In this episode, I talk to Alan Stevens, the creator of The Campfire project and an International Profiling and Communications specialist.

Alan has developed an incredible ability to help people better manage their stakeholders by reading their face.  It’s a unique skill that provide unfair advantage in negotiations, team management and even in personal life.

In this episode, Alan talks about his journey and we learn how to make an impact on the lives of others.  His two initiatives The Campfire Project and The Business of Smiles are incredibly powerful in driving real change.

Alan emphasises the need for a trusted network to cope with the challenges life throws at us.  He is a firm believer in having a deep understanding of the WHY before embarking on any venture.

In this episode, I talk to Robi Schlaff, the Director of the Westchester County Office for Women. Robi has decades of experience in direct service and policy and is extremely knowledgeable about issues involving women and families. In January 2022, Robi was honoured to receive The End Violence Against Women International “Game Changer” award. 

Robi and her team provide direct services to survivors in family violence cases in Westchester county, New York.  Robi talks about the distress her clients go through and sometimes just reaching out to their office can be a gutsy decision.  

In Robi's world, an error or an oversight could literally cost someone their life. Robi outlines how feeling safe and connected is at the heart of how they help their clients deal with their situation.  In her own instance, Robi relied on a trusted network to help her navigate through a challenging decision.

In this episode, Rob talks to Sameer Doshi, who is the Emerging Opportunities Director at Microsoft.

Sameer shares his incredible journey of grit as he successfully overcame a personal challenge of going blind as an adult.  He outlines an episode of interviewing with Microsoft and being so well prepared that the company did not know until after they hired him that he was blind.

Sameer outlines how his life changed with the onset of his blindness.  He gives us a glimpse into how he adapted to the new reality and instead of being in despair, drew strength from those around him.  Sameer has gone on to author a book, The Work Ahead. This is a truly inspirational episode.

In this episode, I talk to Steve Torso, the Co-founder and Managing Director of Wholesale Investor.

Steve shares with us his belief in the company purpose and how it has helped him through the toughest of times.  We talk about impostor syndrome and the stress levels founders are facing in the current environment.  Steve is a high energy person and talks about the importance of having a trusted network in his life.

Steve is inspirational and full of energy.  He attributes this to his exercise regime, which is his coping mechanism. As a founder as well as an individual who interacts with 100s, if not 1000s of investors, Steve has very useful tips to founders and wannabe founders.

In this episode, I talk to Phil Morle, a Partner at Main Sequence Venutres, a leading Venture Capital firm in Australia focussing on deep tech.

Phil provides great insights as an investor.  There are many interesting and relevant concepts that he introduces us to, such as “Play the infinite game” and “Radical collaboration”. Phil outlines what it takes to build great companies and shares some of the internal workings of Main Sequence Ventures.

Phil has a fascinating mind and the life lessons he provides are shaped by his own interesting journey.  He started his career in theatre, was the CTO of Kazaa before setting up Australia’s first incubator.

In this episode, I talk to Jaimie Fuller, The Chief Executive Officer of international compression apparel brand SKINS from 1998 to 2019, who is now Chair and co-founder of eo, an Australian-based sports technology company.

In this episode, Jaimie gives us a glimpse into the amazing journey that SKINS was and the lessons he learnt along the way. We hear Jaimie talk about the downfall of SKINS as he unpacks the events in the lead up to the closure. Jaimie holds back little in his flamboyant, entrepreneurial way. There are capital, governance, distribution, and team issues that all played a role.

Having a reputed brand shut down after almost 2 decades was not easy for Jaimie. However, it has now made him stronger and better for his next venture eo. Jaimie shares his vision for eo as well as his tip for founders.

In this episode, I talk to Dr. Kirsten Peterson, who is the founder of Kirsten Peterson Consulting and focusses on performance psychology.  Kirsten has had a 22-year sport psychology career working in elite sport, through both the U.S. Olympic Committee and the Australian Institute of Sport.

In this episode, we talk about the importance of mindfulness in high performance sports as well as in business.  Kirsten uses her real life examples to bring these concepts to life.  We delve deeper into the concept psychological safety, a concept that underpins high performance teams.

Kirsten shares her coping mechanisms and provides valuable advice through her life philosophy of – Be There, Be Kind and Do Good.

In this episode, I talk to Brian Denenberg, who is a sales advisor and investor. He is the co-founder and Managing Partner of Venture Lane Studio, Boston.

This episode is a rich repertoire of sales insights.

Brian has decades of experience in building sales teams across Asia and the US. In this episode he clearly articulates the three phases of growth for a start up and the stress that accompanies them.

Brian talks about the importance of defining a repeatable sales process before expanding the sales team.  He outlines the importance of a CRM system and what he looks for when he advices startups.

Brian also touches upon the strategies he uses as well as those he has seen used by successful sales leaders to cope up with stress-on-the-job.

The cardinal sin of most entrepreneurs is to try and go it alone.  You have to reach out, open up and cooperate with people.

In this episode, I talk to Douglas Younger III, the Founder & CEO of 3Steps4ward, based in San Francisco. Doug is a friend and a great supporter of our cause.

Doug outlines the life events that shaped his own journey from corporate to entrepreneurship.  He speaks about taking “2 steps back” for a year to plan his startup before taking “3 steps forward (3Steps4ward)”.  During this time, he validated his hypothesis while building networks and relationships that have stood him in good stead as he incorporated his company just as COVID-19 began to unfold.

Doug emphasises the need to focus on building a trusted relationship with the team both internal and external. He advices founders against trying to go it alone.  There is clarity and purpose in Doug’s journey that has helped him thrive.  His coping mechanism is gardening and cooking that helps him release the pressure that comes with every venture.

Be intentional in what you choose to focus on and the way you to chose to focus.

In this episode, I talk to Amanda Price, the Head of High Growth Ventures (HGV) at KPMG Australia. She is as passionate about the wellbeing of founders as I am and has been a great supporter of Founders Wellbeing.

Amanda outlines her journey from startup world into corporate and the accompanying challenges.  She talks about her efforts in building HGV in an otherwise risk averse organisation.

Amanda explains her philosophy of going "All In" on matters that you are passionate about.  It was fascinating to hear her own pivot within KPMG HGV and how managing stakeholders & lobbying have helped her build HGV into a reputed brand in Australia.