A Slice Of Business: Recent Episodes
Aych Media
Angus Telford interviews business operators who've traversed the highs and lows of trade to own their own businesses. These are the professionals who've navigated the hospitality industry from operations to ownership.
Each week, Angus interviews people who demonstrate industry success.
After having children, Corsino realised that there weren’t any great options for families who were looking for nice places to eat. So in partnership with his sister, he opened Jugar - a cafe/restaurant with an excellent play area, where the kids can have fun while parents relax and enjoy the great food.
For more on Corsino and Jugar, visit their website.
Emma is a die hard hospitality professional. After working her way up through the industry, she started her own consulting company - At Your Own Whisk - and has also written and self published a book about her experiences in the industry.
For more information on Emma and At Your Own Whisk, visit her website.
After starting successful companies in the beauty sector, James started the phone power bank rental company Charge Buddy after seeing their popularity across Asia.
He now supplies the power bank stations to various industries including a number of hospitality venues for patrons to keep their phones charged up.
For more on James and Charge Buddy, visit their website.
Sam is the owner of Make My Day - a fantastic cafe in Woolloongabba. Since getting a liquor licence, they've also started trading as a bar, where Sam has been able to apply his strong background in and love of wine.
Outside the venue, Sam also has a roasting business called Vox Coffee and is soon to be releasing a range of teas.
Ali Hutley created Botanica with her husband Brett, a store offering amazing healthy takeaway salads. This has now grown to a chain of stores across Brisbane. Ali shares her hospitality journey and why they decided to focus on a shop selling salads.
For more information about Botanica Real Food, visit their website.
Soon after finishing university, Tristan started Wilak Media, a production house and digital marketing agency. Wilak now teams up with hospitality venues, real estate agencies and a number of other brands and businesses to run successful campaigns with excellent returns on investment.
For more information Wilak Media, visit their website.
Gus Goncalves opened Fogata Restaurant with his brother and another business partner, bringing excellent Latin food to the Brisbane scene.
While looking for a larger site, COVID hit and they decided to close the restaurant, so hopefully we will see them back in the industry very soon. Gus gives some great insight into what it takes to open a venue.
Ewen has had an involvement in launching some major brands across the world and has now turned his skills to vodka, creating Idle Hour Rye vodka with two other founders.
The brand has been very popular in the local Brisbane market and now the team is hoping to conquer the rest of Australia, before taking on the world.
Idle Hour Vodka - https://www.idlehourvodka.com/
Another legend of the Brisbane hospitality scene, Glenn has worked across many sectors of the industry. In this episode, we discuss Barport - the hospitality equipment supplies business he started, ran and eventually closed down.
Ken Parry created a bar that he would want to drink in and it turned out a lot of other people wanted to drink there too. He built almost all of King Lear’s Throne himself and the interior decorating is a thing of beauty. He has worked hard to establish his independent venue amongst a number of big players.
For more info on King Lear’s Throne, visit their Facebook page, here.
Scott moved from a corporate background to take the plunge into hospitality with a brewery and bar. Soapbox Beer is all produced onsite at their venue in Fortitude Valley (Brisbane, Australia) with a range that will suit most palates, mouth watering food to match and great, friendly service.
After working in a laundry with his mother when he was a teenager, Kris worked his way up through the hospitality industry and went full circle - opening up a commercial laundry service with a focus on the hospitality industry called Dirty Laundry.
James has worked in nearly every sector of the hospitality industry - restaurants, bars, hotels and even started a tech company. He now runs Aych Media, a creative audio network that produces, edits and distributes podcasts in his quest to 'elevate universal consciousness'.
For the past 15 years, Vanessa Pollock has run VP Training & Development - a training company focused on the hospitality industry. Vanessa works with management and staff to improve their communication skills, complaint handling and interpersonal relations.
Since COVID, she has also developed a number of online courses to compliment her face-to-face training.
Andrew is originally from Northern Ireland with a history in sales. After coming to Australia, he used those skills to work for liquor companies such as Campari and Vok. Now, he has started his own distribution company called Ulster Distributions, focusing on great Australian products.
Damien was one of the pioneers to bring wood-fired pizza to Brisbane when he opened Tomato Brothers. He has since moved into the training and licensing, field taking over ITS Bar Skills & RMLV - an RTO that runs bar courses, RSA, RSG and RMLV courses and helps venues with their liquor licence applications.
After owning a venue on the Sunshine Coast, Andrew Watson opened The Pearl, earlier this year. The new Woolloongabba cafe is now quickly becoming the area's best wine bar.
Amelia Taylor is the owner of Liquidity Marketing, founder of online publication, Gourmand & Gourmet and co-owner of seafood restaurant, One Fish Two Fish with her partner and head chef, Dan Miletic.
Ryan Lane is a stalwart of the Brisbane hospitality scene. After working his way up the ranks at some of Brisbane’s iconic venues, he took the reins at The Gresham - one of the most awarded bars in Australia. He then opened Proof BBQ & Booze in Windsor in 2019, followed only a year later by a second Proof in Woolloongabba.
Darren Davis has a clear passion for the hospitality industry and Australian wines.
It was this passion that saw him team up with an investor to open Bar Barossa - a wine bar with a focus on one of Australia’s greatest regions. He then went on to open several more venues in Brisbane including one of the first gin bars in the city.
Now, Darren is the managing partner of Davis & White, Wine Merchants.
Angus Telford introduces the Aych Media program interviewing hospitality professionals who've navigated the highs and lows of trade to own their own businesses.
On Tuesday each week, Angus interviews professionals who demonstrate industry success.