The James Harrisson Show: Recent Episodes
James Harrisson
I interview top performers to distil principles of business, health & relationships so you can learn from their experience
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- How to think about approaching a fundraise to increase the velocity and probability of success
- How to craft your story and structure your raise
- Common pitfalls at the pre-seed/seed stage that founders need to avoid
Today I’m interviewing Abhi Maran, he’s an investor at Rampersand, an early stage Australian venture capital fund.
He also writes regularly as part of his Superfluid substack which is a phenomenal resource for founders looking to navigate the often opaque world of venture capital.
I’ve enjoyed reading Abhi’s work and wanted to bring him on the show to unpack some of the frameworks and principles he’s distilled from his journey as an investor.
There was only so much depth we could go into on a 45 minute podcast so make sure you subscribe to Superfluid and connect with Abhi on LinkedIn.
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- What it took to reach the “overnight success” moment that took Sourci from $1M in 2019 to $43M in 2020
- The importance of knowing our strengths and doubling down on them after he struggled with dyslexia in school and early career
- How he thinks about building true company culture as the business has grown to dozens of employees in multiple countries
Today I’m interviewing Giovanni Pino, founder & CEO of Sourci which helps Australian businesses connect with world class manufacturers and suppliers.
Gio started Sourci with his business partner Ellie in 2017 from his spare bedroom. Neither of them had a background in sourcing or manufacturing but within 3 years they grew Sourci to a multi 8 figure business with offices in Australia, China and India.
There were so many great lessons from this conversation around leveraging our strengths, the grit it takes to become an “overnight success”, how to build real company culture, balancing personal growth with business growth + more.
Connect with Gio on IG: @gio_pino_
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- Lessons from building and successfully exiting 4 startups
- Frameworks for building companies and navigating the unexpected challenges of the acquisition process
- Lessons from his time at Microsoft, PWC, Amazon, and how those experiences have shaped him as a founder
Today I’m interviewing David Lemphers. He's built and exited 4 companies including ZenDeals which was acquired by RetailMeNot for $18M & Code Pilot which acquired by AngelList.
David has such an interesting insight into the acquisition process having gone through it multiple times. He’s a phenomenal systems thinker with a lot of frameworks for navigating exits, building companies and life in general.
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- What Mark learned about leadership from the army and how he applies that to business today
- Why his “retirement” after the Xplor acquisition only lasted 2 weeks before he jumped back in the founder seat
- How he's applying learnings from education with Xplor to healthcare with Kismet
Today I’m interviewing Mark Woodland, Founder & CEO of Kismet which is on a mission to make healthcare more accessible, recently announcing their $4M pre-seed round led by AirTree.
He previously served in the Australian Army and was the founder of Xplor, a product he originally created to streamline admin work for his mother’s childcare centre, before growing it into Australia’s largest early education software provider which was eventually acquired by private equity firm Advent International.
There were so many great business and life lessons from his time in the army, growing Xplor and now Kismet.
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- Frameworks Michael used to design his career
- Lessons from his time as a Product Manager at Google
- How he’s making the renting generation love renting
Michael has 8+ years experience managing global products, including successfully launching a global redesign of Google Play (worlds largest double sided marketplace) and scaling up the 3rd largest commercial real estate marketplace in the US.
He’s now a Co-Founder of Leesy which is on a mission to make the renting generation love renting by building an ecosystem of products & financial services that help renters truly feel at home whilst retaining the freedom to move as their lifestyle changes.
By initially fixing the $10 billion global leasing problem, Leesy is perfectly positioned to streamline the rest of the $2.5 trillion p.a rental journey.
Connect with Michael via email
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- Tips for founders fundraising in this current environment
- Frameworks for investing in early stage startups as an Angel Investor
- How to build strong professional and personal relationships
Rohit Bhargava is the Co-Founder of One Future Football, the world’s first global digital football league, which just recently came out of stealth and announced their $3M pre seed round led by Blackbird and has involvement from a number of international athletes like Naomi Osaka, Nick Kyrgios, Steve Smith, Chris Smalling, Patrice Evra, Kamaru Usman and more.
He’s also an investor with Playbook Ventures, a syndicate and rolling fund that invests into early stage startups.
Rohit has a really unique insight sitting on both sides of the table as a current founder and active investor.
Connect with Rohit on LinkedIn
Apply to join Playbook Ventures as an Angel Investor here
What you’ll learn from this interview:
1) How Sunny launched and grew an outdoor clothing brand from $0 to $1 Million USD in sales within 4 months
2) How to design your ideal business and life
3) How he persevered through multiple failed attempts at business before finding success
My guest today is Sunny Gosal (@sunnyallyear), eCommerce expert and co founder of Northbound Gear (@northboundgear.co), a brand that designs durable outdoor apparel with a conscience
He launched the brand last October and surpassed $1 Million USD in sales within 4 months, and it’s now a multimillion dollar business
I’ve been involved with the business as it grows and I wanted to interview Sunny to share some of the learnings from the first year of business
W: northboundgear.co
My guest today is my good friend Rohit Bhargava, host of The Startup Playbook Podcast. He’s an angel investor, founded multiple businesses and is heavily involved in the Australian startup scene
What you’ll learn from this interview:
1) How 4 years of podcasting has unlocked more opportunities than he ever imagined
2) Lessons learned from experiencing burnout and why it’s ok to take a temporary step back
3) Why he’s recently challenged and changed lifelong beliefs and mental frameworks around money, relationships and happiness
Startup Playbook Podcast
IG: @rohit_bhargava
LinkedIn: rohbhargava
Twitter: RohitBhargava7
e: rohit@startupplaybook.co
Today’s interview is with Ellie Vaisman (@ellievaisman), co founder of Sourci (@sourci.co)
What you’ll learn from this interview:
1) Why he left a high paying property sales job to found Sourci despite having zero experience in international supply chain
2) The challenges of staying fully bootstrapped, not taking a salary for the first 18 months and reinvesting everything into the business
3) Current manufacturing trends that entrepreneurs should be aware of
Sourci is full supply chain, procurement and consulting service, enabling Australian businesses to access leading and specialist manufacturers across the globe. They currently have 4 global offices, 30+ staff, operate in 7 countries & manage millions of dollars of products manufacturing & importation annually.
Ellie is a great guy with a fascinating backstory, I really enjoyed this interview!
W: sourci.com.au
The other week I was in Sydney and I caught up with my good friend Ryan. We always have long deep chats so we set up the mics and ended up recording an almost 4 hour long conversation
We both spoke about a lot of personal things that we don't normally share. After listening to this conversation you will have a good idea of who we are and what we're all about
What you’ll learn from this conversation:
1) Thoughts on love, dating and relationships, how to have a good relationship with others as well as with ourselves and find a high quality partner
2) Learning from friends and enemies, dealing with exploitative and negative people as we rise up
3) How to design and build a life you love instead of just working to retire
IG: @ryan_tano
Spirituality, success & the dark side of personal development
What you’ll learn from this interview:
1) The good and bad of personal development, what Dean learned from reading hundreds of books, spending multi 6 figures on coaches, seminars and going down the personal growth rabbithole
2) His more recent spiritual journey and what he’s learned from looking internally rather than externally
3) Why we need to consistently question and challenge everything we believe
IG: @deanblankfield
As the world remains on lockdown, I caught up virtually with one of my friends Tomas Stanford.
We chatted about how the current situation with COVID-19 will change the corporate environment, why this could be the last pandemic the world could see, and the opportunities that come from a period like this.
We also chatted about Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, a journey I've recently started and one Tomas has been on for much longer.
Enjoy!
@1omas
@saintbelford
A few months ago I jumped on the other side of the mic and was interviewed by my good friend Ryan Tan (@ryan_tano).
I really enjoyed the conversation so I wanted to share it here, hopefully you can get some value from hearing my story and thoughts on a wide range of topics including sales, books, 10 day Vipassana meditation plus more!
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- How burnout in a job she didn’t like led Alex to start her own business
- How her views on “hustling” and work have changed and how she’s been able to prioritise her health and wellbeing whilst growing the business
- The challenges of creating and marketing a physical product and how she’s been able to address them
My guest today is Alex Phillips. After burning out and reflecting on what was a very unsustainable lifestyle, Alex wanted a planner that would help her prioritise her wellbeing over productivity and she couldn’t find it.
It was out of this frustration that Saint Belford was born, a company whose mission is to provide you with the tools and resources that empower you to keep self-care at the top of your to-do list, so that you can design, build and live a life that genuinely fulfils you, without compromising your wellbeing in the process.
IG: @saintbelford
W: saintbelford.com.au
How Carlo Cisco is creating AMEX for the next generation
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- What he learned from his time at Groupon Japan, helping turn it into one of the company's largest and most successful international markets in just two months
- The problem with most credit card rewards programs today and how he’s filling this gap with SELECT: “The Black Card for Millennials”
- How Carlo solved the chicken and egg problem of a marketplace business model (building up strong merchant partnerships whilst simultaneously growing their consumer user base)
My guest today is Carlo Cisco, he’s a serial entrepreneur who launched his first successful business in college, helping bring thousands of customers to local venues throughout Miami. He has helped build or grow startups of all sizes ranging from pre-development stage startups to Groupon. Most notably, he helped build Groupon Japan, turning it into one of the company's largest and most successful international markets in just two months.
He is currently the Founder & CEO of SELECT, a private membership community and concierge service that provides access to exclusive events, insider pricing and VIP perks at thousands of locations. SELECT partners with top-rated local restaurants and nightlife venues as well as premier global brands in travel, retail, entertainment & more. SELECT's 18,000+ members receive exclusive benefits at over 1.6 million partner locations. SELECT works with numerous leading brands across industries including TAO Group, H.Wood Group, SBE, The One Group, Cole Haan, Bose, IHG, Hyatt, Kimpton, Priceline, Hawaiian Airlines and many, many others.
IG: @carlocisco & @theselectcard
W: meetselect.com
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- How a parasite she got from a trip to Rwanda led to the founding of Matcha Maiden
- How she knew when the right time to leave her job and go all in on the business was
- The biggest challenges transitioning from corporate to doing her own thing, and how she overcame them
My guest today is Sarah Davidson. She’s the co founder of Matcha Maiden, co owner of Matcha Mylkbar and host of the Seize the Yay podcast
She began her career as a mergers and acquisitions lawyer for an international law firm, however she knew early on that the corporate life wouldn’t be a long-lasting career as it didn’t allow her to tap into her creative side.
When a side project selling Matcha direct to consumers took off, she left her law firm and grew the business to a global brand with stockists around the world. Along the way she also helped bring Australia's first specialty Matcha cafe to life and created “Seize the Yay”, a podcast and platform where she discovers how some of the world’s most inspiring people find their “yay”.
@spoonful_of_sarah
@matcha_maiden
@matcha_mylkbar
@seize_the_yay
Lessons learned from selling supercars, taking a non traditional career path & working in high pressure environments
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- His experience working at McLaren and the level of service required when your clients are dropping $1 Million+ on a car
- His experience working in high pressure environments as a Ferrari race mechanic at Bathurst 12 Hour
- How customer service and sales has evolved and how he applies this at his latest role with Mercedes Benz
My guest today is Daniel Prince. He’s had a fascinating career as a race mechanic, a technician with McLaren and most recently a product specialist for Mercedes Benz.
I wanted to share Daniel’s story because he had a non traditional path and the stories and lessons from his career are fascinating.
IG: @dannny_prince
Bathurst 12 Hour Doco
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- How her own battle with ongoing autoimmune issues led to founding Almo Milk
- Why timing is a big factor in business and how she was able to spot and take advantage of a gap in market
- How she launched and grew the business despite facing huge global competitors
My guest today is Linda Monique. She’s been a Private Chef and Food Nutrition Consultant, and most recently founder of Almo Milk, an Australian almond milk company which is now available in 9 countries
Almo Milk won the Melbourne International Coffee Expo Product Innovation Award the day it was launched. It has also won a number of other awards; and Linda herself was named Victorian Young Telstra Business Woman of the Year in 2017
I wanted to bring Linda on the show to find out more about food design, how she launched and grew Almo Milk and what’s coming up for her
@almomilk
@fooddesigning
LinkedIn: Linda Monique
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- What Chris learned from a 15 year tenure at Microsoft, and his thoughts on working in corporate and startups
- How he helped grow Xero in Australia from 7 staff and 4,500 customers, to 270 staff and 320,000 paying customers in 5 years as Managing Director
- The 3 criteria he uses to assess potential startup investments
My guest today is Chris Ridd, he’s a business executive, investor and advisor with 30 years experience in the technology industry. After a long career with Microsoft spanning 15 years, he was appointed Managing Director for Xero in Australia to lead the expansion of Xero’s market share in Australia.
Under his leadership Xero grew in five years from 7 staff and 4,500 customers, to 270 staff and 320,000 paying customers.
Today Chris has taken his vast experience and applied it as an investor and advisor in a number of exciting Australian technology startups.
I wanted to bring Chris on the show to find out what he’s learned from such a wide ranging career working in challenging and high performance environments, how he thinks about investing and what’s next for him
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- How Jack went from broke living paycheck to paycheck to creating the life and business he wanted
- How he navigated this transition despite facing negativity from those around him
- Why he decided to shut down his first successful business to focus on new projects
My guest today is Jack Prow. Jack was once a broke tradie who was kicked out of school twice and told he was going nowhere in life.
He then discovered the world of online business and since then has launched a 5 figure a month clothing brand, a marketing agency, a romantic experience marketplace and built a community of other online entrepreneurs.
I wanted to bring Jack on the show to find out more about his journey from broke and unfulfilled, to where he is today, and learn more about some of his current projects.
IG: @jackprow & @theentrehub & @itsjustfortwo & @studiosixgroup
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- How growing up as an introverted kid led to a passion for marketing
- The challenges he’s faced with Bipolar 2 and how he manages it
- Why he wouldn’t get rid of his illness even if he could
My guest today is Tim Beanland, he’s the host of the BeanTalking podcast where he interviews peak performers who are the best in their field
He’s also a passionate marketing nerd who loves everything about consumer behaviour, content creation and sales
I wanted to bring Tim on the show to find out what he’s learned from podcasting and interviewing top performers, how he thinks about marketing in general and for his projects and what’s next for him
IG: @bean.talking
LinkedIn: Tim Beanland
E: tim@beantalking.com.au
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- How selling DVD’s out of his car grew into a business that was eventually acquired by Michael Eisner (ex CEO The Walt Disney Company)
- What he learned from his time at Miramax, working directly for Harvey Weinstein (and telling him to fuck off 20 years before #metoo)
- How to build a high calibre network when moving to a new city where you don’t know anyone
- How he’s been able to navigate midlife and make it the most productive years of his life so far
My guest today is Greg Scheinman. Greg has an interesting background, launching and growing multiple businesses, one of which was acquired by Michael Eisner (ex CEO The Walt Disney Company)
More recently he’s a partner with Insgroup; one of the largest independent insurance firms in the United States
He’s also host of The Midlife Male Podcast where he conducts in-depth, raw interviews with entrepreneurs and experts to help men navigate middle age and live a better quality of life
He’s been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Variety and many other publications
I wanted to bring Greg on the show to find out what he’s learned from his entrepreneurship journey and what he’s hoping to achieve with his current projects
IG: @gregscheinman
W: gregscheinman.com
He’s ridden a motorcycle from UK to South Africa, opened a school in Kenya, now he’s walking 3000 miles along the Congo River
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- How Toby dealt with being rejected from the Army after dedicating his entire early life to this goal (failing the final medical exam before admission)
- What he’s learned from incredible adventures including riding a motorcycle from UK to South Africa, 2 Everest attempts and opening a school in Kenya
- Why he wants to walk the length of the Congo River (3000 miles)
My guest today is Toby Storie-Pugh, a fiercely determined British explorer who combines his love of adventure with his desire to make a positive impact in the world
Toby has done a lot of things! Including riding a motorcycle from the UK to South Africa and back, co-founding Flying Kites, a charity that operates as a school and home for orphans in Kenya, and leading two attempts to get Kenya’s first climber to the summit of Mount Everest.
In 2020, Toby and his team will walk 3000 miles along the complete length of the Congo River, walking right through the center of the complex nation and sharing stories from the women and girls they meet along the way. The team is committed to shifting narratives of war, disease and humanitarian crisis, to raising awareness of the incredible potential that exists in the heart of Africa.
I wanted to bring Toby on the show to find out what he’s learned from his previous adventures and social work, and what he’s hoping to achieve with his latest adventure
IG: @niltiment
W: walkthecongo.com
E: toby@walkthecongo.com
How to never fly economy class again
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- How Steve has gone the past 8 years only flying international business or first, and how he helps others do the same
- How he transitioned from corporate to his own business and the challenges he faced going from being a behind the scenes accountant to becoming the face of his company and brand
- How he got so much free press for his business, including being featured in Money magazine, Australian Financial Review and many other publications
Plus more!
My guest today is Steve Hui, he’s the founder & Chief Executive of iFLYflat which provides a fully managed service helping businesses and individuals to uncover the true value of their airline and credit card points.
For over 17 years, Steve held senior finance roles in corporations including Macquarie Bank, but left the corporate world to start his own business inspired by his passion for travel and a burning desire to optimise things.
Steve has been recognized as a Young Business Leader by CPA Australia, he’s been featured in the Sydney Morning Herald, Australian Financial Review, Money Magazine and many other publications, blogs and TV networks.
I wanted to bring Steve on the show to find out how he got involved in such a unique niche industry, what the transition from corporate to his own business was like, and what’s next for him.
IG: @iflyflat
W: iflyflat.com.au
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/stevenhui
Points Calculator: iflyflat.com.au/app
He fled the Taliban and came to Australia, now he’s a mortgage broker rated in the top 20 out of 16,000+, writing over $100 million in settlements
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- The incredible story of how Yousof came to Australia with his mother, after his father and uncle were publicly executed by the Taliban
- Whether greatness comes only from adversity, or whether we can cultivate grit without going through severe trauma
- How he has built up his own Mortgage Broking business, rated in the top 20 brokers out of 16,000 nationwide, writing over $100 million in settlements
- Why giving back and service is so important to him
- How he found his purpose in life, and how you can do the same
My guest today is Yousof Ahmadzai, I’m always blown away by stories where people climb out of adversity and do big things which is why I’m really excited about this interview.
Yousof came to Australia as a refugee from Afghanistan when he was 4 years old after his family was torn apart by the Taliban
Yousof went on to work in financial services, starting at Commonwealth bank, servicing the origination and maintenance needs of CommSec clients before becoming a partner at Simplify Finance which has been rated in the top 20 brokers out of 16,000 nationwide, writing over $100 million in settlements.
The thing that really impresses me about Yousof is how well rounded he is. Not only is he successful in career and business, but he is also committed to his health, personal relationships, and giving back with service to various causes including the Rotary International Organisation, Conviction Group, United Nations Youth NSW and more.
I wanted to bring Yousof on the show to find out more about his story, how he overcame such challenging circumstances and how he’s been able to rise up in business and life
IG: @yousof.orbion
How to grow a digital marketing agency and create impact with your work
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- How Jason grew his own digital marketing agency, and how he helps others do the same
- What he learned about business and life from getting his MBA in the US, and working as a real estate agent in NYC
- Why he now focuses more on impact with his work over money
- Why it’s important to build a personal brand while simultaneously building your business
Plus more!
My guest today is Jason Fox. Jason completed his MBA on a Full-Ride Soccer Scholarship in the US. After coming back to Australia, injury forced him to give up any career in soccer and he was feeling lost.
He decided that his best bet to remain competitive was to start his own business. He founded JCF Media which is a Digital & Social Media Marketing agency and quickly scaled it to high 6 figures and has now turned his attention to helping as many entrepreneurs as possible do the same.
I wanted to bring Jason on the show to understand his entrepreneurship journey, how he grew his agency and what he wants to accomplish now
IG: @jasoncfox
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- What Jordan learned from selling salami and mozzarella sandwiches to private school kids when he was growing up
- How his blog with a few hundred subscribers evolved 3 years later into a successful podcast and full service creative agency
- How he’s been able to overcome and manage challenges with anxiety
- The common thread he sees in all of the high performing people he interviews
- How he became involved with cryptocurrency and what he recommends for people who want to learn more
My guest today is Jordan Michaelides, he’s the host of the Uncommon Podcast where he interviews unique individuals to help the audience build knowledge, skills & mindset
He’s also the co-founder and managing director of Neuralle, a digital agency specialising in creating audio & video content that generates growth. He’s also Head Of Partnerships at CoinJar, a venture backed digital currency exchange based in Melbourne.
I wanted to bring Jordan on the show to find out what he’s learned from interviewing so many unique and interesting people, how he grew his agency and what’s next for him
IG: @uncommon_show & @jordanmichaelides
Website: neuralle.com
Podcast: Uncommon
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- How an internal tool in Chris’ consulting business evolved into Trainual
- Why he decided to shut down his very profitable consulting business to go all in on Trainual
- Why it’s a myth that in order to build a successful business we need to sacrifice our personal life, and how he’s been able to balance business success with relationship, health & family success
My guest today is Chris Ronzio, he’s the founder and CEO of Trainual, a tool that growing businesses use to document processes and to simplify onboarding and training
Prior to launching Trainual, Chris ran an operations consulting firm that helped businesses systematize and scale
I wanted to bring Chris on the show to find out why he launched Trainual, how he’s grown it, and what’s next for him
IG: @chrisronzio & @trainual
W: chrisronzio.com trainual.com
Podcast: Process Makes Perfect
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- How Tom went from shy kid to interviewing strangers on the street about their lives
- Why he feels so driven to explore the human experience
- What he’s learned so far about what it is to be human
Plus more!
My guest today is Tom Norman, he’s the creator of How To Be Human which is a quest to explore our humanness, one conversation at a time.
Through events, conversations over coffee, a weekly podcast and a Facebook community, he’s in search of what really lies at the heart of being human.
I wanted to bring Tom on the show to find out his story, what he’s learned travelling the world talking to interesting people, and what he hopes to achieve with this project
W: https://howtobehuman.co/
IG: @howtobehuman_ & @iamtomnorman
Why the tough conversations we avoid are key to our success (and how to have more of them)
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- Why David left his job as a Consulting Actuary to Fortune 100 companies to start a coaching business
- How severe trauma (watching his sister die at age 7) affected him later in life and how he’s worked (and is still working) through the ramifications of this
- Why the tough conversations we avoid, are our doorways to confidence, success, and love (and how to have more of them)
My guest today is David Wood, he’s a former Consulting Actuary to Fortune 100 companies - including Sony Music, Chanel, and Exxon. David left his cushy Park Avenue job 20 years ago to build the world’s largest coaching business and today he’s serving an audience of 150,000 coaches in 12 countries around the globe.
David believes that the tough conversations we avoid, are our doorways to confidence, success, and love. He coaches high performing entrepreneurs, executives and teams - and now prison inmates - to create amazing results and deep connection, one tough conversation at a time.
I wanted to bring David on the show to find out how he made the transition from his Park avenue job to building his coaching business, how he helps his clients specifically and why he thinks tough conversations are the key to our success
IG: @_playforreal
W: http://playforreal.life/
Download the Free 4-Step Tough Conversations Blueprint
How CoLiving is changing the way we live and how this serial entrepreneur is capitalizing on that
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- What CoLiving is and how it’s changing the way we live especially in modern cities
- What Christine learned from successfully building and selling multiple companies over the past 16 years (all are still in business today)
- How she is building the technology that will essentially power the back end of this emerging industry
My guest today is Christine McDannell. She’s an expert in the CoLiving space and a serial entrepreneur who has founded and successfully exited numerous companies
Today her main project is Kndrd.io, a Techstars backed software platform for the CoLiving industry
I wanted to bring Christine on the show to find out how she built and sold some of her previous companies, what exactly CoLiving is and how this is changing the way we live especially in modern cities, and how she’s building up her current projects
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinemcdannell
CoLiving Code on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWeCRX1V3e1e3MmqlXHqFGg
The CoLiving Code Book: https://www.amazon.com/Coliving-Code-Tribe-Resources-Design/dp/1724721151
How Jay Wong is helping creators and entrepreneurs get their message out to the world in a bigger way
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- How Jay became a part of Dan Sullivan’s Strategic Coach organization (at the time needed net annual income of $250k+ to join) and what he learned from being part of this ecosystem
- How he launched and grew his own podcast and how he was able to connect with and interview big names like Grant Cardone, Tom Bilyeu, Naveen Jain and more
- How this evolved into his agency where he’s helped 116+ entrepreneurs, influencers and presidential candidates launch their podcast, where 9+ shows have hit the top 100
My guest today is Jay Wong, he’s an entrepreneur, podcast host and speaker based in Toronto. Jay is committed to helping creators and entrepreneurs get their message out to the world in a bigger way
He is the host and producer of "The Inner Changemaker" podcast; ranked as the #1 Self-Help podcast when he launched and named as a top 10 Business podcast for 2016 from Podcast Awards
He’s interviewed high-profile entrepreneurs and world-class creators such as Grant Cardone, Tom Bilyeu, Naveen Jain and many other prominent names around the world
He also runs an online education business, which consists of a white glove podcast agency, and do it yourself Accelerators and Memberships that help business owners launch successful podcasts
I wanted to bring Jay on the show to find out how he grew his own podcast, how he translated podcast success to business success, how he helps others replicate this, and what’s next for him
W: www.doneforyoupodcast.co
IG: @thejaywong
My experience with Vipassana (10 day silent meditation course)
What you'll learn from this episode:
- Why I decided to do a 10 day Vipassana meditation course (no phone, internet, or human interaction for 10 days, 10+ hours of meditation per day)
- Why it was the most challenging experience of my life and what I learned from it
- How I plan to use what I learned from this course in my everyday life
Today is a solo episode, I recently got back from a 10 day Vipassana meditation course and it was one of the most impactful things I've done, so I wanted to share my experience and what I learned from it
If you have any questions about my experience or Vipassana in general, hit me up!
How to build company culture and great customer experience with Michel Falcon
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- How Michel went from working for $10 per hour in a call center, to managing customer experience programs at 1800-GOT-JUNK?, And eventually advising global brands on how to build their company culture and customer experience
- Why the majority of businesses fail to build company culture for their employees, and good customer experiences for their clients
- Why profit is the reward for focusing on purpose and processes first, and why companies focusing on making profit usually make less money than people first companies
Plus heaps more!
My guest today is Michel Falcon, he’s an entrepreneur, advisor, and international keynote speaker who leverages his People-First Culture™ philosophy to create customer experience, employee engagement and company culture strategies to grow businesses
Michel went from working for $10 per hour in a call center, to advising and speaking at conferences for companies like Alfa Romeo, Verizon Wireless, and many more globally recognized brands.
He and his business partners also operate a portfolio of restaurants and venues that have grown to earn tens of millions of dollars in revenue with more than one hundred employees in less than 2 years
I wanted to bring Michel on the show to find out how he went from humble beginnings to advising some of the world’s biggest brands, what he’s learned about customer experience from his own experience consulting and running businesses, and how we can actually implement these strategies into our own businesses.
W: http://www.michelfalcon.com/
IG: @michelfalcon
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- What Blake has learned from working in small startups, starting his own business, holding senior positions at Xero and Luxury Escapes, and now as CEO of Flippa
- How the small business landscape is changing rapidly, and how Blake plans to capitalize on that at Flippa
- Blake’s thoughts on the Australian startup scene, having worked both here and the United States
- Why Blake often encourages entrepreneurs to buy a business rather than start one
My guest today is Blake Hutchison, he’s the CEO of Flippa which is the #1 platform to buy and sell websites and online businesses
He has prior experience working at startups in San Francisco, as well as his own startup in Australia. He’s also held senior positions at Xero and Luxury Escapes.
I wanted to bring Blake on the show to find out what he’s learned from his previous startup experience, how that led to where he is today, and what his plans are for Flippa
How to stay at luxury hotels for free and grow your Instagram in 2019 with Sam Founda
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- Why positioning himself as a marketer first and a content creator second has allowed him to build partnerships with some of the world’s most luxurious hotels in the world
- How Sam built up his own personal Instagram following to 200k+
- Why real reason Instagram is removing “likes” (it’s not what you expect)
- Sam’s thoughts on the latest Instagram algorithm changes and how to grow your following in 2019
- Why many agencies are wasting your money when it comes to social media marketing, and how to keep them accountable and delivering real ROI
My guest today is Sam Founda, he’s a digital marketer, public speaker, luxury and lifestyle influencer, and the author of “10x Your Brand Using Instagram Marketing”.
He’s the Co-founder & Head of Digital Marketing at Social Connection, a leading Australian social media agency where he’s worked with clients such as New Balance, Airbnb, Intercontinental Hotel Group, and many more.
The thing I love about Sam’s work is that he’s not just a content creating “influencer”, he’s also a talented marketer so I wanted to bring Sam on the show to find out how he built up his personal brand, how he grew his agency and how he thinks about marketing in general.
IG: @smv.style @socialconnection.au
W: https://socialconnection.com.au & https://digitalmasterycoach.com
Book: Available on Amazon
From senior management consultant to online entrepreneur with Richard Turnbull
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- Why Richard left his position as a senior management consultant at Ernst & Young to pursue entrepreneurship, and how he made this transition
- The three different types of entrepreneurs and why it’s important to know and accept who you really are
- The process Richard goes through when creating new businesses, and why the actual idea is the last thing you should think about
My guest today is Richard Turnbull. Originally a senior management consultant at Ernst & Young, he left corporate life to pursue various start up ventures and today he’s the founder and CEO of The Restored, a company looking to empower people to restore their four foundations of health (Sleep, Nutrition, Movement, Mindset)
I wanted to bring Richard on the show to find out why he left corporate life to focus on his own businesses, the challenges he faced along the way and what he’s doing with The Restored
IG: @therestoredway W: The Restored
How Nate Checketts built Rhone during his commute to work
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- How Nate used a 2 hour commute to his job at the NFL to build Rhone apparel on the side
- How he launched his business and generated $80k sales in the first 2 months without spending any money on advertising
- Why raising money can be a massive distraction for founders, and how he thinks about taking on investors after raising over $20 Million for Rhone
Plus heaps more!
My guest today is Nate Checketts, he’s the co founder and CEO of Rhone apparel.
Nate was feeling unfulfilled in his career and saw a gap in the premium men’s activewear market, so he used his 2 hour daily work commute to start Rhone on the side.
Fast forward to today and Rhone has raised over $20 million in funding and can be found in retail stores around the world.
I wanted to bring Nate on the show to find out how he built up Rhone while juggling a full time job and family, what he’s learned from this journey so far, and what’s next for him.
IG: @natechecketts & @rhone
W: rhone.com
Donate to Nate’s fundraiser for Type 1 diabetes research:
https://donate.beyondtype1.org/fundraiser/2165471
Time Rich - Managing Time for Ambition, Productivity and Lifestyle with Mark Dobson
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- The three segments of time, and how to navigate between them to maximise productivity
- Why blindly following to do lists isn’t helping us achieve our goals
- Why the obsession with the future at the expense of the present is where misery comes from
Plus heaps more!
My guest today is Mark Dobson, he's an elite performance strategist based in Melbourne Australia. After helping elite athletes maximise their talents and achieve world class results for 15 years, and being involved with medals at Olympic and world championships, he found the same success principles apply to business
Today his sole focus is translating those elite sporting lessons to help business owners and leaders achieve world class levels of performance for themselves and the teams and organisations they lead
One of the concepts that Mark has expertise on that I'm curious about is the idea of being "Time Rich", so I wanted to bring Mark on the show to do a deep dive on how people can manage time for ambition, productivity and lifestyle
W: dobbo.com.au
Lessons learned from interviewing 100+ successful founders and investors with Rohit Bhargava
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- How Rohit launched a fashion tech startup, and why he decided to shut it down despite having early successes partnering with Uber and Melbourne Fashion Week
- Why he launched a podcast and how he was able to get #3 ranking on iTunes
- What he’s learned from interviewing over 100 founders and investors
My guest today is Rohit Bhargava, he’s the Founder and Director of Playbook Media, an agency that assists startups and businesses of all sizes effectively acquire and convert users using content and sales funnel optimisation.
He’s also the host of The Startup Playbook Podcast, where he’s interviewed over 100 successful founders and investors from around the world. His podcast was ranked #3 in iTunes when he launched and he’s been consistently high in the charts since then
I wanted to bring Rohit on the show to find out how he launched and grew his podcast, how that evolved into his agency, and what he’s planning next
IG: @rohit_bhargava
W: rohitbhargava.co & startupplaybook.co & playbookmedia.com.au
in: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohbhargava
Erik Bergman made €50 million before turning 30, now he’s giving it away
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- How Erik went from humble beginnings to making €50 million before his 30th birthday, including €15 million in one day
- The dark side of such meteoric growth, the toll it took on his health and relationships
- Erik’s opinion on whether money buys happiness (the answer may surprise you)
- Why Erik decided to build a business with the sole intention of giving away all the money he makes from it
My guest today is Erik Bergman. He founded a company called Catena Media which does online lead generation, largely for the gambling industry. In 2016 he took the company public and made €15 million in one day.
When the high of making millions wore off after a few weeks, he realised that life isn’t just about money and today he’s the founder of Great.com, which is what he calls a next generation charity: A company focused on making as much money as possible - only to give it all away. He’s also the host of the podcast “Becoming Great”.
I wanted to bring Erik on the show to find out how he built up Catena Media, what it was like going from humble beginnings to making millions, the emotional toll such rapid growth had on his personal life, and what he’s doing now with Great.com
W: https://great.com/
IG: @erik.bergman
Dealing with loss, suicide and turning your mess into your message with Melissa Yu
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- How Melissa dealt with extremely challenging circumstances in her young life, growing up as one of the few Chinese families in her community and losing her partner of 6 years to suicide in 2014
- How she was able to turn her mess into her message and show up with more meaning and purpose in her work today because of the pain and challenges she’s been through
- How she built up her events business and created Australia’s largest Streetwear & Lifestyle Expo
My guest today is Melissa Yu, founder and director of Melbourne based MCO Events, and creator of Ego Expo which is Australia’s largest Streetwear & Lifestyle Expo
Melissa has been forced to overcome some incredibly hard challenges in her life. She lost her partner to suicide in 2014 which motivated her to start speaking about Mental Health & Suicide Prevention
I wanted to bring Melissa on the show to find out how she got through such devastating circumstances, how she’s been able to channel that experience into her purpose and work and the importance of prioritising mental health in her own entrepreneurship journey with MCO Events
IG: @mellieyu & @egoexpo_au & @mcoevents
W: https://www.mcoevents.com.au/ & https://www.egoexpo.com.au/
How this marketer grew his agency and engineered his ideal lifestyle
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- How being bold and thinking differently got Renat a kite surfing session with Richard Branson and regular use of luxury hotel amenities for free
- How Renat grew his marketing agency by focussing on human psychology and thinking principles, as opposed to specific tools and tactics
- How he built a thriving community of entrepreneurs and set up three co living spaces around the world
My guest today is Renat Gabitov, he runs an agency called Prometheus where he helps thought Leaders and Serviced-Based Companies in the peak performance space with their marketing. Previous clients include Steven Kotler (9x Bestselling Author, x2 Pulitzer Prize Nominee), Paul Austin (Founder of The Third Wave), and the Global Blockchain Forum
He’s also the founder of Lifestyle Engineering which is a private community of life hackers, professional athletes, entrepreneurs and change makers. Through this platform he’s created 3 pop-up coliving spaces around the world, visited over 70 countries and built location independent streams of income
I wanted to bring Renat on the show to find out how he built up his marketing agency how he applies engineering thinking to the context of life, what he’s learned from his experiments in lifestyle design, and what’s next for him
e: renat@cmo.one w: https://www.lifestyle.engineering/ & https://www.cmo.one/ 10 year manifesto: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dWnmbGifHnhkODqmQvb4KGpzMtWKQHlYK8JWnKYPb5U/edit#heading=h.z2ec8xmruidi
How to become a digital nomad (live and work anywhere) with Nate Gell
What you’ll learn from this interview:
1) How Nate went from bouncing around between jobs he didn’t like, to building location independent businesses that allow him to work from anywhere
2) The mental health challenges he faced earlier in his life including depression and anxiety, and how he got past them
3) The challenges and realities of living a digital nomad lifestyle that you don’t see on Instagram
My guest today is Nate Gell. Feeling stuck in a job he didn’t like, and after coming back from a trip to India, Nate and his partner Mel decided they wanted to try and live a digital nomad lifestyle where they could live and work from anywhere
At this point they went about building a location independent business. Today he runs an affiliate website called eSkatehub and they also run a Google AdWords agency which helps small businesses with their paid Google ads
I wanted to bring Nate on the show to find out how he made the transition to living a digital nomad lifestyle, how he sustains himself while travelling and also some of the challenges with living this way
IG: @ourlifeonpurpose
How to become London's top luxury real estate broker with Daniel Daggers
IG: @daniel_daggers
What you’ll learn from this interview:
1) How Daniel went from humble beginnings growing up in government housing, to becoming London’s top agent selling £10 Million+ properties to the world's wealthiest buyers
2) How Daniel thinks about business and sales, and how playing the long game has helped him succeed in his roles
3) How Daniel has been using social media to massively grow his business, and why everyone selling a product or service needs to be doing the same
Plus heaps more!
My guest today is Daniel Daggers. After an injury prevented him from pursuing his goal to become a professional football player, Daniel went into real estate and over the course of his 20+ year career he went from selling £80 thousand pound apartments, to selling £100 Million pound estates to some of the world's wealthiest buyers and being recognized as one of London's leading agents.
Today he’s a Partner of Knight Frank's Private Office in London where he deals with the sale of properties valued in excess of £10 Million across London and other destinations around the world.
In his career he’s transacted close to 500 properties to the value of almost $4 Billion USD, and has consistently been one of the top performing brokers at his agency.
I wanted to bring Daniel on the show to find out what it takes to sell some of the world's most expensive properties to some of the wealthiest people on the planet, how he thinks about sales and business in general, and also how he’s using social media to build his personal brand and business.
How Sunny Verma is changing the education system with TutorBright
What you’ll learn from this interview:
1) Why Sunny left a well paying job as a management consultant to start a tutoring company despite having no teaching qualifications or experience in education industry
2) How he went from knocking on doors in the ghetto for $5 per hour clients, to building one of the world's largest tutoring companies with 10k+ tutors serving tens of thousands of clients across multiple countries
3) The biggest problems with the current education system, and how TutorBright addresses these shortcomings
My guest today is Sunny Verma, he’s the founder and CEO of TutorBright which is the largest in-home tutoring service in both Canada and Australia.
Sunny has seen first hand how through mentorship and tutoring, every student can reach their potential. Since launching in 2006 TutorBright has grown to 10k+ tutors, serving tens of thousands of clients
Sunny is a sought-after expert in the education and technology space, making frequent appearances on Television, and his writing has been featured in Readers Digest, Huffington Post and the New York Times. He’s also a previous nominee for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
I wanted to bring Sunny on the show to find out how he thinks about education in general, how he launched and grew TutorBright, and what’s next for him
IG: @sunnyv_tb & @tutorbright
Overcoming depression and anxiety using Vipassana meditation with Janice Ng
What you’ll learn from this interview:
1) Why Janice started to suffer from anxiety and depression despite achieving her long term career goals
2) How Janice was able to overcome her mental health challenges and get off antidepressants
3) What she learned about herself from doing a 10 day Vipassana silent retreat
Plus heaps more!
My guest today is Janice Ng, an entrepreneur in the fitness and wellness industry based in Hong Kong. She’s the founder of Absolute Focus and is an ambassador for Lululemon.
I’ve known Janice for a while now and about 6 months ago she made a post about a 10 day Vipassana retreat she went on. It’s something I’ve always been curious to find out about so I asked Janice to jump on a call so I could find out about her experience.
At the end of the call I was blown away by her story and experiences so I wanted to bring her on the show to share what she’s learned from doing a Vipassana retreat, meditation in general and her own mental health journey
IG: @janybeans W: absfocus.com/
How Dan Martell went from jail to millionaire by age 27, raised money from Mark Cuban and spent a week with Richard Branson
What you'll learn from this interview:
1) How Dan turned his life around from drugs and jail time to successfully building and advising companies, and why looking back he's grateful for his hard upbringing and how it actually gives him confidence in his work today
2) The equation for success no one told him that he wished he learned at age 17, and how to use it (the three levels of leverage)
3) The one thing he did consistently early in his career that he looks back on as the most high leverage activity, and why he still does this whenever he travels to other cities
4) The top 5 things all successful companies do that Dan noticed after being involved with 40+ startups
Plus heaps more!
My guest today is Dan Martell, a Canadian entrepreneur and investor with an interesting story. Dan had a challenging upbringing, at age 15 he went to jail and at age 17 he spent 11 months in rehab
It was during this time he discovered computer programming, becoming fascinated in starting and growing software businesses, and his life took a positive turn. He made his first million by age 27, founded 5 companies and successfully exited 3 of them. he’s invested in over 40 startups, raised money from Mark Cuban and even spent a week with Richard Branson
Today he’s an authority on building and scaling SaaS businesses, he’s advised some companies you’ll recognize like Intercom, Hootsuite and Udemy and has spoken around the world and to MBA classes at Berkeley and Stanford
I wanted to bring Dan on the show to find out how he went from jail time to building and advising successful companies, how he thinks about business in general, and what’s next for him
IG: @danmartell
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/danvmartell
Escape Velocity Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/escape-velocity-with-dan-martell/id1463053005
How Tomas Stanford went from unfulfilling job to selling $150k of diaries in 2018
What you'll learn from this interview:
1) How Tomas and his partner Alex went from jobs they didn't like to starting their own business and selling $150k of diaries in 2018
2) The tactics Tomas used to market the product initially without spending ad dollars
3) How Tomas overcame the challenges of transitioning from employee to entrepreneur
My guest today is Tomas Stanford. In 2017 Tomas and his partner Alex were unhappy in their jobs and looking to start a business on the side. After a few attempts that went nowhere, Alex saw a gap in the market when she couldn’t find a yearly planner that was exactly what she wanted, and this frustration led to Saint Belford
Saint Belford is a brand that looks to provide its customers with the tools they need to improve their lifestyle, the main product being the yearly Curation Diary
What started as a $15k investment out of their Melbourne apartment grew to a healthy 6 figure business within 18 months of conception, and they now support various mental health initiatives such as Beyond Blue and R U OK?
I wanted to bring Tomas on the show to find out how he launched Saint Belford, how he grew it to beyond 6 figures and where he plans to take the business next
IG: @1omas & @saintbelford
W: 1omas.com & saintbelford.com.au
How to build a fully remote SaaS company serving 2k+ customers without raising any capital with Glenn Rogers
What you'll learn from this interview:
1) What Glenn learned from trying and failing to raise capital, and why he looks back on being forced to remain bootstrapped as a blessing
2) Why niching down and being something to someone gave them an edge over bigger, heavily funded players in the space
3) How Glenn manages a fully remote team, and the benefits and challenges of building his company in this way
My guest today is Glenn Rogers, he’s the founder and CEO of Float, a resource scheduling app that helps agencies, studios and firms keep track of who's doing what when
In 2012 Glenn was working for an ad agency in New York City and noticed that a lot of agencies were using spreadsheets to manage 300+ person teams and thought there must be a better way
At this point the idea for Float was born and over the next few years Glenn worked on the business as a side project on nights and weekends
Today they’re profitable and remain bootstrapped with a 100% remote team around the world and are serving over 2000 customers including NASA, Deloitte and Vice
I wanted to bring Glenn on the show to find out how he launched and grew Float, how he manages a fully remote team, and what he’s learned from growing the business without raising any money
W: https://www.float.com/
E: glenn@float.com
T: @glennfloat
How James Swanwick sold $1 Million of glasses in less than a year What you'll learn from this interview: 1) How James took his business from zero to $1 Million+ sales in less than a year 2) What James learned from paying $25k USD to be personally mentored by Tai Lopez 3) Why James left a successful journalism career to pursue entrepreneurship and how he made this transition My guest today is James Swanwick. He’s the co founder of Swanwick Sleep which is a sleep brand that helps people look good, feel great and sleep better. He’s also the founder of 30 day no alcohol challenge which teaches social drinkers how to quit booze for 30 days James originally had a successful career as a print, TV and radio journalist. At one point he was a Hollywood entertainment correspondent where he interviewed Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, George Clooney, Arnold Schwarzenegger and many more A list celebrities. He was also a host for SportsCentre on ESPN In 2015 he had an idea for a physical product business and founded Swanwick Sleep with his brother Tristan and grew it from zero to $1 Million+ in sales within 12 months I wanted to bring James on the show to find out how he launched Swanwick Sleep, how he grew it so quickly and what his plans for the business are now IG: @jamesswanwick W: https://jamesswanwick.com/ https://www.swanwicksleep.com/ http://30daynoalcoholchallenge.com/
How Ryan Lindsey is helping disrupt the UK car insurance industry with Cuvva
IG: @the.fitness.hippie
Daily Prompt: https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/daily-prompt/id1448668946?mt=8
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- Why the best business ideas mean nothing unless you have good execution and distribution
- What Ryan learned from 6 years of failed business attempts, and how those failures actually prepared him for his successes today
- What he’s learned from being employee number 5 at Cuvva (now 60+ employees), an insurtech startup that’s disrupting the car insurance industry
- Why you’ll never “make it”, and it’s more important to focus on the journey instead
My Guest today is Ryan Lindsey. Ryan has a diverse range of experiences, he’s built an online personal fitness brand, a wholesale fruit and veg business, a cooked breakfast delivery company, written 2 books and even built a meditation app
Today he’s a data analyst at Cuvva, which is a UK based insurtech startup, disrupting the car insurance space by offering car insurance on demand for infrequent drivers
I wanted to bring Ryan on the show to discuss what he’s learned from his past business ventures, what it’s like working at a company disrupting an industry as archaic as the car insurance space, and what his plans for the future are.
How Robert James Collier built a business around hosting dinners on yachts and at private villas
IG: @robertjamescollier
W: https://entrepreneursdinner.com/
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- The problem Robert saw with most networking events, and how he was able to disrupt this broken model
- How he was nearly sued for $40k which almost derailed his business before it even began
- How Robert was able to give a TEDx talk, and his advice for being a better speaker
- What Robert learned from various spiritual experiences including a 10 day silent meditation retreat, and an ayahuasca journey
My guest today is Robert James Collier, an entrepreneur and TEDx speaker based in Dallas Texas.
As entrepreneurs and businesspeople, we all know the value of cultivating a strong network, and early in his career Robert saw this too. He was attending a lot of networking events, but saw a big problem with these, they were all about slinging business cards and taking from other people.
Out of growing frustration from attending these transactional events, Robert founded Entrepreneurs Dinner, a unique event which brings together a highly curated group of like minded entrepreneurs who are looking to serve. Attendees help each other overcome their biggest business challenges while enjoying a dinner prepared by private chefs. These events take place anywhere from private villas to yachts, and attendees walk away having built lifelong friendships and business connections.
He has helped over 100 entrepreneurs to accelerate their business success by gaining greater emotional clarity to fulfill their vision, meeting 1-2 life-changing mentors per quarter, and developing long-term partnerships to reach their financial goals even faster.
He has shared the same platform with Former President Bill Clinton, Tony Robbins and Richard Branson.
I wanted to bring Robert on the show to discuss how he started and grew Entrepreneurs Dinner, what separates these events from regular networking events, and find out what’s next for him
How Alex Ikonn launched, grew and sold Luxy Hair
IG: @alexikonn
YT: Alex Ikonn
Podcast: The Ikonns
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- How Alex launched, grew and sold a 7 figure business selling hair extensions
- Why he started to get depressed despite living the literal 4 hour work week, traveling the world and buying his dream car, and what he learned from this experience
- Why money doesn’t solve all our problems, it just creates different problems and what we really need to find fulfilment
- Why we’re currently living through the biggest shift in commerce and capitalism ever, and how to take advantage of that
My guest today is Alex Ikonn, an entrepreneur and investor based in London UK.
In 2008 Alex was on track to become an investment banker at one of Canada's big 4 banks, but a series of events changed this trajectory and he ended up unemployed, broke, surviving on Government benefits.
Inspired by the 4 hour work week and wanting to build a lifestyle business, Alex saw a gap in the hair extension market and founded Luxy Hair with his now wife Mimi and her sister Leyla
What started as a $20k investment from a personal line of credit grew over the next 8 years to a premium beauty lifestyle company with over 250 thousand customers in 165+ countries. Luxy Hair grew largely from social media including their YouTube channel which has 3.2+ million subscribers, half a billion views, and is the world’s largest hair channel. Luxy Hair has also been ranked in the top 2% of the best places to work in Canada. In late 2018 Alex successfully exited from this business when it was acquired by Beauty Industry Group
Alex is also the co founder of Intelligent Change which is the company behind the Five Minute Journal and Productivity Planner, and he’s also an angel investor in many startups including the meditation app Calm
I wanted to bring Alex on the show to find out how he started and grew Luxy Hair, what he’s learned from starting and building numerous successful companies, and what’s next for him now that he has exited Luxy Hair
How this introvert sold $600+ Million in her corporate sales role, and took her own coaching business from zero to 6 figures in 6 months with Susan McVea
FREE gift from Susan (6 figures in 6 months mind map): https://www.susanmcvea.com/show
W: https://www.susanmcvea.com/
FB: https://www.facebook.com/groups/successfulsalesstrategies/
IG: @susanmcvea
What you’ll learn from this interview:
1) How Susan stumbled into a corporate sales role and went from shy introvert to selling $600+ million over an 18 year career
2) How a life threatening car accident forced her to reassess her life and prioritise her health and family, and how she got through this dark period
3) The one thing she does differently to most that helped take her coaching business from zero to 6 figures in 6 months, and stay consistently at multi 6 figures since then
4) Why selling is a crucial skill for all business owners that is learnable and doesn’t have to be sleazy
5) How she helped 30+ of her own clients go from sales novices to 7 figure sales in their own businesses
Plus heaps more!
My guest today is Susan McVea, she is a business sales strategist and coach. She helps online service based entrepreneurs sell with more ease and less sleaze with a proven step-by-step sales process that makes her clients money and gets them serving even more of their dream clients.
In her 18 years of corporate sales experience, she’s generated over $600 million in sales. She has built a business from scratch going from ZERO to $15 million in 18 months. She’s also helped 30+ of her own clients go from ZERO to 7 figure sales in their own business.
Susan is passionate about helping her clients grow their businesses without sacrificing their family time or health as she knows first hand the challenges around balancing these things.
I wanted to bring Susan on the show to find out how she thinks about sales, how she was able to excel in a sales role as an introvert who wasn’t a natural, how a life threatening car accident caused her to reassess her priorities, and how she grew her own consulting business.
How to build a business around travelling the world and going on crazy adventures with Chase Boehringer
W: https://www.thebucketlistlifestyle.com/
IG: @the_bucketlist_lifestyle
FB: https://www.facebook.com/chase.boehringer
What you’ll learn from this interview:
1) How Chase built a business around travelling the world and going on crazy adventures
2) Why pain can be the most powerful force for change in our life, and whether we need to experience deep pain to make big changes
3) Why the opposite of fulfilment is being “just fine”, and why Chase would take trauma over being “just fine” any day
4) Why we don’t need to drop everything in order to live a life of adventure
Plus heaps more!
My guest today is Chase Boehringer. Growing up in a small town in Oregon, Chase was expected to graduate high school, get married and land a job at the local plywood mill. Chase accomplished this at a young age, but despite achieving this idea of “success” he fell into a deep depression, divorced from his wife and even planned to commit suicide.
It was at that point that he started writing his bucket list. A list of things he never thought he’d be able to do, but wrote them down anyway. Over the next few years he slowly began ticking these items off his list and the adventure and experiences he was having started to bring meaning back into his life.
Eventually Chase wanted to start sharing these adventures with others and created The Bucketlist Lifestyle, a company that brings together select groups of people for once in a lifetime “Bucketlist-worthy” adventures
I wanted to bring Chase on the show to find out what it was like to achieve the life others wanted for him, and discovering it wasn’t what he wanted, how he got through that dark period, and how he built up The Bucketlist Lifestyle.
How to have a conscious and fulfilling relationship
Angie Sanchez
IG: @iamangiesanchez
W: https://www.angiesanchez.life/
Rob Reynosa
IG: @robreynosa_ & @thinc_
W: https://www.thereisnoceiling.com/
What you’ll learn from this interview:
1) The one thing we need to make sure is aligned going into a relationship, otherwise it’s doomed from the start
2) Why masculine and feminine energy is different to your gender, and why it’s key that we learn how to move between the two
3) Why the most intelligent and successful people have high sex drive, and how to channel it into creative outlets
4) Why we need to focus on becoming what we want in a relationship
Plus heaps more!
My guests today are Rob Reynosa and Angie Sanchez. They’re a real power couple who I previously interviewed separately on the podcast. One of the topics we discussed in both these interviews was relationships, as both Rob and Angie have some fascinating insights and thoughts in this area
The reason I found their perspectives fascinating is because both of them have such a deep understanding not only of themselves individually, but how their personalities and actions affect their relationship together
The other reason is because they’re both super busy entrepreneurs doing big things whilst still maintaining a healthy productive relationship
I wanted to bring them on the show again together to discuss the circumstances where someone should be single or in a relationship, whether a relationship is something that slows them down in their business life, and how they balance their relationship as two alphas
How what started as a tactic to avoid business failure led to a thriving community of entrepreneurs with Aidan Vuocolo
W: https://aidanvuocolo.com/
IG: @aidanvoc & @storiesbehindthegrind
Podcast: http://go.behindthegrind.com.au/podcast
What you’ll learn from this interview:
1) The effect growing up in an environment of entrepreneurship had on Aidan, and what he learned from his first business venture (hiring out his pencil sharpener to fellow students in second grade)
2) How he overcame preconceived notions of who other people thought he should be, and how he broke limiting beliefs around his height
3) How he motivated himself to start a podcast and do videos despite being an introvert who doesn't like talking or being on camera
4) What he’s learned from interviewing and distilling the knowledge and wisdom of 270+ successful entrepreneurs
5) Why after 7 years of planning and preparing to open his own cafe he decided not to, and why we need to be open to pivoting and not see it as failure
Plus heaps more!
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My guest today is Aidan Vuocolo. From a young age Aidan grew up around small businesses and always had an interest in entrepreneurship
Spending the last 15 years working in various businesses, from medical centres and engineering firms, to cafes and retail stores, he saw first hand the sobering trend that most small businesses fail within 3 years
Wanting to avoid becoming a part of this statistic in his own ventures, Aidan sought out business owners in various fields so he could learn from their experience, successes and failures
Eventually this pursuit of knowledge evolved into Stories Behind the Grind, a platform he created where he has interviewed over 270 entrepreneurs around the world, allowing others to see where their businesses started from, challenges they overcame and advice they have for those interested in pursuing a career in their industry
He also now works with small business owners to simplify, strategise and scale up the impact they are having
I wanted to bring Aidan on the show to discuss his journey with entrepreneurship, how he built up Stories Behind the Grind, and what he’s learned from interviewing almost 300 successful business owners
From clinical depression, unfulfilling career and an eating disorder to building a thriving coaching business with Angie Sanchez
IG: @iamangiesanchez
W: https://www.angiesanchez.life/
What you’ll learn from this interview:
1) How Angie went from feeling stuck in a job she hated, 40 pounds overweight and suffering from clinical depression, to building her own thriving coaching business helping others reach their potential
2) Why she looks back on her darkest times with immense gratitude
3) Why emotional agility and EQ are the most important skills you never learned in school
4) Why money is something that is created, not earned, and why we need to focus on getting paid for value not time
5) The one mindset shift that took public speaking from her biggest fear to one of her biggest strengths
Plus heaps more!
My guest today is Angie Sanchez, a health and lifestyle coach based in Miami Florida. Angie has had a number of challenges and setbacks she’s had to overcome, including an unfulfilling career, a life threatening car accident, clinical depression and an eating disorder.
She says she knows firsthand what it’s like to feel unconventional, lost, stuck, depressed, not knowing your potential, or the tools that are necessary for growth and change. Because she was in this position herself, it’s become her mission to provide these tools to clients, help them overcome their own challenges and reach their potential.
I wanted to bring Angie on the show to discuss how she overcame her own challenges and what she learned from them, how she built up her coaching business, and how exactly she helps her clients reach their potential.
How to raise $370,000 and take a clothing brand from zero to 7 figures in less than 12 months with Dan Demsky
IG: @dandemsky & @unboundmerino
W: www.unboundmerino.com
What you’ll learn from this interview:
1) How Dan raised $370k from a crowdfunding campaign and took his company from zero to 7 figures in 12 months
2) Why timing is one of the biggest factors in business success that no one talks about
3) Why sales is the most important word in business
Plus heaps more!
My guest today is Dan Demsky. Dan is a Toronto based entrepreneur with an impressive track record. 11 years ago he started his first business from his mum’s basement and since then he’s founded a 6 figure company, 2x 7 figure businesses, and was a partner in an 8 figure business. He was able to raise $370k from a crowdfunding campaign for his latest business, and grew it to 7 figures in less than a year.
His Latest business is Unbound Merino, a clothing brand providing stylish, simple Merino wool apparel that can be worn for weeks or even months - without ever needing to be washed which is perfect for travelling
I wanted to bring Dan on the show to find out what he’s learned from building multiple businesses over the past decade, how he’s been able to consistently succeed in his ventures, and most importantly find out whether he actually wore the same T Shirt for 46 days in a row without washing it when he was testing materials for his new clothing line
Resources:
Reddit posts
https://www.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur/comments/63gzyn/after_raising_over_360000_on_indiegogo_and/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Entrepreneur/comments/4uexyw/9_years_after_starting_my_first_biz_in_my_moms/
IG: @matthew_yao
W: matthewyao.com
What you’ll learn from this episode:
1) How Matthew went from dropkick teen to running his own business and being mentored by billionaires and CEO’s - all before his 20th birthday
2) Why he was living a toxic life of drinking, drugs and partying every night; and what he learned when it caught up to him and he was arrested
3) Why Matthew cuts his own hair and wears $10 shoes despite running a profitable business (You’ll love this story)
My guest today is Matthew Yao. Matthew showed a lot of potential as a kid but made a few poor decisions and by age 15 he was, as he describes, a dropkick delinquent teen who was skipping school, drinking, doing drugs and partying every night. Eventually this lifestyle caught up to him, he was arrested and kicked out of school and was at the lowest point of his life.
At this point he realised he needed to make a change and decided to seek out guidance from successful people who could show him the way to a better life.
Fast forward a few years and Matthew is completely different person, he spent three years travelling the world seeking out mentors and has built relationships with titans in the business world including successful CEOs, entrepreneurs and billionaire property developers.
With their guidance paired with his curiosity and drive for self education, Matthew is creating the life he wants for himself and the people around him, running his own social media agency and sharing what he’s learning through his social media presence and online courses. All of this is impressive on it’s own merits, but the kicker for me is that he is still only 19 years old!
I wanted to bring Matthew on the show to find out how he went from dropkick teen to running his own agency and being mentored by billionaires and CEOs, how he actually built relationships with such successful people, and what his plans for the future are.
Resources
University of Greatness
matthewyao.com/greatness-university
Sam Walton: Made in America
https://www.bookdepository.com/Sam-Walton-Made-America-Sam-Walton/9780345538444
Going from a life of unfulfillment and drug abuse to helping millions tap their potential and create their best lives
Rob Reynosa
W: https://www.thereisnoceiling.com/
IG: @robreynosa_ & @thinc_
FB: https://www.facebook.com/rob.thinc/
YT: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBVBTVKZFxhN0Ol9Io2BKhA
T: @RobReynosa
What you’ll learn from this interview:
1) What Rob learned from nearly dying of a cocaine overdose 10 years ago and how he was able to climb out of his destructive habits and find fulfilment
2) How writing became one of the most meaningful aspects of Rob’s life despite never thinking of himself as a creative or artistic person, and why creativity is a skill we can develop rather than a fixed trait
3) Why the time we most feel like we need to be in a relationship, is the time we most need to be alone and work on ourselves
4) Why the types of partners we attract is usually a direct reflection of our own level of personal development
Plus heaps more!
My guest on this episode is Rob Reynosa, 10 years ago Rob was in a bad place. He was unfulfilled in his work, and his lifestyle was sending him down a path of self destruction. At one point he realised that if he continued his current trajectory he would end up in jail or dead, which sparked the beginning of a transformation.
Since then Rob has been studying, applying and fine tuning personal development tools and metaphysical principles which helped him drastically turned his life around from negative to positive while experiencing profound spiritual and physical transformation, growth and success.
Rob has made it his purpose in life to create as much mental, spiritual and personal freedom as possible for everyone who is committed to growth. Rob has so far helped millions of people from all over the world unlock their minds, unleash their potential and create their lives by Conscious Design.
He is the creator and founder of THINC | THERE IS NO CEILING which is his platform for achieving this purpose. He is also a Business and Functional Mindset Coach, writer and speaker.
I wanted to bring Rob on the show to discuss the principles he used that to turn his life around, how others can apply these principles to their own life, and how he grew his company THINC
Make sure you go and sign up to Rob’s email newsletter at thereisnoceiling.com that’s where he shares his latest and best work
Resources
Mastery Membership: https://www.thereisnoceiling.com/offers/oFFazHYP/checkout
Outwitting the Devil by Napoleon Hill: https://www.bookdepository.com/Outwitting-Devil-Napoleon-Hill/9781454903451
Feeling is the Secret by Neville Goddard: https://www.bookdepository.com/Feeling-Is-Secret-Neville-Goddard/9781603865449?ref=grid-view&qid=1548572484905&sr=1-1
Meryem Ziyet
IG: @meryzibex
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- How Meryem has designed her life around the projects she cares about most
- Why your reputation is your CV and how she got enough clients to grow her business without doing any outbound business development in a depressed economy
- Why the current education system is largely broken and how she is raising her own child in a system that is outdated and preparing children for a world that doesn't exist anymore
Plus heaps more!
My guest today is Meryem Ziyet. Among many things she’s a retail architect based in Lisbon Portugal. Some of the brands she’s worked with in the past include Polo Ralph Lauren, Louis Vuitton, Chanel and many more.
She’s the co founder and creative director of MStudio Designs, a creative consultancy practice that provides Design, Branding and Creative Strategic thinking solutions to Brands in many different countries.
Meryem is also a qualified High Performance Coach certified by the High Performance Academy. In addition to all this she also speaks 5 languages and is the mother to a young girl.
I wanted to bring Meryem on the show to discuss her work with high end luxury brands, how she set up her own creative consultancy, and what she’s learned during her personal development journey from becoming a high performance coach
Resources:
Jason Silva - Global Citizenship: https://www.facebook.com/jasonlsilva/videos/1801155776815366/
Letting Go by David R. Hawkins: https://www.bookdepository.com/Letting-Go-David-R-Hawkins/9781401945015
Hitting rock bottom, bouncing back and building a successful eCommerce business with Sunny Gosal
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- Why Sunny left his high paying, comfortable “dream job”
- What he learned from four failed businesses, accumulating over $40k in debt and hitting rock bottom in his life
- The one tweak he made on his fifth business attempt that helped it become a flourishing, sellable eCommerce business
Plus heaps more!
Sunny Gosal
IG: @sunnyallyear
Bushido Code
IG: @bushido.code
W: http://bushidocode.com/
Primr
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/primr/id1352122058?mt=8
My guest today is Sunny Gosal. This is an interesting story, growing up playing video games, he always dreamed of being a designer at Electronic Arts (arguably the world's largest gaming brand). Sunny achieved what he thought was his dream and joined EA as a designer, but despite a high salary, fun work and Google-esqe perks (free yoga classes, gym, food etc), he felt like he was too comfortable and the big company bureaucracy was stifling his creativity. So he decided to quit his dream job and ventured into entrepreneurship.
Fair to say it wasn’t a smooth transition, he ended up $40k in debt with four failed businesses to his name. He was overweight, depressed, and even lost his girlfriend. In his words he was at rock bottom.
The good thing about being at rock bottom is that you can only go up from there, and over the next 4 years Sunny became a student of life, he started reading books, going to conferences, listening to audio programs and got in the best physical and mental shape of his life
Today he runs a successful eCommerce business and has created the Bushido Code which is a catalog of all the tools and strategies which helped him climb out of depression and reach his full potential
I wanted to bring him on to talk about how he went from rock bottom to where he is today, how specifically he set up his eCommerce business and to talk about the Bushido code
What you’ll learn from this episode:
- How Ross made the transition from employee to working for himself
- The challenges and realities of travelling the world while building location independent businesses
- Why we should be deliberate in designing our own lives
- What he learned after a year of full time travel and why he decided to settle back in the UK
A lot of people have read the 4 hour work week and imagined what it would be like to build a location independent business so they can travel and work from anywhere and live life on their own terms
Well my guest today is Ross Menghini, whilst honeymooning in Bali, he and his wife Lucy had the same idea and decided they wanted to craft a life of travelling and working from around the world. In January 2018 the two traded their Manchester apartment, life, jobs, wardrobes and friends for 2 backpacks, 2 macs and 2 one way tickets out of the UK.
Ross and Lucy travelled the world whilst building a portfolio of businesses and they’re documenting the whole experience on their Podcast, LIFE DESIGN DIARIES. They also recently launched a podcast agency called Hear & Tell which helps companies produce podcasts that make them stand out and win more business.
I wanted to bring Ross on the show so I could find out how he built this life for himself, what he’s learned from travelling the world and building businesses, and how someone listening can apply what he’s learned to their own life.
What you’ll learn from this interview:
- How Mauro helps professional football players stay at peak mental and physical performance on and off the field
- Why all top athletes and entrepreneurs do some sort of personal development work outside their main occupation
- Why small daily habits are the key to long term consistent growth and improvement
- Why as humans our default state is negative, and we need to actively cultivate positivity
- Why what most people call meditation is actually visualisation, and what the difference between the two are
My guest today is Mauro Bex, he is a High Performance Coach based in Lisbon Portugal. Mauro is the founder of Manifesto108, a coaching service that mainly works with professional athletes, creatives and entrepreneurs, and unlike some coaches who just pump people up with temporary motivation that eventually fades, Mauro focuses on fundamental principles and core habits so that peak performance becomes a natural state for his clients instead of relying on random spikes of motivation.
His motto is “BE what it takes” which means aligning physical, mental and emotional aspects to bring out the best of what his clients already have in themselves. I wanted to bring Mauro on the show to find out how he helps clients, why we need coaches, and what we can learn from his 15+ years of coaching high performers.
What you’ll learn in this episode:
- How Ryan went from a shy teenager to #1 salesperson for one of Australia’s largest telecom companies in 2017 out of 1000+ employees
- Why we need to take our education into our own hands
- Why we need mentors in business and life and what Ryan learned from investing $10k+ of his own money in mentors
- Why Ryan reads a book a week
Joining me today is Ryan Tan, an investor and entrepreneur based in Sydney Australia
Ryan describes himself as a curious person who has spent the last few years self educating and teaching himself practical skills he didn’t learn in school, including sales, personal branding, investing in the stock market, repairing credit, and even applied psychology.
He says he’s a living example of how having a bit of curiosity can take someone from clueless in life to achieving their goals.
For Ryan those achievements include becoming #1 overall salesperson in 2017 for Vodafone out of 1000+ employees, being awarded for having Best Marketing Strategy as part of work he did for Unilever, as well as building a stock portfolio that has outperformed the market for the past 6 years.
Ryan says he’s still on his journey to mastery in all these areas but he wants to share what he’s learning and help people on the way. He has recently started building his personal brand online focussing particularly on teaching principles of financial literacy to young people through his social media presence, online course and 1 on 1 mentorship program.