“At some point, you realise Plan A isn’t going to happen… and that’s where everything changes.”

In this episode of What’s the Craic Podcast, I sit down with Zaymn, Group General Manager of Finance and Sales at John Hughes Group, to unpack the journey from chasing a professional cricket career to leading one of WA’s largest automotive businesses.

We talk about:

🏏 Growing up chasing the dream of playing cricket for Australia and the moment he realised it wasn’t going to happen

👨‍🍳 Starting from the bottom as a pot washer and building discipline through a chef apprenticeship

🚪 Getting rejected from his first role in automotive before finding an unexpected opportunity at John Hughes

📈 Rising quickly through the ranks to become one of the youngest business managers in the state

🧠 Overcoming early setbacks, learning challenges, and building confidence in a high-pressure environment

🚗 What it actually takes to run a business selling thousands of cars a month

✈️ Finding new challenges outside of work, including becoming a pilot

This one is about resilience, backing yourself after setbacks, and understanding that the path you didn’t plan can end up being the one that defines you.

🎧 Now live on Spotify, Apple, and wherever you listen.

“Leadership isn’t about you. It’s about the environment you create for others to thrive.”

In this episode of What’s the Craic Podcast, I sit down with Trent Cotchin, former Richmond captain and three-time premiership winner, to unpack the real story behind leadership, pressure, and what it takes to build a winning culture.

We talk about:

🏉 Being drafted young, dealing with injuries, and carrying early expectations

📉 Hitting rock bottom in 2016 and the lessons that came from it

🏆 The shift that led Richmond from 13th to a premiership the following year

🤝 Why vulnerability and storytelling became a competitive advantage

🧠 Separating identity from performance and removing the pressure of the role

📈 The challenge of sustaining success and evolving beyond what once worked

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Life after football, family, and building a new path beyond the game

This one is honest, reflective, and packed with lessons on leadership, resilience, and performing under pressure. It’s about doing it for the people who believe in you and building something bigger than yourself.

🎧 Now live on Spotify, Apple, and wherever you listen.

“It’s not just what you eat. It’s how you store it, cook it, and prepare it.”

In this episode of What’s the Craic Podcast, I sit down with Dr Amelia Harray - a dietician, nutritionist, and clinical researcher from the UWA Medical School, to unpack the hidden impact plastics and food marketing have on our health.

We talk about:

🥗 Why protein-fortified products and supplements are often more marketing than science

📊 The importance of evidence-based nutrition instead of chasing trends

🧪 How chemicals from plastic packaging can leach into the food we eat

🍽️ Why diet is one of the biggest sources of human exposure to plastic chemicals

🔬 The challenges of running a world-first low-plastic diet research study

🍳 Simple changes like switching cookware, avoiding heating food in plastic, and using glass storage

🧠 Why the future of nutrition isn’t just about what you eat but how you prepare and store it

This one is eye-opening, practical, and grounded in real science. It’s about cutting through the noise, understanding what’s actually happening in our food system, and learning the small changes that can make a real difference to your health.

🎧 Now live on Spotify, Apple, and wherever you listen.

“We’re not just building houses… we’re building people’s dreams.”

In this episode of What’s the Craic Podcast, I sit down with Andy Kearns, director and owner of Perway Construction, to unpack the journey from leaving Ireland during the recession to building a successful residential construction company in Perth.

We talk about:

🇮🇪 Leaving Ireland in 2011 during the recession and landing in Perth with a one way ticket

🛠️ Starting with maintenance work before growing Perway Construction into a residential building business

🏗️ Why he believes building homes is really about building memories for families

📈 How business coaching changed the way he runs projects, profit, and client experience

🚫 Becoming alcohol free and the personal growth that followed

❤️ Launching Build It Forward, a charity initiative renovating homes for families in need

🤝 Men’s work, family healing, and reconnecting family

🧠 Supporting mental health in the construction industry and learning how to truly listen

This one is about far more than construction. It’s about personal transformation, giving back, and using success to lift the people around you.

🎧 Now live on Spotify, Apple, and wherever you listen.

In the first episode of the newly rebranded What’s the Craic Podcast, I sit down with fellow Irishman man George Harrington, an engineer and project delivery specialist who moved from Ireland to Perth and built a career across some of the toughest and most interesting projects around the world.

We talk about:

🇮🇪 Growing up in Cork with a strong work ethic installed from his father

🎓 Studying engineering and building a career that took him from Ireland to Australia

🏗️ Working on major infrastructure projects including Australia’s largest private hospital redevelopment and remote mining projects in the Great Sandy Desert

🌍 Jumping head first into engineering work in the Democratic Republic of Congo at the world's largest lithium mine

☘️ Becoming chairman of Perth’s St. Patrick’s Day Festival and Parade

🎉 The vision to make Perth’s celebration the greatest St. Patrick’s Day event in the Southern Hemisphere

This one is a brilliant mix of professional expertise, adventure, community, and the Irish spirit that connects people across the world.

🎧 Now live on Spotify, Apple, and wherever you listen.

After years as The Elite Executive, the podcast is getting a new name.

In this episode, we explain the thinking behind the rebrand to What’s The Craic, where the name comes from, and why it better reflects the conversations we’ve always wanted to have.

“What’s the craic?” is a simple Irish question. It means what’s going on, how’s life, what’s new.

And that’s exactly how every conversation on this podcast will start.

Same honest conversations.

Same interesting people.

Just a name that feels more like us.

Welcome to What’s The Craic.

“Success means nothing if you lose yourself in the process.”

In this episode, I sit down with Yasmin Cooper, former telecommunications executive turned health and wellness entrepreneur, to unpack the journey from running a high-pressure corporate business to building a life rooted in movement, mindset, and meaning.

We talk about:

📞 Building and leading an Optus Business Centre from the ground up

👩‍💼 Navigating leadership as a woman in a male-dominated industry

⚖️ The cost of ambition when ego and drive start impacting family life

🧠 How her mother’s 10-year battle with Alzheimer’s reshaped her priorities

🧘 Meditation, therapy, and rebuilding mental resilience after divorce and burnout

🏋️ Becoming a certified Pilates instructor and launching The Cooper Method

🌿 Helping women navigate perimenopause, menopause, and motherhood through movement, nutrition, and mindset

This one is honest, reflective, and deeply practical. It’s about redefining success, rebuilding from adversity, and creating a version of life that actually feels aligned.

🎧 Now live on Spotify, Apple, YouTube and wherever you listen.

“I just try to be a good use of people’s time.”

In this episode, I sit down with Brian Briscoe, founder of Briscoe Search, to unpack his journey from Irish backpacker to respected executive recruiter in Perth and how a cancer diagnosis at 24 shaped everything that came after.

We talk about:

✈️ Landing in Australia and falling into recruitment (armed with only Yellow Pages and a phone)

🧬 Getting four wrong diagnoses before discovering he had cancer and how that rewired his priorities

👂 Why being a world-class listener beats being a good talker in business

👨‍👧‍👦 Teaching his kids resilience without shielding them from life’s hard stuff

💼 How he built a high-trust executive search business with no marketing, just referrals

🧠 Why most leaders don’t need more charisma they need more self-awareness

This one’s full of grounded wisdom from someone who’s seen real adversity, stripped away the ego, and built a career by doing “a thousand things well over time.”

🎧 Now live on Spotify, Apple, and wherever you listen.

“I didn’t want to look back in 10 years and regret not taking the chance.”

In this episode, I sit down with Bryan Johnson, an institutional stockbroker and co‑founder of Wallabi Group, to unpack two decades of career decisions... and the moment he realised his health needed the same discipline as his work.

We talk about:

📈 Building a finance career inspired by Wall Street and forged at firms like JP Morgan

🌍 Moving cities, and countries, to avoid stagnation and chase growth

🤔 Trusting gut instinct when making big life and career calls

🏗️ The leap into co‑founding his own firm after years in institutional finance

⚖️ Why accountability matters more than motivation

💪 Losing 12kg through strength training, daily movement, and disciplined nutrition

🧠 How the gym became a form of stress relief , not another chore

This one’s honest, grounded, and full of perspective from someone who’s played the long game in business, and finally decided to do the same with his health.

🎧 Now live on Spotify, Apple, and wherever you listen.

“I would sooner shut the business down than do it the way everyone else does.”

In this episode, I sit down with Niamh Murphy, founder of Cailin Mining and Civil, to unpack a journey that’s anything but conventional... From arriving in Australia to fund acting school, to taking on one of the most broken parts of the mining industry.

We talk about:

🚜 Breaking into a male-dominated industry as a machine operator

💥 Building, and losing, her first labour hire business in Sydney

🔁 Starting again from scratch in Perth during COVID

🧱 The dangerous reality of “dodgy tickets” and poor operator training

🛠️ Why live-site, experience-first training actually saves lives

🔥 The backlash that comes with challenging a corrupt system, and refusing to back down

This one is raw, confronting, and deeply principled. It’s about resilience, integrity, and what happens when you care more about doing things right than fitting in.

🎧 Now live on Spotify, Apple, YouTube and wherever you listen.