories of what they have learnt building their business and what drives them to keep going.

If you have a business and want more information on EO, get in touch or visit our website eonetwork.org

In this episode of RadEO, Ross talks to Jason Goldberg, the Co-founder of Edge Growth and Founder of 10X-e. Jason shares why his company’s mission drives him and his staff. They discuss what economic challenges entrepreneurs could encounter in the next year and Jason shares his thoughts on how to balance the needs of a startup inside a mature organisation.

Subscribe on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/radeo/id1250841955)

or Soundcloud (https://soundcloud.com/radeopodcast)

About Jason -

Jason Goldberg is the founder of 10X-e, and he also co-founded Edge Growth and Vumela Fund.

Since starting his career at Bain and Co. and later as a corporate strategist, Jason has spent the last 12 years’ investing in, starting, scaling, advising, accelerating, and sitting on boards of high potential ventures in the R5m - R2bn turnover range. Jason brings his unique mix of experiences as an experienced investor, entrepreneur, strategist and his passion for growing business leaders to help leadership teams to scale themselves as leaders, build scalable teams with scalable cultures, and scale their businesses (operations, systems, boards).

Jason’s specialisations are growth strategy and scaling organisations after the Accelerator stage – helping teams navigate the most complex stage of building a business: transitioning from a start-up to a scaled enterprise.

Show notes-

00:30 - Jason’s elevator pitch

01:09 - How did Jason end up scaling businesses?

06:40 - Has the mission of addressing poverty changed for you?

08:00 - How do you turn your mission into a daily or weekly thing?

09:15 - Would you not hire someone if they weren’t aligned with your mission?

11:30 - Work versus personal life

12:55 - Have you ever realise that you’ve solved a problem for a client but never thought about it for yourself?

14:50 - What economic challenges do you see coming within the next year?

17:30 - Jason’s take on innovation

21:55 - The balance between a startup and a mature organisation

29:30 - Jason’s scaling up course

32:30 - Why did you join EO, and what have you learnt from EO?

40:17 - What does Jason’s 2019 look like?

Last, in the mini-series on leadership lessons from the GLA. In this episode of RadEO, Ross and Ronen share their thoughts on leadership. They discuss the five things great leaders do. Including creating a high level of discipline and daily practices such as setting a positive mindset at the beginning of the day.

More about Ronen Aires-

He’s an entrepreneur, a youth specialist, public speaker and general lover of life. Ronen Aires is the founder and CEO of Student Village, wone of the country’s most successful student marketing Companies.

Ronen left the corporate world 18 years ago to start Student Village. He chairs and supports a number of entrepreneurial programs and is a huge supporter of youth development.

Acknowledged as a passionate, Ronen believes in the importance of fostering creativity, strategic thought and consistent delivery. Out of the office, he is also a father, an activist and a trail junkie.

Find Ronen’s business here -

https://studentvillage.co.za/

Subscribe on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/radeo/id1250841955)

or Soundcloud (https://soundcloud.com/radeopodcast)

– RadEO is a podcast for Entrepreneurs by Entrepreneurs. It is hosted by Ross Drakes and Rich Mulholland and produced by the Entrepreneurs Organisation in South Africa. Tune in every 2 weeks to hear conversations with business owners who will share their experiences and stories of what they have learnt building their business and what drives them to keep going.

If you have a business and want more information on EO, get in touch or visit our website eonetwork.org

In this episode of RadEO Richard and Ross talk about Global Leadership Academy and what they’ve learnt. Ross shares what happened at the most recent GLA and what he has achieved since attending the Global Leadership Academy. They also talk “How to 10x your EO experience” and how to actively get the most out of your EO connections around the world.

Subscribe on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/radeo/id1250841955)

or Soundcloud (https://soundcloud.com/radeopodcast)

– RadEO is a podcast for Entrepreneurs by Entrepreneurs. It is hosted by Ross Drakes and Rich Mulholland and produced by the Entrepreneurs Organisation in South Africa. Tune in every 2 weeks to hear conversations with business owners who will share their experiences and stories of what they have learnt building their business and what drives them to keep going.

If you have a business and want more information on EO, get in touch or visit our website eonetwork.org

In this episode of RadEO, Ross talks to Conor Neill, the president of Vistage Spain. They talk about how you are a vehicle for a project and one should realise your own potential and purpose. Finding meaning in suffering can help in not losing sight of your full strength. Conor gives his 3 top ways to communicating effectively and understanding others around you by asking them what fulfilment looks like. We are all encouraged by enthusiasm, and Conor suggests putting enthusiasm into everything we do.

Subscribe on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/radeo/id1250841955)

or Soundcloud (https://soundcloud.com/radeopodcast)

About Conor -

Conor is a sought-after keynote speaker on resilient leadership. He is President of Vistage Spain, part of the world’s leading CEO organisation.  As an entrepreneur, he has founded 5 companies, selling 16 private jets and building the 3rd largest fleet of private jets in Spain. He teaches leadership at IESE Business School and is a visiting professor at University College Dublin.  Conor can help you sell a private jet, or how to get the resources to build anything else that you truly believe in.  Conor is a member of EO Barcelona (since 2005). Conor gave the closing keynote at EO Global Leadership Conference in Athens back in 2014 and will be delivering a keynote at the upcoming EO One Level Up event in Barcelona. More at http://conorneill.com

Show notes-

00:44 - Conor’s elevator pitch

09:38 - Unlocking your own potential and realising your purpose

13:20 - Finding meaning in suffering

20:21 - Not losing sight of your full strength and potential

22:05 - Communicating effectively

26:05 - We are encouraged by others enthusiasm

32:50 - Nothing worthwhile is within your comfort zone

35:00 - When your core is clear you’re not seeking after the opinions of others

37:13 - Ask people around who want they need to be fulfilled

40:20 - Sometimes it’s easy for us to give to others, what’s easy for us to give

43:40 - Allow your intuition to tell you what are the things that are important to you

44:37 - Write down your purpose

In this episode of RadEO, Ross talks to Kim Whitaker, the CEO, and co-founder of Once Travel. Kim tells us more about the Tourism Industry, and how she managed to empower young people by starting a Tourism School and giving them opportunities to work in the tourism and hotel industry. She also tells us about how to delve into branding a hostel and gives her tips on getting the right team to man the machine.

Subscribe on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/radeo/id1250841955)

or Soundcloud

(https://soundcloud.com/radeopodcast)

About Kim -

Kim started her first tourism business age 23, inspired by a year of living and working around the world. In 2013, Kim co-founded “Once in Cape Town” (Cape Town, South Africa) with a dynamic team, and grew the Poshtel/ Youth Hotel concept from strength to strength. In 2016, the team went on to open the second property (Once in Joburg) in Johannesburg, in the vibrant inner-city Braamfontein area.

Once Youth Hotels are bustling youth hubs, where, by clever design, strategic partnerships with local businesses and hiring the right “A-team” (staff who encapsulate the “Once” ethos and spirit), guests can experience contemporary Africa. Once in Cape Town recently passed the Fairtrade in tourism grading with 100%, which recognizes that the business operates in a way that is mutually respectful, fair and transparent.

Kim is current CEO of Once Youth Hotels and is passionate about entrepreneurship, leadership and growing the Once Youth Hotel brand into the African continent. Kim’s many personal entrepreneurship awards include the Investec “YoungTreps” (2014), Sanlam EOY, Emerging Entrepreneur winner (2015), Mzansi Top 100 Young Independents (2016), and Premiers Award for Entrepreneurship Tourism winner (2016).

Show notes-

00:38 - Kim’s elevator pitch

01:52 - Does traveling seem exciting to someone on the outside?

03:35 - How does one curate traveling experiences as you do?

07:53 - How do you make sure you have the right people on your team?

10:28 - How do you go about inductions for your employees?

11:15 - How does the relationship work if you only employ people for 3 months?

12:57 - Was it deliberate having a bar and a hostel in the same location?

16:40 - Building the Once Youth Hotels brand

20:19 - Starting a Tourism School

26:33 - Why Kim has started a Tourism School

31:10 - Was it deliberate in empowering people and making South Africa a better place?