Arete Podcast With Richard Triggs

In this special episode I interview my dear friend Colin Clerke. I was a coaching client of Colin’s before and started referring clients to him. A few years ago, we ran what was originally called Breakfast of Champions, and even prior to that called In Good Company. Colin has a very interesting personal and work history. In this episode, Colin shares his philosophies and wisdom about the world, how our subconscious affects us and how to manage it to allow us to reach our preferred reality. If you listen and take away and start to implement these in your lives the transformations that are possible will literally seem unbelievable. I am delighted to share this podcast episode with you. My first meeting and previous experiences with Colin. Colin’s history. "Loss is the only discovery of gain." "If you pin your life on your circumstances, you'll be in trouble. You rise with the good times. You'll fall with the bad times." "You are the creator of your life rather than a victim of circumstances." "Whatever you'r

In this episode, we have an interesting discussion with Rob Ashdown. He is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Clean Energy Transfer Fund (CETF), a company with the focus on realising the competitive advantage of renewable and clean energy in the energy mix within Australia. They concentrate on the National Electricity Market, taking a position on wind and battery energy storage projects. Rob shares his personal and professional journey into climate change markets and marketing that led him to start CETF, the strategies they use in the company, some hedge fund technicalities, and fun personal stories. Rob is also a member of my Champions’ Forum and shared his experiences with the group on this episode. What are Rob's current professional responsibilities? Rob runs a hedge fund called Clean Energy Transfer Fund "The anchor bias that a lot of people have is that renewables are expensive. Renewables are uncertain, renewables come with a lot of uncertainty and therefore cannot form a majority of the ele

In this episode, I interview Brad Shaw. He is currently the Director of InterFinancial Corporate Finance Limited, an independent corporate finance and growth consulting firm, specialising in the mid-market sector. Brad shares how their company is helping businesses find where their value creation is and deliver strategies to reach those goals and opportunities. We also get to know Brad’s passion in working with business, his career and experiences over the years, and his love for learning. Brad is also a member of my Champion’s Forum and shared his experiences with the group on this episode. Brad shares his professional responsibilities and more about his work as the Director of InterFinancial Corporate Finance Limited. The company mainly specialises in mergers and acquisitions, and some corporate advisory work for entrepreneurial businesses across Australia. Brad shares with us his personal background, specifically where he came from, his first failure early in his university days, his first job as a cadet

In this episode, I interview Paul Avey, the Chief Executive Officer of Concept Environmental Services, a provider of fluid process solutions to the resources, biogas, utilities and agricultural industries. Paul shares to us how he came to be passionate about leading people from his young formative years, to joining the Royal New Zealand Air Force, and his corporate journey that led to him becoming CEO of Concept. Paul is also a member of my Champion’s Forum and shared his experiences with the group on this episode. He also gave us a glimpse of how his organisation adapted to the challenges of the Coronavirus, and their strategic initiatives and process. Paul’s current professional responsibilities CEO of Concept Environmental Services for roughly 1 year now. His main responsibility is to solidify the business with what they've got now and take their core technology called Concept Tank and develop markets outside the coal and gas industry. "We've got a fantastic company, really good people, really stable f

In this episode, I interview Anthony and Melanie Baker, a husband and wife team who owns and manages Premier Building & Construction. This episode though is not entirely about their construction business. Anthony and Mel share with us their new business venture, the Essence of Harrogate, in detail. Essence of Harrogate is a gin production business they affectionately refer to as the cousin of the Spirit of Harrogate, producers ofSlingsby Gin. Anthony and Mel share how they came to start the business, their experiences with the product, their business strategies, and more interesting facts. What are Anthony and Melanie up to professionally in terms of their normal day jobs? Premier Building & Construction, the company owned and managed by the husband and wife team of Anthony and Melanie has been operating for 13 years. The company is licensed up and down the East Coast, from Queensland through to Victoria. Predominantly, the company undertakes commercial work like schools, healthcare, retail and industria

In this episode, I interview Nathan Psaila - National Sales Manager for RDO Equipment, agents for agricultural, construction and forestry equipment. He has been with the company for over 18 months now and is helping build a unique culture for himself, his sales team, and their clients, as well as ensuring he is leading them towards their goals, their vision, and the core values of the business. He shares in this episode his thoughts on self-reflection as an employee for the team and personal growth. He also shares his love for working with people and with the company. What are Nathan's current professional responsibilities? He works mainly to increase market share and increase overall turnover for the John Deere product line in their construction space. What's RDO Equipment's relationship with John Deere? RDO Equipment as a business is a US company. RDO Equipment Australia is a wholly owned subsidiary. The US entity invested in Australia 7-8 years ago into a company called Vanderfield which is synonymous w

In this episode, I interview Jo Boyce - CEO of Crookwell/Taralga Aged Care. Crookwell/Taralga Aged Care is a merger of 2 organisations responsible for 3 aged care facilities. Jo shares her experiences as the CEO of the company, about the facilities they handle, the communities where the facilities are, the company being an integral part of the communities, and her plans after exiting the company. Jo’s current professional responsibilities She is the current CEO of Crookwell/Taralga Aged Care Ltd, responsible for 3 care facilities: Viewhaven Lounge, Sunset Lodge, and Upper Lachlan Community Care The company merged from 2 organisations,Crockwell and Taralga, 12 years ago. "For a community, by the community" CTAC have been operating for about 45 years in Taralga and nearly 40 years in Crockwell. Her educational background is in business and studied in QUT's Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies (ACPNS) She’s been the CEO for 7 years and is exiting the role for personal reasons "Some roles yo

For the past 2 years I’ve been running the Arete Breakfast of Champions, small in-person breakfast meetings of executives from non-compete fields for peer-based support and exchange. These have been very successful and provided participants with great insights, support and opportunities. In light of the coronavirus situation (this episode was recorded at the end of March 2020) the need for such groups is greater than ever so, to keep the program going and as our way of supporting executives at this time, we’re now launching an online version that we’re calling the Arete Champions’ Forum. The idea for the Arete Champions’ Forum was inspired by one of the Breakfast of Champions participants who attributes more than $200 million in capital investment to connections he made through the group. He valued the peer support and wanted us to find an online format to continue it in, especially as he is now based in Perth. In this episode, Brett Jarman (Founder of Experts On Air, the producers of this podcast) and

This is one of a series of special episodes we’ve put together to assist executives while the coronavirus/Covid-19 situation is upon us. I asked Brett Jarman, executive producer at Experts On Air, the producers of our podcast, to jump on with me and drill down on the subject of executive recruitment. While many might think that the recruitment market has dried up at the moment (late March 2020 as we recorded the episode) we’re finding that the opposite is the case and that there’s actually a war for talent going on. We discuss the background to this and what we are doing to help organisations win that war. Most job companies are cutting back on frontline staff rather than executives The demand to recruit for senior roles is still continuing Companies and organisations still have mission-critical roles, even in times of crisis CEOs and HR heads are looking beyond the current logistical challenges and taking a longer-term view of the situation and what the needs of the company will be Times of uncertainty in

In this episode, I interview Vinod Muthanna - CEO and President of DBM Vircon. DBM Vircon is a merger of 3 companies and he leads the integration and the creation of a global practice with nine offices in 8 countries over four continents. He also shares his experiences throughout his career, past and present, and shares his thoughts on being a CEO and a servant leader to his team and business. DBM Vircon is a steel-detailing and building information modelling company DBM Vircon is a merger of three businesses - BDs Vircon, PDC Group, and Candraft VSI, and headquartered in Brisbane What type of work DBM Vircon does around the world. The company does projects with industrial and commercial strain, and high rises. It boasts 55 years of iconic projects around the world. How did the company come to acquire and work for these iconic projects? How the business stood out in North America versus the local competitors Vinod talks about his life in India. He migrated to Australia in 1988 for his MBA What attracted

This episode was recorded at the end of March 2020, just as severe restrictions were taking hold due to the Coronavirus/Covid-19 threat. While you might expect that job prospects are difficult for everyone at this time, the executive job market, especially for mission-critical roles is surprisingly vibrant at the moment. In this episode I chat with Brett Jarman, Executive Producer of the Experts On Air Podcast Network (and producer of the Arete Podcast) about the current situation and the prospects and opportunities for executives looking for a new role. We also get into the details of my successful Executive Career Coaching Program and why now is the perfect time for executives in the job market to use it. What is career coaching and advocacy? Who it is suitable for? Executives looking for a new role because they need one Executives looking for a new role because they are ready for a change Executives expecting to look for a new role in the next 6-12 months Suitable candidates for non-executive board r

In this episode of the Arete Podcast, Richard interviews Grant Moyle - the CEO of XLM Systems. XLM Systems helps mining businesses switch from mechanical solutions to IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) solutions for their operations. He shares his personal background, his career over the past years, his mindset on business investing and acquisitions, to employee recruitment and team handling, his current role as the CEO, his career and business aspirations, and more. Episode Highlights: What is IoT? XLM has been in existence in its current form for 2 years The business has just purchased a software development business, doubling in size to 12 currently on staff XLM is owned by Mitchell Group, a family-based investment firm established over 50 years ago Grant's portfolio before being XLM Systems's CEO - from his earlier experiences, to working in the field, working for Compaq, moving to London and starting as a data entry professional and moving up to an MD role, moving to Calcutta, India and starting a

In this episode, I’m chatting with Bill Petch, CEO of the Leukaemia Foundation of Australia, about his first CEO role and how he’s managing such an important sector during a time of exciting change. The charity is the only national charity dedicated to helping those with leukaemia, lymphoma, myeloma and related blood disorders. Bill was first appointed CEO of the Queensland branch in 2012 and led an agency-wide program to improve organisational efficiency and effectiveness with a focus on impact and sustainability. Under his watch, the organisation released the very first ‘State of the Nation’ report on blood cancer in Australia and has put together the very first national task force that will improve equity of access to current treatments and new emerging therapies to improve survivability. Episode highlights: Who Bill is and his current professional responsibilities Big moments for the foundation recently - released first ‘State of the Nation’ report on blood cancer and put together the first nati

In this episode I chat to Mark Denning, owner and managing director of Fallon Solutions about risks he’s taken over the years, investing in training for staff and networking throughout Australia and across the pond in the US. Brisbane-based Fallon Solutions provides B2C and B2B trade services to customers in South East Queensland, including electrical, plumbing, air conditioning, carpentry and all that comes with it. The company employs more than 170 permanent staff, has 100 service vehicles and a pool of talent ready to jump in to help continue its reputation of being the most responsive business in their field. Since buying the business in 2005, Mark, who has run businesses of $40m through to $150m, has made changes to the business structure that has resulted in an impressive 1500% increase in revenue. Episode Highlights: Mark’s professional responsibilities - owner and MD of Fallon Solutions, providing trade services in B2C and B2B sectors How Mark came to be a business owner The scope of Fallon S

In this episode I chat to David Carter, CEO Suncorp Banking & Wealth about some of the issues facing the banking industry and the challenge of restoring confidence for customers and employees. Suncorp is the largest of the Queensland-listed public companies, with more than 1.1 million customers. David, who has a team of around 650+, is publicly thought of as the person who runs the bank, but his duties don’t stop there. He’s also a board member of Queensland Ballet and Deputy Chair of Australian Banking Association with a strong background in financial services, including banking, wealth management and life insurance. Episode highlights: David’s current range of responsibilities - CEO of Banking and Wealth at Suncorp, board member of Queensland Ballet and Deputy Chair of Australian Bankers’ Association A look at Queensland Ballet, what they do well and how David got on the board David’s views on being on a not-for-profit board - understanding the different nature and dynamics of a not-for-profit board

Building a business based on something you love is easy. Building a business that works without your constant attention isn’t. Too many business owners run away with a business idea without having the skill set they need for it to really take off and fail to understand what’s missing. In this episode, I chat to Ben Fewtrell, CEO of multi-million dollar business MaxMyProfit. He’s been in the business coaching and training space since 2001, so he’s seen his fair share of business successes and failures. His career is varied, starting as a panel beater, working in the transportation industry and owning several businesses over the years, including two hairdressers! He’s also a fellow podcaster as host of the Business Brain Food Podcast. Now, he focuses on coaching and consulting business owners looking to ‘build the business they imagined’ with the Business Exceleration™ Coaching program. MaxMyProfit also offers Business Exceleration™ Franchises, since 2018. Episode highlights: Been working in the busine

In this episode, I delve into the arts sector with Craig Whitehead, CEO of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO) to learn more about the business and leadership of a large orchestra. Craig’s love for the performing arts sector began at a young age, despite being brought up in a “sports-focused” family in Stafford. He went on to become a freelance actor in London, UK, and saw an opportunity to start a theatre education company. After completing a Diploma in Business and an MBA in Business, Craig completed an Advanced Management Program at INSEAD, ‘The Business School For The World’ in 2015. Over the years, Craig has served as General Manager of Queensland’s second largest theatre company, CEO for West Australia Opera and CEO of Western Australian Symphony Orchestra (WASO) - a position he held for 10 years. Now, his work as CEO of QSO focuses on changing people’s perceptions of an orchestra and targeting new markets. QSO is the largest performing arts company in Queensland , with a turnover of around

What do you do when you’re thinking about replacing a current employee who is underperforming? Or have a position to fill and an internal candidate who meets the requirements of the role, but you want to make sure you’re hiring the right person for the job? I discussed these scenarios, and our Headhunted Shortlist package, with Brett Jarman, Founder and Executive Producer of Experts On Air, the producers of the Arete Podcast. Episode highlights: Using the Headhunted Shortlist when you have a position to fill and want to ensure your internal candidate is the best person for the role Arete Executive’s assignment to hire a CFO for a mining company The Headhunted Shortlist package - delivering candidates for 7.5% of package How our package can benefit organisations Why hiring internally might not be the best fit, despite it being good for business culture Using the Headhunted Shortlist when you’re thinking of terminating somebody who is underperforming and replacing them with new external talent Maintaining co

Competition in the workspace is high nowadays, so career development is no longer just about doing a great job, whatever your role. If you want to get access to the best opportunities, you need to show you are doing more than competently executing your responsibilities. As a result, building a personal brand is becoming more prevalent. How you come across in the marketplace can make all the difference to your professional development. In this episode, Brett Jarman from Experts on Air (the producers of the Arete Executive Podcast) and I discussed the subject in detail. Episode highlights: Programs and people who can help you build your personal brand - Key Person of Influence (Dent Global), Suzie Lightfoot and Brett Jarman The younger generation pay more attention to their brand Should you have a website or be present on social media? Start small and work your way up - speak at a conference, write an article or join an industry board Every job has an element of sales so sell yourself The power of LinkedI

In this episode, I chat to Moira Harris, the managing director of Hygrade Water Australia, a family-owned startup. The company manufactures, imports and distributes specialised water-related products for the civil construction industry, and employs 25 people across its two branches in Brisbane and Sydney. Moira is a strong business leader with experience in operations management, sales management, negotiation, marketing and stakeholder relations - all roles she held since emigrating from Scotland to Australia in 2000. She shares the lessons she’s learned along the way as a female in male-dominated industries, and as the managing director of a ‘isolated’ startup in Australia. Moira also touches in the pressure to assimilate and how executive coaching has taught her to stay true to herself. Episode highlights: Background of Hygrade Water Australia - a startup of parent company, New Zealand-based Hynds Group Most of Hygrade Water’s products are brought in from Europe - specialised products Why the owner