Build It. They'll Come.

When Glenn Keys AO spent his boyhood living above his parents shop in regional NSW, little did he know that he was soaking up his folks' entrepreneurial spirit. That childhood revolving around the family small business, instilled in Glenn an ability to take calculated risks and back himself. And that combined with his adult training as an engineer, and work in the military, equipped him to bet big to pursue an idea in 2003 to provide quality healthcare outcomes for clients around the world that had stretched or non-existent healthcare services. With a friend, they built Aspen Medical, from Glenn's dining table in Canberra, into a world-class Australian-owned outfit now employing some 7,500 people, engaged in over 100 projects operating in 18 countries across the globe. They provide fully-staffed and equipped mobile hospitals, surgical or maternity clinics, dental or opthalmology units in war-torn Iraq, East Timor & Ebola-ridden West Africa, as well as Covid-19 vaccination hubs for disability charities back home in Australia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As Apple iPods, then iPhones, Music streaming services like Spotify and now COVID-19 have all seriously disrupted the music industry over recent decades, how has Michael Chugg navigated these potential minefields, and turned the internet from a disrupter into an opportunity for musicians? And is there a future for the live music scene, when life and borders open back up post-COVID? Well for an entrepreneur who has demonstrated such currency, impact and longevity in the industry, his insights into the path for success for young musicians might surprise you. In Part 2 of our interview he also reveals some of the work in the music and major events landscape of which he is most proud, not just for the sheer entertainment it provided to audiences, but for its ability to really mean something, for others in need. And that includes his largely unsung role helping turn the Paralympic Games into a world-class, quality, hugely popular event.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How 15 year old Michael Chugg transformed his love of music, and particularly Aussie rock music, into a major business empire, that ended up bringing to Australia, promoting, staging concerts and touring many of THE biggest music stars & bands in the world. Stars like Elton John, Robbie Williams, Bob Dylan, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, the Police, Dixie Chicks, Madonna and so many more. Michael Chugg backed himself, built relationships in the music business not just locally, but in the UK and the US as well. So how did he do it? By never being afraid of hard work, doing everything that was needed to put on a major concert tour, and he means EVERYTHING. And what are his insights into resilience and longevity in a fast-changing music industry? Always putting the customer – that is, the acts and the fans – first, he says. They are the most important piece of the pie, and if they are right, well, the money would follow. Michael Chugg started Michael Chugg Entertainment in the late 70’s; then co-founded Frontier Touring with the late Michael Gudinski; and more recently he started Chugg. Entertainment on his own. Over 5 decades later, he's still taking risks, still scouting and supporting young Aussie music talent, and in this time of the pandemic when musicians are joining together to urge us all to get vaccinated, Michael Chugg is still optimistic about the post-COVID-19 live music scene. Hope you enjoy Part 1 of my chat with Michael Chugg.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After great success in the UK with her hand-made, artisanal, ethically sourced chocolate company, Coco Chocolate, with 2 stores in Edinburgh and a successful contract supplying Harvey Nichols' signature chocolates, Rebecca Knights returned to Australia, with small children, and was thrown what she calls a few curve-balls. But in Part 2, Rebecca reveals how start-up entrepreneurs must be resilient enough to navigate the disasters & learn "new tricks" as she puts it. Rebecca reckons she was long ago experienced in that area, as she explains what led to her leaving home and fending for herself at such a young age, and never being afraid of hard work.How she changed course several times in her business to develop new ways to expand and grow offers unique insights into the sort of grit and determination needed to sell a hand-made food product in your own start-up. So what happened when the COVID-19 pandemic struck? Well hear for yourself how, among other things, online e-commerce came to save the day. Hope you enjoy Part 2 of this candid interview with Rebecca Knights.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rebecca Knights built a boutique chocolate company and the Sydney Chocolate School by sticking to her dream of producing all hand-made, artisanal chocolates, tempered on marble, using the finest ethically sourced ingredients from both here and overseas. After leaving home at the tender age of 16, she knew she would have to build a life, and she hoped a business, for herself. While she was neither a trained chef, nor a food technician, she put in the hard yards washing dishes and then waiting on tables in restaurants, before finally getting an education. How she then translated her creativity into training in the age-old European tradition to become a chocolatier in France, then creating a product -- a finely crafted chocolate product at that -- designing the beautiful packaging and selling her wares in the UK, including to prestigious Harvey Nicholls department stores, and achieving that all by herself, is a story of determination and chutzpah. She's even innovated to produce completely sugar-free chocolate! Yes, sugar-free. And despite intense competition in the chocolate industry Rebecca never allowed the mass-produced sweet stuff on supermarket shelves that dominates sales in the industry to snuff out her entrepreneurial dream.  But her journey is not without salutary lessons, given considerable business high's and low's. But how she deals with them is a lesson in smarts, leadership and plain grit. Hope you enjoy Rebecca Knights!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

High school dropout Luke Anear didn’t set out to build a global technology company that was recently valued at over $2billion, but that’s exactly what happened when he saw a problem in the workplace – namely accidents that didn’t have to happen – and started to help solve it. Luke created his mobile safety and quality checklist app that became SafetyCulture. Now, Luke’s vision is expanding, with grand designs to build a global e-marketplace for any consumables used in a workplace, from work boots to chefs’ aprons, a kind of Amazon for the workplace, as he describes it. And ever wondered why those big global tech stocks have staggeringly high valuations? Well, Luke gives a feisty explanation of why they’re not ridiculous! Plus, he shares some heart-felt thoughts on sudden wealth and what to do with it. Enjoy Part 2 of my chat with Luke Anear.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Luke Anear, Founder of a startup that helps companies improve their safety procedures in the workplace, discusses the evolution of SafetyCulture from selling safety guidelines to creating the mobile app iAuditor. Learn about their global expansion, business model, and lessons learned from venture capital investors. Discover how opening offices in Kansas City and Manchester contributed to their growth. Explore their funding rounds and key investors that propelled the company to success.

Kim McKay doesn’t really consider herself an entrepreneur. But that’s exactly what she is, having built not 1, but 2, impressive “empires”. The non-science trained marketing guru is transforming the Aust Museum – yes, the one Sydney-siders all remember going to on school excursions, a natural history museum and Australia’s oldest museum – from being somewhat faded-around-the-edges to now bringing it firmly into the 21st century digital age, as a world-class cultural institution. How is she doing it? By cajoling politicians who control the pursestrings, inspiring scientists to continue their research and engaging supporters and the public alike to take a fresh look at the Museum’s newly refurbed spaces, including the new glittering glass box entrance. Kim reveals how she twists arms! And already she’s increased attendance numbers several-fold.  Perhaps less known is the 1st “empire” Kim McKay helped build into a global not-for-profit phenomenon – the Clean Up Australia & Clean Up the World community campaigns. That event started in 1989 from a tiny idea solo yachtsman & pal Ian Kiernan had, to clear waterways of plastic and rubbish. With the support, hard work and passion of his co-founder Kim McKay, the pair first launched Clean Up Sydney Harbour, which turned out to be a dazzling success on the 1st weekend it was held. So just how did they build that up into the successful & substantial Clean Up Australia campaign -- a volunteer, community-based event that in its first year alone involved over 200 cities and towns across Australia? Well, when Kim managed to get the United Nations involved, Kiernan and McKay took their “Clean Up” to the world!  The Clean Up movement became one of Australia’s most successful public action campaigns ever. And that campaign helped transformed community awareness about the damage from ocean pollution.  Enjoy the dynamo that is Kim McKay!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Managing the rapid scale-up of fast-growing Zip Co meantco-founder & CEO Larry Diamond instigated a culture of Building and Flyingat the exact same time; find out how such a high-wire act meant Diamond and histeam often came close to falling over, thinking they might have to close theirdoors. In the early days, surprisingly they had no retail expert on their team.Yet by putting 1 foot in front of the other, taking 1 step at a time, they grewfrom signing on 1 small suburban bike shop to accept their Buy Now Pay Laterproduct, to signing up tens of thousands of merchants, including big playerslike Wesfarmers’ Bunnings & Kmart, and online retailers like kogan. And thesecret sauce? Diamond says if you have the passion, then the startup life isreally all about endurance. Oh, and taking every Saturday off, switching offall computers and devices, & re-charging one’s own batteries with familyand friends!  Enjoy Part 2 of my chat with Zip’s Larry Diamond.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Part 1 -When Larry Diamond came up with his idea for a new payment method he wanted with a passion to disrupt existing payment systems, particularly credit cards, that had a stranglehold on the online space, but were clunky and un-user friendly in his view. Pitching his idea to would-be investors, they sort of metaphorically patted him on the head and shooed him away, saying, nice idea Larry, but you don’t know what you’re talking about!  Rather than drop his idea for a Buy Now Pay Later digital product, he persevered and found a perfect partner, consumer credit expert Peter Gray, to help realise his vision. That vision was providing small amounts of credit to consumers involving “fees” but would do away with “interest charges” completely. ZipMoney, later becoming Zip Co, was born in 2013 over a number of beers in their local pub! The co-founders landed on a product that gelled with younger consumers, in a big way as it’s turning out, as a kind of cross between a debit card and a credit card. 8 years later, overcoming several mammoth hurdles along the way which you’ll hear about, Zip now boasts 7 million customers worldwide, including 2.5 million Australian customers using their most popular product Zip Pay, at everywhere from Bunnings and Woolies to online e-tailers Kogan and Catch. While another Aussie startup Afterpay began later but has grown much bigger, and there’s also strong competition promised from US giant PayPal and CBA’s part-owned Klarna in the BNPL space, Larry Diamond says bring on competition! Founder Larry Diamond now owns just 10% of Zip, making him very wealthy already. But, he tells me, more important are his expanding global growth plans for Zip, including greater penetration into the lucrative US. Hope you enjoy Part 1 of my interview with Zip co-founder and CEO Larry Diamond.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.