Mellow Brick Road

After 20 episodes, I've moved to a shiny, new podcast, Rekindle. At Rekindle I talk with entrepreneurs, creatives and trailblazers to reveal the secrets and habits that keep them energised, inspired and on-track. Please join me there. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

When moving from the city, Linda Wright was unsure how her business would progress. By getting involved in the community and speaking up about those things she holds dear, she soon got noticed.

While Jane always had the idea she’d like to switch from journalism to being a fully fledged fiction writer, she’d never really developed plans to turn her dream into reality. That is until a deadline popped up and she decided to give it a go. Thank goodness she did.

In a rather noisy café, I chatted with Samantha Mackie about her very creative life. Sam's take on business is really interesting and perhaps reflects the transition she feels she's in.

Mild mannered, Rob McKelvey spends much of his life guiding and influencing the big end of town. I love that his gentle and considered approach is in such demand and I like his take on creativity and how it's growing in his life.

Way too much about me in this episode, due largely to the absence of a guest. You can be reassured that it's a short show and with a bit of luck you'll find something interesting. Either way, don't hold back if you've any commentary or thoughts to share.

Carl Sherriff uses the power of cartoons to engage and connect with business audiences and not surprisingly, he’s an entertaining guy to hang around with. His is not the easiest concept to sell, but over the years he’s learned some good strategies.

When we confront and beat obstacles in our creative journey, we develop knowledge that can benefit others. Danielle Storey has a knack for turning her wisdom into new opportunities and sources of revenue. 

When Anne George uprooted and moved to Melbourne, she left her network and confidence behind. By necessity, she pushed through and used her creative storytelling skills to get things moving.  

Triet Trieu has 3 young children and runs his business from a van. When life gets hectic he locks the door and puts his family life first. But he has plans and they sound pretty good to me.

Sumi Sivalingam moved from Malaysia to Australia with two young boys and was determined to establish a solid business. She has certainly succeeded and is loving her work. 

The creative brain constantly whirrs, so it's inevitable we'll have new ideas and want to follow new directions. Monica Davidson sees no problem with this and nor should we.

In the course of whizzing around promoting my new book, I've come across a few somewhat suspect opinions regarding what it's like running your own ship. As far as I'm concerned, it's by far the most fun I've ever had (aside from other things that are inappropriate to discuss here).

I’m forever banging on about loving your customers and yet I know I can be pretty shoddy. I forget to follow up, forget to say thank you and certainly don’t ‘over deliver’ anywhere near as much as I know I could and should. Unlike Jennifer Keeler-Milne.

If there's one thing that freaks out startups of all ages, it's finding and growing a solid customer base. And while failure statistics are often exaggerated, the main cause of things heading south is an inability to flog our wares. Here are a couple of stories that may just help.

While redundancy can be traumatic for many, for some it’s a release. One such person is Ingrid Thompson. While she may not have known quite where she was headed, she had no doubt it was going to be good. Her approach to finding her path was unusual and it worked.

After an impressive career, latterly as creative head of a global branding and design consultancy, Mike Staniford walked away. With no desire to scale to that lofty corporate position again, he loves his new life. These days he spends much of his time either staring at a brick wall or making a mess in a disused loading dock. So what’s he up to? Let’s find out.

Ah, the plaintive query of the accidental entrepreneur. The person who is at the helm of something that has evolved while they weren’t really paying attention. A common issue, let's fix it!

On a recent trip to London, I caught up with one of my lifetime besties, Pauline Crawford. A few years ago, she merged her training as a dancer and her natural talents as a teacher to start the ideal little business. Here's her story.

As I warm up for the launch of this new podcast, I figured it was good to invite input from someone who has worked in this area for a while. Author and seniorpreneur advocate, Jill Weeks had some good pointers for me.