Tulip Talks

A CEO with extensive relationship, strategy and communications experience working within the not for profit sectors.

Having co-founded a SIDS organisation through her own lived experience, Alex now leads The Compassionate Friends Victoria, guiding families through the bereavement of a child, grandchild or sibling.

An incredible insight into Kerry’s journey of working her way up to become the CEO of a family business turning over more than $3 Billion!

Jim Penman is one of Australia’s most iconic entrepreneur’s founding Jim’s Mowing and the Jim’s Group which now has 52 divisions and more than 5,000 franchisees in Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

As the former CEO of Sportsgirl, Colleen Callander has had a remarkable rise to the highest echelon of leadership. From the shop floor at Just Jeans to standing at the helm of one of Australia’s most-loved fashion brands, Callander knows what it means to work her way to the top.

I was lucky enough to sit down with John Gualtieri last week to discuss his retail career finding out what he does and why he does it.

Johns passion for product combined with his keen eye for detail has earnt him arguably the top job in Australian Retail.

As CEO of Kmart Australia Limited, John has the pleasure of leading a business that everyone loves to talk about.

Whether it’s their latest piece of must have apparel or their infamous air fryer, Kmart is always a hot topic.

Anyone that knows John will say that what you see is what you get, a down to earth, humble character with a cheeky sense of humour. I found this weeks podcast so easy to carry out and it was down to Johns openness and willingness to talk about everything and everything.

In the prime of his life, looking fitter than ever we discuss his daily 10km run, his hobby of low and slow BBQ and his pure authentic love for retail.

I have no doubt you will love this so please like and share with your network!

It was my absolute pleasure to sit down with Scott Fyfe and listen to his fascinating story which he tells so eloquently.

The best advice the David Jones CEO received from his long-time mentor and former executive chairman of high street retailer Marks & Spencer, Sir Stuart Rose, was “keep your feet on the ground and keep running”

At just 29 years old, Scott gained the rare opportunity to be Rose’s personal assistant for 18 months in the early years of his career at the UK chain. He then travelled the world with Rose and learnt the retailing trade first-hand back in 2008 when Rose steered Marks and Spencer to achieve a £1 billion profit.

His 20 years at M&S working across various roles from buying, merchandising and international sourcing, as well as being part of the team to replatform M&S online business, he feels, provided him with a great understanding of omnichannel retailing.

Scott moved to Melbourne back in 2017 to head up the Country Road Group with great success. He then moved to David Jones and continued to do great things and are now celebrating their 185th birthday this year with the gift of Australian ownership under Anchorage Capital Group, L.L.C.

Scott grew up in the port city of Aberdeen, Scotland with his brother and his mother who worked in retail as an auditor at Fraser’s, and his father who was a commercial banker. From a young age competitive sport was central to his life where he played tennis, hockey and golf.

At the age of 14 he saw an opportunity to make money out of stringing rackets for tennis players who had broken their strings whilst in a tournament. He borrowed £500 from his dad and did that well he managed to pay him back within a few months. The rest as they say is history!

Tulip Talks Episode Number 7 is now out there for you to enjoy!

This week, I had the pleasure of talking to Chris Lude, CEO of Anaconda Group Pty Ltd, who are part of Spotlight Retail Group (SRG).

When Chris joined Anaconda, the business had 34 stores and an ever-growing product range. Pausing to set the long-term strategic direction of the business, an important question was raised: what does Anaconda want to be famous for?

The answer was simple. To be Australia’s first choice, one-stop outdoor adventure retailer, inspiring and enabling everyone to create memorable outdoor experiences.

That vision sits at the centre of an aggressive store roll-out that’s seen Anaconda more than double to 78 locations. Chris and the Anaconda team are seeking to continue growing the business with many more regular stores, expanding its online and social presence and Adventure HQ super stores.

As you will hear in this weeks episode, Chris knew what he wanted to do from a very early age and he worked extremely hard each and every day doing what he loved.

Selling macadamia nuts at 8 years old lead him to packing sinkers in a fishing shop and the rest is history! Luckily it’s all captured in this week’s episode for you all to enjoy. I have no doubt this will inspire a lot of people!

Turns out CEO’s are pretty busy people… ….Not only is it hard enough scheduling time with these high flyers in the first place, business critical things pop up out of the blue that are way more important than podcasting with me! So much so this week I was left stranded without a guest. However, I promised myself I’d be consistent with my episodes each week so on that basis I took matters into my own hands. Old school Tulip Talks this week going back to my roots of how this podcast business all started. Me and only me chatting about whatever comes to mind. In the interest of this podcast being professional and informative I focused on a subject I know inside out…. Recruitment. In this weeks episode I talk about how to chase your dream role, the art of networking, building relationships and how to get the most out of a recruiter. I hope you find it interesting and insightful!

I had such a great time recording this episode at the beautiful Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club and left feeling incredibly inspired by both my guest, and the surroundings!

This week I caught up with Simon Traynor who is someone that I have admired for a long time.

The reason I asked Simon to come on the Podcast was because I get asked all the time about how you become a Non Executive Director of an organisation?

Clients and Candidates frequently ask "Is this something you have to be asked to do or should I be getting proactive and contacting companies about it?"

Simon has had an incredible career working for some amazing brands such as The Coleman Company, Nike, Quiksilver and YETI but made the conscious decision to park the CEO roles and pursue the Non Executive Director route. This has led Simon to sit on the board of some fantastic organisations such as Best Friends Pets, Kookaburra Sport, Paddle Australia and Movember. In addition, he is about to take on his first Chairman role which will be announced next week!

I have no doubt that you will thoroughly enjoy listening to Simons Story!

Graham Dean is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Harris Scarfe who are now part of The Spotlight Retail Group. Prior to this, Graham held a number of senior executive positions at Myer as part of the Executive Leadership Team where he was responsible for the home and entertainment buying division as well as group supply chain. Originally from the UK, Graham has a strong retail pedigree with over 30 years of experience, having held senior positions at a number of high profile UK retail brands including Habitat and Heals.