November 9, 2025 • 17 mins
Liam Forde ran a big business in London. His confession? "I turned into an asshole."
So he spent the next 26 years teaching people not to be like him—creating transformation experiences for leaders across 40 countries.
Now he's relocated to Australia for his grandkids—and he's starting completely fresh. No networks. No contacts. No idea where to begin in the Australian market.
His questions are brutally honest: Where do I even start? What networks matter? How do I build trust when nobody knows who I am?
And then the big one: What's keeping Australian leaders up at night right now?
Naomi doesn't hold back. She shares the phone call that changed everything for RedBalloon ("How do I know you're real?"), why she wears red every single day, and the networking mistake most people make when building a business.
Plus: the truth about burnout that went viral on LinkedIn, why leaders are struggling with a completely new set of pressures (AI, cybersecurity, remote teams), and the "tiger team" approach that's replacing traditional org structures.
And when Liam asks how to get partners to work harder for you than anyone else? Naomi reveals what she has seen work successfully.
This episode is for anyone who's ever felt like they're starting over—whether you're new to a market, rebuilding after a setback, or just trying to figure out where your people are.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Appoche Production.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Hello, I'm Naomi Simpson and Handpicked Season five is here,
and the entrepreneurs this time are not going easy on me.
Those questions just keep coming, whether it's about building a
brand in a taboo subject or what about sales, Oh yeah, sales, sales, sales.
We're all trying to find more customers. And what about
(00:34):
changing customer demands or balancing high tech with high touch.
These entrepreneurs and business owners are really really asking the
questions that will help every business owner and their team
just get more ideas on how to cope with everything
they're tackling in the day.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Now.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
New episodes drop every Monday, and remember to subscribe so
that here the next Lotus episode. Anyway, join me on
Handpicked on Mondays. Tom liam Ford, Welcome to hand Picked,
the podcast where you get to ask me a bunch
of questions about what's on your mind. But before we
(01:17):
get started, your journey to the Zone Global, tell us
a little bit about that so we.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Know who you are.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Ah, yeah, thanks, Naomi.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
By the way, I read through your history as well,
because I'm sort of a new import to Australian and
I was like, wow, how the hell did you do
all that.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Yeah, yes, it'spoon a while. I'm busy.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
So look, my journey started a while ago as well.
So I came from being an entrepreneur and running my
own business to starting The Zone twenty six years ago
and since that time.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
I started that in New Zealand.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
And I know this is going to sound strange, but
the reason I started it was because, unlike you, when
I had my own business, I had quite a big
business in London, and I turned into an asshole.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
And you have to say asshole on this podcast.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Well it's quite intimate. I think that's fine.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
So I realized that that I wasn't creating a great
environment for people.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
It was more of a doggy dog. It was very
much a sales environment.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
And so I decided to dedicate the rest of my
life to teaching people not to be like me.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
That's how I got to be here.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
And so I've worked now in forty countries around the world,
and I create transformation experiences like you do.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Yes, slightly different, slightly different. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
So I think it's a really important concept about being
a values led business, being a leader who lives and
breathes with a sense of purpose and authenticity and creating
a trust environment and it is challenging. I mean, it's
not to say it's been an easy journey. Red Balloon
also was founded twenty five years ago, so it has
(02:58):
been quite a journey.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
So what have you got for me today?
Speaker 4 (03:02):
Well, I've recently come to Australia, into Sydney, and the
reason I came here is for my grandkids. So I
have four grandkids and so I wanted to be around them,
and I know how important this time is for me
and for them, so I wanted to relocate here. And
so I'm really new into the Australian market, and I thought,
(03:23):
who has got amazing depth of the Australian market and
growing internationally that I can talk to and sort of
find out, Hey, you know, I'm new, So are there
great networks? Are the great partner organizations? Are the great
events that I should actually go to? The speaking platforms too.
(03:45):
I don't know anything about the Sydney or the Australian market, So.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
I'm really at your at your mercy.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Yeah, So I guess maybe if I share a little
bit about my story, you might hear something in it,
and that is that I was working really hard behind
the laptop you know, powering away, working hard, and I
got a phone call from somebody who said, I'm on
your website.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
I'm about to make a purchase. How do I know
you're real? And I said, of course I'm real, I'm
the CEO.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
And this woman said, well, I don't know, you're not
the cleaner. And by the way, I was working from
home and I was the cleaner as well, you know, right,
So I guess that gave me a very important insight,
which is how do you build trust? And the way
to build trust is through relationships. So I had to
(04:39):
get out from behind the laptop, you know, keyboard warrior
and start meeting people. So first of all, I went
to some kind of business networking breakfasts and just.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
You know, hey, what do you do?
Speaker 2 (04:54):
And I realized that they were quite local and my
business was national, so I was like, this is great
to start with. Then Red Balloon is quite a colorful story.
So people started asking me to be on panels, and
so I would go and I would share particularly our
sense of purpose. But in that event, there might have
(05:17):
been two hundred or three hundred people, and I was
building relationships with them, but I was also just building
trust for the brand, so people often see, you know,
why do you wear red? Well, I wear read because
it's a uniform and it's memorable and the name of
the business is Red Balloon and it is memorable. So yeah,
I think one of the most important things is to
(05:38):
get actually just meet people, and there's plenty of associations
and ways to do that. I was approached by actually
his name's James Stevens. Always name names on this podcast,
and he had a business at the time called Roses Only.
And then he said to me, goes, so you own
your business. I go, yeah, I own my business and
he goes, and you found it? And I go, yeah,
I founded it. And he said and how much do
(06:00):
you turn over? And I said, jee stick getting personal fast.
And then he said, but you might qualify to be
a member of Entrepreneurs organization and I was and I
did and from that I met a lot of people,
not just in Australia but around the globe because I
would go to their international conferences.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
So I learned a lot.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
But I also met a lot of people and these
were people who were in a similar sort of circumstance.
And whilst there's a creator that you do not sell
to each other. It's not a sales environment, but I
felt it was a really important thing to actually not
be selling because as founders were always selling, let's face it.
(06:45):
So that was kind of my stepping stone. And then ultimately,
probably twenty years ago, I was on my feet a lot.
I was being asked to speak everywhere, and I realized
that a lot of people were making a lot of
money out of me showing up and speaking, and I
did a lot of work to be really great on
my feet, to be a keener speaker. And I was
(07:06):
approached by Saxton to represent me and they said, no, no,
you know, you need to manage your energy because I
was just all over the show. I was going one
would say the opening to an envelope, but no, it
was that. So they then manage my energy so that
I wasn't just going everywhere. I still had a business
to run. So that's kind of how I got into
(07:28):
the speaking. But it all came from one single phone
call and somebody says, who are you? And I said,
I need to build trust. So that's where it came from.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
Oh fantastic. So that's the thing that I really wanted
to dig into. You know, do you know any particular
organizations now or are you? Are you members? I'll look
up this entrepreneurs organization by the way.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Yeah, yeah, I look up that one.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
But also it's a bit like you go to one
and then you chat to somebody and you'll find your people.
And so I'm a member of the Australian Institute of
Company Directors. As a professional director, I go to those events.
I never know who I'm going to meet. I'm a
member of Chief Executive Women. I don't know if you're qualified,
just pointing out quite so.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
I'm also a member of the MCC the Melbourn Cricket Club.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Really who would have thought, Yes, I've had my memberships
for thirty years, So I do think associations but you'll
find your people and then you'll meet those and they'll say, oh,
you should come to this. So I do think memberships
is a good thing and it's a way to contribute
as well. I've always taken executive roles in the voluntary
things I've done in those Yeah, I've contributed back.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Yeah, because we do something.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
I mean, although we create experiences, we do a little
bit different than you. Because I'm creating experiences for teams
and leaders and culture, so trying to unlock that superior performance. Yeah,
that sort of segues into my next question, which is
from your experience in the market, what do you think
the biggest pain point for leaders and CEOs in the
(09:03):
Australian marketers. Now, that might have changed over time because
things have changed a lot in the way that teams
operate has changed a lot, and leadership has changed a lot.
But what do you think currently are you seeing or
hearing or even experiencing some pain points around how do
I create superior performance in teams? How do I unlock
(09:24):
superior performance and culture, leadership development of those things.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Yeah, it's absolutely changed, and I don't know whether it's
just a post COVID thing or whether people think about
their employment differently than they used to, But the rate
of change is so fast, and so what leaders are
often grappling with is a whole bunch of kind of
real pressure points.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
It's not just about the team.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
So if I think of the sorts of conversations that
we're having as leaders, it's very different than it was.
So what tasks can be outsourced to AI? How can
we use AI for efficiency? Can we bring our people
with us on that journey so that we're upskilling, uplifting
so that they are now using their secret source with
(10:13):
greater productivity tools. I think about cybersecurity. We spend a
lot of energy on just keeping our assets safe, which
is something that we didn't really even talk about ten
years ago in the way that we do now. We
think about data security. We think about security a lot,
and also just remote work forces.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
I mean it's we have.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
A world of people available to us, and people will
and want to work anywhere, and that has fundamentally changed
the way teams are put together. So instead of kind
of this is my job, this is what I'm here
to do, we now find that we put together tiger teams,
(10:56):
like we need to get this project done. Okay, we
need this person who's got this skill set, We need
this person who's got that inquiring mind. We need this person.
They might come together, finish the project, and then off
they go. And so I think that that's really different
than having organizational structures and the way that we used
to work. So I also have found that people don't
(11:19):
engage in the same way. Like we clearly host a
lot of experiences at work, we do them within business hours,
but people don't engage in the same ways as they
used to, you know, and I know they love them,
but they're like, oh, I've got this. I've got to
get that. It just is very different now. And that's okay.
So I think the number one thing for us as
leaders is to stay curious and continue to be adaptable
(11:42):
and kind of flexible and look for the outcomes, not
necessarily just the process.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Right, right.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
And are you finding that leaders are also struggling with
mental health or physical health? Because I know what, you're
a big proponent. I listened to one of your podcasts
and you said, hey, there was a time there that
you have found that you were burning out and you
had to reset and you know, like you would now
you're doing your yoga in the morning and you're doing
a bit of meditation or mindfulness. And I was like, yeah,
(12:10):
I'm finding that a lot too with leaders. The pressure
is so big and it's so complex and this uncertain
world that they're struggling as well. So I don't know
if that's the same here in the Australian landscape.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Or well, and you know it's not everybody.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
And I have to be really careful that when I
talk about my experience of life. It doesn't mean that
it's the same for everybody, and they have different capacities
and they have different constructs or disciplines or programs. But
I did write recently on LinkedIn and I have started
writing again, and the reason why I have started sharing
(12:50):
my thinking is because I realized we need trusted voices.
We need to have people that we know, we respect
us but a lot of time building trust, so I
may as well use it for good. And I recently
wrote a blog post that has gone viral about actually
the first ten years complete blur, and I nearly fell
(13:11):
off my perch because I was kids and work and
eighteen hour days and not feeding myself and definitely not
nurturing or nourishing myself, and that that is unsustainable. So
it's okay to be chaotic for a short time, you know,
a sprint, but being a business owner is a marathon.
And so it is about pacing yourself and making sure
(13:36):
that you are nurturing and nourishing the machine, which is
your abilities. And being able to say no, I think
is a privilege. But saying no, I cannot get that done.
You know, this is when I can get it done.
But not just adding everything to the to do list.
So I mean, Arian Huffington has been talking about sleep thriving, and.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
You know, she too literally fell over.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
But I just encourage people to have a discipline around
you can give yourself thirty minutes a day. It's okay
to feel the earth, to do some breath work, because
when you nurture yourself, it also allows creativity to be possible.
We need creativity and innovation in business, and if you're
(14:27):
just doing, you're never really thinking and creating and aspiring.
So yes, I don't speak for all leaders, but it's
not as if everything's getting easier in business in any way.
So I encourage people find thirty minutes a day. Put
it in the calendar. As if it was a dentist
appointment or another critical thing that you have to look after,
(14:49):
just put it in the calendar.
Speaker 4 (14:51):
Yeah, it's funny because that's why we're called the zone
or the zone global. It's because the zone is that
place where you're at your optimal state of consciousness and
optimal stat of performance, and you have to keep yourself
with the zone and that's part of what we what
we teach.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
But yeah, that's great, Thanks very much.
Speaker 4 (15:08):
Look, last question is how have you managed to get
your partner organizations to work hardest for you versus someone else?
Speaker 3 (15:17):
I mean, what is that secret source? That's been a
bit of a struggle.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
You know, we work through partners and sometimes they're all
in and sometimes it seems like they're all out.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Yeah, and it's often personality driven, Like let's be real
about that. It is about the relationships. So there's in
our business, we have three and a half thousand or
more small businesses who depend on us for customers every day,
and they might work with a number of distributors or
a number of wholesalers and so forth. So our job
is to make sure that we deliver more customers than
(15:51):
anybody else, that it's easier, that our systems are really
easy to work with, and that we do our bit,
which is finding them customers, and that we have that
marketing engine just taken care of so that they can
look after experience.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
So it's like, what is the pressure.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Point in their business that if we take care of it,
they can just get on and do it. So sitting
in their shoes is really important. But we also have
a whole lot of wholesalers who take our product, and
we have varying relationships.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
They want to deal with us differently.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Some it's a really strategic advantage to have access to experiences,
Others it's nice to have. So our job is to
keep talking about the value proposition of why it's great
to partner with us, and how you bring a partner
on board is really important, like setting either the service
(16:49):
level agreement, which sounds very but you know, this is
how we like to work. This is how we've seen
the best outcomes happen, and the onboarding process of a
new partner and making sure they're heard with quarterly reviews
and your reviews, setting shared APIs. It takes time, but
those relationships are really really important.
Speaker 4 (17:10):
Yeah, great, great, Well that's been fantastic And like, I
really want to thank you for giving me an insight
into the Australian market and I hope you're doing very
well well.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Liam, welcome to Australia. I'm sure people will hear this
and maybe they'll say, oh, you should join my networking organization.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Yeah, yeah, I'll be welcome.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Who knows what's going to happen, but Liam, good luck,
enjoy your grandchildren, make sure you carve out time for them,
and don't get too busy now that you're here, But
thank you so much for coming on. Hand picked the
podcast where we get to talk about all sorts of things.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
Thanks Naomi's been brilliant. Thank you.
Appoche Production.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Hello, I'm Naomi Simpson and Handpicked Season five is here,
and the entrepreneurs this time are not going easy on me.
Those questions just keep coming, whether it's about building a
brand in a taboo subject or what about sales, Oh yeah, sales, sales, sales.
We're all trying to find more customers. And what about
(00:34):
changing customer demands or balancing high tech with high touch.
These entrepreneurs and business owners are really really asking the
questions that will help every business owner and their team
just get more ideas on how to cope with everything
they're tackling in the day.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Now.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
New episodes drop every Monday, and remember to subscribe so
that here the next Lotus episode. Anyway, join me on
Handpicked on Mondays. Tom liam Ford, Welcome to hand Picked,
the podcast where you get to ask me a bunch
of questions about what's on your mind. But before we
(01:17):
get started, your journey to the Zone Global, tell us
a little bit about that so we.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Know who you are.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
Ah, yeah, thanks, Naomi.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
By the way, I read through your history as well,
because I'm sort of a new import to Australian and
I was like, wow, how the hell did you do
all that.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Yeah, yes, it'spoon a while. I'm busy.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (01:37):
So look, my journey started a while ago as well.
So I came from being an entrepreneur and running my
own business to starting The Zone twenty six years ago
and since that time.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
I started that in New Zealand.
Speaker 4 (01:49):
And I know this is going to sound strange, but
the reason I started it was because, unlike you, when
I had my own business, I had quite a big
business in London, and I turned into an asshole.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
And you have to say asshole on this podcast.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
Well it's quite intimate. I think that's fine.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
So I realized that that I wasn't creating a great
environment for people.
Speaker 3 (02:12):
It was more of a doggy dog. It was very
much a sales environment.
Speaker 4 (02:16):
And so I decided to dedicate the rest of my
life to teaching people not to be like me.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
That's how I got to be here.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
And so I've worked now in forty countries around the world,
and I create transformation experiences like you do.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Yes, slightly different, slightly different. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
So I think it's a really important concept about being
a values led business, being a leader who lives and
breathes with a sense of purpose and authenticity and creating
a trust environment and it is challenging. I mean, it's
not to say it's been an easy journey. Red Balloon
also was founded twenty five years ago, so it has
(02:58):
been quite a journey.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
So what have you got for me today?
Speaker 4 (03:02):
Well, I've recently come to Australia, into Sydney, and the
reason I came here is for my grandkids. So I
have four grandkids and so I wanted to be around them,
and I know how important this time is for me
and for them, so I wanted to relocate here. And
so I'm really new into the Australian market, and I thought,
(03:23):
who has got amazing depth of the Australian market and
growing internationally that I can talk to and sort of
find out, Hey, you know, I'm new, So are there
great networks? Are the great partner organizations? Are the great
events that I should actually go to? The speaking platforms too.
(03:45):
I don't know anything about the Sydney or the Australian market, So.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
I'm really at your at your mercy.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Yeah, So I guess maybe if I share a little
bit about my story, you might hear something in it,
and that is that I was working really hard behind
the laptop you know, powering away, working hard, and I
got a phone call from somebody who said, I'm on
your website.
Speaker 1 (04:09):
I'm about to make a purchase. How do I know
you're real? And I said, of course I'm real, I'm
the CEO.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
And this woman said, well, I don't know, you're not
the cleaner. And by the way, I was working from
home and I was the cleaner as well, you know, right,
So I guess that gave me a very important insight,
which is how do you build trust? And the way
to build trust is through relationships. So I had to
(04:39):
get out from behind the laptop, you know, keyboard warrior
and start meeting people. So first of all, I went
to some kind of business networking breakfasts and just.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
You know, hey, what do you do?
Speaker 2 (04:54):
And I realized that they were quite local and my
business was national, so I was like, this is great
to start with. Then Red Balloon is quite a colorful story.
So people started asking me to be on panels, and
so I would go and I would share particularly our
sense of purpose. But in that event, there might have
(05:17):
been two hundred or three hundred people, and I was
building relationships with them, but I was also just building
trust for the brand, so people often see, you know,
why do you wear red? Well, I wear read because
it's a uniform and it's memorable and the name of
the business is Red Balloon and it is memorable. So yeah,
I think one of the most important things is to
(05:38):
get actually just meet people, and there's plenty of associations
and ways to do that. I was approached by actually
his name's James Stevens. Always name names on this podcast,
and he had a business at the time called Roses Only.
And then he said to me, goes, so you own
your business. I go, yeah, I own my business and
he goes, and you found it? And I go, yeah,
I founded it. And he said and how much do
(06:00):
you turn over? And I said, jee stick getting personal fast.
And then he said, but you might qualify to be
a member of Entrepreneurs organization and I was and I
did and from that I met a lot of people,
not just in Australia but around the globe because I
would go to their international conferences.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
So I learned a lot.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
But I also met a lot of people and these
were people who were in a similar sort of circumstance.
And whilst there's a creator that you do not sell
to each other. It's not a sales environment, but I
felt it was a really important thing to actually not
be selling because as founders were always selling, let's face it.
(06:45):
So that was kind of my stepping stone. And then ultimately,
probably twenty years ago, I was on my feet a lot.
I was being asked to speak everywhere, and I realized
that a lot of people were making a lot of
money out of me showing up and speaking, and I
did a lot of work to be really great on
my feet, to be a keener speaker. And I was
(07:06):
approached by Saxton to represent me and they said, no, no,
you know, you need to manage your energy because I
was just all over the show. I was going one
would say the opening to an envelope, but no, it
was that. So they then manage my energy so that
I wasn't just going everywhere. I still had a business
to run. So that's kind of how I got into
(07:28):
the speaking. But it all came from one single phone
call and somebody says, who are you? And I said,
I need to build trust. So that's where it came from.
Speaker 4 (07:38):
Oh fantastic. So that's the thing that I really wanted
to dig into. You know, do you know any particular
organizations now or are you? Are you members? I'll look
up this entrepreneurs organization by the way.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Yeah, yeah, I look up that one.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
But also it's a bit like you go to one
and then you chat to somebody and you'll find your people.
And so I'm a member of the Australian Institute of
Company Directors. As a professional director, I go to those events.
I never know who I'm going to meet. I'm a
member of Chief Executive Women. I don't know if you're qualified,
just pointing out quite so.
Speaker 1 (08:15):
I'm also a member of the MCC the Melbourn Cricket Club.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Really who would have thought, Yes, I've had my memberships
for thirty years, So I do think associations but you'll
find your people and then you'll meet those and they'll say, oh,
you should come to this. So I do think memberships
is a good thing and it's a way to contribute
as well. I've always taken executive roles in the voluntary
things I've done in those Yeah, I've contributed back.
Speaker 3 (08:38):
Yeah, because we do something.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
I mean, although we create experiences, we do a little
bit different than you. Because I'm creating experiences for teams
and leaders and culture, so trying to unlock that superior performance. Yeah,
that sort of segues into my next question, which is
from your experience in the market, what do you think
the biggest pain point for leaders and CEOs in the
(09:03):
Australian marketers. Now, that might have changed over time because
things have changed a lot in the way that teams
operate has changed a lot, and leadership has changed a lot.
But what do you think currently are you seeing or
hearing or even experiencing some pain points around how do
I create superior performance in teams? How do I unlock
(09:24):
superior performance and culture, leadership development of those things.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Yeah, it's absolutely changed, and I don't know whether it's
just a post COVID thing or whether people think about
their employment differently than they used to, But the rate
of change is so fast, and so what leaders are
often grappling with is a whole bunch of kind of
real pressure points.
Speaker 1 (09:50):
It's not just about the team.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
So if I think of the sorts of conversations that
we're having as leaders, it's very different than it was.
So what tasks can be outsourced to AI? How can
we use AI for efficiency? Can we bring our people
with us on that journey so that we're upskilling, uplifting
so that they are now using their secret source with
(10:13):
greater productivity tools. I think about cybersecurity. We spend a
lot of energy on just keeping our assets safe, which
is something that we didn't really even talk about ten
years ago in the way that we do now. We
think about data security. We think about security a lot,
and also just remote work forces.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
I mean it's we have.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
A world of people available to us, and people will
and want to work anywhere, and that has fundamentally changed
the way teams are put together. So instead of kind
of this is my job, this is what I'm here
to do, we now find that we put together tiger teams,
(10:56):
like we need to get this project done. Okay, we
need this person who's got this skill set, We need
this person who's got that inquiring mind. We need this person.
They might come together, finish the project, and then off
they go. And so I think that that's really different
than having organizational structures and the way that we used
to work. So I also have found that people don't
(11:19):
engage in the same way. Like we clearly host a
lot of experiences at work, we do them within business hours,
but people don't engage in the same ways as they
used to, you know, and I know they love them,
but they're like, oh, I've got this. I've got to
get that. It just is very different now. And that's okay.
So I think the number one thing for us as
leaders is to stay curious and continue to be adaptable
(11:42):
and kind of flexible and look for the outcomes, not
necessarily just the process.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Right, right.
Speaker 4 (11:49):
And are you finding that leaders are also struggling with
mental health or physical health? Because I know what, you're
a big proponent. I listened to one of your podcasts
and you said, hey, there was a time there that
you have found that you were burning out and you
had to reset and you know, like you would now
you're doing your yoga in the morning and you're doing
a bit of meditation or mindfulness. And I was like, yeah,
(12:10):
I'm finding that a lot too with leaders. The pressure
is so big and it's so complex and this uncertain
world that they're struggling as well. So I don't know
if that's the same here in the Australian landscape.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Or well, and you know it's not everybody.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
And I have to be really careful that when I
talk about my experience of life. It doesn't mean that
it's the same for everybody, and they have different capacities
and they have different constructs or disciplines or programs. But
I did write recently on LinkedIn and I have started
writing again, and the reason why I have started sharing
(12:50):
my thinking is because I realized we need trusted voices.
We need to have people that we know, we respect
us but a lot of time building trust, so I
may as well use it for good. And I recently
wrote a blog post that has gone viral about actually
the first ten years complete blur, and I nearly fell
(13:11):
off my perch because I was kids and work and
eighteen hour days and not feeding myself and definitely not
nurturing or nourishing myself, and that that is unsustainable. So
it's okay to be chaotic for a short time, you know,
a sprint, but being a business owner is a marathon.
And so it is about pacing yourself and making sure
(13:36):
that you are nurturing and nourishing the machine, which is
your abilities. And being able to say no, I think
is a privilege. But saying no, I cannot get that done.
You know, this is when I can get it done.
But not just adding everything to the to do list.
So I mean, Arian Huffington has been talking about sleep thriving, and.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
You know, she too literally fell over.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
But I just encourage people to have a discipline around
you can give yourself thirty minutes a day. It's okay
to feel the earth, to do some breath work, because
when you nurture yourself, it also allows creativity to be possible.
We need creativity and innovation in business, and if you're
(14:27):
just doing, you're never really thinking and creating and aspiring.
So yes, I don't speak for all leaders, but it's
not as if everything's getting easier in business in any way.
So I encourage people find thirty minutes a day. Put
it in the calendar. As if it was a dentist
appointment or another critical thing that you have to look after,
(14:49):
just put it in the calendar.
Speaker 4 (14:51):
Yeah, it's funny because that's why we're called the zone
or the zone global. It's because the zone is that
place where you're at your optimal state of consciousness and
optimal stat of performance, and you have to keep yourself
with the zone and that's part of what we what
we teach.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
But yeah, that's great, Thanks very much.
Speaker 4 (15:08):
Look, last question is how have you managed to get
your partner organizations to work hardest for you versus someone else?
Speaker 3 (15:17):
I mean, what is that secret source? That's been a
bit of a struggle.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
You know, we work through partners and sometimes they're all
in and sometimes it seems like they're all out.
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Yeah, and it's often personality driven, Like let's be real
about that. It is about the relationships. So there's in
our business, we have three and a half thousand or
more small businesses who depend on us for customers every day,
and they might work with a number of distributors or
a number of wholesalers and so forth. So our job
is to make sure that we deliver more customers than
(15:51):
anybody else, that it's easier, that our systems are really
easy to work with, and that we do our bit,
which is finding them customers, and that we have that
marketing engine just taken care of so that they can
look after experience.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
So it's like, what is the pressure.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
Point in their business that if we take care of it,
they can just get on and do it. So sitting
in their shoes is really important. But we also have
a whole lot of wholesalers who take our product, and
we have varying relationships.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
They want to deal with us differently.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Some it's a really strategic advantage to have access to experiences,
Others it's nice to have. So our job is to
keep talking about the value proposition of why it's great
to partner with us, and how you bring a partner
on board is really important, like setting either the service
(16:49):
level agreement, which sounds very but you know, this is
how we like to work. This is how we've seen
the best outcomes happen, and the onboarding process of a
new partner and making sure they're heard with quarterly reviews
and your reviews, setting shared APIs. It takes time, but
those relationships are really really important.
Speaker 4 (17:10):
Yeah, great, great, Well that's been fantastic And like, I
really want to thank you for giving me an insight
into the Australian market and I hope you're doing very
well well.
Speaker 2 (17:20):
Liam, welcome to Australia. I'm sure people will hear this
and maybe they'll say, oh, you should join my networking organization.
Speaker 3 (17:28):
Yeah, yeah, I'll be welcome.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
Who knows what's going to happen, but Liam, good luck,
enjoy your grandchildren, make sure you carve out time for them,
and don't get too busy now that you're here, But
thank you so much for coming on. Hand picked the
podcast where we get to talk about all sorts of things.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
Thanks Naomi's been brilliant. Thank you.
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