Uncommon

Dr Monica Barratt is a social scientist at Australia's National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, based out of the University of New South Wales (UNSW). Monica’s research concerns the social and public health implications of internet technologies for people who use illicit drugs, and the impacts of legislative responses to drugs.

She is particularly interested in how we respond to the emergence of novel drug trends (like the Silk Road) and how these trends are enabled by digital technologies. This has allowed Monica to engage hard-to-reach networks behind the Dark Web, in conversations about research and policy.

Drug policy, and the use of psychoactive drugs, has fascinated me since I developed a generalised anxiety disorder in my early 20s. In other episodes we’ve engaged psychologist Dr Stephen Bright, and criminologist Dr James Martin. By including a sociological perspective, we can all better understand the mechanics and implications of using such drugs in society.

This is another meaty episode where we focus on the topic of drug policy, prohibition and the current social commentary around it - especially in the digital space.

Michelle Bourke is an entrepreneur, public speaker and CEO of Artlivemedia. She’s an incredibly honest and deep thinker who’s clearly well read. Her driven attitude maintains a passion for learning to consume all available knowledge, but her extraverted nature ensures that she’s understanding and humble about it.

Artlivemedia and Michelle have built a reputation as an award winning digital agency in Australia over a very short period of time. From inception of the business it won the 2016 Telstra New Business award, Michelle has sat on the board of Startup Vic (of which she recently left) and has spoken at numerous events including a panel with former Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

In my assessment, Michelle is a very fair and honest entrepreneur, who has built a brilliant business. We share many personality traits that sometimes push us to the brink mentally - so I enjoyed being able to bounce ideas and learn from someone like this.

This episode is a great conversation to share with anyone who’s in an early stage startup (or at least thinking of starting one) to provide a refresher on their thinking, preparation and motivations. Michelle uncovers how she works and what she finds motivating and productive, and I believe we could all benefit from her insights.

It’s been a year since our debut episode - so at Episode 52 we decided to do a year in review. This is our second try at what we are coining as the ‘Semi-Regular Show’. This format is more discussional and allows us to explore self-improvement topics, tools, gadgets, and recent events in the media.

It’s incredibly important as long form content creators that we take time to reflect and pause, at least a few times every year, all the while building the community on conversation. These Semi-Regular shows provide the best format for that.

This time we have two guests.

The first is Lauren Lopatko who is Neuralle’s co-founder, the Uncommon Podcast producer, and additionally my fiancée.

Our second is Michael Jayaranjan who is a good friend, wandering salesman and now perennial traveller. You may remember MJ from episode 5 & 33.

As usual, enjoy the episode and we thank you for tuning in.

Lauren Pei-Lee is a semi-pro who competes nationally in the burgeoning performance art of pole dancing - a sport that combines dance and acrobatics on a vertical pole.

Pole dancing is a sport that has fascinated me since I met Lauren, because at the same time I was learning about the GymnasticBodies movement and people such as Ido Portal. This form of exercise and control over my body was a lot more interesting to me, rather than just completing rudimentary weight training. When I saw people like Conor McGregor also start to use Ido Portal as part of his training camp, I was intent on broadening my exercise routine into this area.

The sport has rapidly changed over the last decade, to the point where it’s now been provided observer status by the GAISF, the body in charge of classifying sports for the Olympic committee - possibly paving the way for its inclusion in years to come. The connotations of stripping still remain for the layperson, but I think there’s enough BuzzFeed & VICE videos online now to show that perception is changing, there’s numerous studios providing a base for talent, and competitions that become more competitive as each year goes by.

Lauren is a good friend of mine, and an incredible talent. She’ll help broaden your understanding of this new sport, and what opportunities it provides for athletes interested in the performance.

Kim Michaelides is a fashion designer, creative genius, colour savant and incidentally, my auntie.

I could make the excuse again that this is another selfish episode, where I look to document as much of the knowledge and experiences from members of my family.

My reasoning is pretty straightforward, having had a grandmother develop dementia over the last few years I feel it’s necessary to interview the family around me. But it would be disingenuous of me to say that this episode with Kim is only for selfish reasons.

As you may have learnt in our interview with her partner Chris, Kim is a well regarded Australian handbag designer. Spencer & Rutherford is an iconic local brand, designed by Kim for well over 18 years now, appreciated in both the local and international markets.

Chris would be the first to admit that she’s the smarter of the two. My first memories of Kim are the witty dry jokes she would tell, that I never really understood at such a young age, but have come to appreciate in time.

Kim has achieved more than most in her career, all the while being able to have children in the process. There’s immeasurable lessons that both young, career driven women, and couples considering entering business together, can learn from this episode.

Michael Jankie is an entrepreneur who’s built multiple companies in completely different industries, that have shown a nous for operating with small-medium businesses.

It’s funny that I’m reading Small Giants by Bo Burlingham at the same time I’m tasked with writing an apt introduction for Michael’s episode. So often you’re told that you must grow at all costs, raise massive amounts of capital, only ever serve the institutional end of a marketplace, and eventually flip the business on to an investor “who’ll do the right thing for the company”.

During the entirety of the interview, and as I learnt about his decision to pivot his former business - you could get a sense of how deeply he cared for his customers (an often overlooked segment of the market). This deep care for his customers, and the creation of a high quality product - shows that he’s already hitting 50% of the criteria for becoming a “small giant”.

Being that I’m also travelling in Japan I thought it fitting to assign a Japanese proverb to Michael’s attitude in business. The proverb goes: “Nothing Lasts, Nothing is Finished, Nothing is Perfect”. If you want to build any business, I think that’s a good attitude to have.

Justin Dry is the Co-Founder and Joint CEO of Vinomofo, an online platform focused on sourcing, selling, and creating community over a love for wine.

Justin is the greatest example of an entrepreneur (that I’ve met so far) who has pursued something he loves to do, integrating his occupation into his life - rather than the other way around. By doing so, you’re able to grab a sense of the passion and credibility Vinomofo wields amongst winemakers and distributors alike - ever wary of dealing with the price-conscious larger players.

While some may compare Vinomofo with Aussie tech giants like Canva, Justin insists (and is right to do so) that he doesn’t run a tech company, or even a startup. Vinomofo is a massive, locally grown, e-Commerce business. A business that has experienced exceptional growth and a loyal following in such a unique niche - gaining strong media attention in the process.

A proponent ourselves of goal-setting and visualisation, Justin runs by many inspirational mottos and quotes lining his office walls. But our favourite is one that really captures the essence of success and contentment in life. To put it simply; “Give No Fucks”.

Rohit Bhargava is an entrepreneur and fellow podcaster, hosting one of Australia’s top startup and tech shows - The Startup Playbook.

There are incredible lessons to be learned from Rohit’s interviews, for any budding entrepreneur and business owner. But I think the greatest lessons are in Rohit’s own experience. A failed startup will always teach you grit, while entering the content media business will teach you that quality and time is king.

Rohit underlines how important the classic parables extolled from the likes of Gary Vaynerchuk can really be; time, consistency, and never expecting success. These are valuable virtues for anyone to have in their life, and lessons that I’ve learnt myself in the last year of recording and publishing a podcast.

I know there are useful bits of gold in this episode for everyone, so I hope you enjoy it.

Oliver Phisher is an author, and good friend of mine currently residing in the beautiful city of Belfast.

From the early stages of our friendship, I had always known that Oliver, with his introspectiveness, was going to be a writer in some form. His experience of toiling away in self-publishing is invaluable to any wannabe author and novice writer out there, who struggles to make movement on their writing project.

There are many parallels with self-development and writing, because so much of what you achieve is ultimately dependent on what you set your mind to and complete. To be a writer is the ultimate form of ownership of your life.

Oliver is an incredible friend, who will always challenge me on a belief, viewpoint or process in my life. I hope this episode underlines how valuable that can be to your own life.

Claire Connelly is an award winning freelance journalist, Founder of Hello Humans, Editor-in-Chief of Renegade Inc and soon-to-be author.

To me, Claire underlines the importance of the Fourth Estate, and what their role in society is - to make you think. My recent discussion with Dr James Martin illuminated this more than any interview, with his example being the mainstream media’s treatment of drugs busts.

More often than not a large scale drug bust will be broadcast on the news, with Australian Federal Police in tactical gear (as if they’ve just come straight from the bust), and broad assumptions on market value dictated to the interviewing media. No one questions whether this is the best investment of drug policy dollars, or whether it indeed saves lives of the dependent users.

This example, underlines the importance of Claire’s exacting and critical analysis of the realities of our society. She’s an incredible writer, with a clear-headedness that allows her to identify her own biases as she works.

I have much respect for all she’s achieved, and all she will achieve in future. I strongly suggest that if you enjoy this discussion you go support her work through Patreon & Hello Humans.