Don't Stop Us Now! Podcast

Our fabulous guest this week is Kerry James, CEO and co-founder of not one, not two, but three different businesses! Not so remarkable you may be thinking if these businesses came one after the other, but no, Kerry is doing this all simultaneously. 

After spending many years successfully running and co-owning a high end real estate business in Singapore, Kerry is now building two other businesses in completely different industries.  

The first new venture is in the flower delivery and subscription business, and the second business is filling a niche she spotted more recently in online and corporate gifting. 

Now while Kerry knew everything about real estate in Singapore after building that business for more than twenty years, she and her friend, turned co-founder, Sandi Sadek, knew nothing about the flower industry, delivery logistics or e-commerce prior to launching their online flower business, Flower Addict. What’s more they both still retain their big full time work roles.

Despite these novices starting from scratch, Flower Addict has been a roaring success, being voted number one florist service in Singapore for five years, and they’ve only been going for five years!  

In this episode you’ll learn how: 

• Kerry manages her time juggling three businesses and a big family 
• The huge learning curve she had with the ins and outs of a fast moving ecommerce business 
• How asking for help and being prepared to invest in getting the help she needs makes all the difference 
• How she shifts her attention from one business to another in  the most positive way; and 
• Exactly why Kerry even wants to run three businesses all at once. 

Enjoy this episode with the positive and unstoppable Kerry James. 

Useful Links

Flower Addict website 

Flower Addict on Instagram 

GiftBoxLove website

GiftBoxLove on Instagram 

Citiprop website

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Our guest this week is founder and author, Natalie Yan-Chatonsky. 

Natalie founded her start up Full Time Lives some years ago and she’s just launched a book, called ‘The Art of Full Time Living’ which is a guide to help turn women’s mid-life transitions into fulfilling and rewarding transformations for their second half of life.

Natalie is on a pioneering quest to ensure mid-life women take the time to think proactively about living fulfilled and connected lives in the decades ahead, whether that’s post kids leaving home or stepping back from a full time career. 

We know Natalie well and she’s bowled us over in the past few years with her dedication and commitment to making a difference to women's lives, particularly the second half of their lives. 

In this episode you’ll hear how: 

• Natalie has carefully navigated her various career transitions
• She originally started researching big life changes ahead of her father’s potential retirement but it’s ended up being her life that’s changed the most 
• Why she worked 7 days a week for a year in order to complete her book; and 
• The magic ingredient and habit that’s made all the difference to her focus and productivity. 

Whatever life stage you’re at right now, there are lessons in here for all of us… A life proactively shaped is a life that will make us more fulfilled. 

Enjoy this episode with the disciplined and purposeful Natalie Yan-Chatonsky. 

Useful Links:

Natalie’s website Full Time Lives 

Natalie’s book - ‘The Art of Full Time Living’

Natalie on LinkedIn

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Job interviews can certainly be intimidating and nerve-wracking, yet how we use that finite window of time that can really make a huge difference to our careers and sometimes even our lives. 

Whether it’s your dream job at stake or one you’re not so sure about, make no mistake, you owe it to yourself to perform to the best of your ability. And this week’s ‘How To’ episode explains why. 

The people we work with around the world regularly ask us for advice and support going through their interview process. So we decided it’s time to share some of our tried and tested tips and frameworks, as well as share special ‘insider’ contacts and content, with you now as well in this episode.  

Not only will we walk through our key interview tips, you’ll also hear invaluable insider advice from leading Russell Reynolds executive search consultant and Managing Director in Australia, Nick Fletcher. 

Plus we also bring you Caitriona Staunton who’s Improbable’s Director for People Ops, responsible for recruiting hundreds of people a year in the UK. She’s previously headed up recruitment in Asia Pacific at tech unicorn, Atlassian, as well as worked at Google internationally so really knows her stuff. 

You may be surprised by what they both share. 

In this episode you’ll learn: 

• The key pre-work we recommend you do before your interview 
• What the experts say on how to give yourself an amazing advantage before the interview even starts
• What internal hiring managers look for during the interview; and 
• How to manage your nerves and perform at your best once the interview begins.

We all have to do interviews at some point and who knows, something you hear today could make all the difference for your next one! 

If you’d like to hear more from our ‘vault’ on this topic then please let us know on LinkedIn (Claire or Greta) and we’ll think about how to share more content with you. 

Enjoy this ‘How To’ episode. 

Useful Link

Amy Cuddy’s TED Talk 

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Our guest this week is one of the most positive, resilient and talented people we know. 

International award winning and globally acclaimed drone photographer, Sarah Jenkins is not your average drone pilot. 

Once fit and healthy, Sarah has been confined to a wheelchair for more than 6 years now and, as a result of her muscular dystrophy, she’s unable to hold and use a normal camera or even the camera on an iphone. 

During Covid, confined to the house and looking for something to do, Sarah and her daughter Lucy decided to try drone photography as Sarah knew that she could operate the toggles that control a drone and rest the remote control in her lap. 

The rest, as they say, is history.

In this episode you’ll learn how:

• Sarah stays positive despite having lost so many physical capabilities 
• Her attitude to learning her craft as she goes
• Despite being invited to enter global awards and having other international recognition she still suffers from imposter syndrome; and
• Sarah’s advice to others wanting to pursue a new creative endeavour.

Sarah also happens to be one of Greta’s oldest and best friends. Greta has watched Sarah over the years evolve from being a nurse and a mum, to also becoming a positive and inspirational creative, who just happens to be wheelchair bound. 

You’ll hear a few different place names mentioned in this episode. Sarah is based in Perth in Western Australia these days, but during Covid she relocated for health reasons to the isolated coastal town of Port Douglas in far north Queensland to escape the city crowds. 

Without further ado, get ready to be inspired by the positive and ‘can do ‘ talent that is Sarah Jenkins. 

Useful Links

Air Bare website

Air Bare Studio Insta

Minimalism in Photography Book: teNeues Publishing, September 2022

ABC News Online: Interview; Published May 2022 

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We’re excited to bring you our first show for 2023. 

Our guest today is a topical choice given the recent surprise announcement by New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, that she was stepping down. Topical because we’re speaking with another female political trailblazer.

The Honourable Nicola Roxon was elected to Australia’s Federal Parliament at the age of just 31. She became Australia’s Health Minister for 4 years and then the country’s first Attorney General. 

After 15 years in politics she decided it was time for a change and she now has a portfolio of board roles as director and Chair. 

In this episode you’ll hear: 

• How a High Court Judge joked Nicola may cause a constitutional crisis when, as a young Associate, Nicola shared her plans for her next career step
• How Nicola handled and navigated the cut and (sometimes brutal) thrust of politics without taking things personally
• About the world leading health initiative she introduced that’s been copied around the world and received special recognition from the World Health Organisation; and 
• How Nicola made the transition from politics to corporate boards after 15 years in Parliament. 

We think you’ll glean lots of useful nuggets from this conversation with the thoughtful and purposeful Nicola Roxon.

Enjoy…

Useful Links

Nicola’s website: https://www.nicolaroxon.com/ 

Nicola on Linkedin

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Our guest this week made such a big impression on us and listeners when she was on the show more than 4 years ago that we’re really excited to welcome her back for our last episode of the year. 

Navyn Salem is Founder and CEO of a non-profit social enterprise called Edesia. Navyn founded Edesia more than ten years ago to help end global malnutrition and set about building a factory in Rhode Island in the USA to produce lifesaving nutritional products for humanitarian agencies. Edesia has already reached over 17 million children in 62 countries. 

An email Navyn sent this past week really caught our attention. Despite outlining the unprecedented food crisis happening around the world, it also was filled with hope and a historic path forward. 

Right now, governments have granted more funds to support the many millions facing hunger. Historically the world has the opportunity to move from helping 25% of the world’s malnourished to reaching and supporting 50%. Currently 3 million children under 5 die every year from malnutrition that is completely preventable.

Edesia, as one of the major producers of a lifesaving supplement called Plumpy Nut, has one problem . . . it can’t make their life saving product fast enough to meet the orders of humanitarian agencies tasked with spending the increased funding. So Navyn, in her true entrepreneurial and unstoppable style, is seeking to urgently scale her factory and increase its output dramatically by moving to 24 hours a day, 7 days a week production. To do that she needs help to buy $12 million worth of equipment. 

We think you’ll be truly inspired by Navyn as so many others have been before. She’s a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network and was awarded the major global McNulty Prize this year for leadership and vision in addressing some of the world’s toughest problems. Navyn was voted EY Entrepreneur of the year for New England in 2018, and New Englander of the Year in 2017. 

Without further ado, to end the year enjoy our hope-filled conversation with the inspiring Navyn Salem.

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Our guest on the show today pivoted away from a long standing career in the music industry to found a venture focused on the visual arts. 

Dot Bustello is founder and CEO of a business called Loupe, which streams and sells art from around the world and in doing so helps make all those black TV screens in our daily lives way more interesting and appealing. 

Not only that, Loupe is ranked number one lifestyle app in 73 countries on Apple TV. 

Dot founded Loupe seven years ago after spending nearly ten years at Apple as well as being a music producer. 

Never one to believe in having a conventional career, in this episode you’ll hear Dot explain: 

• How she came up with the idea for Loupe and why she couldn’t believe it hadn’t already been done
• The key thing she learnt after nearly a decade working at Apple
• Why she thinks NFTs (non fungible tokens) are so revolutionary 
• Dot’s firm belief that we all have more control over what we do in our careers than most people think; and 
• The number 1 habit Dot relies on to stay focussed and centred. 

Enjoy this fascinating conversation with the uniquely creative and entrepreneurial Dot Bustelo. 

Useful Links

Loupe website 

Loupe Insta 

Dot on LInkedIn :

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Our guest on the podcast this week is Professor Selena Bartlett, an Australian neuroscientist who’s life’s work is all about understanding how our brains work.

Selena has held senior roles with leading research institutes in the US and Australia and she’s currently leading pioneering research into addiction and obesity at the Queensland University of Technology. 

What drew us to Selena’s story is not only her passion to understand how our brains work but also her mission to educate us non-neuroscientists about the things we can do to improve our brain’s health and even completely change our lives.

In this episode you’ll hear:

• The very personal reason Selena switched her career path away from pharmacy towards neuroscience as a young woman
• Selena’s fascinating explanation of what causes mental illnesses such as schizophrenia
• How she overcame her sugar addiction when she realised the impact it has on the brain 
• Some radically simple things we can all do to improve our brain’s health; and
• Why Selena thinks becoming ‘boss of your brain’ can completely change the direction of your life.

Enjoy this fascinating conversation with the passionate and pioneering Professor - Selena Bartlett. 

Useful Links:

Selena’s website: https://www.profselenabartlett.com/

Selena’s podcast: Thriving Minds

Selena on LinkedIn

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Our episode this week features the first Chief Financial Officer we’ve had on the show, however Madeline Ling is not your ‘ordinary’ CFO. 

We don’t think we’ve met a CFO who values diversity and building relationships the way Madeline does, not to mention the articulate and creative way she speaks about the stories the numbers can tell her. 

Madeline has held multiple CFO roles throughout her 20-plus year career to date which has seen her work far and wide, including in the U.S., China, Mexico, Europe, and Thailand. A tech-company veteran, these days she is CFO of US-based Boomi, a fast-growing global SaaS company, focussed on easy software integration, now owned by two blue chip private equity firms.

Before taking on CFO roles, Madeline spent twelve years consulting including the Boston Consulting Group where she was a Principal. She also has an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

In this episode you’ll hear:

What Madeline learnt as an impressionable teenager when she moved to the US not speaking a word of English 

How she thinks about leveraging her differences to add value

Madeline’s recipe for building awesome working relationships; and

The two questions she asks herself before changing roles or company. 

In short, this was a fabulous conversation and you’ll really be inspired by the thoughtful and articulate Madeline Ling. 

Useful Link

Boomi website

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Our episode this week follows hard on the heels of some personally challenging anniversaries. We share how, even after the s++ttiest news possible, Claire has moved forward and thrived, thanks to some very specific mindset choices. 

She shares those choices and we talk about what’s become her north star in terms of how she views work and life. 

You’ll also hear from our special guest Heidi Hackemer, now Executive Director of the innovation and future focused Oatly Climate Culture Lab in New York. 

Prior to her starting her time with Oatly, Heidi had had an ‘annus horribilis’ where her world fell apart. She shares her key lesson from that time and also what she did and does to get out of tough times. 

You’ll also hear:

• About four key building blocks to become more resilient
• How your thoughts have a MASSIVE influence on your quality of life
• A simple exercise you can do to improve how you look at life, and
• Why being kind to yourself is absolutely essential to build resilience

Now if you’re thinking this episode will be all sombre and sad, think again - in fact re-frame those thoughts right now coz you be wrong sista! 

Enjoy this episode!

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