The Culture Game

Matthew Adekponya is a former professional basketball player, plying his trade across nine countries. Since playing, he has turned to storytelling and content creation. Focused in the sports world, Matthew currently works with NBA Aussie's Paddy Mills and Aron Baynes as well as The Australian Men's Basketball Team ('The Boomers'). He has also produced and created for likes of LaMelo Ball and the Gold Coast Titans (Rugby League Team).

Sunny chats to Matthew about playing professional basketball as well as his experiences and perspectives on storytelling in digital media.

You can find Matthew and Sunny through IG - @adekponya // @sjoshi___

Based out of LA, Jack and Max Barrett created Friday Beers from sketch comedy of male group chat banter. Their brand has grown rapidly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, currently boasting over 1.3 million Instagram followers.

Sunny chats to the guys about how Friday Beers came to be.

You can find Friday Beers and Sunny through IG - @Friday.Beers // @sjoshi___

Brando is a singer-songwriter based out of Los Angeles. His meteoric rise began through the record 'Body', with Canadian duo Loud Luxury. Following this, he's continued to release popular dance / electronic anthems including 'Look Into My Eyes' which held the #1 Australian radio slot for several weeks.

Sunny chats to Brando about growing up in LA, the journey of an artist, and making 'Body' and 'Look Into My Eyes'.

You can find Brando and Sunny through IG - @meubrando // @sjoshi___

Benji Gallagher is the co-founder of Full Squad Gaming, a multi-platform digital brand that is focused on star studded collaborations targeted at the casual gamer. Prior to this, Benji played integral roles in establishing social brands, The Checkdown (an NFL associated social media brand) and House of Highlights. 

Sunny chats to Benji about growing The Checkdown, transitioning to House of Highlights and beginning his latest venture, Full Squad Gaming.

You can find Benji, Full Squad Gaming and Sunny through IG - @benjigallagher // @fullsquadgaming // @sjoshi___

Lindsay Crook is the co-founder of Ascend Athletics and currently the only Australian NFL agent. Lindsay is a former Australian professional rugby player who transitioned into college football at the University of Cincinnati. Post-playing, he immediately began his agent career before establishing his own agency. 

Sunny chats to Lindsay about playing sport in Australia and the US as well as the realities of working in the sports industry and building his own sports agency.

You can find Lindsay, Ascent Athletics and Sunny through social media - @LindsayCrook_ // @Ascend_NFL // @sjoshi___ 

Nick Crocker is a General Partner at Blackbird Ventures, a venture capital firm backing Australian founders with global ambition. Nick's invested in the likes of Canva, Culture Amp and Eucalyptus. Prior to joining Blackbird Ventures, Nick was at Under Armour and MyFitnessPal as well as co-founding Sessions and We are Hunted. 

Sunny has an in-depth chat with him about the dynamic of startups, investing, and the synergy between sports, music and business.

You can find Nick and Sunny through social media - @NickCrocker on Twitter // @sjoshi___ on IG. Nick also publishes an extremely popular newsletter which can be found via the following page (https://nickcrocker.substack.com).

Sandor Earl, Ryan Papenhuyzen, Kenny Bromwich and Jahrome Hughes are current professional rugby league players and teammates on the Melbourne Storm. During the pandemic, their interests in sports cards fostered the start of their business, Four Point Collectables. They have continued to build the business during the season whilst in their NRL hub. 

Sunny chats to them about starting the business, their interests in sports cards and the future of this industry.

You can find Sandor, Ryan, Kenny, Jahrome and Sunny through social media - @sandor_earl // @ryan.pap // @k.bromwich // @jahromehughes // @fourpointcollectables // @sjoshi___

Derek Eitel and Evan Frederickson are former professional baseball players. Evan was a first round draft pick for the Milwaukee Brewers and Derek was a 17th round pick for the Arizona Diamondbacks. 

Sunny chats to them about pursuing professional baseball, chasing the MLB and their current endeavors with San Francisco based start up Pando.

You can find Derek, Evan, Pando and Sunny through social media - @deitel10 // @efred32 // @pando_hq // @sjoshi___

This conversation is with three Australian's currently playing College Football. We have Kirk Christodoulou from Pittsburgh, Harry O'Kelly from JMU, and Blake Hayes from Illinois. 

Sunny chats with the guys about adjusting to America, the current state of football and other topical issues such as the BLM movement and the new NIL laws.

You can find Harry, Kirk, Blake and Sunny through social media (IG) - @HarryOkelly, @KirkChristodoulou, @BlakeHayes14, @SJoshi___

Originally from Zimbabwe, Waddington Mwayenga was a professional cricketer for several years. He represented Zimbabwe at the elite level whilst also spending time in the UK through the county circuit at Worcestershire. His story is one of perseverance and overcoming constant adversity.

Sunny has an in-depth chat with him about life in Zimbabwe, the hardship faced in his country and his cricketing journey. These days Waddy calls Australia home.

You can find Waddy and Sunny through social media - @WaddingtonMwayenga and @sjoshi___ on IG