Empowering Leaders

Richard Burnet is the Global CEO and Director of BFT (Body Fit Training) with over 600 franchisees sold across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, the UK, the US, Spain and Hong Kong, and expansion plans underway around the world. BFT is an internationally recognised fitness brand success story. Rich's personal path to this success has had more than its fair share of hurdles and life challenges. Rich and his wife Danielle's first two boys, Sebastian and Charlie, were born with one of the rarest genetic conditions in the world, Multiple Sulfatase Deficiency. The condition tragically saw Sebastian and Charlie pass away before their teenage years. Rich transitioned away from his senior corporate roles with BP, Golf Australia, and the AFL to pursue an entrepreneurial path, which included a sliding door moment that saw Rich literally stumble across a gym that he would ultimately end up partnering with to create an extraordinary Australian business success story. Start your leadership journey today. Head to Aleda Collective to find out more about our signature, cross industry collaboration program, Aleda Connect. Curated and facilitated by experts, running for 8 fortnightly sessions, Aleda Connect is the learning experience of a life-time. Learn. Lead. Collaborate.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the 22nd of August, 2008, Steve Hooker became the first Australian male Olympic gold medalist in a track and field event since Ralph Doubell 40 years earlier in the 1968 Mexico Olympics. Steve Hooker is one of only a handful of athletes to hold the Olympic World Championship, IAAF World Indoor Championship, IAAF Continental Cup, and Commonwealth Games titles at the same time.   Steve was the captain of the Australian athletics team from 2008 to 2012 and his incredible commitment and work ethic has seen his outstanding success in sport replicated in his business career. Start your leadership journey today. Head to Aleda Collective to find out more about our signature, cross industry collaboration program, Aleda Connect. Curated and facilitated by experts, running for 8 fortnightly sessions, Aleda Connect is the learning experience of a life-time. Learn. Lead. Collaborate.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

George Karl was drafted as a fourth-round pick to the San Antonio Spurs in 1973 from the University of North Carolina. Ten years later, at just 33 years of age, George Karl was appointed as the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, making him one of the youngest head coaches in NBA history. In 2016, when Coach Carl finished his last role as a head coach in the NBA, he had been in charge for a remarkable 1,999 games, winning 1,175 times - the sixth all-time in NBA history! Karl coached the US national team, is a four-time NBA all-star head coach, and was named the 2013 NBA coach of the year. In 2022, he was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame for his outstanding lifetime success and contribution to the sport. Coach Karl, has dedicated his life to the game of basketball, coaching the young players of the USA to success they could only have dreamed of.  Start your leadership journey today. Head to Aleda Collective to find out more about our signature, cross industry collaboration program, Aleda Connect. Curated and facilitated by experts, running for 8 fortnightly sessions, Aleda Connect is the learning experience of a life-time. Learn. Lead. Collaborate.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tara Winkler is an extraordinary Australian humanitarian. In 2011, she was recognised as the New South Wales Young Australian of the Year for her work in establishing the Cambodian Children's Trust.  Her inspirational TED Talk on why we need to end the era of orphanages has been viewed more than 1.2 million times and helped to shine a powerful light on the plight of more than 8 million children around the globe living in orphanage-like institutions. Many of those children are actually in fact not orphans, but are removed from extremely poor families and exploited.  Tara's work in shining a light on this situation has created a global shift towards a better way.  It is brilliant and inspiring to hear from Tara, who since the age of 19 has dedicated her life to exposing how power, privilege, and oppression intersect with charity work. Her passion for igniting local wisdom, investing in preventative measures, and highlighting that people living in abject poverty don't lack the wherewithal, just the resources makes for an incredibly compelling and eye-opening conversation. I'm sure you're going to enjoy this chat with Tara Winkler. Donate to support the groundbreaking work of the Cambodian Children’s Trust here.  In this episode, I mention Tara’s powerful TED Talk, a beautifully crafted 13 minute deep dive into why we need to end the era of orphanages. Tara discussed the power of the book Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire. We also talk about my recent conversation with Peter Singer, the world's most influential living philosopher on the morality of helping others and making a difference in a world where discussion is often shut down. If you enjoy this chat with Tara, can I suggest Peter Singer as your next listen if you haven’t already. Find the episode on Apple or Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Start your leadership journey today. Head to Aleda Collective to find out more about our signature, cross-industry collaboration program, Aleda Connect. Curated and facilitated by experts, and running for 8 fortnightly sessions, Aleda Connect is the learning experience of a lifetime. Learn. Lead. Collaborate.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tracy Stockwell OAM is a three-time Olympic gold medalist, five-time world champion, and former world record-holder in three events. None of that would have been possible if at the age of nine, she didn't watch Mark Spitz breaking records at the Games, and she tells us how she engaged the power of visualisation to chase down her dreams in a fearless manner.  Tracy became an honourary Aussie following her days in the pool when she married Mark Stockwell and raised her five children in Australia. She recently held the role of President of Swimming Australia and its incredible to hear her speak so highly and candidly about the leaders who have had a major influence on her career. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Meggie Palmer is an award-winning journalist with more than 15 years of global reporting experience. She's the founder and CEO of PepTalkHer, a technology and consulting company focused on closing the gender pay gap. Meggie talks with Luke about finding out from a male colleague exactly how much less she was earning than every man in the newsroom and how fighting for her own pay equity sparked her passion in this space. It was a privilege for Meggie to walk us through the power of moving away from anger and bitterness and choosing to take action instead.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Anita Jacoby is one of Australia’s most distinguished television producers and media executives. With a career spanning more than 35 years, she has created award-winning content across multiple platforms. A genuine pioneer for female success in Australian media, Anita talks about consistently being overlooked for promotion, as men overtook her on the network ladder time and again despite her experience. You'll hear her thoughts on the world of clickbait and disinformation and we explore the current shortage of the long form, investigative style of journalism Anita made her name with. Anita also tells a story she discovered much closer to home about her father, who had a huge positive influence in her life - a World War II refugee and founder of Sony in Australia - but shortly after his death Anita discovered a dark and tragic side to his life that he had never revealed.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week's guest on the Empowering Leaders podcast is Australian basketball legend, Sandy Brondello, from her Manhattan apartment overlooking the New York skyline, where she is the current coach of the New York Liberty in the WNBA. You'll hear Sandy talk about growing up in a sugar cane farm in Queensland and practicing for hours on end on a grass court with a backboard her dad built for her. It's an extraordinary story of her becoming one of the great shooters in women's basketball history. Sandy also talks on the importance of teaching kids the fundamentals instead of over training them, she describes the loneliness of leadership and putting the same amount of energy, enthusiasm and passion into raising her two children as well as leading the next generation of basketball stars. You'll also get an insight into the great wisdom Sandy has received from collaborating with her Aleda Connect group. Sandy's bespoke Aleda Connect team includes Justin Leppitsch - three-time Brisbane Premiership legend and current assistant coach of the Collingwood Football Club, John Bertram - Australian Hall of Fame legend and one of Australia's greatest ever sporting success stories, Daryl Franklin - current chief of staff at the Green Bay Packers, Brad Fittler - rugby league legend from New South Wales and current state of origin coach for New South Wales, and Pat Clifton - the assistant vice president of player health and performance at the NBA. Sandy talks openly about how that shared opportunity to learn, connect and collaborate has been incredibly powerful for her.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Shefali has produced groundbreaking work as an author of New York Times best-selling books, that peer through a societal lens to find remedies for over-zealous and highly critical parenting. In this chat, Dr. Shefali looks at what is driving damaging behaviour from parents and institutions and the shifts needed to set our children up for happiness and fulfilment. Dr Shefali's books, The Conscious Parent and The Awakened Family, have both been endorsed by Oprah who has championed Dr. Shefali's revolutionary work in promoting conscious parenting.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jeff Dimery is the CEO of Alinta Energy. From humble beginnings to where he is today, Dimery lays out the ups and downs he has faced. In this chat, Dimery says Alinta is the biggest single investor in renewable energy in Australia and discusses slashing the defence budget to invest more money, faster, into clean energy so it can become a sustainable and viable option. Jeff also reflects on Australian cricket captain Pat Cummins' decision to distance himself from the Alinta Energy sponsorship of the Australian cricket team and shares personal details about drawing his greatest inspiration from his mother. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.